and knitting

flowerswap 2004

I really lucked out when I got Heather as my flowerswap 2004 partner. She lives in one of my favorite cities and it was such fun to be paired up with her. Many thanks to blushing bride Pinku for arranging sich a great swap!

As you can see below, Heather really went above and beyond by sending me THREE lovely flower pins. The larger one is a gorgeous beaded number that is anchored into place with a lovely pearl-headed stick pin. The two smaller ones are centered with beautiful diamante hair pins. She also sent me a lovely soap and fragrant candle.

what a deal!

The new Stitch n Bitch book is great. If you don't have it already you can purchase it from Fred Flare for only $9.95! Quelle deal (Or should that be quel deal? I'm never sure about grammar when it comes to Franglais.)!

blah de blah de blah

I had great fun participating Pinku's flowerswap. I'll post later with the details on the LOVELY flowers I received.

No knitting books appeared under my tree this year, but I started the spiderweb capelet from the new Stitch n Bitch book. I got a bit confused on the 4th row and had to rip out and start over.

My dad liked the non Christmas gift scarf I gave him. I'm a dork and didn't take any photos of him wearing it.

There is an interesting essay on the NYTimes site that talks about youth fashion and crochet.

Crochet is going to be big this spring. But of course I already knew that. Or I should have known that last September when I dropped in to see Miuccia Prada before her spring show. We spent an edifying hour discussing whether it was better ethically to use machine-made crochet or stick with the handmade stuff and give work to Italy's dwindling ranks of crocheters. At the moment the fashion world is waging a number of conflicts, mostly with itself, between technology and handcraft, between global brands and antiglobalization. But while I've been guilty of spraying around these terms myself, I've begun to mistrust them. Frankly, they are starting to sound fake.

moving on

Yes, I am still alive. I've been helping to move my company to new offices and life has been crazy. It seems I am the operations, marketing and information systems departments rolled into one. Too much time has been spent on the phone to Dell's tech support (I may have to write up that oh so amusing saga at a later date) but at least my brand new laptop now has a functioning, albeit refurbished (Dell, you suck!) wireless adapter.

I spent some relaxing time working on my flower for pinku's flowerswap. My first attempt turned out just ok. I think I made a poor choice yarn-wise and the whole thing is rather supersized. Hopeully this next attempt will turn out much better!

not a frump fest

The new knitty is out and features several patterns that are far from frumpy. As usual, Stefanie Japel comes through with a gorgeous sweater. I'm also loving the sleek little cardie, Candy and the very sweet Tempting. It is so nice to see these form fitting designs! Of course there are also a few things that make me go hmm, but I won't link to those for fear of offending.