and knitting

knitting in the news

Yarn-maker takes tangles out of knitting
Gloucester County Times - March 29, 2005

The meat 'n' potatoes of Ostroff's technique has nothing to do with food and everything to do with yarn. And texture. And color. And style. But, mostly yarn.

Knit 2 together

This looks really interesting (found via IndieKnits) - Knit 2 together: Concepts in knitting

The domestic craft of knitting is back in vogue. In Knit 2 Together, the Crafts Council taps into this contemporary revival with a snapshot of how contemporary knitting is used as a medium for art practice. With exhibits ranging from knitted sex adverts and subversive toys to giant cobwebs and knitted interiors, Knit 2 Together proves that there is more to knitting than just sticks and string.

The Knit 2 together show will be displayed at The Craft Council in London from 24 February to 15 May 2005. It goes on the road after that.

knitting in the news

A Pastime of Grandma and the 'Golden Girls' Evolves Into a Hip Hobby
NY Times - March 30, 2005

These days, young women knit during their lunch breaks, on the subway and in cafes. Trendy coffee shops offer knitting classes and sell yarn. Across the country, young women get together to "stitch 'n' bitch," as a best-selling book is aptly titled. Amtrak is offering "Stitch 'n Ride" cars out of Oakland for people who prefer the click of needles to the buzz of cellphones.

It's about time he found out I was a home girl.

Well pooh; the first incarnation of this post went up in a poof of smoke. Gentle reader, I assure you that the first version was filled with sparkling wit and poignant insight, and this recreation simply pales in comparison.

So he says 'I gotta go home on Sunday.' So I says 'Why do you got to?' So he says 'they always expect me home on Easter Sunday.' So I say, 'what do they expect you to do? Lay an egg?'"

I spent a lovely evening relaxing and knitting like a fiend. I am impressed with how far I got on the frilled sweater from Rebecca. This attempt is so much better than my first. I've even resolved my tension issues between my knit and purl rows by just learning to r-e-l-a-x on those knit rows. Dare I say that stockinette is not even annoying to me right now? All I have left now on the back is to do the bind off rows to make the armholes. That is what I call progress!

I've had two years to grow claws mother. Jungle red.

I did most of this knitting while watching one of my favorite films, The Women. If you have never seen it do add it to your Netflix queue. I have seen this movie so many times that I nearly have it memorized. It stars a hard-edged Joan Crawford facing off against a maternal socialite Norma Shearer over the affection's of Shearer's husband. It seems that Ms. Crawford and Ms. Shearer did not get along famously.

"When she had to sit off-camera and feed lines to Shearer during Shearer's close-ups, Crawford, knitting furiously and noisily, never made eye contact with her co-star."

The cast is incredible - and there is not a single man to be found. There's also the hilarious dialogue that you would expect from Clare Booth Luce and Anita Loos. The gowns by Adrian are also stars of the film. There's an absolutely incredible Technicolor fashion show sequence that you have to see if you are at all a fan of vintage clothing.

Get me a bromide - and put some gin in it.

The film was remade in the 50s starring June Allyson, but please don't bother to watch it. There's also a new version in pre-production. With the dearth of good roles for women in film right now I can understand why someone would be drawn to do a remake, but they should restrain themselves. It's slated to star Meg Ryan, who should restrain herself from having more collagen and botox.

Anyway, back to my knitting, I also worked on the sleeves for the Frida tank. It seems I have a bit of a yarn shortage for this one. I thought I had another ball of yarn, but it is nowhere to be found. Somehow I don't think this will turn out as well as it did over on this post at passionknit. I think I'll just have to knit up some smaller straps and call it fini. It's not like I'm ever going to wear the darn thing anyway.

living well...

Well, Orangina arrived in my inbox and I got too excited to research yarn substitutes very extensively, so I cajoled a certain special someone into taking me to the LYS to purchase the yarn.

I browsed around the store, but didn't find any good subs, so I went with the yarn the pattern calls for-- Rowan 4 ply, in a lovely shade of pink. It can be justified by calling it a birthday present to myself. Woo hoo!

My birthday has been well celebrated this year-- a sushi feast at Origami, beautiful flowers, prosecco, more feasting at Village Wok, fancy coffee, bollywood wackiness, wonderful company... There were even knit-related gifts. Some dear friends gave me a gift certificate to a local yarn store and Knitticisms, a cute little book with great reproductions of vintage knitting ads and the like. There's also a gift certificate for Amazon that my parents gave me that may very well be spent on something knit-related. I feel very lucky. Of course more for my wonderful family and friends, than the presents.

I've been playing around a bit with my new yarn and my first pair of addi turbos this morning. I think I'll do just fine with this pattern. My swatch is going ok, but it looks a little wonky where I do the skp. Maybe that's normal? I googled and found a video, which confirmed that I was doing it right. Yes, I am neurotic, but we already knew that.

tasukete kudasai!

I just ordered Stefanie Japel's gorgeous new pattern, orangina, and can't wait until it arrives in my inbox! It seems just perfect for this spring and early summer.

However, the pattern calls for Rowan 4-ply cotton, and I'm trying hard to not spend a lot of money before I go to Japan in May, so am looking for an inexpensive substitue. I'd like to find a color in the coral family. Any ideas?

Here are the specs from the pattern description on her site.

Materials: 6 balls Rowan 4 ply Cotton, 186m (170 m) / 50g (I think that is meant to say 186 yards)
Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm) 24” (60cm) circular
Gauge: 24sts, 24 rows in 4” (10 cm) square over lace pattern

she's back

I was just over at Purl Up With A Good Yarn admiring Jillz new T and feeling guilty that I have yet to finish a proper garment. (Yes, I did do Paris Loop, but as that is more of an accessory it doesn't count.)

I was reminded that Frida was languishing away in my stash box, so, I dragged her out and started knitting away. I now have just 10 rows left on the body of the tank and then I'll just need to knit up the little sleevelets.

Woo hoo!

Yeah, I know the poor dear is just not very photogenic. That red really freaks out the camera!

I took the pic with my cute new mobile phone. I've had a phonecam before, but this phone is awfully fun. I'm quite fond of the MP3 ringtone feature and now hear dragostea din tei-AKA maiyahi whenever I get a call. That is, unless my dad or brother calls, in which case I have John Ashcroft singing Let the Eagle Soar (MP3 link). Yes, I am a dork. What of it?

the notorious k.i.m.

Well, it looks like Lil' Kim is headed for the pokey. She was convicted of conspiracy and three counts of perjury yesterday for lying to a federal grand jury investigating a 2001 shootout.

This stint in jail may be a good thing for her career. Look at what it has done for Martha. She used to be a bitch, and she's now everyone's favorite poncho-clad phoenix.

As you all know, that poncho Martha wore on her trip home from the big house has become a sensation. Lion Brand Yarn claims there have already been 175,000 downloads of the free look-alike pattern they've posted on their web site.

I'm predicting that there could be a similar sensation should Lil' Kim wear this sweater (click link labeled "If Straight Men Designed Knitwear") on her way home from the slammer.

I want to lala

I made a dreadful mistake last evening and watched the Ashlee Simpson show just before going to bed. Her insidiously catchy lala song would not leave my brain as I tried to fall asleep. I guess I must like it better when it hurts. Perhaps that was the final straw that will influence me to cancel my cable television...

I didn't even knit while I watched the show--what a waste! However, I made a bit of progress earlier in the week with the sweater I'm working on (pictured at left in dramatic black and white to hide the crappiness of cameraphone photo).

It's going ok, and looks loads better in person than in the photo, but I do have a bit of a difference in tension between my knit and purl rows. Oh well! I'm hoping to finish up the back by the end of the weekend. Yee haw! Let's go to a hoedown.

The return of the sweater with a frill!

I was feeling quite ambivalent about this project a couple of weeks ago, but as you can see, I've chosen to cast on once again for the frilled sweater from Rebecca. I may still make that cardi, but I think it would look much better in a different color than I'm using for this sweater.

To celebrate my blogiversary last night (okay, not really, I was just too lazy to cook) I had yummy pizza delivered to me by a man in a red super hero costume. After dinner I got to town and swatched for this sweater yet again and happily got gauge with the same needles as last time around.

My trip to DC earlier in the week had me tuckered out so I didn't make much progress. I'm just happy I got a start! This will be a great project to bring to knit night next week.