So right this very moment, Brooklyn is shrouded in a delicious fog. Potatoes are baking in the oven and some soy/lime/sesame marinated tofu will soon follow suit. A freshly-baked loaf of hubby's whole wheat is sitting on the kitchen counter as the weekend draws to its inevitable close.
So, what's new?
Remember that pair of pants I swore I'd refashion? Well, start checking the temperature in hell, cos here it is: Now, I do not, for the record, consider this finished. Quite the contrary: I kinda feel this is a blank canvas upon which I can vent my artistic spleen. As this skirt is right now, I call is BORING as hell. But I do think with a little effort and imagination, it will be quite tasty, indeed. Maybe a crocheted trim? In red? Maybe it gets embroidered? Painted? Dunno yet, but I hope it will be done in time for the trip to Napa that we have planned for the hubster's birthday!
Oh yes, I said Napa! Hot damn! All those miles I've been racking up are paying off now, big time! The r/t airfare for both of us is............$10! Hoo boy!
In other news, I got a wild hair up my ass and bought me some thrift store sweaters to ravel. One is a golden yellow silk blend thing. T'other is wool and cotton greeny thing. I've started on goldie, but am a bit disappointed in the yarn. It lacks twist and seems to want to come apart pretty easily. Here's the harvest thus far: But this harvested yarn + boring skirt makes me think about where I will be going for some uber-inspiration: my beloved Scandinavian yarny books. I will start with Second Time Cool and followed, perhaps, by Knitprovisation If you don't know these books, I strongly recommend taking a look. They are wonderful and mind-opening, particularly when you are in the repurposing mood.
It's been a lovely weekend here in Brooklyn with signs of Spring smacking you from every which-way, as it happens. The sun's staying up later, taking its damn time going to bed, but here in our house we are already in our jim-jams and sipping Tuscan wine, hoping to stretch the evening out as long as possible. Think of it as mentally dragging our feet along the sidewalk to slow down the bike's inevitable ride to the end of the street (or Monday, as it is known to the rest of the world).
Sigh. But I spent yesterday doing Spring-y things, like clearing the dead leaves out of my wee garden, letting the lovely crocuses get the light they seek to survive and cleaning the bathroom from top to bottom, as it were. Another weekend, another loaf of seedless rye bread. Nah, I won't bore you with photos. Another weekend not finishing the friggin' Pi Shawl, which has thoroughly whipped my ass. But it's given me an excellent excuse to continue on my fancy-ass shawl. And start on a new knitting project, Wrenna from French Girl Knits, a totally cute short-sleeved sweater.
Which has also given me some problems, truth be told. But beloved ravelry has come to my rescue and helped interpret the directions for this newbie knitter. I'll be honest, at first I was really pissed off when I read post after post calling this the easiest damn thing they'd ever made. I believe my response was "go forth and multiply," but not in those words. But there were a few brave souls who came forth and bitched about the VERY SAME ROWS that were giving me problems, so I felt better about the whole unpleasantness.
Anywho.
So, I was going through some crapola in my workroom (aka woefully disorganized dumping ground) and I came across some stuff I'd made. I thought you'd like to see some of it...
This is a totally weird handpuppet I made a long time ago. I think he's so cute with his vintage button eyes... This HOIR is a punch-needle embroidery thing I made. HOIR is the acronym for "House of Ill-Repute," my performance art series that I'd hosted first at Theatre Club Funambules on Ludlow Street, then at the original (and ironical) Knitting Factory on Houston Street. Ah, the old days...
And this little guy is based on a Matt Groening character from Life in Hell... And no trip to the past would be complete without some Irish Crochet...Ah, the past...
Finally, I was poking around on the internet looking for fun or interesting stuff, and I found this - an online book on knitting that promises to be very useful, indeed. I hope you find it useful, too.
That's all for this week. Till next time, friends!
I've long been an admirer of FiberArts Magazine. They are a source of inspiration for the frustrated artist in me and, like a great museum or gallery trip, I close the pages feeling energized and excited to create.
I'd felt like they lost their way editorially for a few years, but the more likely explanation is that I turned my attention elsewhere. But the last few issues that have crossed my path show a sharper artistic eye, something more mature and incisive about the work shown. It's less about technique and how to make a better mitre than how people are expressing themselves more fully through fiber. It's so freakin' cool.
The current issue exemplifies this new maturity. Check out the crochet and dance article. The work is gorgeous. If you are interested in our common medium brought to a different level, I highly recommend giving FiberArts a look.
So I'm not in the best of places today. Work is stressful and keeping me up at night. There is no end in sight, no light at the end of the tunnel, no spot I can point to in my calendar where I can say, "HERE is where I can breathe a sigh of relief." It's simply not there.
Add to that the worry about friends and family losing their jobs, not just as a result of the economy, but because petty, mean-spirited people decided they didn't like the cut of their jib. The woman who brought me into the company I've worked for the past 18 years was fired last month. But I cling to my job (which, despite the stress, I actually like) with the full knowledge that my continued employment, like everyone else's, is tenuous at best.
Yarn is my escape. I'm working diligently on the Pi Shawl, and having run out of the crappy yarn I was using, I'm now using something else in a different weight and color, and row 11 in the second lace section is whooping my ass. Big Time. I thought I was past the ripping out stage, but apparently, I'm not. And I despise the stash yarn I picked to continue the shawl. It's just fugly.
With a night cut short by worry about the things I'm not getting done at work, I'm too tired to fight Pi today. I'm marking every pattern repeat, which helps, but I can't deal with it. And I'm shying away from some of the patterns I'm really taken with, simply because Pi has temporarily shattered my knitting resolve.
So, what's a girl to do?
When stranded, as it were, surrounded by UFOs but too stymied to pick up any of them, I like to go shopping in ravelry. I never fail to be inspired by the extraordinary creativity and beautiful designs I find there. One of my favorite things is what I call "ravelry roulette," where I type in some random search filters and see what I get. And omigod, what I get!
If you are like me (and I pray you are not!), I get tons of crochet/knit mags and books that I absolutely pore over. And I am contstantly surprised by the stuff I miss in these publications! But for the eagle-eyed ravelrers, I would miss so many wonderful patterns and ideas, simply because I took them at face value and moved on. I mean, how many times do you see a new shawl or skirt and pass it by simply because the color choice, layout, or model turned you off? But on ravelry, I see these things anew, simply because some bright woman in another place saw potential where I could not.
Like my dad was, I am happiest when surrounded by ideas and potential. And I am sincerely thankful that I have access to the amazing creativity of so many others who help me to see things anew when I cannot.
Hi y'all. Just flew in from Dallas, and boy, are my arms tired! But seriously folks....
Miss me?
Sorry for the silence, but it's been a bit crazy over at the scratch and sniff factory. But I have a lot to catch up on, not the least of which is that I am finally making some progress on the Pi front. Might want to check your local skies for flying pigs, kids.
The mitigating factor is that I'm on my last ball of yarn and am nowhere near finished the shawl. I might see if it will look totally weird to just start a random second color. Hell, if it does, so what? The intent for this was training, not haute couture. I'd kinda told myself that I'd get some fancy schmancy yarn once I had Pi licked (hee hee), so maybe I'll just do that! But you can see that the thing is growing and I'm screwing up less and less. What else?
My gorgeous friend rockpoolcandy has a video of her at work on YouTube. Although I think she has way more people looking at her blog than I have on mine, I am taking the liberty of posting her video here. Do visit her site. She is awesome. Supremely talented. Amazing.
I've got yet another blog! This one is called The Diaries of Violet Clark and is literally a transcription of two diaries I bought in a dollar bin from an ephemera merchant. The diaries date from 1923 and 1924 and chronicle the life of Violet from Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. I am illustrating the diaries with images from the time that go (or don't go) with the topics. This project is totally NOT yarn-related, but could be fun for you if you have any interest in everyday life of the past. It is unlikely that Violet is still alive, but I'd be curious to find out what happened to her. The guy who sold me the diaries said that she became an artist or craftsperson of some reknown. For some reason, I think he said she was a potter. I am posting every last entry from Violet's diary, day by day (not that she wrote every day, at least not at the start of '23. But I will give you a heads-up - it gets very interesting as we go on, particularly when she talks about Ted....
In other news, lard loss is keeping apace, though it's been likely upended by the non-stop feeding frenzy that was this Dallas business trip. Last I checked, I was down around 10 pounds. As mentioned elsewhere, it's coming off slowly so hopefully, it will stay off. Back in the saddle now with tracking every last bite, I promise.
Oh, I knew there was something else! Remember how I told you that my colleague was taking up the hook because she fell in love with my Half-Moon Shawl? Well, she's been taking classes at Lion Brand Studios and has been doing an outstanding job! She told me that the other day, she, her mom, and grandmother were all sitting together crocheting! I could have cried! What a wonderful thing to see three generations of women keeping up the hook. She and I periodically take a few minutes during lunchtime to get some yarn work done. I've been able to give her a few tips that have helped her in her learning and have promised to take her through the shawl pattern, step by step. I couldn't be more proud!
Man, does putting the clocks ahead ever suck! Why can't that be changed to 4pm on a Monday? Wouldn't that be a whole lot more fun??
The air here is absolutely perfumed with the smell of the first of three (!) loaves of bread to be baked this afternoon. Two are the regular whole wheat babies - one for the husband and one for some friends. The third is the whole-grain masterpiece of whole wheat, coarse corn meal, and rye. That one's for me to enjoy with avocado and smoked salmon.......yummmmmm...
There is also a batch of buckwheat chocolate chip cookies waiting its turn in the oven, but right now it's just chillin' in the fridge until the coast is clear. This recipe is making the rounds of many of the foodie sites that I love so well, and I love buckwheat, so this is its week. I don't have the cocoa nibs called for in the recipe, so my semi-sweet chips will have to do. So, Pi. Whassup?
Yeah, it's been kicking my ass a bit. I move forward a few rows, then discover an error way down below where I can't fix it, so I unknit. The good news is that I've finally cracked the code on doing the lace portion of the Pi shawl! I'm very excited about this. But to be precise, this doesn't mean I'm not making mistakes. But now I understand what they are and how the stitches should have been done.
The biggest lesson? Don't knit late at night when too sleepy to count. Too many times in the past week (already acknowledged as a pig) I have fallen asleep on the couch, needles in hand, still stitching. Funny thing about that - I don't do a good job when I sleep-knit.
But all in all, I'm happy as a clam about my new-found knowledge and have already warned the spouse that I will have to order some nice yarn to make the real shawl with. The stuff I'm using is crapola, and for the effort expended in actually creating this thing, I should at least be using a yarn worth its salt.
Ah, almost forgot. Remember how I went nuts over the patterns in the last issue of Crochet Today? Well, I was really looking forward to the new issue, thinking that maybe they got their act together and decided to make a magazine for people who would like to be seen in what they create. My heart sank at the preview online, but I held out hope anyway, thinking it was just a bad choice of preview items.
Well, guess what? It's gone back to sucking. It has SIX afghan patterns this time. SIX! I mean, WTF? What's going on here? Oh, and there are "scrubbies" (woo-freakin-hoo), and a bunch of other boring crap that's not worth the cheapest yarn going.
Here's my point with this screed: if someone coughed up an afghan, would you really be able to tell whether it was from a pattern from this year or 10 years ago? No, you wouldn't! Because the winds of change don't touch afghans in anywhere near the frequency that it does clothing. So why put so many afghans in one freaking issue? I don't get it? Clothing styles change way more that blankets, for crap's sake, give us more of that! And while you're at it, make a half-hearted effort to harness some of the amazing talent on ravelry or Crochetville and get something worth making in that mag!
It's been a pig of a week at work, so today seemed ideal to sit in our lovely sunroom and take a little trip through this bound edition of Ladies Home Journal in 1906 - before WWI and commercial radio, but well within the memory of the Civil War. The book holds the whole year together, making for a fascinating look at what was important to women over a hundred years ago through the seasons.
What I find interesting are some of the things that are consistent to today. On the "no surprise" side is the focus on fashion, crafting, homelife, cooking, child-rearing, beauty tips, and the latest ideas from Europe, for example. There are articles on inexpensive vacations (Houseboat trips for $1 a Day), and wonderful "Tastefull vs. Tasteless" colums for clothing, hats, drapery, and interior design. This was the period where America was starting to shake free the excesses of Victoriana, at least in architecture and interior design, so I found myself enthralled by both sides of the column.
I was more surprised by the regular feature called "Beautiful America?" where they called out wealthy towns with blighted areas and challenged their improvement. There is sheet music in each issue, a stark reminder of one of those things that is truly lost in modern life -- music played by family members.
Amusingly, there is a regular column that is essentially the musings of a "plain country woman" wherein she disparages the modernity espoused by the rest of the magazine. The lamenting of a passing way of life is endemic in every generation, from the Ancient Greeks and Romans and beyond, yet every one greets it anew. Funny.
But you're looking to see some of the treasures lurking in the busted binding, are you not? Below are some little bits I captured:
From gorgeous Irish Crochet... And stuff to make with those pesky leftover corks.... To some particularly lovely closures... I LOVE this jacket and would wear it without changing a thing about it... And a clever vest design...
To some doilies to while away the summer...
And one of my favorites, these amazing handmade buttons... And a spread of fashion of the day...
So right this very moment, Brooklyn is shrouded in a delicious fog. Potatoes are baking in the oven and some soy/lime/sesame marinated tofu will soon follow suit. A freshly-baked loaf of hubby's whole wheat is sitting on the kitchen counter as the weekend draws to its inevitable close.
T'other is wool and cotton greeny thing. 
I've started on goldie, but am a bit disappointed in the yarn. It lacks twist and seems to want to come apart pretty easily. Here's the harvest thus far:
and followed, perhaps, by Knitprovisation
If you don't know these books, I strongly recommend taking a look. They are wonderful and mind-opening, particularly when you are in the repurposing mood. 
