…one of those days
when you’d knit a whole inch of a new hat brim
before realizing that you’d twisted it up into a mobius
that could only be fixed by starting over?
yup.
guess i’ll be
starting over now.
‘starting’ taken from 17:14 of proverbs.
Tag Archives: malabrigo
linear
knitting is mostly
about lines.
the straightaways
that form the vertical columns
of stitches.
then more lines formed
by the horizontal rows of stitches.
if you’re a designer, those lines must be translated into the math of sizing.
some designers (of advanced skill) learn to think
beyond the ‘x’ and ‘y’ axes.
they manipulate and reconfigure
the lines within their patterns.
enter ruth garcia-alcantud (aka: rock & purl).
have you seen her
new patterns:
in ‘the linear collection’?
these patterns are fascinating.
it’s so interesting to think about
how her math skills intertwined
with the stitches
to make the textural details
of these pieces come alive.
i like to consider how fun it will be
to work the diagonals
watching them form at their intended angles
to the parallel lines of the
knitting needles
(both hers as she was still imagining the outcome
and now other knitter’s needles as they follow
her maps to knit them).
because patterns
are basically maps, imo.
they help us to navigate the creative idea
that hatched from a designer’s mind
and make it
(by yarn choice & the fact that it is formed at our fingertips)
our very own. you gotta love that.
right? i do.
as an added bonus, all 5 of ruth’s patterns in ‘the linear collection’
are on sale for 25% off
(from now until friday, november 27th at 11:59 pm eastern standard time)
as part of ‘gift-a-long 2015’ over on ravelry.com.
use the code giftalong2015, and the sale prices are yours.
now that’s a bargain.
project ping pong
i was having trouble
focusing on just one idea (this often happens to me), so
i cast on for three new things at once
(and no, this is so not the first time i’ve done that either).
first up was new fingerless mitts
in malabrigo mecha.
the rich blueberry color (called prussia blue)
drew me right in, but…
(can you see the uh-oh?)
got to the finish line with one mitt a good 3/4″ longer than the other.
easy enough to rip back, but my motivation veered
onto new project #2.
this is gorgeous yarn from a swap box.
it’s bare naked wools ‘better breakfast fingering’ in mocha.
now, you know that usually ‘fingering weight’ and i are not pals,
but this stuff knits up beautifully on bigger needles
and i was definitely more motivated
to do this, than to undo and redo the longer fingerless glove above.
doesn’t the mocha look nice up against
the little project bag it’s living in from third floor studio?
yes, it does.
but, i got to the crown decreases and lost steam.
i was so enjoying just knitting in the round
and around and around.
my head wasn’t up to the math of the crown shaping, cue project #3.
i’ve been on a kick about octopoli (a plural of octopus).
my friend joan loaned me a book and
i’m just fascinated.
therefore, my third new project is inspired by tentacles.
you might not be able to see the inspiration when it’s done,
but i sure will.
every idea comes from somewhere
and no matter what this ends up like, i’ll know exactly where it started in my head.
the yarn is long island worsted in marsala
from string theory hand dyed yarn, inc.
(i know that the bag says indigo dragonfly.
new and exciting stuff from them is coming later on).
for now, i’m knitting away on the worsted
with the deep lair of the octopus
on my mind,
and wondering how i’m going to regain the motivation
to finish the first two things i started.
‘mind’ taken from 3:20-22 of lamentations.
bouncing
when the day starts with an e-mail saying
that my library book
(which i haven’t’ yet finished and i didn’t know was even due)
is now far overdue,
it does not feel good at all.
then i go to try out the new recipe i’ve been waiting to try
and i don’t have an ingredient. i don’t have the main ingredient.
so i decide maybe little guitar playing is in order,
but the song that i most want to play has a
solo lick that is kicking my butt.
so i think: knitting.
grabbing a skein of malabrigo mecha and dpns,
i settle in to whip up a pair of fingerless
no pattern, no pressure.
just to ward off
the chill at the bus stop each morning.
i spend a few happy minutes on the ribbing at the cuffs
only to realize that i don’t have the right size dpns to knit the rest of the glove.
well, who needs ‘the rest of the glove’ anyway…
feeling a bit like alexander
(in the ‘terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day‘),
i decide that it’s late enough to go to bed.
every creative thing attempted all day came to nothing,
so sleep and a clean slate kind of morning
sound really, really good.
now it’s the next day.
the library fine is paid and the book renewed.
there is a huge head of califlower in the refrigerator,
i got over the hump of the tricky lick and am getting better at it,
and a quick trip to a lys later, i have the size 10 dpns that i need to work
the rest of the mitts.
what a difference a day makes. seriously.
‘feeling’ taken from 59:10 of isaiah.
combos
when i am cold
i feel the most motivated
to knit something for myself.
the other night, feeling quite chilly,
i ran into holly priestley‘s ‘nomadic night’s slouch’.
ooh, i love how much personality this hat has
and how much room it gives
each of us individual
knitters to
express ourselves in color and yarn combinations.
in true antiestablishmentarian style,
i chose three different yarns altogether.
it’s a big ol’ hat, so matching up exact gauge is optional, right?
i almost never would think that,
but in this case
i did and it’s working.
holly’s version is much more colorful than mine,
which in a different mood i might have wanted,
but right now, all the neutrals and mixed textures sing to me
of varied experiences and how they’ve
shaped me, made me
who i am.
i have worked through the corrugated rib,
and found the colorwork chart to be fabulously simple.
nothing like clarity to make a project feel like it’s flying off the needles!
if i juggle things right today (ie: get the necessary stuff done),
i could have my ‘nomad’ ready
before the storm hits
tomorrow afternoon.
that’s my goal. we’ll see if i hit it.
‘nomads’ taken from 13:20 of isaiah.
yarns in top photo: (left) hudson valley fiber farm ‘farmstead’ from a local market,
(center) malabrigo ‘twist’ in terron, and (right) classic elite yarns ‘blackthorn’ in alabaster.
square metaphorical ripples
i like to believe
that even our smallest actions count,
that they ripple out and affect people and things that we never even know about.
that’s the little stuff.
then there’s the big stuff, like birth.
at first we mostly change those closest to us because our worlds are so small,
but the more we grow, the more distinctive our impact becomes.
my newest pattern, laska, is all about that.
i’m told i think to much.
i am often accused of that.
so be it.
feel free to skip the rest
of my explanation
if this being a pretty blanket is enough for you.
each to his or her own.
in my head, the small center of the blanket represents the beginnings of a person.
the bands of stockinette stitch get wider and wider
with each repeat to show that choices
big and small matter.
they matter
our whole lives through.
the final edge is garter stitch,
intentionally a combo of
the stockinette stitch
and reverse stockinette stitch
of all the other square bands.
as life, i think,
is a result of each thing
that we do or don’t do. symbolism just moves me.
i’m made that way. and i made this.
‘laska’ is polish for ‘grace’.
‘grace’ taken from 22:11 of proverbs.
‘corner of the roof’
this is a favorite proverb of mine:
“better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife”.
you better believe it.
when i start to feel all snarly and discontent
i remind myself of this.
no man of mine is gonna wish he was on the roof.
when i think of a roof,
i think of a pagoda. no idea why.
the new england roofs of my childhood are nothing like them.
i’ve never even seen one in real life.
still, that’s what comes to mind at the mention of the word.
amazingly intricate and interesting.
i was aiming to capture
both of these things in this new cuff design.
the way the increasing creates a textural ‘x’
across the top of the square is pagoda-like to me.
do you see it?
now that roofy-ness on my arm
is a good reminder to take a deep breath and be grateful
no matter what. and always.
pagoda pic from www.novaexperience.net.
things coming this week
you’ve been patient.
so patient, as my designing has taken every detour in sight lately.
this week, finally, i can share some new patterns.
three new patterns to be exact.
it’s april, right?
so when it rains, it pours.
now i don’t have ‘sneak peeks’ per se.
instead, i have a ‘behind the scenes’ shot from during
the photo taking for each new pattern. ready?
for tomorrow’s pattern, this is my youngest testing out
the remote attached to the camera to see if the set-up is working.
and yup, he pressed the button to take this picture all by himself.
the photographer for wednesday’s pattern
was my 14 year old.
she said she just ‘couldn’t resist’ taking pictures of the yard
in between taking pictures of the knitting.
last, but in no way least,
is friday’s pattern.
picture this, i’m making
some slapped together kind of dinner
when i look out the window and the light is gorgeous.
the ground is wet from rain and i’m in my slippers and the food’s on the stove,
but i’m running out (zig zagging to find dry spots) to the kid’s clubhouse to take pics.
a designer’s gotta do what a designer’s gotta do.
i didn’t even burn dinner
too badly.
so this last shot is me balancing on the base of the clubhouse
trying to keep my feet dry long enough
to catch some of the light.
three patterns in four days, starting tomorrow…
the stories behind ‘the great deep’
it was a year ago
(where did the time go?),
that malabrigo yarn got in touch to say
i had been picked as an mfpp (malabrigo freelance pattern project) indie designer,
paired up with alison, and given the theme ‘glittering fish’
with this photo for inspiration.
alison and i spent the next few weeks
sending notes & sketches back and forth.
by the end of the summer we had a
rough idea of who would
do what and in which malabrigo colorways.
then the nuts and bolts
of putting patterns together began.
re-swatching, tweaking, and lots of math.
now here it is june already.
my 6 patterns (also available as an e-book)
were released on friday. alison’s are coming up soon.
do, i’ll spend the next 6 days posting about the underwater inspirations
for each of my patterns,
why i named them what i did,
and a little about some of what did and didn’t turn out the way i expected.
remember my leap into steeking?
that was one of the patterns in ‘the great deep’.
check out the e-book patterns here
can you tell which one?
up next – ‘peixe’: what i thought it was going to be
and how it set me straight.
one day out
and as a final shot
(before the e-book release tomorrow),
here are the ceramic pots that line the cobblestone walk
that leads to one of my favorite local yarn stores, fancie purls.
ann, the proprietor of said lys and an all around cool knitter, was kind enough to let
me change in her bathroom, because it was that or changing in my car.
and her bathroom is infinitely nicer, although
my car has a better stereo. (grin)
