Something for the Weekend
My new autumnal knitting project. I started working on it last night whilst watching Digging for Britain, a programme about British archaeology. When I was a teen I wanted to be an archaeologist specialising in Neolithic sites (you get a lot of those where I grew up). Then I went out on work placement and realised that the majority of the job consisted in mapping the landscape and measuring soil depths. Clearly not my thing, but I still love learning about middens, neolithic settlements, and migration patterns. As you can imagine, I've always been a riot at parties.
Anyway. Knitting.
I am completely smitten with the new Kim Hargreaves collection, Touching Elegance. It ticks a lot of my boxes: sumptuous colours, defined silhouettes, 1920s/1930s styling and copious amounts of warm fibres. I was torn between Eleanor, Ella, Nancy, Mae, Nellie, Isadora, Patsy and Delores - I told you I was smitten - and have sort of hedged my bets a bit (more on that later when I figure out if I'm right in doing what I'm doing). The collection feels a lot more grown up than my usual thing, but I think the colour palette has a lot to do with that. As you can tell from the photo, I have chosen a less than sombre colour - Rowan Baby Alpaca in Cherry Red, kittens.
Also in the photo: fabric. It's a long story but I have been roped into doing a public sewing demo next week. Don't ask. I'll be making an Amy Butler Barcelona skirt complete with lining and a hidden zipper. I'm petrified as I have not done any sewing for about two decades and all my sewing terminology is in Danish. Sewers everywhere, weep for your art and craft. On the plus side, I got to choose the fabric myself and I cunningly chose a design which matches my autumn knitting project. It'll be fine but I will be poring over sewing instructions and blogs the next few days.
Also on the agenda the next few days: a Joseph Beuys exhibition (I'm not huge fan of Fluxus, but I also have to step outside of my comfort zone now and then) and DK:KNIT, an exhibition on experimental knitting design hosted by the Danish Cultural Institute in Edinburgh (this means I'll be in Edinburgh on Monday, by the way. Give me a shout if you want to meet up for coffee).
Assorted linkage: Other Half loves this poster but I just cannot get beyond how Freudian it is. Or is it just me? Save the Words! is a beautiful application although most of the words are surely inkhorn terms. And this Icelandic jumper spotted at the Reykjavik Pride Parade is just about the best thing ever.
Saturday Muddle
This is pure unadulterated lust. 1300 yards of peridot green with hints of bronze. Alpaca/merino/silk. Lace. Lust. My brain is galloping through all the relevant patterns. My heart is beating fast. You non-knitters, you have no idea how a knitter's pulse can race just by looking at some yarn. It is a heady feeling.
Thankfully the yarn is already mine as I actually dyed it myself yesterday afternoon. Woo.
Isn't it funny how I can always make time for lace knitting even though my knitting schedule is already full? Is that similar to how sock knitters think? Just one more skein of laceweight sock yarn? Just one more shawl pair of monkeys? Maybe I can relate to the sock knitters after all.
I really did not mean to make this yet another post about knitting, but somehow I succumbed. I do have links to share, but first: more knitting!
I finished the first of my The Vicar's Mitts and I'm overjoyed. Most glove patterns run too big for my ludicrously tiny hands. They are much too wide and then paradoxically too short for the upper part of my hand ("this bit") which therefore must be longer than the average hand. Witness the joy of designing a pattern that fits you like a .. erm .. uhm .. er.. glove!
If I were to be critical, I'd probably want to extend the corrugated ribbing cuff for added warmth, but I'm thinking a longer cuff would ruin the look. And I love how it looks and fits. I should do this self-designing lark more often. It's very gratifying.
(I do apologise for the photo. it is the oddest thing: on Ravelry the photo is crisp and beautiful; uploaded to Flickr, the same photo turns overly sharp/defined; here it turns blurry. What gives? And no, the glove hasn't been blocked which is why it is slightly lumpy.)
So, links.
- Firstly, a knitting link. I love Patsy. I think a red Patsy & I are meant to be. I have a cunning plan.
- Persnickety Snark has posted its Top 100 YA Books. Funny how so much YA literature is superior to so-called "grown-up literature" (Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials is one of my all-time favourite reads. Ian McEwan's much-praised Atonement isn't. ).
- One of the few sewing blogs I read had a fantastic entry: We Live in a Good Body. I have my own reasons for having assorted body issues, and I found it strangely .. affirming to read Gertie's entry: "I think so much of our culture is built around the idea of somehow getting another body, as strange as that may sound.(..) I've certainly spent plenty of time buying into the idea that I could somehow have a "better body" if I just did something differently. There's no upgrading to a better body in this lifetime. I already have a body, and it's a good body."
- This Air New Zealand in-flight video made my day. I don't even think you'd need to be a Kiwiphile to get a kick out of it (although if you are, yes the soundtrack is The Exponents)
- Karl Lagerfeld amuses me endlessly. I don't know why. Or maybe I do.
- AfterElton.com looks at obsessive fandoms. I'm long out of 'fandom', but I still have scars to show from my brief journey into X-Files fandom all those years ago. Although I've met some great people through my fannish years, I've also seen quite a bit of scary behaviour. Really scary behaviour.
And on a final note, I have definitely become Middle Class with a capital Em and Cee. I went out shopping for booze (long story) and I came home with organic ginger beer from a local brewery. Well then.
Changing
Ever played the casting game? You take one film or TV series and try to recast it using a specific criteria. One of my favourite ones was the "Lord of the Rings gone Hollywood bad" challenge. That one had Dolph Lundgren as Aragorn and Pam Anderson as Eowyn. My latest recasting involves the Inception cast. Apparently Christopher Nolan presented the idea to a Hollywood film company in 2001. So, if the project had been greenlighted in 2001, who would have played the various characters?
The central character, Cobb, a charismatic action hero with underlying trauma? Tom Cruise, of course. He did Vanilla Sky around the same time and was at the height of his career. As a result, I'd say that Penelope Cruz would be a shoo-in to be the 2001 version of Marion Cotillard. Julia Stiles might work as the young architecture student, now played by Ellen Page, but I struggle when it comes to the other actors. Who would have been the 2001 equivalent of Tom Hardy? Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Cillian Murphy? It's a silly game but I have been playing it in my head ever since I saw Inception last week (which is a peculiarly fitting way to think about the film, I suppose).
And now for some knitting.
I cast on for Kim Hargreaves' Opal shawl/scarf last night. I had some Kidsilk Aura in my stash from one of my recent stashing downfalls. The colour is really interesting - it is grey but with a blue undertone. It looks a lot like wet asphalt(!) and also like the colour of the haematite gemstone. Normally I would not touch a colour like that, but I think my Scandinavian minimalist wants out at the moment.
The pattern is incredibly easy - so easy that I decided to mess it up three times by not paying attention to the instructions and just playing it by ear. I find easy patterns the most difficult ones, actually. I got back on track, though, and the shawl is zipping along merrily. I am going to up-size it slightly as a I had a brain-blunder when I ordered my needles. For some reason I ordered 8mm needles instead of 9mm .. and can I just say that the KnitPro acrylic tips are not my favourite? The actual tip of the needle is wonderfully pointy, but the needle itself feels cheap (like bog-standard plastic needles) and the acrylic makes the yarn drag a bit. If I had known, I would just have gone for regular circulars and not expensive interchangeable needle-tips.
Hopefully I will finish it today or tomorrow. Hopefully it'll stop raining so I can post a photo. Hopefully.
Points
Firstly, the response to my Larisa scarf has taken me completely aback. The pattern has been available from a shop here in Glasgow for about a week - and so far more than fifty people have "bought" a copy (pattern comes with the purchase of a ball of Kidsilk Haze). I have received so, so many lovely, thoughtful and sweet comments from complete strangers that I don't know what to say except thank you. It's really quite startling and I feel a bit overwhelmed.
Secondly, I will be at the UK Knit Camp marketplace next Saturday (the 14th of August) in Stirling. Mostly I will be browsing and trying not to buy things, but I will also be helping out at the Old Maiden Aunt booth. I know several bloggers will be attending and I'm really looking forward to meeting many of my online friends/reads. If you recognise me, do say hello! I have very mixed emotions about attending the UK Knit Camp - it seems to have descended into chaos - but as it is one of the very few Scotland-based knitting events, I have decided to tag along. I just hope that the UK Knit Camp shenanigans will not deter people from staging further events up here. It's not Scotland's fault, I swear..
Finally, I had the pleasure of meeting Ali from Jamie Possum today. We had a great talk about sustainability, New Zealand and KnitNation. I am yet to try out her beautiful yarn, but I'm a) such a Kiwiphile and b) such a sucker for gorgeous yarn that it is just a matter of time before I succumb. I have long wanted to knit the Lorién beret and I'm quickly running out of excuses. Except that I also appear to have run out of knitting time and my stress levels are at a two-year high.
How to combat stress when my stress is knitting-related? Answers Suggestions, please.
Becoming Less of a Magpie?
The Football World Cup has begun. I'd be happier if I could knit my way through every match, but my wrist is still bothering me. A colleague recommended arnica gel as a possible short-cut to future happiness knitting. I am not one for herbal remedies, really, but I get twitchy if I have nothing to occupy my hands.
During my "downtime" I have been doing a lot of thinking. Yet another fantastic Cargo Cult Craft blog post sent me thinking about the things I create and why I create them. This spring I made Millbrook, a lightweight cardigan, and it has turned out to be one of the pieces I reach for again and again. I want to knit things I will actually wear and I think I need to be far more discerning about what I chose to make. I think I have been a "magpie knitter" in the past - making things just because I thought they were really, really shiny rather than because I needed them.
I love knitting triangular lace shawls which I wear as scarves - but do I really need more than four or five? Instead, perhaps, I should look into knitting fine-gauge lace cardigans and pullovers, because a) I will wear them and b) they fit with the rest of my existing wardrobe. Fine-gauge lace cardigans and pullovers will provide the challenges I love in my knitting, and while they may take much longer, they will actually see some use rather than languish in a drawer somewhere. I'm thinking along the lines of Geno, Arisaig, Shirley .. but pattern suggestions are very welcome. My queue is long, unwieldy and does not contain many realistic knits. I am looking for winter-appropriate patterns as well as more summery knits.
Susannah at CCC makes a great point about realistic wardrobes. I find my wardrobe is very geared towards "vintage-inspired casual" but I struggle when it comes to dressing up. Recently a good friend became engaged and I had a moment of panic, because I have nothing I can wear to a wedding. Fortunately the wedding is some years away, so I have time to find a solution, but it was an eye-opener. I tried on this dress (I liked the silhouette), but I am struggling to see how a party dress fits into my lifestyle. Weddings come around every five years or so, not every five weeks. Susannah's point about realistic wardrobes comes in handy here. If I did have a realistic approach to clothes-shopping and -making, I would have a little shift dress I could pull out whenever an occasion arose. I would have matching shoes and a little handmade cardigan.
Another thought-provoking blog post about clothes and bodies come courtesy of ProjectRunGay. I know, I know, but their fashion recaps of Mad Men has been hugely enjoyable - and I don't even watch the show! This post about "Joan Holloway" (aka our Mrs Reynolds' Christina Hendricks) was a particular favourite of mine because I have a similar body shape and took a lot from how Mad Men's costume designers dressed Hendricks. I might be able to apply some of the logic to my own clothes. In a realistic way.
PS. I wholeheartedly recommend the Glasgow Boys exhibition currently on display at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum. I think it will become a touring exhibition, so keep an eye out if you are in the UK. I was particularly taken by George Henry's Symbolist landscapes and Japanese watercolours as well as Arthur Melville's impressive watercolours.
With A Slice of Cake & Heaven
I could not resist showing you a proper photo of how my Harmony cardigan is progressing. I finished the last bit of lace today, so it is all stocking stitch (and sleeve shaping) now. I have trawled Etsy and eBay for some suitable buttons - I know I am only halfway through the first of five pieces, but I have my eye firmly on the end result. I am thinking along the lines of these buttons or possibly these - I will start rummaging through my button boxes(! - it is true. I now have more than one big button box) once I have an idea of just how ornate the cardigan itself will look.
Oh, I love planning.
I think Harmony might be keeping me company during the World Cup in football (i.e. soccer for you non-Europeans). I really liked the Olympics knit-along earlier this year, and Harmony, being both a labour-intensive project and a relatively straightforward knit, would do me just fine as a World Cup project as I cheer for the Danish football team and weep bitterly into my cold buttermilk soup when they lose.
A brief, brief interlude into Eurovision-land: I am going out on a limp here but I think Armenia might be marching towards glory. It is a tentative prediction as this year's contest is really too close to call, so call this "my gut feeling" prediction more than anything. I would also watch out for Albania (a great slice of electro-pop), Turkey, Georgia, and this year's surprise contender from Cyprus. Other pundits are leaning towards Israel, but I'm really not getting it, while the early frontrunner Azerbaijan has come across limp and forced, so surely that is out of the running..?
Finally, there is nothing quite like being pigeon-holed with sweeping generalisations.
Also, this On the Rocks cover is one of the best Lady Gaga cover versions I've heard alongside that Paparazzi cover version (stay tuned all the way through the video - it gets better and better). Speaking of Gaga, have you read the Caitlin Moran interview? I had my own heroes when I was seventeen, living in Nowheresville and feeling completely Other, but my heroes were males writing songs from a male perspective (though Otherness arguably did play a part as core members of the band were gay). Later I discovered Polly Jean, of course, but I would have loved to have a prominent woman in pop culture playing hard and fast with mainstream gender perceptions (no, Madonna doesn't count for several reasons).
Now, excuse me, I have a date with a slice of carrot cake from Auntie M's Cake Lounge, my new home away from home.
Honey, I’m Home
I am home after three days working in Yorkshire. The sun was out the first two days and our surroundings were beautiful and very rural. During one meeting I spotted a pheasant walking about on the small hill outside and predictably enough I saw plenty of sheep, cows and even deer. I do not live far from nature here in Glasgow, but it is nice when you do not get a constant background hum of traffic.
And I got a lot of knitting done during meetings, in the evenings and on my epic five-hour-long train journeys.
Harmony is working up really well. I am past the first lace chart and the rib section and well into the second lace chart. It is my sort of project, really - lace charts, fine gauge yarn and a staggering amount of knitting to be done - and I'm happy to sit knitting it.
Harmony is my only project at the moment, though, so I will need another project to keep my sanity. I have a gazillion ideas in my head right now (most of which involve completely insane fair-isle, thank you Ben) but I may have to stick to summery yarns right now which limits me a bit.
I have been catching up on the Eurovision Song Contest - I was stuck on a train during the first semi-final which was heartbreaking and had to rely on text messages from Other Half ("Poland's a pervy Hungarian animated short film") which was fun, but Clearly Not the Real Thing. You can still catch me talking ESC on BBC World Service's Digital Planet but for me it is now all about the second semi-final. I have high hopes after seeing energetic songs (and Belgium/Russia) making it out of the first semi-final, so I'm hoping the trend will continue with Turkey, Romania, Azerbaijan and Denmark qualifying easily with a surprise surge of love for Cyprus. I also think Armenia will do well.
Just before leaving for Yorkshire, I followed an amazing thread on MetaFiler. MeFi is a decade-old message board and one night a user posted that two friends of his had found themselves in a potentially dangerous situation - could anyone help? Newsweek has a comprehensive look at the story, but you will want to read it all unfold on the MetaFilter site. Best of the web, for sure, and proof that social networking has more to it that celebrity tweets and Farmville..
Under the Peach Trees
Strange week.
- Finished a shawl. It is a gift, so I am not posting information or pictures before the recipient has opened her present. But it was an underwhelming knit: the pattern was horrible, the colour unlike me and it took me forever to finish. I know the recipient will love it because the shawl is so, so her and that makes it all worthwhile.
- Ripped back several rows of my 4-ply cardigan because I had mistakenly thought I did not need to check the chart. I did. Fine Milk Cotton still holding up really well despite the abuse.
- The Crowded House concert veered between being sublime (hello, In My Command), cringe-inducing (one of their new songs goes "In Amsterdam / I fell under a tram" - whatever happened to knees and kitchens? I want references to knees and kitchens back) and downright embarrassing (security guards being very obnoxious to anyone wanting to dance). And Neil Finn still sported a moustache.
- Other Half had to go to hospital due to a dodgy knee. He is fine now, but I was all over the place for about three hours. This is love feels like: one huge pool of worry.
- Finished reading John Buchan's The Power-House, a novella without a plot but a lot of sinister innuendos. It reminded me of Mark Gatiss' The Devil in Amber which I read a few years ago. This is not a compliment. In Buchan's defence, he was writing within the period.
I am now packing for my Yorkshire adventure. I borrowed Miss Old Maiden Aunt's Tangled Yoked Cardigan so I had something to keep me warm during my stay. Of course, my adventure coincides with the sudden arrival of summer but you never know about the British weather.. yes, all the stories about changeable British weather are true. I am also packing my 4-ply cardigan project and am pondering whether to bring a tiny one-skein project too (funny how becoming a Knittah changes your approach to packing your suitcase). I'm also charging my iPod (and if you have Spotify access, I have compiled a Spotify playlist for the journey).
I hope for a better week ahead. I have the Yorkshire adventure lined up, but even more important: next week is Eurovision week! I will be missing the first semi-final, but will be all hyped up about the contest nevertheless. Woot!
Day Seven: Something About Yarn
Fourth Edition is taking part in the Knitting & Crocheting Blog Week, and you can read more about that blog project here.
I often get asked which is the best yarn I have ever used. I never know how to answer because, for me, the quality of yarn is wholly dependent upon what project I am doing. When I think about yarn, which I admittedly do all the time, I just try to think about it in context. What type of project am I making and who am I making it for? How will the object be treated, how will it be used and how often will it be used? Do I need to think about maintenance? In other words, every yarn has a purpose.
Many knitters shudder at the thought of acrylic yarns, but I maintain they have their place in the knitting world. Knitting for young children? Acrylic yarns (or woolblends) will seem like a god-send because they can be thrown into the washing machine with nary a thought. Acrylic yarns also have a better range of colours, they will not pill as readily and certain brands will arguably withstand nuclear holocaust (or toddlers).
I do not tend to knit for children, though, so I mostly use natural fibres. Since I live in chilly Scotland I also tend to use mostly woolly yarns.
New Lanark Aran is one of my favourite yarns. It is locally produced, is available in some truly beautiful colours and, best of all, it knits up like a dream whilst still being affordable. Old Maiden Aunt is another guilty pleasure - she dyes beautiful sock- and lace-yarns. I adore Rowan Kidsilk Haze which has a beautiful halo and yearn for a project in Rowan Lima, a soft and complex merino/alpaca-blend. Drops Alpaca is one of my desert island yarns. I'd happily roll around in Noro Cashmere Island. Also, I hoard Dansk Naturfiber 1-ply kidmohair/merino because I think it may be discontinued, it is absolutely divine, and I rarely get a chance to get my clammy hands on it (I used it for my Laminaria shawl). I dream of making something out of Garthenor 1-ply. And let us not forget handspun wool - I am lucky to count some hand-spinners among friends.
Meet the glittering star in my yarn stash firmament, though.
This is Färgkraft SoftBlend, a 2-ply laceweight Gotland-wool handdyed using organic dyes by textile artist Margrét Kållberg for the Färgkraft co-op in Sweden. 765 yards of utter perfection.It ticks all my boxes: rustic, organic, laceweight, Scandinavian, and dyed in my favourite colour in the entire world.
A Swedish friend of mine gave it to me last year as a birthday present. I am still trying to decide what to make from it. I feel tempted to pair it with my favourite shawl pattern, but on the other hand I also feel tempted to pair it with a traditional Scandinavian (or Nordic) shawl pattern.
I have many, many lovely yarns in my stash thanks to friends and family, but the Färgkraft 1-ply just stands out for me. I may never actually use it, you know..
Day Six: This Old Thing…?
Fourth Edition is taking part in the Knitting & Crocheting Blog Week, and you can read more about that blog project here.
When I look back upon all the things I have knitted in the last, say, six months, there is one item I have worn more often than anything else: my Art Deco shawl.
The shawl is not knitted out of fancy, expensive yarn - just an ordinary DK woolblend which I found at a favourable price - but it has earned its keep many times over these past few months. You see, the shawl quickly turned itself into a big, cosy scarf/shawl/blanket which kept me warm during the hardest winter in Scotland for over thirty years. When it snowed, I could pull it halfway over my face; when I was cold at night I'd drape it across my legs. Now we have finally seen the arrival of spring, it still warms my shoulders and acts as a nice buffer between me and the wind.
Oh, and the colours never failed to cheer me up.
So, how does it look now?
Well-loved, it is certainly not as crisp as it used to be. Actually, just looking at that photo I feel like giving the shawl a good soak and setting up a date with some blocking pins. However, the wool is wearing very well (yes, that would be the acrylic content, I bet) and it is as warm and cosy as ever.
In fact, I think I'll just keep it wrapped around my neck.
Mmmm.
Toasty.
(I apologise for the haggard look. I'm just home from work)