Undoing, thy name is:

And it had to arrive the week I have a major, must get an A paper in which I have to "engage" readings from the following big guns: Antonio Gramsci, Kenneth Burke, J.L. Austin, Jurgen Habermas, Erving Goffman, Raymond Willimas and John Searle. No biggie, right? Ain't nothing but a 20th century language theorist's paaaaaaartaaaay...all I have to say is, where my ladies at?


Speaking of modeling, I did some hand modeling last week, for Edie Eckman's next book. I kind of have man-hands, so I found this amusing. They aren't going to get any prettier if I keep beating up on them with this crazy game. Eric has already requested a knitted wristband for padding! Oof. I can't help the addiction, they're the songs of my youth--from the 80s (Guns and Roses, Foghat, Dead Kennedy's) to the mid 90s (Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against the Machine)...I'm such a Nintendo sucker, and I'm already coveting a DS Lite with the brain-builder vocabulary/memory/hand-eye coordination improving games! Wow. I'm a geek.

CR

Post monster!

I don't know what has gotten into me, posting three times in one week. Maybe I'm inspired by the NaBloPoMo participants? Or maybe it's that there are some exciting things happening. First one: Lexie is looking for ladies (actually, I'm sure dudes are welcome too, I just like alliteration!). She really means it when she says "All ages, ethnicities, shapes, and sizes are encouraged to submit an entry," this is the woman who lets/loves for me come to photo shoots with chipped black nail polish and whatever Van's slip-ons I'm wearing that day. You can probably tell from her bags but Lexie's aesthetic is one of kind, and now you can be a part of it!

When I mentioned Norah Gaughan's exclusive to Webs (for the next two weeks at least) Lotus Cardigan, I did NOT give it it's due. Here is a better picture (still pretty bad though, photographing catalog paper is difficult and I struggle with digital photography in general):



It was knit by Andra Asars, a woman I'm proud to call my adopted yarn mentor. She is brilliant at what she does, including whipping out perfect, custom-sized garments like this one in about two weeks. Here is us at Stitches watching the Red Sox, fanciest fans ever! We look like a demure Betty and Veronica, no?

A sample garment of hers went missing at Stitches...if anyone has a friend who "whips up" a size 42" red Chantal in a record amount of time...please let me know. It is sad to lose garments this way, and it happens way more than it should. You'd think fellow knitters would understand how many hours go into sample garments.





CR

P.S. If you're watching the Office and you squeal at the amazingness of the Finer Things Club and your boyfriend immediately suggests "You should make a Ravelry group for it!" you MIGHT be addicted to Ravelry.

OMG, ya'll!

The first Gallery Jacket! Is it vain if I say that I think it's freaking adorable? Julie is right, you can style it a million ways...it was difficult to pick one way to show it in the catalog to be honest.

I haven't been the best blogger lately...I've been consumed with school stuff but somehow, after chatting with Lisa Shroyer at Stitches East, I thought it'd be a good idea to submit a few designs to Knitscene. I was all flattered and big headed for a few minutes but then I saw that it was more of an open call...heh...oh well, it was wicked fun to play designer for a week, it was just like playing with Fashion Plates! I suck at sketching so I did a little collage work. I'm in love with some of the swatches, here is a peek:


Speaking of secret designs, I can reveal the secret from an old post. Norah Gaughan designed a pattern, Lotus that was knit to fit my exact measurements (acoustic guitar-like: long neck, long torso, flared bottom/hip region, also monkey arms)! It was knit in Jasper, velvety soft Jasper in a deep wine red colorway that had stripes of charcoal of beige. I love it!!

What else...I'm knitting some simple winter accessories, the cold has finally arrived and they're very much needed, I play the same game the Harlot mentions here. The most exciting is the shawl I've started with Jenna's handspun:



I'm calling this the Girl Power shawl because Spunky Eclectic dyed the fiber, Jenna spun the yarn and I'm knitting it up, using a Spunky Eclectic pattern. The cirrrrrrrcle of yaarrrrn...

Poor Jenna was at my house for the final Red Sox World Series game...she is a Yankees fan and...we...may have bickered. The lovable underdog days are officially over, so I was kind of at a disadvantage, but I refuse to believe that Yankee fans outnumber the citizenry of Red Sox nation, which is much larger than just Massachusetts! Jenna ate some of my overcooked and bitter broccoli rabe and I felt slightly vindicated.

This song is currently stuck in my head and I don't mind at all...





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Gallery Jacket!

Phew, I can post a finished object! The new Valley Yarns catalog is in the store which means it's also making its way to everyone on the mailing list. In it you'll find the sweater I mentioned in my (woefully pictureless) last post. This is something I designed and knit for Valley Yarns Sheffield, a gorgeous new yarn with amazing colors that feel new for Valley Yarns--deep teal, espresso brown, etc. This is the Gallery Jacket, named for Arts Night Out, a Northampton institution that I have sadly never participated in (Mexifest ladies, maybe on the 14th?)

Tell me, what is wrong with this picture? Why should you never trust the "I'm just fixing my hair pose"?


Because the great Maggie Righetti says you shouldn't, in Chapter 1 of "Knitting In Plain English" titled: You Can Always Tell What's Wrong With a Garment By The Way a Model is Posed, or Slender Five-Foot-Ten Inch Models Look Good in Anything. See for yourself!

The "problem" in this case is the sleeve. I intended this to be a long sleeved sweater (full-disclosure, I was trying to recreate this sweater, purchased at a Marshall's, no discernible designer) with a modified drop shoulder. I couldn't knit the twisted ribbing fast enough and was on a somewhat scary deadline for a relatively slow knitter. The twisted ribbing takes FOREVER, but I really think it was worth it in the end.



Back to the point, I decided to pick up stitches and knit down in the round, so that no matter where I was when I ran out of time, I'd a least have a sleeve! I got about 2.5 inches done on both and tried the thing on. Somehow I forgot that the beauty of a drop shoulder is that it forms the top of your sleeve! It looked just fine with the stubby sleeves, in fact, many people thought it would've lost cuteness had I continued knitting.


The Sheffield is quite warm so it was actually nice to have a mostly bare arm. I've tweaked the pattern and incorporated some decreases to take care of the pooching (technical term?) that occurs under the arm in these pictures. I think that would've been weighted down with a longer sleeve, but here it's a bit obvious. A short row cap sleeve would've been nice, but I still have my training wheels on when it comes to designing!

One last note--this was modeled WET--I blocked it about 10 hours after I finished it and in a humid July, the water barely budged. When the sweater dried it looked a lot less saggy under the arm area, I promise. It'll be in the store and again, the pattern was revised after knitting. I'll have to test knit a second version when more Sheffield arrives because I really want one of these in my wardrobe.

CR

P.S. The shawl pin in the catalog pictures and the design inspiration picture is the same, made by Moving Mud. I think I might purposely design sweaters that require these, they're beautiful!

P.P.S. More credits, the most important: these pictures are the product of Penny and David Michalak, a local couple who between them have too many design related talents to list!

Tap tap...

Is this thing on?

I disappeared! And I didn't even know it but the last post I made (on August 13th) was my 100th post, at least at this blog address. Cool.

I've been busy with moving and grad school has started up again so I've been consumed with those two things. I've been having almost constant agita since moving--the yarn is just out of control and there is very little closet space so while it's a much bigger apartment than the last, the yarn has nowhere to GO. I've had to invest in a set of vacuum space bags. I thought about posting pictures, but the hard squished bricks of yarn are too sad, I could almost be accused of yarn abuse!

If there is anything that makes me feel like I have too much yarn it's calculating the amount I spend on STORAGE for the yarn. I could knit a cashmere afghan with what I've spent on plastic storage bins, no joke. And those vacuum bags aren't cheap either. I read on Ravelry that you shouldn't actually vacuum out the air because it could permanently compress the fibers.

Anyhow, I am knitting and hope to be able to post a picture of my Minimalist cardigan soon which I am close to finishing. It's looking like it will be an adorable wearable sweater and I already have two orders for them. I don't think I'll mind because it's such a straightforward pattern, really quick and easy knitting. I'll probably be knitting a second for myself as well!

My modeling has been truly exciting recently--in the next Webs catalog you'll see me modeling a garment I designed and knit in what I think is the nicest Valley Yarn yet, Sheffield, a merino/silk/angora blend. I'm actually pretty pleased with this sweater and hope it finds some fans. It was really fun to work on the entire page of the catalog, from the copy to the garment to the modeling it was all DIY!

The next job on deck is seriously fantastic but top secret for now! All I'll say is that I had to give my measurements to a very cool lady today...

I'll be back with pictures!

CR