Category Archives: Notions

inspired by

Posted on by

linear

Posted on by

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.

21269771293_c7673275d7_zsome 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.21891336245_fc81f7a31f_z

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

21271624273_a41011c979_zto 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.

21270660853_024251f919_zas 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.

‘branches’ taken from 17:8 of ezekiel.

project ping pong

Posted on by

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?)1t16m-8nvuss sqgot 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.

IMG_1513sqdoesn’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.IMG_1514 sqthe 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.

cables, unexpected

Posted on by

i remember first learning to knit cables.

i was a bit put off at the idea of having to take some

of my nicely lined up stitches off of a proper needle for the time to make the twists.

i was a little intense about order back then, and this seemed unorderly to me.

i’ve come a long way, baby.

now i love the way cables look, the way they

change the knit fabric itself into something more.

heather zoppetti is so skilled at this

(and at telling those very same cables who’s the boss).

more than that, she’s incredibly good at designing in ‘the details’.

you know, ‘the details’: the little things

that make you know instantly that you absolutely have to have something

even if you couldn’t have said that just a minute before.

in her current book, ‘unexpected cables‘,

image002she divides the patterns up into three categories.

at a glance i figured chapter 3, titled ‘abstract’, would be my favorite.

upon my first read through

(yes, i reread knitting pattern books),

i found that there are patterns i love in both the ‘refined’

and the ‘lace’ (that’s cables and lace) chapters as well.

‘refined’ doesn’t tend to be my bent. not at all. so this surprised me.

do you know what the hardest part of a hat is to design?

the top. the tippy-top.

no matter how good the rest of the patterning is,

it can easily go wrong at the crown.  this is not the case in the ‘warwick tam’.

obviously the front is beautiful.

Unexpected Cables - Warwick Tam beauty image IIit’s beautiful, no?

but it’s the decreases that are always my deal breaker

ready?…Unexpected Cables - Warwick Tam beauty image III.so very intricate and well done. this kind of classic i like.

chapter 2 is titled ‘lace’.

that word makes me think of pretty things,

and sometimes things are overly fancy for my rough and tumble life,

but not so for these six beauties.

i mean, they are pretty, but also wearable in the real hours of my real days.

the one that feels like it most belongs in my world?

the ‘talmage pullover‘.

folded hems, extra long sleeves,

and a rounded neck that looks as comfortable as a t-shirt.

i’m sold. aren’t you?

Unexpected Cables - Talmage Pullover beauty image IIthen i turned to the last chapter, ‘abstract’.

this one also does not disappoint.

i like asymmetrical.

i like an edge left to roll organically.

i like unexpected cables (both in theory and in the reality of this book)

and i like my socks to fit right.

i know that sounds random. it’s not.

what’s the good of gorgeous socks if they crumple up near your toes inside your shoes

(a pet peeve of mine, can you tell)?Unexpected Cables - Drumore Socks beauty image IIIso when i saw the ‘drumore’ socks i felt the same skepticism

that i feel about most socks. inside my head i said something like,

“those are nice, but will they fit well?”.

then i turned to page 86 and thought, ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’Unexpected Cables - Drumore Socks beauty image IIand ‘that is exactly the way i want my toes cozied up all winter’.

but, i’d expect no less from heather.

that’s why i was excited to review

this book for you.

because she’s good at what she does

and it shows in everything that she puts her hands to.

note: just a little of the knitty gritty.

i was given a copy of this book to review but,

you know me, a free book isn’t ever going to make me say that i like what i don’t.

i’m much too stubborn and pigheaded for things like that.

‘skilled’ taken from 28:15 of exodus.

also, i promised that i’d include

this info about ‘unexpected cables’ for you:

Unexpected Cables: Feminine Knitted Garments Featuring Modern Cable Knitting

By Heather Zoppetti

Interweave/F+W; $24.99

the end.

math and the choices it makes

Posted on by

you know when a pattern says

something like ‘decrease 12 sts evenly over the next row’?

that makes me nuts. as a designer if i wanted to do the math myself

i’d be writing my own new pattern, you know?

i always feel frustrated when a pattern

expects me to do the work

instead of instructing

me on what

to do.

this week i stumbled upon

‘eskmimi’s knitulator’ over on pinterest.

not only is it cute as a button, but it’s waiting there

at all times, ready to do the work. how cool is that?

you just tell it how many stitches

you’re starting with

and how many stitches you want to have at the end of the rowThe-knitulator-knitting-calculator-for-increases-and-decreasesand it will tell you how exactly to space either increases or decreases to get the job done.

it’s sort of a pattern lifeline, right?

i so bookmarked it.

besides finding this fun tool this week,

i also released a new pattern.

the pattern (wait for it) is called ‘lifelined’. yup, it sure is.

well, only i released the first part of the pattern.

as the pattern stands right now,

it uses super bulky yarn

(which if you know me at all, you know i love).

the next part of the pattern is the modifications for using

other yarns: bulky, aran, worsted and dk weight to be exact.

that’s all being tested right now.

when it’s done, i’ll send out a pattern update

so that if you already bought ‘lifelined’

for super bulky yarn,

you’ll get an updated pdf with the numbers for yarns

all the way down to dk weight.

pretty good, right? but, there’s more.

also being test knit right now

is a slight variation on the variations that can make a similar neck wrap (or shawl)

out of sport weight or fingering weight yarn.

this pattern of variations might get knit up in the heavier weights, too

if the math works out. still in the number crunching phase at the moment.

so, while i’m pondering the options

and you’re waiting for them to be seeable,

at least i can show you ‘lifelined’ as it is in the super bulky of lana grossa ‘ambiente’.'lifelined' collage with back shotit’s not a triangle, but has five points.

so when deciding just how to drape it around yourself, there are lots of options.

obviously, i love options.

i’m feeling chatty, but itching to knit,

so i’ll end here and go play with some yarn.

i give you permission to do the same.

but only if you smile.

‘released’ taken from 16:36 of acts.

beginning of the brrrr!

Posted on by

this is the time of year that finds me scurrying about

as i rack my brain trying to remember

the so called ‘easy to remember place’ where

i stashed all my fingerless mitts for the summer.

now there’s frost

on the lawn

while we’re waiting for the school buses

and despite being sure that i wrote myself a note so i’d remember

(don’t laugh, but i can’t find the note either. it’s lost, too!)

the tried and true mitts

are nowhere to be seen, but i’ve got these new rivi mittsIMG_2077+knit up in local shearer aaron loux‘s locally sourced bulky weight yarn

my hands are happily toasty

and one of these days i’m gonna fine the other mitts

and it’s gonna feel like Christmas all over again.

‘lost’ taken from 15:4 of luke.

bouncing

Posted on by

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.9700well, 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,IMG_1692 sq

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.

 

‘when it rains’

Posted on by

note: this is not about the breakup of a romantic relationship.

i just happen to love in a big way all the people in my life.

you have been gone

so why

is this goodbye so hard.

you are connected to nothing now, except my broken heart.

which i have stapled back together.

it is crude, but does the job

although, i admit, i’m tired of the way the sutures rub

against unexpected memories

who uninvited call. their rough, persistent knocking

rattles pictures on the wall

that i had hung to

fill the void

that lingered when you left.

perhaps they were substitutions but, i took what i could get

when the waterstains became

like old familiar friends;

points in conversations before i saw the end

of everything i trusted

in every thing you said.

the lines i carried with me and let sleep in my head

under blankets of indifference

to every fault you wore,

like i could make a difference

at the corner store with a bottle of compassion

to be poured into your soul

as if small town deals and passion

would make you want to know

that i don’t care for this vivid pain to show.

still, i love the Sun more

when it rains.

‘poured’ taken from 22:14 in the psalms.