Here We Go Again

Yes, I have been an absentee blogger. It's not for lack of DOING things, though:



























....and now, here we are, approaching July, which means I need to consider some things for the Tour de Fleece:



Tour de Fleece runs July 3 - July 25! I'll be participating as a member of Team HelloYarn/Sassenacho/TimeBenders and also Team Monkey Farts! And somehow I will manage to blog more, as well :)

*** ETA some information: From top to bottom:
- Holly Jean Hat & Mitten, test-knit in Cascade 220. Super-duper pattern, soon to be available from zigzagstitch!
- Bova Book, handbound by me as a teaching model in my Cloth Case Bookbinding Workshop.
- Magical Scissors, paper cutout, about 5" x 7". Cut with a #16 X-Acto® blade out of Canson Ingres scrap papers. I want to make 100 of these, all with different 70s & 80s lyrics accompanying tools :)
- Bookbinding Models for my Non-Adhesive Bookbinding Workshop.
- Color Progression Insanity - handspun by me using Club Fibers from Hello Yarn, Southern Cross Fibres, and Spunky Eclectic.
- Cobb Salad, my all-time favorite salad.
- Handwoven continuous hand-towel for next tot he sink. FINALLY completed, after 2 years or so.
- Hello Yarn Knee-High Socks! Knit while the passenger on MidWest road-trip!
- The Spam Museum. Visited on our way from Iowa to Minneapolis.
- My haul during the 2010 Potholder Swap - lovely lovely hand-crocheted potholders by Lynda, Kathy, Susanne, Beth, and Cathy (click through for Flickr details).
- Quilt I made for D's mom before we headed out to Iowa.
- Delicious "Orchard" Romney singles - me-spun, Spunky Eclectic-dyed. Purchased at SPA.
- Wonderful, wonderful pork.
- Some things I am considering spinning during the TdF. :)

Aim High

I'm aiming high this year for the Ravelympics. That there is the yoke portion of my "Pallid" Bohus-inspired sweater. I'm hoping to complete the colorwork portion this evening. I've tried this on twice so far, and both times it fit wonderfully - why do I insist on doubting my math? It's MATH, I should TRUST it. I should trust IT more than I trust MYSELF.

Anyway - the sweater. I'm using my handspun HelloYarn "Pallid", and I split out the colors of 4 ounces of the fiber. I added a little bit of mohair before carding it, in hopes of replicating the fuzziness of the original Bohus sweaters (they used angora). I'm knitting this on US2 needles, and I'm making up the pattern as I go along. Soon it'll be straight stitch forever.



It's potholder swap time again, as well! Adrian, Maritza, Maryse and I are hosting the 2010 Potholder Swap. The rules, should you want to participate, can be found here. In awesome swap-admin fashion, I have no idea of what I'm going to make, and probably will end up sampling things until a week before they are due!



And hey! I put more yarn in my shop! Go go go get it while it's hot!

Paint Me A Swatch, Dear.

The cold - and impending Snowpocalypse - are making for very productive knitting. I've been test-knitting a few things, in between bouts of spinning:



This is Thea's newest pattern - "White Russian". It's a lovely and simple tunic that's knitting up pretty quickly. I'm knitting this up in some handspun from ages ago - a 2-ply merino that makes a delicious fabric.

I've also been testing some more mittens (surprised? Didn't think so.), this time, for Elinor - the adorable "Ladybug Picnic" mittens:



I snuck an extra ladybug under the thumb. I've only got this one done so far (in Reynolds Soft Sea Wool, which is wonderfully squishy), and I still need to weave in ends and block them. The pattern is well-written and makes for a quick knit.

There's also been a bit of spinning:



That's Hello Yarn Club Fiber "Pallid" in Rambouillet. I was lucky enough to score a sweater's worth of this stuff, and I have big big plans for it! It spins up wonderfully - I'm anxious to get it on the needles.

Of course, all this spinning and knitting seems perfectly NORMAL and USUAL. So I had to throw in what I've been referring to as my Second Stupidest Idea to Date (the #1 slot goes to this humdinger) -



You can't see much there right now, but the idea is simple enough: Reproduce knit lace swatches on a grand scale (the paper is 25" x 35") in excruciatingly detailed watercolor. The execution, however, is tough. We'll see how it goes. I'm looking forward to it - I've been meaning to get back to some drawing and painting, and hopefully this will fill that void.

Kitteh, Knitteh, Etseh

This is New Cat - we picked her up last Tuesday, and she and The Mayor are adjusting to one another. She doesn't have a name yet - we're leaning towards "Juicebox". She's a feisty 1-year-old who trills when she runs, and is very affectionate. She's a great addition to our place.

Aside from kittehs, I opened up my etsy shop! It's chock full of handspun goodness, and I'm aiming to put up new listings on Fridays. Some Hello Yarn, some Spunky Eclectic, some Southern Cross Fibers so far - more to come!

I've also been using some handspun:



This is "Frost Forest", a Hello Yarn Club Fiber colorway from December 2007. It's Soy Silk/Merino, and I spun it as laceweight singles. I had about 660 yards, and I knew that it had these big bands of color. I'd been looking for a good pattern for this for some time, and then came across "Citron" in the latest knitty. It seemed to be just right for the yarn: simple, easy to add repeats, and would really showcase the yarn.



And it does! The pattern is fine, but the tedium of knitting so much lace stockinette on US5 needles nearly put me over the edge. I added an extra pattern repeat as well, in order to use as much yarn as possible. I blocked it quite aggressively, and gave it a choppy sawtooth edge. It's delightfully light and airy.

Ten Books

I've been meaning to talk a little bit here about some books that I've read recently, books that I refer to often, and books that inspire a bunch. Some are pretty specific to what I've been working on of late (book design and structure). I'll try and get a more craft-specific one on here soon. In the meantime - I hope you find this little corner of my life helpful, and I hope that - should this inspire you to pick up any of these titles - you find them as awesome as I do.

- Elements of Typographic Style. By forcing the designer to think about the design of the letterforms, the text and the type can work together to convey appropriate meaning. This book presents a clear, concise history of the evolution of many common typefaces, and why they work. It's 100% awesome, and I reach for it frequently.

- The Stuff of Thought. I picked this book up a few months ago on my way out to Minneapolis. It's chock full linguistic insanity - how we process and use words to communicate.

- State By State. This is a great collection of essays in the tradition of WPA Travel guides. Each state is represented and discussed by a different author. Visiting a state, growing up in a state, driving through a state - every place is given it's own anecdote and tale.

- An Illustrated Life. A collection of pages from sketchbooks of artists and illustrators and designers. This book is stunning and inspiring. For someone who has tried to keep a sketchbook many times and failed, every time I look through this I want to try again.

- Speck. If you've seen my house, or my Flickr stream, you'll know that I like stuff. It's everywhere! This book provides a little bit of light on the everyday and makes the reader re-evaluate it's place and our view of it.

- Art of the Japanese Postcard. I saw this show when it was at the MFA a few years ago. The postcards are beautiful little stories, and stories unto themselves. The history behind many of them is wonderful, and the printing is meticulously done.

- Big Book of Pulps. I love a good pulp story, and I swoop up any pulps I see at yard sale and Goodwill. They're totally silly, yet completely captivating. This collection - while a bit gigantic and unwieldy - keeps me from having an allergy attack to the musty smells of those older books while I read them :)

- Bookdesign. Not for everyone, but it's what I do! This is a TREMENDOUSLY helpful reference. And it's really well put together and organized (of course).

- American Book Design & William Morris. William Morris really had his design finger in every pie, didn't he? Using the same meticulous, all-encompassing enthusiasm that he applied to all other aspects of his design work, Morris' take on book design is incredible to think about and behold in this day of parcelled out production, where each individual is responsible for ONE aspect of the final product.

- Envisioning Information. Oh, Edward Tufte, you are an evil genius. How you convey information is just as important as what you are trying to say. And he says it all perfectly.

Mittens, Arches, A Sweater - Good Start to the New Year.

My foray into Mitten Madness continued into the New Year:



I completed the test-knitting on these, David's Northman Mittens. They were a delight to knit, and his pattern is very well-written and clear. I knit these in Rowan Felted Tweed, with a lining of Berroco Alpaca - extra squishy, warm, goodness. I used US 3 needles to get 7 stitches to the inch, and they fit wonderfully. But that wasn't the end of mitten madness......



I finally completed these Handspun Fiddleheads. I started these a little over a year ago, and knit one exterior mitten. The yarn is handspun corriedale/alpaca that I picked up at Rhinebeck a few years ago, and the lining yarn is cashmere that is left over from Simone's Wedding Shawl. Luckily, my gauge remained the same in the year since I knit the first mitten. It feels great to have this pair done, and not looming about waiting for me to knit it's mate.

I also knit up these socks:



This is the Pyroclastic pattern from knitty. The pattern uses arch-shaping along the sole, which is GREAT. The sock cradles the foot and fits wonderfully - I want to knit all socks this way from now on. The yarn used here is my own handspun, in the HY CLub "Grim" colorway. It's a 3-ply yarn of Bamboo, Superwash Merino, and Nylon, so it has a nice shine to it. The pattern had a few weird, unclear bits, and the finished socks tend to bias. But other than that - Arch Shaping! It's really the best.

I also finally got around to knitting up Sef's sweater, or at least getting started on it:


This is some Bartlett yarn he picked up at Rhinebeck in 2008. I'm making a tight-knit sweater that can function as a bit of a winter jacket. I've made it to the armpits on the body of the sweater. This project is FLYING.

NOT Holiday Crafting (Yet)

I haven't been blogging much, but I've been busy! And I haven't even gotten around to starting the holiday crafting. I know there are only 2 weeks until Christmas, and yes I am getting nervous, but with Thanksgiving travel and having a guest in town, I just haven't had the time.

Well, that and I was busy cutting this out:



This is a map of Boston, with all non-road land removed. I saw these beautiful city cutouts by Karen O'Leary, and I just HAD to have one. I taped a map of Boston onto a piece of white Mohawk Via Felt paper and started cutting, using a #16 X-Acto® blade. I sharpened and/or changed the blade fairly frequently. 24 or so hours later, and some hand cramping, and it's done! The white piece is framed and hanging on the wall, while the offcut map went to Young Sef's house.

I've also been test-knitting these awesome squirrel mittens:



Aren't they the cutest? The pattern is from HelloYarn (are you surprised?), and my test pair is knit using Hello Yarn Sock in "Coffee" and "Harvest Gold".



The lining is delightful Misti Alpaca Lace in Adrian's "Surprise" colorway.

And then I couldn't. put. them. down.



....so I knit these adorable mini-acorns from Pam Wynne. Aren't they sweet? The box-braid bows fit right over them, so they can be used to hold them together when not being worn.

So, um, yeah. That's what I've been doing. Now, on to the holiday crafting!