Updates on Knitting

I finished the first sock of the Devil's Snare pattern using my Opal Harry Potter yarn. The yarn is probably too busy for this pattern but it makes my geek heart happy so I don't mind one bit. It needs a bit of tailoring to really fit. I think. I just finished the ribbing on sock number two and need to move into the lace again. I really love the heel flap and the pattern in general so I may use it again on a yarn that shows off the lace better. It gives me a good reason to purchase some KnitPicks yarn but honestly who really needs a good reason for yarn shopping :)



Sock number one completed. I started on the ribbing for sock number two. I love how soft this yarn is. My knitting wasn't so grand and I am disappointed in the colorway. I loved it on the skein and it was called "Sapphire" but once knitted it is mostly green and yellow.



These were a lot of fun and knit up very fast. I picked the wrong yarn weight and didn't do a swatch so they were enormous. I gave them to my husband though so hopefully no more cold hands after being up late playing video games.

Books and Knitting

I recently stopped by Frugal Muse in Madison to see if I could find any other copies of books by the Yarn Harlot and was pleased to find one. I of course needed to browse through the rest of the string section and found an inexpensive copy of "In Praise of the Needlewoman" by Gail Carolyn Sirna. Essentially it is a selection of art work spanning 1595-19something showing women playing with string in some manner or other: embroiderers, knitters, lacemakers, etc.

A brief glance through and I found a selection of paintings I always really liked and so I picked it up. And I am glad I did because there are some really wonderful images in there, many of which I have never seen before. It also has me re-assessing some of my favorite paintings. I always thought what drew me to them was the domesticity of woman working on some sort of project. It is what has always interested me about research in the SCA. I don't care at all about wars and kings and trade agreements. It is the domestic arts of history that I want to know more about, and apparently, the more they involve string the better. So, all in all I found the book a lovely bit of eye and brain candy. I have read a few blurbs but sadly I must admit that most of my perusal has been just to look at the pictures.

In other news, yesterday, I needed a bit of me time so I drove over to the Sow's Ear for some happy knitting and coffee time. String really does transcend boundaries. For some reason I can chat with strangers when my hands are full of string and needles. It is kind of a fascinating phenomenon. Anyway, while there I decided to pick up a copy of "The Complete Guide to Natural Dyeing" by Eva Lambert and Tracy Kendall. I haven't been able to afford a copy of the out-of-print "Wild Color" and this book had some similar features that I really liked. I think I also want to pick up a copy of "Teach Yourself Visually: Hand-Dyeing" by Barbara Parry to round out my background information. It had some different techniques and a different approach to teaching. Hopefully between the two I will get a good base knowledge before I start playing with dyes this summer (or at least that is the plan).

As for my knitting right now I have a ridiculous amount of stuff on my needles (at least for me). And I am starting to really branch out in the stuff I am willing to try and the things I want to make. However, I am also finding myself increasingly frustrating at my skill level with knitting. I very desperately need my pattern when it is anything other than garter or stockinette. I need to make little check marks and tallys and I need to re-write things if the original pattern isn't clear enough for me to follow. I know so many knitters who seem to be able to just knit by memory complex laces, socks, and sweaters, and I am completely unfunctional without my pattern. That isn't to say I am not learning. I am starting to recognize mistakes, I am getting better at reading my knitting, and I am even able to look at something when it is finished and understand how it could have been improved with some changes to the pattern but I certainly don't feel comfortable re-working the whole thing. I am also afraid to frog anything unless it is in the early stages. Even if I am unhappy with the results it seems horrific to me just to pull the whole thing apart.

I really want to make a sweater for myself. I have all the tools. The thing is the sweater I want to make has this sort of empire waste where above is just basic knitting and below is the lace pattern. For my basic person I think that in order for it to be flattering the lace will need to start below my breasts. The original model is a significantly more petite woman with much more perky breasts and from some of the other examples I have seen online the sweater really isn't flattering if it doesn't fall correctly. I don't know how to take my swatch piece and then from that figure out how the pattern is going to fall with the increased size so that I can make a flattering sweater from the onset and make alterations if needed. I will be heartbroken if it turns out poorly I think even though I know it is a first attempt. This is where clinging so desperately to my patterns is becoming a problem.

I will get there. I am just not very patient.

Re-reading Jane

I decided to re-read the two novels of Jane Austen's that I have only read once. (Mansfield Park is not included on this list because it took me 6 months to get through it the first time and I just can't do that to myself again.) Usually, I find myself reading Sense and Sensibility or Persuasion, the later being my favorite, when I find my brain in need of a dose of Jane. I don't read Pride and Prejudice anymore simply because the A&E movie version is so faithful to the original narrative that I find it tedious to read what I can watch.

Anyway, I first picked up Northanger Abbey. I honestly can't say why I only read this novel once. I remembered liking it when I first read it but for some reason it just didn't stick the same way that Persuasion did. The characters are beautifully drawn. More than that, it is a joy to watch our heroine, Catherine Morland, grow into a young woman through the progression of events she encounters as the story unfolds. It is fantastic story-telling and is one of the best examples of my favorite element in fiction writing - character development. I am sorry it took me this long to re-discover it.

Next of course was Emma. I was indifferent to this the first time I read it and I still am I suppose though perhaps with a little more educated non-chalantness. Emma is just not necessarily someone I would ever want to take tea with. That isn't to say she is a bad person. On the contrary at the heart of it she is a good person who just hasn't figured out the world yet or rather she is a good person; she is just really bad at it. I think a lot of it is that she lives a life of privilege in a small neighborhood. She doesn't really have a chance to learn from experience because her world presents a predictable set of incidents to react to. Her stubborn misplaced snobbery I think is more the effect of not knowing better and never being given a mirror to see her behavior reflected in.

What I think I respect the most about this book is that Miss Austen created a heroine who is undeniably flawed. She is real because despite all her more charming characteristics she is still just as fallible as the rest of us. This is especially true when compared to some of the other characters in the book. While Emma may never be my ideal friend, I think I would have found her society infinitely more enjoyable than say Mrs. Elton's.

On another note, I was discussing with a friend recently about the fact that Emma is always cast as a blonde in film adaptations (even the delightful "Clueless") when she is never described. And it is true. Emma as a person is never described. The best I could come up with is the repeated references to her as "fair cousin" "fair sister" "fair friend" which is more in reference to her character than her coloring I think but it is possible that someone else misconstrued this. *shrug*

Knitting Progress

As part of my resolution to venture out of my safe zone when it comes to knitting (lumpy squares and stockinette tubes), I decided to try the Devil's Snare Sock pattern. I liked that the lace part was on only one section (my all the way around lace effort turned into epic fail the first time I tried that) and I loved the detail on the heel flap. I even saved my special Opal Harry Potter yarn for this purpose.

I finished the first sock tonight and it didn't go to badly. I had a few false starts but a friend quickly cleared things up. They are a little to big and I think I know how to fix that but I am not willing to frog the sock to do try it (I am conquering one fear at a time here). The variegated yarn doesn't really show off the full effect of the pattern but I still love them and I think I may use the pattern again in the future.

Now, I need to finish the second sock...sigh

"Free-Range Knitter"

I recently picked up a copy of "Free-Range Knitter: the Yarn Harlot Writes Again" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

I was somewhat skeptical. I have seen her blog, and while I do not dislike it, I also never really got into it*. I am not a huge blog reader in general, and I am not much of a person for books that are collections of stories or essays. But, I thought I would give it a try, and I am really glad I did. I enjoyed it immensely; it was honest, thoughtful, insightful and rather witty. It is the kind of writing (aside from perhaps a few style changes) that I always wished I could do.

One of the things I really appreciated about it was that it made me feel more like I belonged. I am neither a very good nor a very fast knitter. I knit because I find the movements relaxing, I like that my boredom can be turned into a sock, I have a somewhat unhealthy addiction to string, and I always feel like I need to be doing something with my hands in order to be really comfortable. Most of my knitting to date has been lumpy dishrags (garter stitch squares of cotton) and basic stockinette socks. I don't look at a pattern and immediately go "I can do that!" Actually, my reactions to interesting patterns are usually jealousy (I wish I could do that), longing (I need that beautiful bit of string), or frustration (even if I get up the courage to do it, it will take forever and come out wrong).

So, I have never really felt like a real knitter. I think about knitting a lot (I think about string more often) but I always feel that I can't be a real knitter until it becomes intuitive. I watch women knitting at yarn stores or gatherings or in public and they knit complex lacy bits of knitting without seeming to need to follow a pattern or even look at their hands. Whereas, I cling desperately to my pattern and make little tally marks to track where I am as I go along. That isn't to say that I think the knitting community is unwelcoming - I have actually found them to be quite the opposite. And, as I have become more exposed to knitters in general I have started to feel more open not only to the fact that despite my deficits I might just be a knitter and maybe just maybe I can start to pick up more complex patterns. But for some reason, I needed to hear the author talking about all sorts of different knitters to be able to truly feel like my own particular idiosyncratic tendencies as a knitter have their place. It helped to bring home to me that I am a knitter when I found myself laughing at the knitting-related references/jokes; it helped to draw me into the shared experience that is being a knitter.

I was a little envious (ok extremely envious) of how much the author is able to find knitting time. I have tried traveling with my knitting but I can't seem to manage it in most circumstances (although it never occurred to me to bring my knitting to the movie theater). I found the bus I was too squished and confined; I think I need my elbows to steer when I am knitting which is difficult to do when I am trying to politely hold them in at my sides. Walking by itself is hazardous at the best of times for me so the idea of walking and knitting seems ludicrous (I used to walk home from school and read at the same time and to this day I am not sure how I managed to keep myself from getting hit by a car). And then there is my charting problem. I need my pattern, especially as I start to explore more complicated applications for my knitting. And while my sock knitting has helped me to better understand how things go together to the point that I am starting to learn how to fix my mistakes I still couldn't turn a heel without my pattern.

So knitting has become sort of a special treat for me. It is special time I steal for myself to play with string. It relaxes and inspires me at the same time even if I am frustrated by how little I get to do compared to how much I want to. Some day I will get to knit all the complex things I am afraid of. Someday I will find the courage to frog something I truly loved that didn't turn out. And some day my stash will be epic and will I make no apologies for that.

So Thank you Stephanie Pearl-McPhee for helping to solidfy in my own mind that I am a knitter. It was a wonderful journey and I shall be looking for more of your books.

*In fairness my visual/tactile learning style can't handle reading that isn't a fiction based novel (I think my dreams of grad school are probably doomed).