blue belle!

Here are the first photos I've taken
(as modelled by my lovely assistant Myrna)
of my current project "blue belle" Myrna is a bit slimmer than I, so the work is a bit drapier on her than me.
On me, it is quite fit-and-flair, and very flattering indeed.

This is knit entirely in the round with increases and decreases for shaping. I was under the impression that I'd posted my sketches for this one, but that does not seem to be true.

So, see below for my artist's rendition of what I'd like this to be like:

Still to come are: Arms- sleeves- I've got 'em, even if Myrna doesn't, and I intend to cover them. They will be long, slightly flared with purled trim.

Also to do:
A high ribbed turtle neck, purled trim at the hem, and, the coup de resistance( or, perhaps, the coup de grace), steeks up the front and a zipper!

In layman's terms it means that after all of this hard work, I will risk it all by cutting up the center seams to open the garment up into a cardigan!
whoopee! I do live for danger....

This project has been so much fun-
and the beauty part? No Pattern!

just knit, try on, knit try on, adjust, add, try on.
how freeing....
(I take NO credit for "designing" this garment-The basics for this came from Stephanie Japel's excellent instructions on her Glampyre knits site for the raglan swaeter from the top down, plus many other inspirations and advice already out there. )

What does not show up well in the photos:
how lovely the llama/alpaca wool is, how rich the color, and how unbelievably frigging cool those gussets are!
I love gussets anyway, and these just shape the whole thing so marvelously....
this is (famous last words) truly painless sweater making.

This is indeed the same yarn I had in my shower all those months ago- for once I did as I said I would, and am USING UP MY STASH!!!

How very virtuous I feel. Not really- this stuff is so lovely and tempting it would be impossible NOT to use it. I have lots of other stuff that require more imagination and foresight...

Okay, so onwards- sleeve it is!

spheres...

OK, so here is my "soccer ball" in progress, an odd, knobby affair with pointed sticks and glowing green rubber ends.
Now I am in the stuffing stage, and hope to post the finished object very soon indeed.
I learned a lot doing this project, and feel very confident about making all kinds of 3d structures.
However, this project was likened by it's author on the site "needle exchange" as being "the Garfield the Cat of Knitting projects", translated, this means it's easy and great for the very lazy among us. I am not lazy but am, apparently quite stupid: I had to redo constantly on this- I would blithely knit up a 5 sided shape when a 6 sider was needed, etc....
this is luxuriously knit in hand spun hand dyed goods from "Done Rovin'" farms in Maine- the dark red is wool, the Monet colored hexagons are silk and alpaca. The wool was nice, but the real reason for the silk and alpaca becomes clear the minute it's on the sticks: it glides and flows like water cascading, and it pure tactile poetry on the fingers....



This picture shows it semi-stuffed- I ran out of cotton balls mid way.
It has, as you can see, a charming sputnik-like quality, pointy but not terribly fierce.

Yarn mobiles!

These pictures show my bathroom a week ago, festooned with "mobiles" of washed and drying alpaca yarn!
Note the technique here:
A hank of yarn is tied into a large loop, gently hand-washed in warm water and a dollop of baby shampoo, and carefully rinsed. Then loop the yarn over a coat hanger and hang in the shower to drip dry. Subsequent hanks are treated the same way, but with their coat hangers hanging on the yarn PULLING IT TAUT!
A bag with a weight is hung on the bottom hank, to pull it too.

Why all of this palaver?

well, true to my last posting on the dreaded "mulesing" issue, I have been prepping wool I already have to be used. Stash depleting excercise in action here.

This yarn, a lovely chunky blue alpaca had been mostly knit by a friend into a very dense bulky sweater that I was not inclined to finish, let alone wear.

She had generously given me lots of lovely yarn but some had already been started into projects.

When you re-use yarn, you must wash and straighten it first, to release the "memory"- the kinks from the already knitted loops. This is a bit of work, but not at all difficult.

First:

frog your UFO, unraveling it, then winding it into a wide hank of yarn. Tie in three places with bits of string.

Second: hand wash the hanks in warm water with a bit of baby shampoo, and gently rinse.

Third:

hang to dry, with weights to pull the yarn straight, as shown!

viola- your yarn, is clean, straight and fluffy.

Ready for that fabulous new project!

This works for vintage sweaters you want to re-use the yarn from, projects half completed, ready to be frogged(unravelled), or any other yarn you wish to prep for knitting.

you know the mantra: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

on that note,

check out this terrific website/store: http://www.earthfriendlyyarns.com/

Earth Friendly Yarns has a wonderful range of yarns and accessories all guilt-free!

Mulesing

Amend my last posting.

I am going on a stash-purging spree instead, and will be frugally making stuff with what I've already got.
Why? you might ask...
Is the reality of the recession finally hitting me?
Well, yes and no.
I HAVE been buying too much yarn with abandon lately, but that is not the real reason for my sudden abstinence and puritan rigor within my craft.
No indeed.
It is something much more horrific,
something that I had not even considered until I saw a link on the Knitty.com site.

Unsavory and cruel practices regarding sheep, called MULESING.

Read about it here:
http://www.savethesheep.com/animals.asp

Here is what wikipedia says:
"Mulesing is the surgical removal of strips of wool-bearing wrinkle skin around the tail of a sheep.[1] [2] Mulesing is common practice in Australia as a way to reduce the incidence of flystrike on Merino sheep in regions where flystrike is common.[2]
Veterinary opinion considers muelsing a necessary animal husbandry practise in providing for the general welfare of sheep in areas of Australia[3] however some animal welfare advocates strongly oppose mulesing, and say mulesing without anesthesia is cruel and painful, and that more humane alternatives exist.[4] It is expected to be phased out in Australia by 2010,[2][5] and has already been phased out in New Zealand.[6]"

This is a nice way of putting it, as any of the pictures on the animal rights pages will show.

Do a Google search and see for yourself. This is no way to treat ANYTHING, let alone a social, sentient creature with nerve endings and a family.


I am truly disgusted and angry about this.



I started knitting as a peaceful non-violent craft, meditation and pass time.
It is a form of therapy for me, as it is for many others out there.
I always thought that sheep LIKED being sheared, and have a city-person's idealized view of country life.





In other words, I am an ignoramus when it comes to farm-life.



like many of my upper-middle class, citified brethren, I do buy a lot of expensive hand-spun and dyed stuff from small farms, where, I still believe, the flocks are treated respectfully and well.



It is, as ever, the big production animal husbandry folks who on a grand scale are the culprets committing unspeakable atrocities. For example,The US meat industry is truly disgusting, and foreign ones no better.



Buy small-scale for more reasons than one.
Pay more for carefully and respectfully reared organic meats and one should be OK, or at least that's my theory.
Wool I had not given a thought to.





I HAD thought about the negative environmental impact sheep have when grazing- they destroy all plant life in their paths, eating it all down to the quick, and leaving barren land that erodes behind them. Small wonder that sheep herders were traditionally nomads.



Nowadays shepherds are not nomads, and no longer want to watch their flocks- therefore they are up in arms about wolves and coyotes and bears and any other predators that might come by. As the sheep are kept in pens it's like going to the superette for the carnivores. I am less-than-sympathetic with all of this.



We must all live together, and if they were doing their jobs on a reasonable SCALE, that is with flocks of a watchable size, that migrated, and had shepherds with them, this would not be happening.



But now this:
Mulesing.



And I HAVE bought Merino from a big company in Australia recently. To make matters worse,
it was expensive and has not worked well for the sweater I knit from it. I need to check and find out if this brand is culpable or not. The idea makes me sick to my stomach.



Therefore:
I am using what I have.
If any damage has been done, it was done a while ago.



I have some lovely blueberry colored llama wool a friend gave me, that I am planning a top-down steeked(!) cardigan with. it should be gorgeous.
and a laptop cover with LOTS of colors,
and my huge seashell, in a lovely ropey white wool purchased long before any awful painful, bloody sheep cruelty entered my consciousness.



I am not sorry knowing- it is better to know about such things and act accordingly.
But-
I am sad.
How come human ingenuity so often results in barbarity?
Why are we so drawn to it?
Water boarding is, it seems, only one lovely example of our creativity.

what I am thinking about making...

Okay, so here's the problem with using MODELS on these pictures....

I KNOW that I do not resemble them, and that they have nothing to do with the garment they wear, but I suspect I am still swayed by them and that their attitude and good looks have a stake in my selection process...

This one below, is the sweater I THINK I am going to make next, after I finish the dauntingly long and big cardigan coat I am currently plowing through...

It is pretty but tom-boy wearable enough for me, a good summer knit, and a chance to play with cables. Plus, I want it.







These pictures are all from from Taki/Stacy Charles

(SEE: http://www.tahkistacycharles.com/dyn_category.php?k=74276)

which has some really stunning patterns and wool that comes in colors I'm not really fond of. Lots of bright mixes. However, their patterns rock...Here was my second choice, which is from the most-excellent genius Teva Durham. Loop-d-loop has yarns and patterns on the Taki/Stacy Charles site. This one, which really looks SOOO Joan of Arc to me, is only marred by the model and what she is wearing with her gorgeous jacket.

(see- it DID affect my thinking...)

this in some tweedy/mossy/muddy color or maybe a garnet red...

mmmmm.....



I swear half of the charm of knitting is THINKING about knitting (and playing with one's stash- oh- and hoarding...)

Ok, this last example, above, also from the Taki/Stacy Charles site, knitted in something called "cosmos", is really fetching, but not me.

Really- when and where would I wear this????

I love this slit sleeves and shell buttons, but think this is WAY too feminine a look for me.

Also, I am SURE in this instance, that it is just because I would like to look like this model: look at her coloring, that mouth! she is really, really pretty, and it's getting in the way of my sweater judgement. If I make that sweater, I do not automatically gain her coloring or looks, I just get me in that sweater.

Conclusion:

despite how really alluring gorgeous photography of beautiful models in lovely settings is- I would really prefer to see the garment plunked onto a bust form with a plain background.

Except that- bust form don't have arms, have idealized bodies too, and no skin tone at all.

so-

what's the answer?

Dunno.

I have been enjoying Interweave Knits "Knitting Daily" messages, which often post "galleries" of different women with different body types wearing the same sweater. They discuss how to make various adjustments for better fit to each type, and it is illuminating to see how different everyone looks in the same garment. The way the color works or does not work with the wearer is also fascinating...

WHAT I AM MAKING now!:

This beautiful cardigan Flicca, is from designer Anna of "My Fashionable Life" (see: http://needleandhook.co.uk/journal/fashionable_life_knits_patterns_to_buy/)

I pinched this photo from her site and hope that she doesn't mind as I am no end of complementary about her work!

Her company , Needle & Hook Offers stunning and subtle patterns to buy, or you can commission her to make one for you. She has excellent, restrained but stylish taste. I am really looking forward to wearing this coat, which I am making in charcoal grey wool. It is not, however, so exciting to knit. I like more variety. Having said that- I am not at the challenging bits yet: the short rows, which I've never tried, doing the collar on huge circular needles... many challenges await with this one. Her directions are clear and easy-to-follow and it's nice to be buying an original pattern form a talented and real person not a huge company. I thought I was ok with a bigger project, but am getting daunted...

peruvian vampire cats!

Well, I've finished it-
though I did not get a picture of the back, which features a mama and baby cat...
it is super-soft, and should fit for quite a while, given that the ties can easily expand the circumfrance of the wee one.
The shower was today, so I can safely post this.
I am really pleased with how it came out and hope that it keeps baby H cozy and snug.
That "Baby Yoda" pattern is a wonder-
look it up on "Dogs Steal Yarn".
I love the web for the way people are so willing to share, and how one can see how many really talented, creative and generous folks really are out there. Quite heart-warming, really.

All about Gilded Lily

"Gilded Lilly" is the rather over-the-top evening bag I just finished.
Here is how she came about....















When I started working on "Gilded Lily " I had two completly different aesthethic
influences at work.

The First one was:
1950-1960's Hollywood, as epitomized by Natalie Wood...
This picture in particular, or rather a variation of it, were what stuck in my head.
In the other version ( unavailable on-line) she is sitting at a dinner table checking her makeup with a knife. You can seel the whole place setting, crockery, etc.
As is this version, she is very pretty in a fresh way, and yet, not. She is self-conscious of her beauty, perhaps anxious about it, and has chosen to check herself out in the reflection of her dinner knife.

This was apparantly a habit with her, and a really odd and psychologically loaded one at that. She looks "good enough to eat", and yet as an actress concerned about maintaining her figure at a dinner party, in all likelyhood, not about to eat much.
She is not so much concerned with eating, she is narcissistically with others looking at her, and the impression she makes.
So, ultimately not-too-flattering, this.
Yet I was inspired by the odd juxtapostion of real natural beauty and youth and the kind of jaded, corrupted world she occupied.
The jewelry, eye-liner and brocade dress all add up to the message in this picture, and I can easily imagine her carrying a clutch bag like "Gilded Lilly" with her- complete with unused compact mirror!

Influence number 2:

Perhaps less odd:


















The gilded and mosiac clad San Marco in Venice!
During my stay in Venice last springI was reading the most excellent "Venetian Colour: Marble, Mosaic, Painting and Glass, 1250-1550"by Paul Hills, a superb analysis of the spectrum used in Venitian art, and the cultural and historic associations of such a palette.

The section on gold was particularly good, and the way the mosiacs shift in the light, becoming firy and vibrant, and then dull and retreating into the gloom, depending on ones angle and movemement.

This yarn i've used for the purse body , Berrocco "Quest", is truly the most metalic yarn I've ever seen, and seems to embody this quality perfectly.
The geometric lozenge shapes are somewhat byzantine, and echo some of the extrordinary floor mosiacs and the jeweled Pala D'Oro screen in the back of San Marco.




















The glass bauble on the bags front, which hold the ribbon and hides the magnetic closure is a hand-blown little something from Murano.

Which leads me back to 60's Hollywood and kitsch.
How can something so magical and intrisically lovely be used for such appalling ends?
Just the name "Murano Glass" conjure up images of swollen coffee table clowns, huge parrots on ungainly glass trees, and jelly-fish chandliers studed with flowers.

hmmm, maybe the two aren't so unrelated after all....



In that same spirit, I purchased these shoes (at a very low price, I may add- thrifty and fashionable, I am....) first ogled by me in a venitian shoe store window, and dismissed as too frivolous.
However,
somehow,
I just had to have them.
and they do go together, right?



For more photos of "Gilded Lily", please see the previous posting below.