Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Pre-Sale Jitters

You know what's weird? Before a sale today at Woolcott and Co., I'm getting the jitters. I think it's because I know how crazy I can go during a sale. And with the Pemaquid at 25% off, it might not even stand a chance because I could use some amazing, warm, and colorful alpaca hats. Well, not hats for alpacas but hats for me made out of alpacas (and definitely not made by alpacas though that would be quite a wonder to see)

What else tempts me before a sale?

- Lots and lots of Elsebeth Levold Silky Wool
- All of Barbara Walker's Knitting Treasuries
- Rowan Tapestry (I'm curious about making a Clapotis)
- Anything Elizabeth Zimmerman
- Fun kids yarns for 2 Baby Surprise jackets

Oh there's just too much!

So in 23 minutes, I'm off. Perhaps I should call my credit card company beforehand. Nah! Luckily I have some yarn protection inside that says Thou Shall Not Stash. Plus I may not have as much time for knitting now as the winter is picking up and I'm wanting to pick up some other things for variety such as beading, writing, and most importantly, knitting's new cousin, designing! This may even include a new business by me so be on the lookout. I'd love the support.

What makes you giddy before a yarn sale?

Friday, December 22, 2006

In A Knitting Haze (Mary Poppins Version)

Excuse me in advance, I'm writing this post in a knitting haze. Unfortunately it's the bad knitting haze, not the good one. While I'm waiting for the big spurt of energy to hit me to rip back my Seamless Saddle Shoulder sweater, I've been trying to start a hat. But the same attention required for ripping back is needed with this cast on. One day I will learn Sean's method of long tail cast on requiring no estimation. So now let's try and break through the haze.

The Sweater:

So far I've accomplished:

- The Rocking hem. A beautiful masterpiece of purple/red hem hidden beneath the Coast Grey color of Swish Superwash from Knitpicks. The hem technique is great and made especially easy with the Knitpicks interchangable needles. Doing the hem inspired my first use of a provisional cast on (the crochet method), first time undoing said cast on, and making a hem of any sort. The people who've seen this part so far have enjoyed this color combination. For those searching KnitPicks, look for Swish Superwash in the Coast Grey and Bordeaux. One word of advice though. When doing a hem, do not watch Mary Poppins. Suddenly you'll find yourself singing

"A spoonful of sugar helps the hem come together, the hem come together, the hem come together."

- A Body and Sleeves. I proved it to myself that I have the knitting stamina required for long periods of garment construction. Granted there was no shaping needed except for some m1s on the sleeves but I always doubted that I could do that. Of course Sean never did and once again he's right! But I knew the challenging part was coming ahead. Luckily I had Julie Andrews at my side again.

"When the hem's done and the sleeve's right, when the body's done, I simply remember my favorite knits and then I don't feel so bad"

- Saddle Decreasing. Right before you start the saddles, you do this wonderful decreasing that looks like pearls that just jumped out of an oyster. Small, detailed, but gorgeous when in smooth alignment. To me, this was the most fun I've had with knitting in a while. By a while though I mean since the hem, the sleeves, and the body. This whole project has been a wonderful time.

"Oh it's a jolly holiday with k2togs. No wonder that it's decreases that we love"

Then everything fell apart. Big gaping holes due to the SSKs, more gaping holes due to no W&Ts on the neck, wrong size needles, and revelation that you can be so close but have to start all over again.

"Sad saddle shoulder, sad saddle shoulder, sad shoulder-y,
a weeping is me, a weeping much to see"

But then I remember it's knitting and I can rip it back. If Justin Timberlake can bringing SexyBack, I can bring RippingBack.

And now it really doesn't feel that bad.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

No, I Will Not Confirm/Purl on Demand

It's a restless world enough as it is. But the workplace always seems to magnify that reality to an irritating degree. Constantly the phone is ringing, people are micromanaging you, and making you confirm this or confirm that. ENOUGH!!! I want to look them in the eyes and when they least expect it, whip out my knitting needles and (while still maintaining eye contact because I can knit without looking now) tell them that I'll get to it when I can. There is no emergency

Unless I drop a stitch of course. Then you can send me another pointy red exclamation point e-mail.

That's not life though. Life is a series of unanswered red exclamation point emails and confirmations. Except when you knit. Knitting is this wonderful corner office life where only the corner office exists. You don't need email- who the heck is going to email you about the status of your knit stitches (unless you're designing of course but for sake of argument, no designing allowed)? I'm not having to confirm any sort of knitting behavior to help ease the boredom of a co-worker or satisfy the ego/control nut whom practices micromanagement like it's a religion. No, my needles are my only supervisors. All they ask is for good wool and lots of use. Now there's a job description.

I guess I'm learning how I operate now. I'm not a fan of interruptions in my daily work. Actually, I'm quite content with doing the same thing all day as long as I can track some progress. I'm one person who is not ready to be pulled in many different directions because it confuses the mind, which can be managed if you're doing something you enjoy, but not so easily when it's not your passion.

So much of the knitting I do is an expression of where I'm at in my life. I consider myself an ambitious knitter in the sense that I step outside of my own comfort level in order to achieve results that will increase my confidence. I'm hoping to find a career that brings out that excellent side in me but I've still yet to make up my mind. I know that whatever I do, my knitting will follow. But I don't want it to follow me as a relief from my daily activities- I want them as an extension of my happiness that I know is possible in work. Luckily I'm learning there are a variety of skills that can be self taught that I'm interested in- programming, proofreading, editing, entrepreneurship, design. Funny isn't it? A lot of those skills remind me of knitting.

I like how life is nothing but a stitch sometimes.

Thursday, December 7, 2006

10 Things Thursday

Ten Things Thursday

A brief read- the best kind sometimes.

1) I usually can't function without some sort of white noise. I have a fan on at my desk and in my bedroom at all times to drown out the silence.

2) My favorite dish is a simple Pad Thai from the small Thai place near my apartment. When I had bad strep throat in May and couldn't eat anything, I mustered up all my energy and pain coping powers just to eat it. It was the only meal I had for days.

3) I haven't finished my education yet. I've been in a holding pattern trying to figure out what I want to do- I don't want to go back to school now just for the sake of doing so.

4) I get to work an hour early every day- sometimes I'll catch up on emails. Most of the times I'm either reading the blogs or (now) knitting. My work is quite accustomed to seeing me during the morning in our cove area that overlooks Boston Harbor.

5) I'm not phased by commute times and things like that. I have an hour commute every morning but I've always had it so don't feel like it's too long or feel the need to get upset about it.

6) My dream is to be a freelance something. For a while I played around with the idea of being a Freelance Stripe Designer. If you know anyone looking for someone who can play with stripes well on a computer, please give them my contact info. A stripe portfolio can be furnished upon request.

7) One phrase that makes me shudder in absolute pain: "mass produce" My ex used it. You can make the deduction from that one...

8) I believe that knitting and Netflix are the perfect combination for urban life. When I get home from work and immerse myself in these two worlds, I feel at peace. Mostly I like to rent DVDs of TV series but I also have a fondness for things like Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Jane Eyre and etc.

9) I get wicked bad allergies. I used to think it was because I was allergic to school. Now, I just think it's annoying and a waste of sick days.

10) I realized that my neighborhood in Boston (Allston) has whole blocks dedicated to nothing but food. In the span of a few minutes, I can pass a Chinese restaurant, a coffee/dessert shop, a Korean restaurant, a Vietnamese restaurant, Italian place, Thai place, Mexican place, Indian, Asian BBQ, Pub fare, Asian bakery, Bubble Tea palace (at least to me). It's a whole kingdom of food!

Monday, December 4, 2006

How to EZ Tension

Well, another weekend has ended. I expected to return to work all in knots and unprepared for the work week. Instead, I entered the door with a wonderful vigor brought on upon the first snow and left with the same upbeat attitude. Today was one of those amazing knit days. I was able to gift an Irish Hiking Scarf in Cashmerino Aran to a friend (pictures this weekend hopefully). Her expression was of course worth all the hours that I put into it. I felt like I lived with the project and really understood how it worked by the time it was over. Blocking it was like getting prepared to say goodbye. Then, when it was all rolled up with a ribbon tied around it, I felt like I was giving a new friend to another new friend. I can already tell this will be a scarf she'll wear for years.

While the joy of giving a present is hard to top, my weekend proved that I can be a master of my domain. Ok, not really. But I learned that I can turn a darn good hem. I'm starting my first Elizabeth Zimmerman sweater- and it's more than I could have imagined it to be. Some people might say the endless stockinette for the body is mind numbing and there might be some truth there. It's just what I need right now. I feel a great joy come over me as I'm working on this. It doesn't look like much now. Not much at all in fact. If you were to see me while I'm working on it, you'd be overwhelmed with this little grin I have on my face. That's where the power is- you'd know there's some magic going on there.

The only bothersome aspect is the Barbara Walker inside of me providing some discontent about all the stockinette. All the time it's

"Throw in some cables!'

"You have so much of that lovely Bordeaux color left over- why not do some mosaic knitting?"

"Come on, you can at least do a stripe Jeff"

"What about that sideways stitch on Jamesey? You always liked that one"

"STEEK IT! STEEK IT NOW!"

"Pssst. I'll give you a dollar if you do some twisted stitches"

But I have to put her and her nagging to rest. Barbara, this is MY sweater. You can offer me your entire Treasury series but I won't budge on this; My Official EZ Tension Relief Sweater in fact. A suitable first project for the blog, no?

The two knitting forces in my brain are at work but I have to let one of them take a break for a while.

Now it's time for...

HEINOUSLY TENSE MOMENT

This time, my tense moment comes in the form of this whole blogging situation. I put so much pressure on myself to describe my knitting but the faceless crowd that is blogging makes it difficult for me. I love writing letters for instance- it gives me an exact audience to appeal to that I can steer my content towards. But this situation incurs so much tension. Who's going to enjoy what I'm reading? I'm always wanting to talk about how knitting makes me feel- to me it's just as important as what I'm knitting. I didn't want to write anything actually- why blog in the first place if it's not going to fit for me?

I'll tell you why. My attitudes toward blogging are equivalent to this sweater knitting. The people whom I've really discussed knitting with know I was putting all this pressure on myself to make this first sweater- worrying about all the details. I think I took 2 weeks just to pick out the hem facings yarn. Wanting something to be just right is antithetical to progress if you take it that seriously. I don't want to do that anymore.

One more entry made. A sweater on the needles.

I'd say another tense moment has been overcome.