I’m working on a much longer post at the moment, but for now this little tidbit will have to do. The Smithsonian Museum, specifically the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, has turned to yarn-bombing their gateway to promote the current Chiharu Shiota Exhibition. The results, as you can see, are spectacular:
Yarnbombing at the entrance to the Freer/Sackler Galleries
There’s even more information and gorgeousness at the Freer/Sackler’s own blog, including background on who did the knitting (the staff of the museum; many of whom learned to knit specifically for the occasion) and what they’re going to do with all the yarn afterwards. Be sure to click on the links to the exhibit itself, which also uses red yarn in a really lovely way to, literally, tie together her installation on the things we leave behind (in this case, shoes).
If you’ve never been to the Freer/Sackler Galleries, the intertwined Asian art museums of the massive Smithsonian complex, you are really missing something. Their collection is not too vast that it’s overwhelming, and it’s beautifully curated, including James McNeill Whistler’s famous Art Nouveau masterpiece, the “Peacock Room.”
Maybe it’s time for a visit to my aunt in Virginia…. hmmmm….
I’ve been out of town for a few days but I’ve somehow managed to complete/start/continue to make progress on many projects (except, of course, the Smalls Challenge project for July — I’ve completely missed the deadline there). However, those will have to wait until tomorrow to get the full attention they deserve. In the meantime, some links for you to enjoy:
I’m not much of a tattoo type (not that I think there’s anything wrong with them, they’re just not my thing), but I think these are gorgeous. Is it weird that I’m kind of disturbed by the ones with needles pictured as sticking through the skin? I guess I have a hard time maintaining proper representational distance; to me, the needles look like they would hurt.
A geeky trifecta: Doctor Who, cross stitch, and a twelve-sided die. (thanks, stitchbitch, for the last two links)
An article on the centenary of the outset of World War I that addresses the eternal fashion question: do the times dictate fashion or does fashion dictate the times? Read all about sleeveless sweaters and “bifurcated garments for feminine gardeners” here.
I love the idea of cross stitch designs being displayed in a gallery setting for charity, but my guess is that most of the designs are criminally underpriced (even for charity purposes).
Sorry I’ve been behind in my postings lately, but, unfortunately, sometimes one has to make earning a living a priority over one’s stitching. A sad but true reality.
Yesterday, in a desperate attempt to do anything besides finish grading the final set of research papers I just received, I cleaned and reorganized my home office. My home office has always had something of a split personality — half Victorian scholar’s cubby-hole, half knitter’s storage unit — but lately it’s taken on a kind of manic, schizophrenic, out-of-control quality that makes it nearly impossible for me to get anything done. Needless to say, on most days I find it hard to work up the energy or the passion to tackle this ravenous beast, but when I’m confronted with a stack of (largely uninspired) papers to grade, I often find myself excited to do all kinds of things that would otherwise be unthinkably dull.
However, my procrastination is your gain, my friends! I have discovered that I have duplicate copies of two very nice knitting magazines, the Fall 2012 issue of Jane Austen Knits and the Fall 2012 issue of Knitting Traditions (pictured below and above, respectively). I don’t know what I could have been thinking about in Fall 2012! Anyway, one or both of these can be yours if you leave a comment below with one interesting observation about your own (bad?) knitting habits.* Good luck to all!
*Special note to international readers: I will try my best to find an affordable way to send your magazine to you, but I reserve the right to cancel this giveaway if the cost of postage becomes prohibitive.
From far and wide, from across the Interwebs (a.k.a. the Electronic Cat Database) and beyond, I bring you all the news from the worlds of knitting and stitching that I could gather this week:
Professor Fonz has done it again! You may remember her designs, like the “Deduction Game Chullo,” from my obsessive posts on the knits featured in BBC Sherlock series (the first one in the series is here). To go with her cardigan based on the popular “The Wallpaper Had it Coming Again” fair isle pattern, the “#SherlockLives Cardi,” she has added a boatneck-style sweater entitled, “Let’s Play Murder.” According to the Ravelry pattern site, it’s “crime-solving at its most luxurious.” I’ve been working on ampersand design’s “The Wallpaper Had it Coming (Again)” mittens which, although based on the same fair isle pattern, is obviously a much smaller design, and I have to agree with Professor Fonz’s assessment that this fair isle patterned sweater is probably not a project to be entered into lightly by someone who is just beginning to work with the fair isle technique. The results speak for themselves, of course:
Continuing in my fine tradition of sneaking in just under the deadline of the grace period (or at least what I think is the grace period), I bring you this month’s (by which I mean June’s) entry for the Smalls Stitchalong (SAL) challenge. This is my version ofBent Creek’s “EduCATed,”a sweet little chart I bought eons ago and have been meaning to do ever since. It combines two of my all-time favorite things: cats and books. Together at last. And a punny title! Who could ask for anything else?
This pattern has two personal connections for me as well. First, the cat in the pattern reminds me a lot of my adorable, big beastie of a boy cat, Barnaby. Here he is in all his glory:
Could I be more handsome?
I took it as a sign from the cross stitch gods that the name of the floss for the cat’s body was Gentle Arts Sampler Threads “Barn Grey.” “Barn Grey” for my grey Barnaby. Serendipity.
Sadly, lately, I spend more time watching that television in the background than I do reading. But I do enjoy old-fashioned hardcover books like the ones in “EduCATed.” My current obsession is collecting all of theCoralie Bickford-SmithPenguin editions. They’re repros, not vintage (obviously), but she uses contemporary colors and styles to capture that nineteenth-century Art Nouveau look beautifully. Here’s a pic of her first series, some of which you can also see in the background fromone of my previous blog entries:
So beautiful… and they will all be mine one day…
So that’s it for today — short and sweet, with some beautiful hardcover books at the end. Seriously, check out the whole collection — it’s amazing.
Update July 27, 2014: In case anyone’s interested (and, I suppose, in case anyone’s not, too), I made some floss substitutions for “EduCATed.” The green book (second from the bottom) and the green in the green-and-gold book (third from the bottom) are two different (very different) dye lots of Gentle Arts Sampler Threads “Dried Thyme.” It’s hard to believe they’ve been sold under the same color name. For the collar and the lines on the book second from the bottom, I substituted “Chesapeake” and for the cat’s eyes I substituted “Olive,” both by Weeks Dye Works. I chose “Olive” because it was a better match for Barnaby’s eyes. For the pages in the books, I substituted color #120 overdyed floss by Needles Necessities.
GIVEAWAY: If you would like my gently used chart for “EduCATed,” post a message below or send me an email and I will send it to you. Thank you for checking out my blog!
Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Americans! And happy “War of American Colonial Aggression” to my British readers! And happy “just plain July 4, 2014” to everyone else! Regardless of where you may be or whether or not you’re celebrating, I bring you the latest from the world of knitting…
Two days ago, it was “all knitting, all the time” on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered news program. First, they gave usthis little gem, the story of how the tradition of knitting continues to flourish in the Shetland Isles, in spite of its recent unexpected oil boom. In light of this juxtaposition of the old, low-tech ways and the new, high-tech economy, this story also balances out its obligatory “granny” reference: “Here in Shetland, knitting is not a hobby reserved for grannies or for hipsters. It’s something people do because they’ve always done it. It’s one illustration of how this island cluster in the North Sea mixes old and new.” A special shout-out to my friend,Stitch Bitch, for drawing my attention to the “granny count.”
Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Knitting America — from border to border and coast to coast and all the ships at sea.Let’s go to press!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The new fallKnittyis online and I’m like a kid in a candy store. My three faves areJasseron, Indigo Cones, andHeart’s-Ease Bouttonière(I include the latter in no small part due to the fact that I worship the ground Franklin Habit walks on).
Three novels that feature the dark, figurative,“kick butt” complexity of quilting, as recommended by Tracy Chevalier. I’ve read two of them (Alias Grace and Beloved) and although I wouldn’t strictly call them “quilting novels,” they’re wonderful. I’ll have to read the Carol Shields novel now to complete my quilting trifecta. The comments section also has some suggestions. Alas… so many books, so little time.
For any knitter in the Los Angeles area: theCraft and Folk Art Museum(on Wilshire Boulevard across the street from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the La Brea Tar Pits) is having an amazing sale on yarn and other knitting- and crochet-related items from their yarn bombing campaign(s). Every ball of yarn is $1. Support a great cause and replenish your stash!
And, speaking of fashion, the knits aren’t the only beautiful items inthis collection, but they do remind us (if we needed it) that knits have a lot of contribute to haute couture. (Thanks to my friend, Ashley Gormley, for pointing out this collection to me).
Alas, there’s a lot of truth to this oldie but goodie…
I’ve had a productive week or two here at Casa “The Lyf So Short” with projects finished and projects started. As thesongsays, “Every new beginning is some other beginning’s end.” Or, if you want to be slightly more literary, my former undergraduate mentor used to quote this line from Great Expectations all the time: “Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together…” Perhaps the equivalent for a knitting blog would be something like: “life is made of so many bind-offs knitted together….” So, in the spirit of beginnings and endings and middles…
Beginnings: I’ve cast on for the Sherlock-themed challenge sponsored by my local Stitch n Bitch group, the West Hollywood chapter. I’m making a pair of“The Wallpaper Had it Coming (Again)” mittensby ampersand designs, a pattern based on the wallpaper in the living room of 221B Baker Street in the BBC Sherlock series (I first mentioned these mittenshere). I’ve also cast on forSpring Kerchiefby Sachiko Uemura in a beautiful silvery gray Colinton Lace yarn from my LYS,Unwind, courtesy of a gift certificate from my generous godfather. Do I “need” either of these projects? No. Will they help me reachmy knitting goals for 2014? No. What was my point again?
Suzie Rogers’ Reading Mitts, Relaxing in a Bowl (love that picot edging!)
Don’t let the length of time between casting on and casting off fool you, this is actually quite a quick project, especially considering that it’s knitted in a relatively small gauge. I usedBlue Sky Alpacas’ Sport Weightin a lovely periwinkle blue, and it knit up like a dream. I wish I had taken “before and after” photos of the blocking process, though, since it made a huge difference in how evenly and consistently the stitches lie. I tend to be a fairly consistent knitter with not a lot of variety in my stitch sizes as I knit, but even my knitting looked a little “lumpy” in places before blocking. I think this had to do with the nature of the yarn itself which has a bit of twist to it.
So I’m doubly pleased with the result, and I highly recommend this pattern to anyone, especially if it’s your first time working a simple thumbhole. The sizing runs the gamut from willowy maiden to beefy-armed serving wench (my size). These mitts are my favorite kind of knitting — a simple but elegant design that packs a lot of punch. Go ahead and check out the pattern’sRavelry pageand all the beautiful photos of the completed projects. You won’t be disappointed.
2014 Smalls Stitchalong (SAL) Logo
And continuing with the finishes… I’ve finally finished my Smalls SAL entries for May. I’ve stitched two “free-bees” (their spelling, not mine) from La-D-Da, one called “A Rose is a Rose” and one called “Fallen Leaf” (both designs are available for downloadhere, along with some other lovelies. I’m currently drooling over their new“Spring Hare”design). I’ve had my eye on the “A Rose is a Rose” design for quite a while now, ever since I decided I wanted to design my own “A Rose is a Rose is a Rose” design and went searching the Interwebs (which John Oliver has hilariously taken to calling “the Electronic Cat Database”) for other cross stitch designs featuring that famous saying.
“A Rose is a Rose” Freebee by La-D-Da
I changed the floss colors; the most obvious effects were to make the rose more purple than the red/mauve that was called for and to make the stem darker. Here are the substitutions I made:
For GAST “Old Red Paint” (the main color for the rose itself), I substituted GAST “Briar Rose” (for some reason, I really liked how the two colors for the rose had the word “rose” in their names — it’s like Shakespearean word-play for the cross stitch set!)
For GAST “Dried Thyme” (the leaves), I substituted GAST “Evergreen”
For GAST “Old Hickory” (the stem and thorns), I substitutedWeeks Dye Works“Bark”
For GAST “Dark Chocolate” (the lettering and border, I substituted WDW “Chestnut (honestly, I can’t imagine this last change made much of a difference)
And here’s the second La-D-Da free-bee I completed, “Fallen Leaf”:
“Fallen Leaf Free-bee” by La-D-Da
For this design, I substituted Weeks Dye Works “Bark” (lettering) and Gentle Arts Sampler Threads “Autumn Leaves” (leaves and border) for GAST “Pine Woods” and “Cinnamon” respectively. I also added another little design element in the middle of the “W” in the word “wave,” fleshed out the leaves a little bit, and changed the “a’s” to a font I liked better. To each her own…
Middles: I’m also continuing to chug away at the presents for my nieces. For Ella, I am working on Annie Modesitt’sFiesta Tea Set. For Lauren (as I’ve mentioned before), I’ve completed the Baby Bobbi Bear by Blue Sky Alpacas, and this week I’m going to finish some sweaters for him to wear about town. ‘Cause he’s fancy… Photos to follow soon. Fingers crossed!
The Good News: Debbie Bliss has just announced abeautiful knitting-themed home collection, including some British-themed knitting accessories and baby gifts. Want, want, want! The colors are bright and joyful, the styling is modern, and the photography is, as usual, top-notch. In many ways, I think of Debbie Bliss as the Martha Stewart of knitting. Her designs are simple but timeless and she’s marketing a lifestyle almost as much as a craft. And, I admit somewhat guiltily, I aspire to that lifestyle, one much removed from my ordinary, beige-carpeted, California apartment life. I’d buy the entire collection if I had that kind of disposable income. For now, I will have to be content with drooling over the images on my computer. I’ve collected a few images here just to give you a little appetizer. Please to enjoy.
English Mustard Double Rib Tea Towel
Rainbow Loopy Lapin
London Red Garter Stitch Mug
Pink Knitting Tote Bag
Harris Tweed Purple Knitting Needle Roll
Slate Grey Moss Stitch Tea Towel
Duck Egg Blue Stocking Stitch Mug
Knitting Aid Apron
London Brick Knitting Needle Holder
The Bad News: as many of you know from my “About” page (or might easily have guessed from the cross stitch design in the right-hand column), I am a big admirer of the Arts & Crafts design movement, and one of my favorite schools of design is theGlasgow School of Art. I am especially enamored of the architect/designer/founder of the school,Charles Rennie Mackintosh. You can learn more about the Charles Rennie Mackintosh society here. Yesterday, there was a big fire at the school which started in the basement and rose all the way to the fifth floor. The extent of the damage to the school’s interior, which is filled with design pieces by Mackintosh, his equally talented wife Margaret MacDonald, other contemporary Scottish Art Nouveau pioneers, and students and teachers from the past century, has yet to be fully determined, but if thenews footageis anything to go by, it doesn’t look promising. In particular, it looks like the school’s library, which was meticulously designed by Mackintosh, has been destroyed (the previous link has “before” and “after” photos).
I am overwhelmed with sadness and the immensity of this loss. If you are able to contribute to the rebuilding fund, please do so. I will be contributing half the proceeds of my“Mackintosh Welcome” designto the fund for the foreseeable future.
If you want to work out your loss with knitting, try thisMackintosh Rose Jacketby Martin Storey, theBeloved Rose Beretby Shuttermonkey Designs, or thisGlasgow Rose Stoleby Lucy Hague. For cross-stitch designs inspired by Mackintosh and the Glasgow School of Art,Heartland HouseandArt-Stitchare the best American designers out there.
This past weekend (nearly a week ago now), I finally cast off on the“Winter Lace Afghan”I was knitting for my roommate’s niece, Asia, and her new husband, Trey. Well, he’s relatively new; they were married last September over Labor Day weekend in a beautiful wedding at a historical lodge in Oklahoma. I started the afghan in early August, thinking it would be a quick knit, since I had some time on my hands that month. I was sorely disillusioned when the knitting gods knocked me down for my hubris. However, I think, according to Emily Post or Martha Stewart or somebody, you have one year to give newlyweds their wedding gifts and still be considered “on time.” [Update: I have since learned that the “one year’s grace period” is a wish-fulfillment myth invented by procrastinators like me. Uh-oh.]
In spite of the unexpectedly long production time, the results are beautiful and I would certainly do this pattern again. However, I would time my knitting so I was only working on the afghan during the winter months. Los Angeles in summer (and this is one of the hottest Mays on record) is no place to be knitting a chunky, wool-blend afghan that weighs half-a-ton. Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick ‘n’ Quick is great, versatile bulky yarn, but it doesn’t exactly “breathe.” Phew!
But, as I said, the results were worth it, and I hope Asia and Trey enjoy their wedding gift for years to come. To the bride and groom!
Another view of the afghan — again, pardon the lighting…
ut-of-control quality that makes it nearly impossible for me to get anything done. Needless to say, on most days I find it hard to work up the energy or the passion to tackle this ravenous beast, but when I’m confronted with a stack of (largely uninspired) papers to grade, I often find myself excited to do all kinds of things that would otherwise be unthinkably dull.
The Lyf So Short 