Hand Knitting Blog & Knitting Patterns
I snapped Sophie as she ran out the door today, with Leelee hot on her heels…eager to pursue snowballs…
So I put together this ad for Ravelry, it is a group banner ad…I never remember the mad rush to get a better ad placement…so what are your favorite ravelry groups?
This is Hmmmm…2 since Hmmmm…1 didn’t allow comments, hope this one will.
My current knitting is fun, but endless. Fun because I love to swatch. Endless because I have to make 200 of them and they are getting progressivly larger. Which makes them more interesting, but also more time consuming, each requiring a little more attention. I bring them everywhere with me. Tote them around in a plastic bin which though a ugly, holds everything nicely, and can get squashed without breaking. At home I move from window to window, to capture the best of the day’s natural light.
Above you see me in the living room. Surrounded by books, and pondering buttons. I’m able to read during the most boring parts of the knitting, and glance at inspiring pictures during the other parts. I find the dinner hour approaches startlingly fast, so I’ve got my funny old fashioned French Cooking in 10 Minutes, from 1930, sensible and hilarious at the same time.
“The first thing you must do when you get home, before you take off your coat, is to go to the kitchen and light the stove. It will have to be a gas stove, because otherwise you’ll never be able to cook in ten minutes.
Next fill a pot large enough to hold a quart of water. Put it on the fire, cover it and bring it to a boil. What’s the water for? I don’t know, but it’s bound to be good for something.”
As a rule I jump on bandwagons at the last moment…when I learned of today’s topic for Knit and Crochet Blog Week: “One Great Knitter” I knew it was about time I introduced you to Cynthia. You may know her as the author of what is indisputably the greatest book on Andean knitting: Andean Folk Knitting Traditions and Techniques from Peru and Bolivia. The book is so wonderful it boggles the mind, scholarly yet entertaining, it includes history, travelogue, techniques explained in detail, charted motifs, charming patterns – everything I love in a knitting book double-plus! I think its my favorite knitting book of all time, and it was the ONLY book to survive our house fire, crazy, lying atop the coals. Sadly the book is out of print, and perfectionist that she is, Cynthia would like to update it before releasing it again.
My recent trip to Peru was hosted by Cynthia, who’s organization Behind the Scenes Adventures takes small groups of fiber enthusiasts on journeys all over the world – Mali, Mexico, Turkey, Laos, India. The theme of my trip was Textiles and Archeology, an apt combination as Peru has one of the most ancient textile traditions in the world, and a perfect combination for my mom and I, since shes an archeology buff and well…you know about me. It really took touring the archeological sites to grasp the full impact that textiles have on the region, and I thank Cynthia for bringing that understanding into full focus.
Cynthia herself is a delight to be with, eminently knowledgeable, effervescently cheerful with a natural curiosity that knows no bounds. She tirelessly herded us from one fantastic location to another. She’s been to Peru a zillion times, knows everyone everywhere, knows what’s good to eat, where to shop and for what, and is never to busy to pause and describe a complex technique. Oh Lordy, I could write all night and into tomorrow and still not capture how truly inspiring Cynthia is and why I admire her so much. She is beyond a doubt One Great Knitter.
This has been the month for surprises in the mail. Yesterday I got my copy of The Joy of Sox by Linda Kopp, published by the friendly folks at Lark Books. What fun this book is, not to mention handy, with its spiral lie-flat format.
You’ll find my fair isle Boyfriend Socks in the collection of 30 patterns by 28 designers. I’ve got to admit I truly love my old fashioned socks, with traditional fair isle border patterns worked in a colorway that fills me with happiness – for the rib, toe and heel, a dark heathery green with glints of blue, which I countered in the center rounds, with a lovely pale, winter-sky blue. The colorway really reflects the colors of deep winter in Maine, dark pines, amber grasses, leafless branches and pale skies.
One might think given it’s title, the book would be too cute, however you’ll find cheerful instructive how-tos, sweet funny stories and useful essays like Laura Bryant’s bit on predicting patterns in hand-dyed yarns. Plus gorgeous photography by Lynne Hart, no easy task, keeping photographs of socks interesting, pretty and lively through 175 pages.
Is the Joy of Sox inspiring? Holy Mackerel! Who wants to do their own pressing secret projects when there are 29 sock patterns just begging to be knit? I may have to succumb and just knit off a quick pair of Quickie Socks by Susan Pierce Lawrence, worsted weight, a simple broken rib pattern with an elegant, comfortable look.
The new Fall Twist Collective is up! I’m so pleased with the issue, and especially happy with they way my hats were photographed, so pretty!
I based the flower motif on a favorite wildflower Cinquefoil which grows in our field. The plant was used in traditional folk medicine to cure fever and was included in many medieval love potions and potions to scare off witches. I love its small sunny blossoms, and have them in a tiny jar by my sink this week, to cheer me while I do dishes. I hope the hat will remind knitters of sunny summer days throughout the year!
Early last spring when the snow was still on the ground I had a delightful visitor, and esteemed visitor, a laugh out loud visitor, Julia Farwell-Clay. Julia, of Moth Heaven, and Twist Collective was assigned the task of interviewing me for an article, which has just been published in Interweave Knits!
First of all I’m flattered that Eunny wanted to do it, and secondly I’m so happy that Julia is the journalist.
I met Julia a while back while working as stylist on the very first issue of Knitscene, when we shot one of the stories in her fantastic house. She was the perfect hostess which meant leaving us entirely alone and appearing serene as she passed by and found we’d moved furniture, and ventured deep into the far reaches of her home. We notice a lot of knitting going on too, here and there throughout the house. I’d always lamented not getting a chance to really talk with her then, since her house revealed such an imaginative, dynamic life.
Dream come true!
Thanks Julia, Thanks Eunny, Thanks Interweave Knits!
