Finished Objects and a Wee Rant about Size

As promised this post has knitting content. Including finished objects, my first cables, a shrug that fits, and a book I love.

I just finished the One Skein Single Cable Scarf. I knit it with the Blue Sky Alpaca's Dyed Cotton. I should mention, if I haven't already, this is quickly becoming my most favorite yarn. It's soft, it feels good, it knits beautifully, and it's grown organically. Yumm.

Got Cotton Cables?

I loved this pattern. Fast, simple, and yes my first go at cables. Who knew it would be so simple to add such great detail. I, for some unknown and silly reason, erroneously had it in my head that cables would be hard. There not. And I'm so pleased that their not that I've gone cable crazy - I've just cast on the Rib and Cable Gaiter from the same book, and the Headline News News Boy Hat from Stitch and Bitch Nation. Give me a couple weeks and I'll be all cabled up.

I also made another of the One Skein Wonder Shrugs and this time it fits. I used the Blue Sky Alpaca's Dyed Cotton again this time, and the same size 6 needles but I made it 3 sizes larger and it fits. Fits just the way I want it to fit in fact. I like this pattern a lot, it knits up fast and makes a sweet little garment. My only complaint, and this is becoming an irritant with lots of patterns, I shouldn't have to knit a double XL, I think of myself as a pretty average sized girl.

my model is half my size

This past week I ordered a copy of Moreno and Singer's Big Girl Knits. I LOVE THIS BOOK! Really, it became an instant favorite. Mostly because I do think of myself as a pretty average sized girl, average with a bit of tummy and booty the size of Texas, but average. And it's more than just a bit tiresome to have to knit the extra large measurements given in most knitting patterns. I don't want to rake the muck, but I'm not, nor have I ever been a size 2, and I personally don't know even a single knitter that is. So what gives? Who wears all those itty-bitty garments...?

Back to the book - I LOVE THIS BOOK! It's smart, and funny and written with wit. It's chuck-full of good advice on really important things like which necklines work for a busty bust, which hem lines look best on a booty like mine, how to emphasize your waist, and draw attention to your curves. It also gives really thorough instructions, including the math, to make any pattern fit you just right. It also has beautiful patterns. The kind of patterns that sent me straight to my Ravelry queue to line 'em all up. If you're a truly big girl, or even an average girl with curves, I highly recommend this book. I for one have got some serious knitting to do, and I look forward to the fit.

Doing My Part to Live a Little Greener

So it's been awhile since I've posted about ways in which I've been doing my part to live a little greener and love my planet a little more, but I have been making changes, some big and some small.

First the big, and really the least interesting. We've just finished upgrading the house, we did a new furnace, A/C, duct work, weatherizing, attic insulation, and a new tank-less hot water heater. The City of Austin and Texas Gas both have some great rebate programs to encourage more efficient energy use, and of course we went with the greenest choices all the way around.

I've gotten serious about the back yard compost pile also. The City of Austin does collect yard waste separately and composts on a large scale, but the kitchen compost had been going in the trash until recently. I was inspired by my neighbor who had stopped by to let the dogs have a romp while I was making a giant pot of soup. As I was about to toss the pile of scraps and peelings she asked if she could have them, stating her compost pile was a little heavy on leaves and needed the nutrients. I let her take that pile home, and have since started my own pile out back. It easy and sort of fun, and since I have every intention of putting in my vegetable garden next spring all that black gold will come in handy.

Lastly, we've made the switch to biodegradable poop bags for the dogs. It may seem small but I've always felt really horrible about the plastic bag consumption in this house. I have always justified it by telling myself that I was recycling the plastic shopping bags by using them to clean up after the dogs. Well no more! I don't accept plastic shopping bags anymore, anywhere and I buy the biodegradable bags for the poop. I feel better about it. I saw on my local news recently that the City of Austin is considering a city wide ban on plastic shopping bags. They have asked retailers to try it on a volunteer basis while they figure it out. We would apparently be the second city in the nation to institute such a ban the other being San Francisco. It's great to live in a city that at least tries to encourage it's citizens to live a little greener and do their part for the planet.

Next post - knitting content.

A Frenzy (hardly) of Finished Objects

At last I finished the Montego Bay Scarf, sans fringe. It was the fringe that was holding up the show. The scarf has been knit and blocked for a couple weeks, waiting for me to muster the motivation to add all that fringe. But enough is enough, I wore the scarf around the house yesterday and decided it's perfectly lovely without the fringe. And since it's finally getting to be scarf and sweater wearing weather here in Austin I wove the ends and declared it FIN!



Last week while the other half was in Austria I finished The One Skein Wonder Shrug by Glampyre. I used Blue Sky Alpaca's Dyed Cotton, quickly becoming my favorite yarn. The shrug is cute, and fast to knit. The only trouble is it was also itty-bitty. All is not lost though, I'll give it as a gift to someone much smaller than I, someone who will love it, or at least pretend to, and I'll make myself another a couple sizes larger this time. In fact I've already started.



Have a safe and happy Halloween.

I took the pledge

This morning I took the pledge, the pledge to buy handmade this holiday season and to encourage others to do so also. It wasn't really hard to take this pledge, I buy mostly handmade anyway. Or make things. I do it for myself, and I do it for my gift giving.

I've said it before (right here on this blog) and I'll say it again - I believe in the crafting revolution, I believe that we as crafters, and the people who support them, can create an economy outside of the big box marketplace. I believe everyone should LIVE ARTFULLY and BUY HANDMADE!

Think about it, buying handmade often means getting a higher quality product. Buying handmade means your getting something mostly unique, something that' not quite the same as everyone else's. It also often means buying locally, or at the very least more locally, and that my friends is good for the environment.

So I ask each of you to at a minimum follow the link to The Buy Handmade Consortium, and show your support, buy handmade, if not everything, at least a little bit. Thanks!

Pomp and Circumstance

Aaron Johnson (Rescued Mutt no. 3) graduated from Basic Training at the Lee Mannix Center for Canine Behavior this past week. Needless to say I'm proud. He was the youngest pup in his class, he's just 5 months, and pretty much off the curve. And it's not just me who thinks so either, so does the trainer and everyone else in class. He'd have made the honor roll if there was such a thing. Congratulations, Good Boy Aaron.

Obviously I love all my dogs, they are all good dogs, but I love them all for different reasons and in different ways, because they are all very different dogs. For example; Aaron is the smartest, he's also the baby of the family, and therefore the silliest. Layla is the neediest, the neurotic one. She's also the most elegant, and gentlest dog I've ever known. She's a lady. She has a way with making other people and other dogs feel at ease, everyone who meets her loves her. The Mike is the affectionate one, the most attentive and loving. He's the giant lap dog. He's also a complete meat head, which cracks me up.

One thing all my dogs have in common is we train together. Next up for Aaron will be an Honors course and his Canine Good Citizenship Test. Layla and Mike both do Agility and will be trying Rally Obedience after the New Year. Mike has already passed his CGC Test. Way to go Mike! Layla has tried and failed - she is too attentive to the "stranger" and the "strange dog approaching". Mostly I like that she fails the test because she's too sweet, and we'll continue to take the test from time to time, just for fun.

Training isn't just an hour a week for us, it's an everyday thing. Everyday we walk, and every walk is a training opportunity. Everyday we play, and practice, and think together. Everyday we take advantage of whatever opportunity we have to spend quality time together. We do it because it's fun. We do it because it makes me proud and them confident. We do it because it brings us closer together. We do it because a good dog is just that much nicer to be around. We do it because there is nobody I'd rather spend my time with than these three good dogs.

Be the Change: Art Clothing As Expression

As I mentioned ever so briefly in a previous post I am participating in a wearables show at Ripple River Gallery in Minnesota. The show - Be the Change: Art Clothing as Expression opens October 17th with an artist reception on October 20th, and will stay up thru December 9th.

I've known about the show for some time and have had several projects that either I decided were too ordinary, or that I didn't love enough. However, most recently I decided that a shawl of my own design from this bundle of color and delicious fibers was going to be the ticket.

The gathering of colors and fibers

The finished object is not only extra-ordinary, I also love it. The color combination and fibers all worked beautifully together. The shawl has a beautiful hand, and drapes well. It will be a pleasure to wear. This was my contribution to the show.

The shawl close up

The shawl full length

If you happen to be in MN, you should try and find your way to the Ripple River Gallery. This show happens to be just in time for fall colors, and I'm sure will feature many innovative pieces from some very talented artists.

ETSY TX Crafters Trunk Show

I'll be participating, although not attending, the ETSY TX Crafters Trunk Show at the Etsy Labs in NY City Sept 28-29. See http://www.etsytx.org for more details & join in all the fun!!!

Nothing Makes a House Feel Like Home....

Nothing makes a house feel more like home than curtains you've sewn for yourself. Or so said my friend in Berkeley when my friend in Iowa City took me to the fabric store to pick out fabric for curtains 2 years ago when I moved into an apartment that is now 4 dwellings past. (Yes, I moved three times in a year and a half).



I think I must be feeling settled in this little house Austin because I've finally sewn the curtains.


I'm not overly sentimental usually, but sewing the curtains gave me cause to think about said friend in Berkley, whom I knew in Minneapolis, and other said friend in Iowa City, whom I also knew in Minneapolis. I find myself here in Austin, sewing curtains, thinking it's a little bit amazing how far and wide friends can scatter and still stay friends. And how much things can change, but still be sort of the same. And how where you live isn't always home, but sometimes it is.

Minneapolis - From a Knitter's Perspective

A little more on my recent trip back home to Minneapolis, this time from a knitter's perspective. I am a knitter after all.

First up, my knitting. I knew I'd have ample opportunity to knit on this trip. There was the airplane, the two and a half hour car rides, and quality time with my sister, who also knits. I brought all the ingredients for the Blue Sky Alpaca Fitted Tank. A fine choice since Blue Sky Alpacas also calls Minnesota home. I made respectable progress on the tank, finishing the front and a solid 4 inches of ribbing for the back.

I love this project, the pattern is simple without being tedious. And the Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton is quickly becoming a favorite yarn, it knits up fast, doesn't split, and is amazingly soft in the hand. Delicious.

A side note of irony - the this is really sort of stupid kind of irony - I was not allowed through security at the airport because the hair care products in my carry-on baggage were to large. I had to return to the check-in counter and check my carry-on. I was however allowed to cram my knitting into my purse and sit happily knitting on the aircraft with my pointy, metal knitting needles. hmmm...

I visited the MN Textile Center. Another amazing resource tucked away in Minneapolis. The gallery was a bit sparse. Although there were several pieces in the foyer by Sock Monkey artist Rebbecca Yaker. They involved sock monkeys, blenders, and meat grinders. Just exactly the sort of dark ironic humor I appreciate.

I made a few stash enhancements, although I was very disciplined, and didn't go over board, and only picked up things I couldn't get here in Texas. From the shop at the MN Textile Center I bought one beautiful, and hefty skein of hand-spun yarn by The Cat That Walks on Water. And I picked up a copy of Annie Modesitt's Romantic Hand Knits. A true celebration of style. It was reasoned that carrying books home on the airplane, since I had to my check bags anyway, was cheaper than the shipping charge from Amazon.

I only visited one yarn shop, the one that was my mainstay when I lived in Minneapolis. I was honestly a little disappointed. It's not that it's not a nice yarn store, it is, but it's not Hill Country Weavers. I have a new appreciation for how truly wonderful my LYS is. I told my sister, who has visited me here in Austin and therefore been to Hill Country Weavers, that I was sadly disappointed, and she confirmed I've been rightly spoiled by the inventory at Hill Country. Despite my disappointment, I didn't leave empty handed. I picked up almost 300 yds. of hand dyed soy silk by Two Sisters At Play, another MN vendor. It's gorgeous.

So with a restrained stash enhancement, a new book, a slightly more than half done sweater, and an appreciation for my LYS, I left Minneapolis. A pretty great place from a knitter's perspective.

Minneapolis - The MN Center For Book Arts

I've returned from my first visit to Minneapolis since moving to Austin TX. I remembered Minneapolis was a beautiful city, and a great city, and was only a little amazed at just how pretty it really is. I felt a little nostalgic, and like I missed it a little, but reminded myself that the weather is truly a factor for most of the year. Our visit was over one of the nicest weeks of the year, and I only needed to remind myself that soon it will be cooler here in Austin, and I wont freeze my ass all winter.

In addition to lots and lots of family, and a pleasant run around Lake Nokomis everyday but one, we visited several of my favorite art and craft related places. What else would I do.

The first was the MN Center for Book Arts. An old familiar stumpin' ground for me - prior to my move to Austin I worked in The Shop for years, and was a member of the Artist Co-Op. The MCBA is a rare resource in the world of Book Arts, as well as a beautiful place to visit. There is a bindery, a letterpress print shop, a gallery, and of course The Shop.

The current show in the Gallery space is "We, too, are Book Artists" and features the largest collection of Book Arts by Afro American Book Artists any where in the world. At only 24 artists it seemed a little sad in an ironic way that it is the "largest" collection. The work was mostly political. There were several letterpress printed broadsides that I liked quite a lot, as well as a few books available to "gently handle". I appreciated this not only because it makes art feel more democratic, but also because it is the only real way to interact with a book.

The Shop there at the MCBA has been re-arranged some and was presently well stocked. I took advantage to add to my humble but growing collection of Artists Books. My favorites were two miniatures by artist Jessica Rosenkranz of Headless Press - "Chicken Story" and "30 White Roosters" and a fun little spoof called "How to Care or Your Art". I also picked up a few new zines, including two issues of the letterpress printed zine Ker Bloom, which is also available on Etsy at Artnoose. And a booklet titled "Notta Lotta Love Stories" by Evil Twin Publications, it is absolutely some of the best writing I've had the pleasure to read in a long time.

I also took advantage of the bindery and cut myself an ample supply of Davey Board for journal making. If I had been in Minneapolis longer than the 6 short days I would have loved to spent some time printing on one of the old Vandercook Proof Presses. But time was limited , as it always is on vacations.

Housed in a restored warehouse space just one block from the river the architecture alone is reason enough, but of course not the only reason to visit the MCBA, next time you find yourself in my pretty, pretty home town.