Any home ed group we go to these days is being turned into a knitting and crocheting circle as more and more people get funky with yarn. It makes me happy. :-) At the drama group last week, the Marias each showed up with new projects. ( I don't know why I call them the Marias. One is Irish, the other Australian, although both are lovely people.) Aussie Maria was making a scarf in a lacy stitch that looked way to complicated for a beginner. Irish Maria was practising her knitting and was talking about the videos she had seen of people Continental knitting.
I didn't know it for years, but apparently, I am a thrower. This is what the English way of knitting is called, in which you use your right hand to wrap (throw) the yarn over the needles. Continental knitters hold the working yarn in their left hand. I have tried this once or twice and always thought I wanted to learn to do it properly, but it all takes time and practise, and I am not always that patient.
But the Marias have reminded me how great it can be to learn something new. Like how proud I was the first time I turned a heel. :-) So I am looking at the videos on Knitting help.com and practising my continental style. I seem to have the basics, but I need to retrain the muscles in my hands to know what they are doing, and figure out how to adjust tension. Here I go....
Monday, 31 January 2011
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
A poem a day
So I get the Writer's Almanac sent to my inbox. Every day, there is a poem for me, and almost every day I read it, and once in a while, one gets under my skin and I think about it and think about it and wish I had a younger memory, so I could say it to myself over and over.
Yesterday was a poem by Denver Butson. And I have been reading some more of his poetry here.
I worry about copywrite, and if I am supposed to do this, but since the poems are already on the internet, and since I want you to go read more, and I will probably even buy a book, here we go, just so you can get a taste.
Yesterday was a poem by Denver Butson. And I have been reading some more of his poetry here.
I worry about copywrite, and if I am supposed to do this, but since the poems are already on the internet, and since I want you to go read more, and I will probably even buy a book, here we go, just so you can get a taste.
Beauty or Flight
by Denver Butson
The man who jumped from the highway bridge one afternoon
who drove his car along in rush hour traffic
then carefully pulled it over, fussed with something briefly on the dash,
so casually that another driver passing
thought he was looking for a map, or a cassette tape,
that had slid during the last turn before the bridge — that's all —
and then stepped out of the car, standing, stretching,
and closing the door routinely, a man in need of a break
on a long drive, a man untroubled by his next appointment,
a man who felt himself growing tired and thought
he needed some air, looked up the highway once
and then down at the almost frozen rows of traffic
under the haze that lingered above the bridge
and then broke simply and suddenly into a run, a dead run,
one motorist called it, crossing in front of his car
and not even stopping at the railing between the bridge
and the empty space beside the bridge, entering that space
and opening his mouth in what one driver called a scream,
though she heard no sound above the drone of traffic, and
other drivers saw as a gasp for breath, not unlike a child takes
when diving into a backyard pool, and he executed then
a nearly perfect, if a little rushed, swan dive out across the space
next to the bridge and into the water ninety-five feet below.
One fisherman in a boat a little upstream
saw the man who jumped from the highway bridge,
the moment he left the bridge and entered his dive, and the fisherman
swore he saw not a man but a large bird, a falcon or an eagle,
shot mid-flight by an angry driver, a large bird
who was trying to regain some sense of beauty, some sense of flight,
in its final dying seconds
I think the thing I like about the few poems that I have read thus far is that they paint a picture without telling the reader how she is supposed to feel about it. He has the words, but the rest is up to me. He wrote a poem about his brother's suicide as well as the one above, but I can't quite fathom why they don't leave me feeling melancholy or depressed, especially considering I spent a lot of my life contemplating suicide. I don't think it is because he is an optimist. He isn't painting a rosy picture. He is simply observing what is happening, and showing that there are different perspectives, as in the poem above. I like the idea that there are different ways of looking at things, although this did used to lead me to tie myself in knots, trying to acknowledge everybody else's feelings - trying to figure out what my responsibilities were there.
The thing about poetry, (and I am not going to differentiate between good and bad poetry) is that if there is something in it that resonates within you, it can transport you somewhere. That sounds really pretentious, or just plain stupid, but I mean that if you take a minute, to read a poem, and then go where it leads you, visualise it, feel it, maybe think about it, it can change your perspective. Or maybe it just gets under your skin for a while, and then you move on.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Happy Times
Here is the Happy Vest. I decided to make a little something yesterday for the Babe, and this is what I came up with. I am going to try it out in some different yarn, and publish the pattern over on the other blog. But in the mean time, I am quite happy with it. :-)
It is made in some Robin Bonny Babe Aran that I bought when I was trying to make an afghan for my mother. I have a lot of pink and cream and blue and another blue and green in this yarn, so I had better use it for something. I was hoping to make it in some rainbow coloured stuff that I have, but I want to use blue or red for the yoke, but I can't find any, and am not allowed to buy anything until I have emptied a couple of my stash boxes. (That is a self imposed rule, by the way.) Luckily, I have some Rowan cotton in my stash as well, so will try it out in that. :-)
It is made in some Robin Bonny Babe Aran that I bought when I was trying to make an afghan for my mother. I have a lot of pink and cream and blue and another blue and green in this yarn, so I had better use it for something. I was hoping to make it in some rainbow coloured stuff that I have, but I want to use blue or red for the yoke, but I can't find any, and am not allowed to buy anything until I have emptied a couple of my stash boxes. (That is a self imposed rule, by the way.) Luckily, I have some Rowan cotton in my stash as well, so will try it out in that. :-)
Saturday, 22 January 2011
In my mind...
...I am very creative and make loads of things, and plan to knit and crochet all the day through. In real life, I think about things, browse patterns on Ravelry, try to make things up which then sit around half finished, and buy too much yarn.
Last year's resolution was to do more garments. I chose lots of patterns. I even PAID for a few patterns, which is unheard of. I bought the Owls pattern (scroll down to adult sized one) to make for one daughter, bought the Scalloped hat to make for another, and also bought the Vanilla soaker pattern to make for the Babe. I have made none of these.
I have bought the yarn to make tops for myself, and jumpers for 3 daughters, and a Rowan vest for the Boy. I have finished none of these.
I have added several patterns to my Ravelry queue, printed up several more, planned on using others, and of course, not done any of them.
Somehow, I have managed to do lots of things, but rarely what I plan to do, and usually requiring me to buy more yarn. I have also bought boxes to store and organize my yarn. :-)
So, am I a typical knitter, crocheter? Or is the world full of people like Audrey, who make things, finish them, design them, wear them, give them as gifts, actually take photos of them, and still have time left to be Guide leaders, have jobs, and bake cakes for other Scout Mum's attempts at Scout fundraising? She doesn't look like superwoman, but I think she secretly is, and she does look nice wearing her finished projects. :-)
Me? I feel like I have accomplished something if I manage to have a shower, go for a walk, eat something that I have had to peel, do something productive with the kids, and then still have time to knit, knot, crochet, and read lots of patterns.
Aye, there's the rub. I am a reader at heart. And while Martine, and the other members of my family, read actual books, I read patterns these days. I have lots of books piled up by the side of my bed, and lots of book cases full of things to read, and a great library nearby, but I read patterns. Maybe because they have so many pretty pictures. :-)
Last year's resolution was to do more garments. I chose lots of patterns. I even PAID for a few patterns, which is unheard of. I bought the Owls pattern (scroll down to adult sized one) to make for one daughter, bought the Scalloped hat to make for another, and also bought the Vanilla soaker pattern to make for the Babe. I have made none of these.
I have bought the yarn to make tops for myself, and jumpers for 3 daughters, and a Rowan vest for the Boy. I have finished none of these.
I have added several patterns to my Ravelry queue, printed up several more, planned on using others, and of course, not done any of them.
Somehow, I have managed to do lots of things, but rarely what I plan to do, and usually requiring me to buy more yarn. I have also bought boxes to store and organize my yarn. :-)
So, am I a typical knitter, crocheter? Or is the world full of people like Audrey, who make things, finish them, design them, wear them, give them as gifts, actually take photos of them, and still have time left to be Guide leaders, have jobs, and bake cakes for other Scout Mum's attempts at Scout fundraising? She doesn't look like superwoman, but I think she secretly is, and she does look nice wearing her finished projects. :-)
Me? I feel like I have accomplished something if I manage to have a shower, go for a walk, eat something that I have had to peel, do something productive with the kids, and then still have time to knit, knot, crochet, and read lots of patterns.
Aye, there's the rub. I am a reader at heart. And while Martine, and the other members of my family, read actual books, I read patterns these days. I have lots of books piled up by the side of my bed, and lots of book cases full of things to read, and a great library nearby, but I read patterns. Maybe because they have so many pretty pictures. :-)
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
The best thing I have ever made...
...is this frog hat. Simply because I think M likes it better than anybody has ever liked anything I have ever made. It is Sirdar Snuggly, frog colour, and I made up the pattern, which is why the ear flaps are wonky.
I also see from the photo that somebody has been writing on the wall. Funnily enough, I did not realize that when I was in the room. Which says something about the state of the room.
And here is the babe, wearing the Felicity hat that was made for S. It was a bit small.
She is a clever babe though, as she is playing with hooks and needles and yarn, like she sees me do all the time.
Silly thing is trying to knit with two crochet hooks.
I also see from the photo that somebody has been writing on the wall. Funnily enough, I did not realize that when I was in the room. Which says something about the state of the room.
And here is the babe, wearing the Felicity hat that was made for S. It was a bit small.
She is a clever babe though, as she is playing with hooks and needles and yarn, like she sees me do all the time.
Silly thing is trying to knit with two crochet hooks.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
The world of wool, and doing stuff, or not.
So I have been trying to get some things done. We have been enjoying pottering around too much to get too much done, but here goes anyway.
So I have just finished the Xmas knitting. The only things I was doing was a Fox Hat for friend's daughter, and a Snood/cowl/hood thing for another friend, who feels the cold.
The fox hat conversation went something like this...sitting at the home ed Adventure Playground meet...
E - 'R has been wanting a fox hat, like all those panda hats that are around at the moment. But I can't find one. (looks at me) Oh, I could commission you to make one!'
Me - (feeling lack of confidence) 'Ummm, errrrr, well...'
C - 'Of course she could. That would be easy!'
Me - ' Ummmm, errrrr, ok'
Then went to look for the yarn. Found myself in Sew In in Didsbury, where there is a nice new person working. :-) There were lots of foxy-teracotta coloured yarns, but naturally the best one was the most expensive Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky. I then spent days trying out different patterns and wondering how in the hell I was going to do this. I am not good enough at knitting to just do things. I ended up using the Ear Flap Hat which I found on Ravelry, but then highly modified to make it fit an adult sized head. Here it is being modelled by somebody who is too small for it.
In the end, I wasn't confident enough about charging the person who 'commissioned' it so we gave it to her as a Christmas present. She likes it, and looks fab in it, so all is good. :-)
The other thing I did for Xmas, which I finished this morning, is a snood. I have had this idea that I wanted to do one for this particular friend for years, and I finally got around to it. Got some lovely yarn from Purl City back when they opened, some Lang Mille Fiamme super chunky in Iris, and I finally got around to casting on. I have actually had to do this several times, because I was trying to be clever with using short rows to make it more hood like. I was so clever, I got to show my cleverness by unwinding it 4 times to pick up and redo it. I kept sticking in extra short rows to shape it, which just made it pucker in places. In the end it looks like this...
It is pretty and warm, and I hope she likes it. Now all we need is more really cold weather...which I quite like.
Since making the Fox hat, my M has been requesting a Frog hat. I did the same thing I did with the fox yarn. Found myself in a yarn shop with my friend Caroline on New Years Eve. She took me to the little Black Sheep Wools in Culcheth, since the barn was closed. I just saw some perfect frog green, and just in case anybody thinks I am all about the cashmerino, this was Sirdar Snuggly.And since it was Dec 31st, I bought it without breaking my resolution to not buy any yarn until I use up some of the stash! The hat is nearly finished. We bought some filler yesterday to puff up the eyes, and I shall hopefully finish it today. But I am a bit disappointed that the ear flaps are twisiting quite a bit. My crochet often does that. Anybody know what I am doing wrong?
I just haven't got time to actually do all of these things as well as write about them! And do things with the kids! How do people do it. It took me half an hour to find the camera, realize that the computer is not recognizing all of its drives, find the cable to connect the camera, get the new and improved software to work properly, then actually upload the photos. Eveything takes three times as long as it should!
Another example of this is yesterday, when I attempted to put up a CD rack! M has been sorting out her room and asked me last week to put up this CD rack. So we finally get around to it. It means getting all of the crap out of the cubby under the stairs so I can get to the door which has the tools behind it. Getting the drill and actualy finding a matching pair of wall plugs and screws that are appropriate. We measure and drill, only to find that the plaster and mortar and brick work are so deteriorated that she now just has a hole in her wall. Well, 2 holes, but one of them is functional, and the other requires filling and redrilling. Actually the whole room (house) needs replastering, but that ain't gonna happen. So what should have been a 10 minute job, turns into a two day job, and just creates more things for me to do, which means I can't do the washing up. :-)
And I am finally getting the illness that everybody else had over the holidays. Which probaby means that 11 year old M can save the CD rack, and put it up in her flat when she moves out in 10 years time.
So I have just finished the Xmas knitting. The only things I was doing was a Fox Hat for friend's daughter, and a Snood/cowl/hood thing for another friend, who feels the cold.
The fox hat conversation went something like this...sitting at the home ed Adventure Playground meet...
E - 'R has been wanting a fox hat, like all those panda hats that are around at the moment. But I can't find one. (looks at me) Oh, I could commission you to make one!'
Me - (feeling lack of confidence) 'Ummm, errrrr, well...'
C - 'Of course she could. That would be easy!'
Me - ' Ummmm, errrrr, ok'
Then went to look for the yarn. Found myself in Sew In in Didsbury, where there is a nice new person working. :-) There were lots of foxy-teracotta coloured yarns, but naturally the best one was the most expensive Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky. I then spent days trying out different patterns and wondering how in the hell I was going to do this. I am not good enough at knitting to just do things. I ended up using the Ear Flap Hat which I found on Ravelry, but then highly modified to make it fit an adult sized head. Here it is being modelled by somebody who is too small for it.
The other thing I did for Xmas, which I finished this morning, is a snood. I have had this idea that I wanted to do one for this particular friend for years, and I finally got around to it. Got some lovely yarn from Purl City back when they opened, some Lang Mille Fiamme super chunky in Iris, and I finally got around to casting on. I have actually had to do this several times, because I was trying to be clever with using short rows to make it more hood like. I was so clever, I got to show my cleverness by unwinding it 4 times to pick up and redo it. I kept sticking in extra short rows to shape it, which just made it pucker in places. In the end it looks like this...
It is pretty and warm, and I hope she likes it. Now all we need is more really cold weather...which I quite like.
Since making the Fox hat, my M has been requesting a Frog hat. I did the same thing I did with the fox yarn. Found myself in a yarn shop with my friend Caroline on New Years Eve. She took me to the little Black Sheep Wools in Culcheth, since the barn was closed. I just saw some perfect frog green, and just in case anybody thinks I am all about the cashmerino, this was Sirdar Snuggly.And since it was Dec 31st, I bought it without breaking my resolution to not buy any yarn until I use up some of the stash! The hat is nearly finished. We bought some filler yesterday to puff up the eyes, and I shall hopefully finish it today. But I am a bit disappointed that the ear flaps are twisiting quite a bit. My crochet often does that. Anybody know what I am doing wrong?
I just haven't got time to actually do all of these things as well as write about them! And do things with the kids! How do people do it. It took me half an hour to find the camera, realize that the computer is not recognizing all of its drives, find the cable to connect the camera, get the new and improved software to work properly, then actually upload the photos. Eveything takes three times as long as it should!
Another example of this is yesterday, when I attempted to put up a CD rack! M has been sorting out her room and asked me last week to put up this CD rack. So we finally get around to it. It means getting all of the crap out of the cubby under the stairs so I can get to the door which has the tools behind it. Getting the drill and actualy finding a matching pair of wall plugs and screws that are appropriate. We measure and drill, only to find that the plaster and mortar and brick work are so deteriorated that she now just has a hole in her wall. Well, 2 holes, but one of them is functional, and the other requires filling and redrilling. Actually the whole room (house) needs replastering, but that ain't gonna happen. So what should have been a 10 minute job, turns into a two day job, and just creates more things for me to do, which means I can't do the washing up. :-)
And I am finally getting the illness that everybody else had over the holidays. Which probaby means that 11 year old M can save the CD rack, and put it up in her flat when she moves out in 10 years time.
Friday, 7 January 2011
Happy New Year...again
So I am still working on my Christmas knitting, which is pretty bad considering I was only making 2 things.
:-( Photos will follow as soon as I can be bothered to look for the damn camera.
My New Year's resolution last year was to knit more garments. I didn't. Well, I did start lots of things. My NYR this year is to finish some of them.
Did manage to have a nice photo of me and kids taken, which is accomplishment enough. Al was in Ireland for this one. So that is why he wasn't here, and Sadie was going back to uni before he got back, so no big reason why he isn't in the photo - just logistics.
:-( Photos will follow as soon as I can be bothered to look for the damn camera.
There was lots of illness in the house over the holidays. I didn't get ill, but I also don't feel like I had a holiday. I did have a lot of chocolate, though, so it wasn't all bad. And wine. hic
Did manage to have a nice photo of me and kids taken, which is accomplishment enough. Al was in Ireland for this one. So that is why he wasn't here, and Sadie was going back to uni before he got back, so no big reason why he isn't in the photo - just logistics.
Oh wait...no, here it is. :-)
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