gifting

Anyone who knows me probably knows how crazy I am about knitting, and now, all of a sudden, spinning. I absolutely love it. Adore the tradition, the lazy methodical click click of knitting needles as I work a simple stockinette pattern. The thing I love about knitting is the trance it can put you in. I've spent hours, sitting painfully on my bed just clicking away completely lost to the world. Like highway vision, if you've ever experienced that. Time passes and you're not really aware of it, just thinking.

And now there's spinning which is even more arcane and useless than knitting. But I love it. I can't help it. Something about that act of creation is so satisfying and addicting. It's satisfying in a way that writing a paper is not, because spinning is such a soothing activity. Yes it makes your arms ache and your fingers sore, but it also lets you revert for a moment to a way of life where speed is slightly less important than care.

To clothe someone else in warmth and beauty crafted with your own hands is to give them something entirely of yourself. I know that handmade gifts are not always welcome because they're not always stylish or even on occasion, all that attractive. When I was a kid I would much rather have had a new toy than an itchy handknit acrylic sweater from Grandma. I didn't appreciate the work and love that went into it because I'd never done it. Know I know better. It makes me feel good to give something so much myself to a friend or family member and I find myself looking for excuses to do it.

I have plans already to knit Kate Kirkland a beautiful lace shawl for her wedding. She'll never wear it, cause let's face it, where do you wear a knit lace shawl these days? But I like to think that some chilly spring night, she may pull it out of the closet, or linen chest, and think about me as she wraps up in it. Jen's going to get a little knit cardigan for graduation, something simple and cute and petite just to toss around your shoulders on a summer evening or an overly air-conditioned office. Chelsea can knit for herself, but that's not going to stop me from sending her babies little knit jumpers and hats and booties. Ditto for Emma. Allison will get a beautiful, hand-dyed, hand-spun, scarf in shades of green and blue that's just right for layering with that snazzy hippy dress and delicate blouse. Shaunna is not a knit kind of girl. She's just not. But you better believe that she's getting bottles of the first (good) beer Bob and I brew and jars of homegrown and canned veggies from my garden. I know I'm going to knit my professors thick woolen socks upon my graduation, in thanks for all their efforts for me. They may even have occasion to wear them here in Wisconsin or in Taylor's case, skiing in Colorado.

It's not an issue of wanting to burden friends with things they'll never wear. It's hoping that on occassion, that little knit thing will remind them from their closets and that they will remember that I cared enough to want to give them myself, not just fifteen minutes of shopping time.

spinning

I caved.

Today I balanced my checkbook and discovered that I will have enough money to get me to the begining of summer comfortably. I bought the textbooks I still need and had a little left over in the budget. So I caved and bought a spindle kit.

In the kit I get a basic top down spindle from The Bellweather, fleece to practice on, and a simple instruction manual to help me understand the basics and it was about $15 with shipping. I justify this purchase in two ways:

1. It's less than a good skein of sock yarn would cost, and probably many hours of entertainment.

2. If I get the job at Kline Creek I can bring my own spindle and fiber to work with.

3. I've been dreaming about spinning. Clearly this is the will of the gods.

Feeling all inspired and eager to get started, I walked down to the Appleton Public Library to check out what literature they had about spinning. The answer is almost nothing. They did however have "Women's Work: the first 20,000 years" which has so far been completely riveting. I know not everyone is into this kind of stuff but I think it's facinating. The author relies on linguistics and archaeology to piece together a chronological narrative of prehistoric textile working. She talks about the evidence for the different stages of textile production (rope making, spinning, weaving) and the tools that helped each come about. Because I don't know much about weaving, alot of her more technical points are lost on me, but I love how she explains the economic rationale behind the sexual division of labor and why textiles have long been considered women's work.

Tubey done!

Finally finished Tubey! I don't like it on me as much as I did in the picture and there are definately some parts of the pattern I would try to change if I ever did it again. It might be that I was so worried about running out of yarn that I didn't make the body as long as I should have, but I don't like how high the bottom hem comes in front compared to the back. If I were to make the pattern again, I'd make a small and add short row shaping for the bust. I though the ribbing would take care of clinging to all the curves, but the way the pattern is constructed it seems optimistic at best that the front would provide adequate coverage for all places I need coverage. I've seen some really cute, flattering versions, but mine simply doesn't measure up.

It's going to be a house sweater, because it is really soft, really warm, and I am proud of the work that went into it. But I don't think it's the kind of sweater I can wear to class or work or anything like that.

I finished the wyvren socks about a month ago and simply haven't had the time to blog about them yet. I love the yarn and the pattern and everything. In the future I'm going to use smaller needle sizes to make a slightly tighter more comfy sock.

Someday I swear I'm going to make a sweater that I can confidently and comfortably wear outside the house. Making Tubey has given me courage to work on a long term project, even though it taught me almost nothing about traditional sweater construction or finishing. Until then, I'm going to stick to socks and lace, both of which I love.

I have a pair of Jameson wool socks on the needles right now, but almost no plan about what to do with them, so most of my work has been on a pair of Lion Brand Magic Stripes socks with yarn that dear Emma gave me. I don't much like them, but it's been good practice at tightening my stitches and using little tiny needles. I'm working on the toe of the first sock, but haven't picked it up in a while in an effort to get done with the sweater.

I'm also planning on putting a lace scarf project on the needles soon, as well as an alpaca bolero/shrug. The scarf pattern is from the latest IK. The shrug, on the other hand, is an original design, and I'm debating the construction method I want to use. I could either do it like the shrug part of Tubey, or making it a seamed design. Much more work involved in that decision. The yarn was originally intended for Knitty's Honeymoon tank, but I decided that alpaca wasn't the best fiber for that kind of garment. Instead I hope to make Honeymoon with Knitpick's Shine or another cheap cotton, and use the alpaca on this shrug.

I also have about a skien of leftover Andean Silk in Hollyberry that might become another Odessa or something else. I'll be on the lookout.

Welcome

All my old knitting journal entries were hosted on Diary-X which recently crashed, losing all my data in the process. Hopefully this new site will allow me a fresh start, though I'm unhappy to lose all my old entries which included a detailed review of my favorite LYS, Jane's Knitting Hutch, as well as some pattern ideas and project summeries. No way to reproduce that here, so I fear it is all lost.

On Blogger though, I hope to make things even bigger and better.
Here's to progress.

Current Projects:

Knitty's Tubey
in KnitPick's "Andean Silk" in Pitch and Hollyberry


Marnie MacLean's Wyvren Socks
in Schaefer's "Anne"