Mim’s Blog

I’m not ready to come back yet, but I thought I’d give you all a heads up that the Twist Collective and Cleite goes live today. Go check out the debut issue and don’t forget to check the marketplace for an ad and a discount code for my store.

Thanks are due to Kate, Irene and Julia for making the Twist Collective concept real as well as Jessica for knitting the Cleite sample and Cynthia for designing a stellar ad.

M

p.s. I’m also set to teach at a retreat in San Diego if you are interested. The dates are September 18-21. Register early if you want to go, as space is limited.

This is more for me than for you, since I know you will all be here if you want to be, but every day I feel a twinge of guilt about not posting, and I spend a lot of time thinking about things I COULD be posting, when my mind really needs to be elsewhere, so I’m taking a break. I’m taking a break from designing for a short period as well. I need to spend my non-regular-work time changing my diet and making exercise a habit, and that’s not working out so well when I feel all guilty about blogging and keep thinking about my blog.

So I’ll see you all later. Please still feel free to e-mail me. I always make time for e-mail and I’ll still be minding my shop, so I’ll be checking e-mail regularly. And when I’m feeling lonely I check my e-mail, so an e-mail from a friend telling me something funny that happened or asking a question or whatever is always welcome.

Thanks friends. I’ll be back when I am comfortable enough with the new regime of “Humor The Pancreas”. Hopefully with something new to publish. Andromeda is done and beautiful but much too complicated of a pattern to write up in my current brain-fried state.

Keep in touch,
Mim

There is a function in my store front for reviews. I hadn’t used it previously, but then a couple of people left reviews for some of my patterns, so I’m soliciting reviews.

If you’d like to leave a review of a pattern:

1. Go to My Storefront. And log in.
2. Find the product(s) you want to review.
3. On the bottom of the pattern’s individual page, there is a link toward the left side that says “Reviews”. Click that link.
4. Click the little pencil button that says “write a review”
5. Write a review and select a rating, then submit.

The free patterns can also be reviewed, but you do need to log in to be able to write a review. All reviews require my approval before they are visible, so if you write something mean, I won’t let it post. So to any trolls out there, don’t waste your time.

Thanks,
M

Having a) grown up in Southern California and b) just returned from visiting family there for a long weekend, this was startlingly accurate :)

more graph humor and song chart memes

I do realize this is a cop-out blog post, but I’m so astonishingly overwhelmed right now with my regular job and my health issues, plus having been locked out of my apartment yesterday for 4 hours during which I had planned to catch up on a bunch of stuff, but clearly, couldn’t… and I’m just barely keeping my head above water. Bear with me.

M

It’s been all I can do this week to make sure I blog everyday. When I get home I am tired and end up knitting a few half-hearted rows on my shawl and then ignoring it for a few hours while I doze in and out of sleep while watching a movie.

I’m at a stand-still on the Andromeda shawl, which I need a bit of brain power to overcome, sadly, brain power seems to be lacking. I’ve been throwing myself and my energy into my regular job this week. Trying really hard to keep everything on the rails. It has worked, but at the cost of my creative mojo and all my extra energy.

Part of it is a sense of my own mortality brought on by a biometric test that I had done Tuesday morning as part of my work’s wellness program. Turns out I have a rather high fasting blood glucose level and given the family history of diabetes I feel like my possibilities have shrunk. Like my pancreas is a ticking clock and I just have to watch while it dies. So in an attempt to stave that off I’m changing my diet bit by bit. I am bringing lunch to work so that I’m not left with only vending machine fare as my mid-day meal, and we brought a water cooler into our office, which should make it that much easier to drink my recommended daily amount.

For so long I have ignored my long-term health, but I suppose 26 is old enough to stop that childishness. I guess I needed that kick in the pants to really think about it. I know I still need to go have the full battery of blood glucose test before I know for sure, and I will probably need to redo them every 2 or 3 years just to be sure I know where things stand, but lifestyle changes always mess with my creativity. If my brain is too busy thinking about how I should and shouldn’t do some things and what will happen to me, Oh.My.God, there’s not really a lot of room for shawl edgings.

I’ve got a long weekend off work though, so I’ll probably not post on Monday. And I’ll be spending it with some family members that would be chosen family even if they weren’t blood, so that should be rejuvenating. I just have to think about the laundry and the wholesale pattern orders before I can go… bah.

M

I’ve been toying with the idea of releasing patterns as small collections. Like 3 or 4 patterns at a time that all sort of fit together with a theme. Being the obsessive type person I am, I have listed the pros and cons.

Pros:
• Less time spent overall to post the patterns, change all my websites, etc…
• It would lend a touch of sophistication
• A discount could be offered if you purchase the whole collection over just one or two patterns
• I would get to work with a theme and some direction
• It would take some of the pressure off about releasing as soon as it is done and might allow for time to have patterns test knit

Cons:

• Less of a steady stream of pattern sales as the current model where I release a pattern every couple of months.
• The delay of one pattern would delay the release of the whole collection
• It might prove more work in the end
• It might drive my tech editor crazy
• It might really piss off my customers

So tell me what you think about it, because no matter what the other pros and cons, what it comes down to is if it will piss you guys off and drive you away. Keep in mind that I can always do a bit of both (like collections to tie in with the seasons and then individual patterns every now and then when I have them done). So I made this little poll. Feel free to leave comments on this as well. The poll closes on the 26th at midnight. And if you feel so inclined, send other people this way too. I’d like as much feedback as possible.

M

… or just haven’t been to the Twist Collective’s site yet today, check out bubble #44. That’s mine! :D

M

I’m WELL into the shawl that I was going to start while traveling for TNNA in Impulse of Delight Blissful BFL, and I want to show it to you and get some opinions.

With this piece I was trying to play with the movement of stitches, having both subtle curving motion and clean decrease lines that come to a point. The texture of this yarn required something a bit simpler (a motif with a lot of movement - like Hidcote for instance - would have been lost in the 2 ply sproingy hand of the yarn), but not so simple that it was boring or I wouldn’t have even wanted to finish it.

So the color got me thinking about waves and the thing I love most about waves are the tessellations and the way they blend together as they move. So this motif grows as you work the shawl, just as waves grow as they get closer to shore. You begin with a motif that has 2 “waves”, then they flow into motifs with 3 and on and on until the shawl is complete (haven’t figured out exactly where I’ll end it yet or how, but I’ve got some ideas.

So here’s the kicker. This motif doesn’t really ever repeat across the shawl. Because it is always in flux, the whole pattern will need to be charted out. If I do the standard where I have edge stitches, one wedge, center stitches, second wedge, edge stitches, the charts will have to be big enough to cover your couch for them to be legible. Under these circumstances, considering that the wedges are exactly the same and there are 3 center stitches, do you think it would work to just chart one wedge and include instructions to work the edge stitches, repeat the wedge once, work the center stitches, repeat the wedge a second time and then work the edge stitches? I LOVE the piece, but the pattern is already giving me headaches. I just want to make sure it’s as clear as can be without sacrificing usability and readability. What do you think?

M

For those who were curious about where to get the yarn from yesterday’s post, Karida responded that she’s got a shipment en route to The Loopy Ewe, but until Sherri gets it in stock, the best place to get it is from Knit Happens. They’re located in Virginia, but Karida said they ship daily worldwide, so give them a call.

M

I love this yarn with the same fierce passion that I normally reserve for the hatred of anything pink. The fact that this pink yarn has garnered as much love as it has should tell you something. It’s AMAZING! It’s destined to grow up and become a shawl, but for now it is much petted.

And because someone will ask, it’s Neighborhood Fiber Co.’s Penthouse Silk Lace in the colorway “Kalorama Circle”

I got a bonsai tree today… FTD.com shipped it to me (and very well packaged, might I add). I’ve always wanted a bonsai, but when I was ordering it despite the fact that they had plenty of more traditional bonsais, I was overwhelmingly drawn to the dwarf jade because it reminded me of my childhood.

Growing up, we had 2 gigantic terracotta pots flanking the front door, with HUGE jade bushes. Every time I walked by the pots, I would break off a jade leaf and rub the smooth liquid that leaks out around on my fingers. To this day, I associate the clean, green smell with carefree innocence. I loved those bushes with a fierce propriety, even to the point of getting really mad when I found bugs on the leaves. Didn’t they know it was MY plant?!

Hmm… I guess I was a bossy bitch even back then ;)

M

We got these couches from Kim’s yard sale when she and Ryan moved cross country to law school (incidentally, they just moved back, but to Idaho this time). I think we paid $40 for the whole set - couch, chair and ottoman. And they replaced our $10 third of fourth hand sofa that we purchased when we moved from our first apartment (which had a sofa included). I remember them being a great step up and being very excited to have real couches, and now I am here getting really twitchy about them still being in my house and hating them more and more every day.

I do know about freecycle, but my experiences with freecycle have been less than lovely, so I’ll list them on Craigslist instead. But we told a friend that he could have them, so I gave him a deadline to get them out of our house after which I will be listing them on Craigslist. Unless anyone local needs some comfy couches? My biggest gripe is that there is not a lot of seating for the space they take up. While our apartment has ceilings tall enough to mount a regulation basketball hoop with room to spare, the footprint is pretty small, so floor space is limited. The couches are comfy though, and I’m giving them away for free if you can come haul them away.

M

1. I have joined the iPod nation. While C got his first iPod a month or two ago, I got mine as a birthday gift to myself in preparation for the long flight to TNNA. The verdict? I love it. I listen to it at work, I listen to it on the train home, I listen to it while walking around. I listened to it the whole flight, even while reading and I’m sure it’s the reason I didn’t have a headache from the constant buzz on board the airplane.

2. That new yarn from Louet that Stephanie was talking about? I bribed Nathania and Sandi to order me some with their Louet purchase. I may have promised the blood of a first born child…. I have 3 skeins of it coming, and you can bet your sweet ass I’ll be showing you when it arrives. Also, somewhere Stephanie has a picture of me in my hot red dress posing with her Adamas shawl.

3. Speaking of Purlescence, Nathania’s little girl Elinor is absolutely adorable!

4. My brain is a frenzy of knitting related ideas and plotting. The short break I took from knitting to rest my aching hands proved just what I needed, and now that I’m a goodly way into the shawl knit from Ruth’s wonderful BFL hand-dyed yarn, I’ve got 50 million lace ideas percolating. Add to that the Magpie yarn that Shannon Okey is dying for me, and the beautiful new silk laceweight I got from Neighborhood Fiber Co., and I foresee another spurt of productivity.

5. Screen printing ideas are beginning to build up too and if I could just get a few free days or evenings I think I could eek some of them out of my head. I got a big package full of different Gocco ink colors and a package full of cards and envelopes from Paper-Source. The big deterrent, though, is my cluttered living room. We got a futon that we have yet to assemble, and my birthday chair from IKEA, but our old couches are still sitting in our living room in addition to the new stuff. So I don’t have nearly enough flat, clear space to really go crazy with it. I have to get someone to take our couches quickly.

M

The thing I love most about TNNA is that no matter who you’re talking to, no one has a problem with you talking about fiber. It’s like coming home. When you say “left leaning decrease” no one cocks an eyebrow at you, and no one says “Is that from a sheep?” when you say mohair. It totally makes the blisters worth it.

Although my trip was short (fly in late Friday night, leave early Sunday morning), I schmoozed, fawned, petted, and had many a private little freak out. In the past, when I’ve found myself standing around with people I’ve admired for years just chatting and laughing, it has freaked me out a bit. And made me feel a little like the other shoe was about to drop, but this year I felt more at peace, more a part of things, and less an outsider (which has nothing to do with the wonderful people I met previously and everything to do with me and my insecurities).

I saw some old friends and made a whole ton of new ones. And the best bit of awesome the weekend produced was that the owner of Yarnzilla, Linda, came up with the title for Freakonomics! Her brother wrote it. How cool is that!?

I would normally give you a link-fest, but frankly I’m not in the mood. I did however meet Jess, Casey and Mary-Heather from Ravelry. They were awesome. I even got flipped off by Casey and his Malabrigo-made Bob finger puppet.

Really, what could be better?

M

I am at work…. where it is 85 DEGREES in my office! SWEET MERCIFUL GOD! Someone kill me. My brain cannot function and there are only so many layers of clothing I can strip off before it becomes inappropriate attire for the public.

M

A half day of work combined with an afternoon flight across the country don’t make for a very stress-free Mim. Too crazy to really blog, but I made a commitment (to myself) to blog every day this week, so here it is.

I’ll try to blog as much as possible from TNNA, but I’m not sure of the internet situation in my hotel room.

I’m getting close to being done with the body of Coraline and ready to unite it with the arms. I discovered that I was going to cut the estimate close on yardage and would probably have to rip out my swatches to make it work out, but when I put on the sleeves. The length they are is right now is rather unflattering for my long and gangley arms, so I’ll take off a few inches from the sleeves and make them truly 3/4 length.

So I’m thinking about TNNA (and planning for TNNA, and dreaming of TNNA, and obsessing about TNNA) and most importantly what I should pack. I don’t really want to haul more than a pound of yarn around and have knitting that takes over my whole lap and has arms that are flapping in the breeze and falling into the laps of the people next to me. I would also like to be consolidated into only one carry-on bag, which will include my laptop, my clothing and a ton of business cards. So Coraline is out, even though I could probably finish the sweater on the trip.

So I pulled out this lovely stuff. It’s BFL laceweight (a heavy laceweight) in the colorway Blue Skies from Ruth at Knitting on Impulse. I’ve got plans for a new shawl pattern to publish and this is exactly what it needs. So what could be better knitting for a flight to Columbus and back than a lace shawl! Relatively little yarn, only one needle, and it compresses into a fairly small space without complaining. So again I find that EZ’s adage from Knitter’s Almanac holds true, that nothing is quite so good for a summer trip than a lace shawl.

M

So I purchased a Gocco screen printing set from Judy at Northwood Studios full of ideas of what to print, what I was going to make and how awesome it would be. And when I unpacked it, full of anticipation, I suddenly felt like I had nothing to print! So I gave it a few days’ thought, and then got to work.

I started with some blank 4×6 index cards (which I had been using for everything from grocery lists to inserts in other stationery to bug smashers) and my logo. I printed up a master with my logo at the top and my website at the bottom and when I woke up the next morning, I decided to burn the screen for the master… you know… just to try it out.

The next thing I knew, I had every flat surface of my living room covered in little white and black cards!

Still with running dry on inspiration, I got a birthday package from my Mom with three design books from my wish list. Suddenly I was overFLOWING with inspiration and had a million screens I wanted to make RIGHT.NOW. Thanks Mom! I am restraining myself while I wait for a shipment of cards and envelopes to come from Paper Source, and for some new colors of ink and more drying racks to come from Japan.

M

Every winter I long for the beginning of the hiking season. Something in me craves fresh air on my face and soft earth under my feet. When I was visiting with my sister L’s family over the weekend, we took a trip up into the mountains. All the spring growth has started and it made for some really lovely pictures. The whole flickr set is here.

I spent some time by the river/creek messing with ISO settings to get the “soft water” look. I think I got the hang of it. And it was a lot of fun to hang out with my nephews and nieces. I can’t wait for more opportunities to head to the mountains!

M

Remember how way back when I said that Cleite had been snatched up by a publication? That publication is the Twist Collective.

And now I can tell you a bit about it. This is a project I was really excited to get behind because it was created as a way for designers to share the traffic and exposure that you receive from a collective magazine (like people clicking through for another designer’s pattern, but browsing once they get there), but with a strong focus on being fair for designers.

The many benefits of online publication (unlimited images to show the details, easy distribution, no printing costs or limitations on size), plus professional photography and tech editing made me really excited about the future of online knitting publication. This debut issue (released in August), is packed full of AWESOME designs by fabulous designers!

When the mag is up you will be able to flip through spreads of images of the patterns on realistically sized people, and really get a feel for the patterns before you decide to buy. And each pattern will be sold separately so you don’t end up with more than you want. With a wide variety of styles and item types, there will be something for everyone. Whether you’re a dyed-in-the-wool sock knitter or a hardcore sweater person.

If you go to the Twist Collective Site, you’ll be treated to a new peek at the mag every day. Just roll over the countdown numbers and the center bubble will show you a different image for each day.

I’m very excited about it, and can’t wait to see what you all think.

Cheers,
M

Ruth has put out a call for some information regarding socks and the length of rows. I’m sure she’s got something intriguing about hand-dyed yarn and row length up her sleeve and in exchange for that info, she’ll add you to a drawing for some of her beautiful hand-dyed sock yarn.

If you’re already knitting a pair of socks, it would be super easy to send her the length of one foot or cuff round, length in one gusset round at the widest part, and the shoe size you’re knitting for. And free yarn is free yarn, right?

I’ve been working on Coraline (ravelry link), and spinning… but slowly as my hands and arms have been achey. I can’t go a day without knitting AT ALL, but I’ve definitely cut back. No marathon knitting sessions for me for a while.

And since my printer gave up the ghost last week, I’ve ordered another that should be delivered today and then I can get back to my backed up pattern orders and printing stuff to play with my new Print Gocco! :)

About a year ago, I finished some socks in trade for art from my friend Joseph Taylor. And for Eye Candy Friday today, I thought I’d share some more of his art.

This painting is still on the easel. Joey often will work on a painting for weeks and weeks, adding layer after layer of paint resulting in a piece that is both textural and deep. The piece I have is a rarity among his works in that it’s watercolor and comparatively flat.

I love this one! The daffodils are so cheery! Also, I almost forgot to mention, but Joey is a new knitter too. He finished a couple of scarves and now has started his first pair of socks and a pair of baby booties.

Have a great long Memorial Day weekend, all you American types, and for Canadians, have a good 2-4 Weekend My bad, I guess Victoria Day was last weekend!

M

May I present, the Foliage Shawl. See storefront to purchase.

This top-down shawl is worked in a simple leaf pattern that is both easy to memorize and easy to work, making the body of the shawl a joy to knit, while the border infuses the piece with a zest that makes this an accessory you’ll reach for again and again.

Worked in a heavy fingering weight yarn, it makes a fast and satisfying project, but could be worked in a finer gauge with more repeats to give a more delicate finished piece.

Yarn Requirements: 3 skeins of Reynold’s Whiskey (100% wool, 193 yds per skein). Sample was knit in color 086, Deep Rasberry.
Suggested Needles: 4mm (US 6) 24” or 30” circular or size needed to obtain gauge.
Gauge: 17 sts and 25 rows over 4” in leaf pattern after blocking
Finished Size: 56” across the top and 28” from neck to point.
Techniques Used: This pattern uses the following techniques:
knit, purl, k2tog, k2tog tbl, yo, placement and slipping of markers, centered double decrease (slip 2 tog knitwise, k1, p2sso), sl1 k2tog psso, sl, ssk, psso, wrap and turn short rows (with instructions included) and a provisional cast on.

See the shop for purchase information.

A knitted-on border is a great way to add an interesting edge to a shawl or wrap, or to add some decoration to the edge of a sweater or tank. I’ve used this technique many times, including the hem of the Demeter Camisole, in garter stitch as the edging for my second Pi Shawl, and most recently the border for the Foliage Shawl, which will be released tomorrow.

The most wonderful thing about a knitted-on border is that it gives you an edge that is not only decorative, but elastic enough to withstand severe blocking. Quite often, the stretch and openness of lace will be too much for a traditional bound off edge and an alternative must be found. There are many bind-offs specifically for lace, but none of them give quite the same decorative touch as a knitted-on border.

The basic premise behind a knitted-on border is that the border stitches are worked at a 90 degree angle to the body stitches. The border is joined to the body as you work border rows by a joining decrease. This joining decrease can be any kind of decrease, but I prefer a k2tog tbl because it gives a nice firm join without any sloppy open stitches.

So let’s start with the pictures, shall we?

Begin by casting on the number of stitches needed for the border. As you can see I have just attached the body yarn (mauve) to the border yarn (gray) by way of a simple overhand knot. I usually undo my knots later and weave in the ends. But if you were doing the border in the same yarn as the body, then you wouldn’t even need to attach anything, just continue with the same yarn. For ease of demonstration though, we will use 2 different colors of yarn. I used a cable cast on here because I like the nice firm edge.

Work in border pattern until you have one stitch left from the border and one stitch left from the body. Here you can clearly see them - one gray, one mauve. And work a joining decrease using one border and one body stitch. This joining decrease has 2 purposes. 1. It attaches the border-in-progress to the body, and 2. It anchors the body stitch so that it will not unravel. It’s like binding it off, but without involving any other body stitches.

After working a joining decrease, you will turn the piece and work the next border row. But in order to give a flat join and minimize bulk, I like to slip the first border stitch (which is incidentally, the stitch that you just created by working the joining decrease). The stitch to be slipped is the first border stitch closest to the body stitches.

If you continue in this fashion, joining every other border row to the body via a joining decrease, you will begin to see how the border is attached. It can be difficult to see this after only a few rows, but persevere! Here you can clearly see the right angle at which the border is knitted on to the body.

This is an alternate view of the same point, where you can see the way the body and the border stitches twist together to form the joining decrease.

Here you can see the back view of the same point. The knitted on border is clean and even on both right and wrong sides.

A knitted-on border can be worked with a variety of needle preferences. I like to use the same circular needle that is holding my live body stitches to work the border, and if I weren’t using a different color completely, I would place a stitch marker before the final border stitch next to the body so that I would slip the marker and then know to work the joining decrease.

Continue with the border rows until all of the body stitches are used up. I like to finish with a joining row. I work the final row, binding off as I go, until I have one body and one border stitch left, then work my joining decrease and bind off the final stitch. As you can see, the edge lies flat and even this way.

Here you can see how the finished border rows and body stitches meet. There is a tiny bit of mauve peeking out from the border rows where the joining decrease stitches intertwine.

In this close-up you can see how the body rows (mauve) are worked horizontally, and the border rows (gray) are worked vertically.

I hope you found this tutorial useful and clear. If you’ve got any questions, please leave them in the comments and I will answer them in the comments.

Come back tomorrow for the release of the Foliage Shawl pattern.

M

I didn’t get a chance to finish the pictures and posts for this week, so bear with me. Hopefully I should have a tutorial for you tomorrow.

M

I know I’ve said it before, but I love my camera! This is my 50mm f/1.8 II EF lens. I <3 this lens! I especially love the way it makes stucco in the backgrounds look sort of watercolored and soft.

To add more to the series of spring blossom photos, here are some other entries. Plum and Crabapple.

Happy Friday! May you have a knitterly weekend. Mine will be filled with friends, yarn, and many activities.

Ekho is a very laid back and relaxed kitty. He follows me from room to room quite often and is generally underfoot in the mornings when you’re half awake and it’s MOST inconvenient for him to be where your feet are.

He tolerates me picking him up a lot and actually enjoys being held like a baby and getting his tummy stroked. He often purrs like a lawnmower without any provocation (I think he realizes that I think it’s cute and I’ll pet him if he does). And he has appropriated every toilet-sitting moment as time for you to pet him because, naturally, you’re not doing anything else. This rule applies to C and myself as well as to anyone we have over, so be forewarned.

I try to put a lot of stuff on top of him ala Stuff on my Cat, but usually he shakes it off before I can get a picture.

But this weekend I got him while he was all snuggled up against my leg and caught him unawares.

I finished spinning up my thrums (except for about 1.5 ounces that I am not sure I want to spin), and plied it (4 bobbins of singles and 4 really full bobbins of plied yarn, plus a wee bit of singles) and then promptly put it on top of Ekho. The look says it all.

Here they are washed and dried.

Fiber/Amount: about 8.5 ounces of Spinderella’s Thrums, which are a one of a kind mishmash of random fiber bits she collects and throws together, so really it could be anything.
Wheel/Spindle: Ashford Traveler
Preparation: Pre-drafted
Spinning Technique: Sort of fast and loose. Since I knew I wasn’t going to get a really consistent yarn because of the many textures in the roving (including bits of thread), I just approximated about the same weight for each of the singles and spun with a more woolen single in mind to keep it lofty enough to fill in the iffy bits if it got too thin.
Wraps Per Inch/Yardage: 9-10, Heavy Worsted/275 yards
Verdict: It’s great, it came out balanced and it’s still soft, so I’m happy.
Planned Project?: Nothing yet. Suggestions?

Steven sent me a link to this article headlined “More men bucking stereotypes, picking up knitting”. I am all for men knitting. I’m all for ANYONE knitting… children, adults, grandparents, teenagers… if you’ve got hands and a brain, I vote that you use them to knit.

This article focuses on the social stigma that male knitters face, and touches on the far from female-centric history of knitting. But this is what gets me (emphasis mine):

“This is part of the popularity that knitting gained beginning in the early 2000s with people ages 18 to 34,” said Mary Colucci, executive director of the yarn council. “Now men and boys of the skateboard generation are driven to knit to create their own hats, individualize their looks.”

But the stereotype of knitting as feminine is being challenged by the fact that many male knitters are athletes, mostly snowboarders and skateboarders, who want to create their own, individualized gear. Boise State running back Ian Johnson made headlines when it was discovered that he spent three to four hours a night knitting beanies and scarves with logos after practice.

Despite the fact that the knitters INTERVIEWED in this piece NEVER ONCE say that they’re knitting their own individualized gear (and in fact, give plenty of other reasons such as relaxation, physical therapy for a shoulder injury, and the sense of creating something from nothing), the article uses an athlete making his own gear as a crutch to bolster the masculinity of the hobby. Why is it not just acceptable that a man LIKES to knit? Why do we have to justify it as an otherwise macho man who just wants some unique gear? The whole justification seems plastered onto the article the article to lend the hobby some credibility.

The men interviewed in this article speak clearly about why they love knitting. Why not focus on that? Clearly masculine stereotypes are just as pervasive as feminine stereotypes in the mainstream media.

Go read the article, then come back here and discuss!
M

And here’s another pair of socks that I haven’t shown you as a WIP and now show you as an FO. It’s magic!

Pattern: Made up, knit from the top down (I usually knit socks from the toe up for C since he likes them as tall as possible), on 76 sts, in a 2×2 rib, using sl2 wyif at strategically placed points to make a really subtle chevron detail that helped me not get really bored. Short row heel and wedge toe.
Yarn: Regia 4-fadig in color 535, which is a sort of foresty green with hints of brown and orange.
Needles: 2.5 mm, (US 1.5) Crystal Palace Bamboo DPNs. 2 Sets.
Verdict: They’re great! C loves them, and wore them yesterday. I used all but a few inches of the yarn though. In fact, I had to finish one toe, graft it, and then steal the rest of its yarn to finish the decreases and grafting for the other toe. All in all though, I’d say they were perfect.

Gotta catch you up on some FO’s….

Pattern: Thelonious by CookieA
Size: Medium
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in the colorway “Blue Lagoon”
Needles: 2.5 mm (US 1.5) Crystal Palace Bamboo DPNs. 2 sets.
Modifications: I extended the patterning a little past the last chart to make the travelling motifs come together on the instep before continuing the rest of the way toward the toe. I just was looking at it the way it was and didn’t like the whole wide strip of stockinette created by the two motifs meeting on either side of a knit rib.
Verdict: They’re great socks, although I might have gotten away with knitting the small size instead of the medium. They do bag a bit around my ankles after wear. But the yarn is just amazing. I can see why so many people stalk The Loopy Ewe when she gets a new shipment in. The color was interesting and fun to knit, without any pooling or flashing. And smooshy really is the best way to describe how this yarn feels.