hat success!

A,
I know that hats aren't generally considered to be a big deal, but I seem to have difficulty with them. I haven't had very many success stories, so I am happy to boast of my recent hat accomplishment:


I think the success has a lot to do with the fact that this has absolutely no shaping involved. But that's okay! It fits! Hooray!


K

PS. Apparently you cannot vote for the republican primaries in Arizona if you are an independent. That makes sense, but I am confused, because for the last primary, I thought they just asked me whether I wanted the republican or democrat ballot. Oh well.

PPS. Babies have enormous heads.

perspectives

A,
Sometimes when you're performing in a play, you get so close to the script that you forget what parts of it are funny. Then opening night comes along, the audience laughs at something, and you have the chance to see the play anew, in the eyes of the audience. I always found this to be immensely gratifying.

Sometimes with knitting, too, you get to be so close to it that you forget the inherent magic. It's sometimes too easy to forget that a piece of yarn plus a million tiny stitches can be put together to make something beautiful. It can be simple, but it is still a fascinating journey.

A few months ago, I was working on making a snake. It was a pretty easy project for me, and I wasn't giving it much thought, attention, or love. And then a five-year-old girl reminded me that even this simple project can hold a lot of magic. She was enamored; with the snake, with the knitting, with it all. It was a good reminder to appreciate even those simple knitting projects and to remember that things don't have to be over-the-top to be appreciated.


On the flip side, it's sometimes surprising what doesn't get appreciated. When I was rehearsing for The Marriage of Bette and Boo, there was one scene that we could never get through without laughing. The guy who played Bette's dad resorted to putting on an ipod so that he could drown out the dialogue and keep himself from laughing.

But then opening night came and no one laughed at the scene. That dead silence was sobering and dried up any urge we had to laugh over our lines.

On the knitting side of things, I was once making mittens. And these were (in my opinion) amazing mittens. I think they were my favorite project. They were cabley and complicated and required charts. I was knitting them in the airport, when a man started talking to me about them. Then he asked me if I had just learned how to knit. And he asked it in such a way as to imply that this must be a simple, nonchalant, throw-away project. And I wanted to say, no! Look at these! These are cabley and complicated and require charts! These are beautiful and there is no way that I just learned how to knit. Why don't you see this knitting in the same way that I do?

It's interesting to me that people can have such different perspectives; on theatre, knitting, and life in general. I like to think that knitting can tell a different story to each person who sees it, and I think I will try to focus on those stories that bring the most joy and magic back into my life.

Sometimes we forget that the simplest of things are the most beautiful.

Love,
K

PS. I think you should make some natural nativity. Those patterns do look amazing, but so far, I have found them to be pretty simple in design.

PPS. I look forward to seeing your bird creations.

Branching out

Hey K, Medieval Mice! Oh goodness. So cute. Alan Dart's knitting, for the most part, seems almost unattainable to me because it always looks so amazing. I started looking through all his patterns and I now have a deep desire to make Natural Nativity. I've been on a bit of a spinning jag recently. Yesterday when Kris was out to game night, which I don't go to, I was sorting through a box of extra "stuff" we had sitting in our mini-hallway when all of a sudden I found a piece of white cotton cloth. I have no idea where it was or what I had been planning to do with it. However, I know what I did do last night.

Oh yeah, look at those colors!   There were, I estimate 3-4 yards of fabric, so I ripped it into shorter quarter-half yards and looked up how to dye cotton.  Strangely enough, I own Procion dyes for cotton, even though I have never dyed cotton before.  Yes.  I own probably about 20 colors.

Don't they look pretty drying next the window?  I should make a tutorial on how I did this for people like me who are scared to dye cotton, because it was even easier than dying wool.  I dyed it in ziplock baggies.

 I'm pretty much in love.  Do you need some fabric dyed for a quilt?

 

I actually do have a project in mind for these.  I borrowed my mom's sewing machine.  Abagail Glassenberg is a true fiber artist who makes gorgeous softies.  I adore her birds, which may be about the ultimate for me in sewn creations. She somewhat recently published a book called "the Artful Bird," from which I have yet to create anything since I have had a lack of time and sewing machine.  Oh little birds, here we come!

In addition, I started a secret project today that combined chemistry with art.  Better living, here we come!

I'll let you know how it goes.  

Oh, also! About a week ago I tried weaving again.  I remembered I don't like weaving, so you don't get pictures of that.  It's sitting in a pile in a corner.  I wove about an inch before I stopped.

A

be prepared

A,
Thrummed mittens are being sent to the other side of the world.

And now I am working on projects for future future needs.

First, there is a secret Christmas project for one of our blog readers. I started eleven months early! There is no way I won't finish this in time.

And if you thought that was working ahead of time, my second project is even more forward-thinking. This project won't be ready to give for at least a couple of years. Mainly because of the small pieces that might pose a choking hazard for little M.

I am making a small army of medieval mice for Myra. Clothes-wearing, anthropomorphized, miniature mice with lots of itsy bitsy pieces. And baby mice heads the size of peas.

The good news is that because these won't be suitable to gift for quite a while, I have a long time before I even have to think about weaving in all those ends, assembling limbs, or stuffing bodies. Now all I have to do is knit.

I'd like to say that I'm picking projects this far ahead of time because I am incredibly on top of life and am always prepared. The truth is that I just like to pick out the projects that look fun and then find a reason to knit them. Adorable toy mice look like fun projects to knit, and if I have to hold onto them for a while before M gets to them, that just means I get to play with them first.

K

taking risks

A,
This is what happens when you leave your neurotic dog alone by herself:


I've been kenneling Malina when we're out because it's slipper season, and last year she demolished my slippers (I didn't realize my yarn was at risk as well). I've been diligent in kenneling her, but I think James was a little more optimistic. He left her out last night.

I can't be too upset at James, because the night before that, I inadvertently threw his wallet in the trash (you can imagine how long it took before we thought to check there). Besides, he detangled the yarn for me this morning.

This is a project for my friend Martha who is living in Finland right now. I thought her hands might be cold, and plus I think I promised her something woolly and hand-knit a while ago when she was considering moving to a cold wintery location. Thus, thrummed mittens. And bonus! I still had my pattern from four years ago. As long as the dogs don't get into this again, I should be able to finish them before Finland's long winter ends.


I don't know exactly what Martha is doing in Finland, but I'm pretty impressed by her. Since I moved to Arizona, she has visited three different continents and lived in five different countries. She's become a world traveler while I've been hanging around this same place. Yet I know that I wouldn't have the courage to travel to all those different places, especially not by myself. When it comes down to it, I'm not particularly brave. Even though I ended up on the other side of the country, I still miss the midwest, and I would be happy to move back. I think when it comes down to it, I am impressed by her because she represents something that I am not, but yet something that a part of me wishes I could be. How cool to travel the world! I am happy that she has the opportunity to travel, learn languages, and make interesting memories.


Me, I am not a risk-taker. I mean, I don't even gamble with leaving the dog out of her kennel! James is the one who took that chance, because he sees the possibility for good in our dogs. And it's a good thing that he does. If it wasn't for him, I would have taken Dutch to the pound, and we never would have gotten to know what he was like, beneath his abused and frightened outer layer.

James is the one who would like to travel the world. Maybe it is good that we are matched up, because we balance each other out. Also, it's easier to take risks when you're not doing it alone.

I know it's not on the same scale, but I likely would not have taken the same knitting risks if I hadn't met you. You were, after all, the one who introduced me to thrummed mittens. I think we knit pretty well together. It's easier to take knitting risks when you're not doing it alone.

K

P.S. I tried to match the colors of the mittens with Finland's colors. It's not an exact match, but I like it.

PPS. Malina has such enormous separation anxiety that she will wait for James by the kitchen window the entire time that he is on a bike ride. And sometimes the length of these bike rides approach two hours. Though she may be neurotic, she is still pretty loyal.

magical transformation of shawl into scarf

A,
I've been working on things, albeit slowly. I'm ready to wash and block some lace, which is always an exciting step. This project turned itself into a scarf, because the border wasn't matching up properly, and I decided that it would be easier to leave it out altogether than to figure out what was wrong with my ability to evenly pick up stitches. I would have probably ended up wearing it as a scarf anyway, so it's no big deal.

Here's the first edge I tried, which didn't quite work out:


Here's the project wallowing in washy goodness:


And here's the project about to reach full scarf-potential:


When little M came, I was about at the point where I needed to start the edging for this project. Which meant that I needed to think about things and learn a new chart and pick up stitches (which I apparently failed at). That was difficult because it took a fair amount of concentration, and also because M takes up a lot of my free-arm time. So I was thinking about the future of my knitting post-baby, and thinking maybe I should stick to the mundane. I'm going to reign it in a little.** But then, I was also thinking about my mom.

She said she put down sewing and picked up knitting once Brent and I were born. Most of the knitting that she did was done during an age at which I was too young to remember anything. But the fruits of her knitting were still around during my childhood, and what I remember are lovely and sometimes intricate sweaters, with cables and bobbles and loveliness. I'm pretty hopeful that if she could knit prolifically, I can continue to stitch away as well.

K

**I need to keep reminding myself that this is not the type of project for which I have time or inclination right now.

PS. I heard my new neighbors fighting yesterday. And then a door slam. And then their truck driving angrily off. . . Oh well.

Neighbors

Dr. A,
Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Graduation, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year's! I guess I haven't posted in a while.

We had some interesting neighbors for a while. They were the first neighbors we've had who left their windows open. Which meant, well, I got a little snoopy. I mean, it was hard not to, because their default voices were loud. It was difficult to make out actual words, but their tone was frequently sarcastic or angry. This made James sad, because he didn't like to hear dysfunctional families, though I am ashamed to say that I reveled in the drama. Then, they put their house back up for rent just a couple of months after they moved in. I wondered if there was any drama involved in that decision, but I will probably never know.

Our new neighbors just moved in about a week ago. They're from Wisconsin. By the way, in case you were unaware, Wisconsin is code for awesome. I have high hopes for this couple.

What I wanted to say was that, even though I enjoyed snooping on my neighbors and trying to overhear their conversations, I am glad that I am not in their position. I am thankful to have a loving and supportive husband, and a beautiful, brand-new little girl. I know it doesn't work out like that for everyone, and so I am all the more thankful. I wish us both new years full of functional family life and much joy.

Love,
K

PS. Check out little M's awesome fashion sense. Aren't her socks adorable?

PPS. I know you were thinking about short-term jobs for the semester. Even though it's likely not practical, I feel I would be amiss if I did not recommend applying for the job of astronaut. Or, you know, since you were interested in tutoring, I might recommend online tutoring as well.