knitting

Oh My Stars and Stripes

~ Lola ~ Leave a comment

Note: It is really hard to start blogging again when you’ve been on a hiatus, but I’m going to try. I’ve been meaning to post more for weeks now, but I keep getting stuck on what to post about. So I finally decided to just dive back in and post about whatever. That means at least the first few posts back will probably be all over the place, but I’m just going to go with it in the interest of getting back into the swing of adding content without getting bogged down in the details. ETA: Sigh. And then I forgot to give it a title

Pic of me wearing a red white and blue American flag-style scarf
Mine is quite a bit smaller than the original, but that’s by design.

I realized the other day that I hadn’t actually finished anything in awhile. I don’t actually know how many projects I have in progress right now, but it’s a lot. Like, more than 10. Maybe more than 20. And that’s just the ones that I know where they are and occasionally pick them up and work on them. So, I knew I had this Protest is Patriotic shawl from Craftivist on the needles, and I decided to go ahead and finish it up for 4th of July because I only had a few rows left to go.

Except…I didn’t get it finished for the 4th, but that turned out to be okay because it was so stupid hot here that there’s no way I could have worn it, even though it is both tiny and cotton. I finished up the knitting a couple of days later, and then I left it on the couch to stare balefully at me until I wove the ends in. Which I finally did last night, and now I have an adorable shawlette, as seen above. Who doesn’t love a happy ending?!

MnT Day 2: Midnight Run

~ Lola ~ 1 Comment

image

You may notice that the time stamp on this post is a bit after midnight, so technically no longer “day 2” as such. But I haven’t retired for the evening yet, so I’m going to say it still counts. Edit: And then the damn thing didn’t post! But it was done and photo’ed and written. Thwarted by technology still counts.

That hot mess up there is a silk chiffon cowl. (I’ll update tomorrow with a pic of me wearing it — it’s actually really pretty. Updated!)

Cowl, worn by me
Please to enjoy my morning face. Also please note, because I feel this shows significant personal growth, there was a much better picture of me but the cowl didn’t look so great in that one.

This yarn (LB Collection Silk Chiffon) comes in one of a kind skeins, and I think this is my favorite so far (I’ve made 3. Or maybe 4.). It works up really quickly on size 50 needles, with a drop stitch row every 4th row. Also, it’s a good thing it works up quickly, because size 50 needles just suck. But! I’m happy it’s done, and I’m probably going to make more, too. They’re just so pretty!

In Which I Go All Fangirl

~ Lola ~ 1 Comment

You know how sometimes you read a bunch of stuff by someone and you agree with pretty much all of it and think they’re totally awesome-sauce and then you get a chance to not just meet them but take a class (or two) from them and you try not to build it up too much because how could they possibly live up to that but then you can’t help but build it up and you’re totally prepared to be disappointed and then they somehow WILDLY exceed even your ridiculously high expectations?

Amy Herzog is just that amazing (and very gracious about posing for a selfie with me):

amy herzog and me
Amy with her very professional and friendly smile, me with my OMGSQUEEE fangirl face.

I took two classes with her this weekend at the 1st annual Kent Needle Arts Retreat: Knit to Flatter and Mastering Mindful Modifications. I learned a TON, especially in the first class. (The second class was math-ier, which because of my job I actually have a pretty good handle on. But if you don’t spend all day playing with pattern numbers, she will walk you through what you need to know very gently and painlessly. Highly recommended. Also, it was nice to have my methods confirmed. 🙂 )

Knit to Flatter was all about how to choose the right shapes for your body, and how to emphasize (or not) the body parts you choose. This was 3 hours of listening to someone talk about bodies and body image and fit and how clothes work…all things that can be very uncomfortable to think about, much less talk about. But Amy manages to come at these topics in such a way that it feels really good to think about your body and what it is you expect from it and how to live with it and in it.

It’s not about camouflage, and it’s not about trying to make yourself look like someone you’re not. It’s about how to choose clothes and shapes that show off the parts of you that you like, and visually reshape the parts of you that maybe you’re not so fond of. It’s about looking at yourself honestly and not hating what you see, because we all have things we like and don’t like and want others to see differently. It’s incredible and eye-opening, is what it is. I walked out of that class feeling better about my body than I have in a very long time, maybe ever.

Thank you, Amy, for sharing your insights and techniques, and for letting me go all fangirl there at the end.

Amy Herzog has a website here — check out her books and also the awesome CustomFit site, where you can skip the math-y bits of customizing sweaters for your body’s needs. Have I mentioned that Amy is super amazing?