Bunad Mukluk #1 is on the needles! I'm past the heel and working the instep. I'm following the pattern by Robin Melanson in Mags Kandis' latest book, Folk Style.
They're going amazingly fast. Patons Classic Merino worsted weight wool on #8 needles may be one reason. After knitting Jaywalker (on #1's, no less), progress is really gratifying. I can't wait to work on the embroidered embellishments. Since I'm knitting them for my daughter and it's late in the season, I've gone up a size for her to an Adult with a 9" foot in hopes she can wear them next winter. If her foot keeps growing at the pace the rest of her is these days, I may "inherit" them and have to make another set. That's fine!
Pix to come . . .
Showing posts with label Jaywalker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jaywalker. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Jaywalkin' the blues
Jaywalker is finished! My daughter is practicing the "banana boat" song on her sax, also famous as the theme song in the Beetlejuice movie. Seems appropriate to celebrate the blue striations of these fun-to-knit socks. 
Yarn: Kertzer’s On Your Toes in teal, ON223600
Needles: #1 doublepointed bamboo, set of 5
Length of Project: Took a month, because I set it aside for weeks at a time.
Design Notes: Really easy to memorize pattern, so a great project for road knitting, carpool and waiting rooms. I made the legs 10" instead of the pattern's 9" because my legs are longer.
Here, my daughter models Jaywalker. They're too big for her, but she'll likely "borrow" them often since she loves crazy socks.
Yarn: Kertzer’s On Your Toes in teal, ON223600
Needles: #1 doublepointed bamboo, set of 5
Length of Project: Took a month, because I set it aside for weeks at a time.
Design Notes: Really easy to memorize pattern, so a great project for road knitting, carpool and waiting rooms. I made the legs 10" instead of the pattern's 9" because my legs are longer.
Here, my daughter models Jaywalker. They're too big for her, but she'll likely "borrow" them often since she loves crazy socks.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
And she's back . . .
Okay, it didn't really take three days to recover from the 10 mile hike. It's just been crazy busy in the Knitternall family. Mock Trial competition is Saturday for A, softball Spring Training is underway for AG, I'm working on a freelance assignment as well as some big updates to the Nature Center website, the Honda Odyssey is at the dealer so they can recreate the hinky transmission issues that seem to disappear whenever I take it in, and I drove SEVEN TIMES to and from home yesterday.
I'm pooped.
Last evening, during a quickly bolted capital campaign dinner at St. Luke's, I thought longingly about a glass of wine. But even though Jesus drank it and we serve it at communion, it seems that wine at a church dinner is not appropriate. Huh. I personally think that a glass of wine goes with anything you've just squeezed in between work, kids, stuff breaking down and needing fixing, business trips, and everything else that happens in a single day in our life.
Back to knitting.
I'm at a restless stage. I finished Jaywalker (hurray! - will post pix soon) and can't decide what major project to get underway. I'm knitting a ballband dishcloth (thanks, Mason Dixon!) as a kind of stopgap and to pass the time during Spring Training. However, it was a frigid 40 Tuesday night and I tried to knit with gloves on. Doesn't work. I also casted on another prayer shawl, which is the kind of project I like to pick up as a break from more demanding designs.
I have several options in the queue and enough yarn for a sweater or cardigan. But I'm feeling bamboo or linen these days. It's probably a yearning for spring. This has been a wicked winter for tragedy in our little community. Illness, death, infidelity, and financial difficulty are pervasive. I was talking to a friend last night that, this year in particular, Spring seems like the best hope we have for a turn for the better.
I pray so.
Since I saw a short sleeved wrap top in the latest Rowan magazine, it's stayed in my mind. I think I'll go back and look at the pattern again and see if it may scratch that itch.
Okay. Time to start another overbooked day.
I'm pooped.
Last evening, during a quickly bolted capital campaign dinner at St. Luke's, I thought longingly about a glass of wine. But even though Jesus drank it and we serve it at communion, it seems that wine at a church dinner is not appropriate. Huh. I personally think that a glass of wine goes with anything you've just squeezed in between work, kids, stuff breaking down and needing fixing, business trips, and everything else that happens in a single day in our life.
Back to knitting.
I'm at a restless stage. I finished Jaywalker (hurray! - will post pix soon) and can't decide what major project to get underway. I'm knitting a ballband dishcloth (thanks, Mason Dixon!) as a kind of stopgap and to pass the time during Spring Training. However, it was a frigid 40 Tuesday night and I tried to knit with gloves on. Doesn't work. I also casted on another prayer shawl, which is the kind of project I like to pick up as a break from more demanding designs.
I have several options in the queue and enough yarn for a sweater or cardigan. But I'm feeling bamboo or linen these days. It's probably a yearning for spring. This has been a wicked winter for tragedy in our little community. Illness, death, infidelity, and financial difficulty are pervasive. I was talking to a friend last night that, this year in particular, Spring seems like the best hope we have for a turn for the better.
I pray so.
Since I saw a short sleeved wrap top in the latest Rowan magazine, it's stayed in my mind. I think I'll go back and look at the pattern again and see if it may scratch that itch.
Okay. Time to start another overbooked day.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Take a hike
Ten miles. That's how far the kids and I hiked this morning. We looped through Dunwoody, headed over to the Perimeter Mall area, then trekked up Ashford-Dunwoody, back through the Village, and home. Finished in just under 3 hours, with a stop at Starbucks. Urban hiking rocks!
A has to complete five ten-mile hikes plus one 20-mile hike to earn his Hiking Merit Badge. That, and Personal Fitness, are all that stand between him and his Eagle project. It was a great morning for a hike - overcast, 50's. He's already completed hikes on the Big Creek greenway at North Point and Stone Mountain Park. He opted for an urban hike this time so he'd have access to restroom facilities. Just two days since Remicade, and things are still settling down. These physical merit badges are really hard for A, but he's gamely trying to meet the requirements.
It's been a hard month on so many people around us. One lost her mother to a horrible automobile accident and weeks of hospitalization. A friend is in the Northside ICU with double pneumonia and collapsed lungs. She has three girls between the ages of 5 and 14. Two weeks on a ventilator and still counting. Another mom of three young girls between the ages of 2 and 10) visited her last Tuesday, then was admitted to the same ICU the next day with Type H Influenza (the 1918 strain that was so deadly). Flu has been roaring through our preschools and schools here in Dunwoody. She contracted one of the rarer strains that is always around, but usually affects only the very young and the very elderly. She's in critical condition, also on a ventilator.
Awful.
I worry about A being exposed to flu and pneumonia - his immune system is compromised at best, and at the moment it's completely suppressed thanks to Remicade. But we can't keep him in a bubble, so keep hoping and praying for the best.
Knitting Progress
A has to complete five ten-mile hikes plus one 20-mile hike to earn his Hiking Merit Badge. That, and Personal Fitness, are all that stand between him and his Eagle project. It was a great morning for a hike - overcast, 50's. He's already completed hikes on the Big Creek greenway at North Point and Stone Mountain Park. He opted for an urban hike this time so he'd have access to restroom facilities. Just two days since Remicade, and things are still settling down. These physical merit badges are really hard for A, but he's gamely trying to meet the requirements.
It's been a hard month on so many people around us. One lost her mother to a horrible automobile accident and weeks of hospitalization. A friend is in the Northside ICU with double pneumonia and collapsed lungs. She has three girls between the ages of 5 and 14. Two weeks on a ventilator and still counting. Another mom of three young girls between the ages of 2 and 10) visited her last Tuesday, then was admitted to the same ICU the next day with Type H Influenza (the 1918 strain that was so deadly). Flu has been roaring through our preschools and schools here in Dunwoody. She contracted one of the rarer strains that is always around, but usually affects only the very young and the very elderly. She's in critical condition, also on a ventilator.
Awful.
I worry about A being exposed to flu and pneumonia - his immune system is compromised at best, and at the moment it's completely suppressed thanks to Remicade. But we can't keep him in a bubble, so keep hoping and praying for the best.
Knitting Progress
- Finished: another prayer shawl for the knitting ministry at St. Luke's. This one, also in the Comfort Shawl pattern, combined black and cream in yarns of various textures.
- 90% complete: At the instep for Jaywalker #2! I expect to finish it in the next few days, thanks to some unexpected waiting room time at Curry Honda. The van's transmission is hinky.
- Starting: Swatching for a felted runner idea, Ice Queen.
- On hold (temporarily): Mukluks.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Remicade knitting
Today is A's eight-week Remicade infusion. We'll stop for a chicken biscuit at Chic Fil A then head for the lab for his 10:00 appointment. The good news is that today is a school holiday, so he isn't missing classes. (A does not consider that good news. He loves to miss classes.)
Remicade is coded by the insurance company like chemotherapy, and there are many similarities. Every eight weeks, he's hooked up to an IV for 3 hours of measured dosage. The infusion lab is staffed by GI Care for Kids (the pediatric gastroenterology practice) so it's set up for the primarily tween and teen patients' comfort. Recliners, a TV, a bunch of current DVD's, snack tray and two amazing nurses, plus half a dozen pediatric GIs right around the corner and Children's Healthcare/Scottish Rite across the street just in case . . . it's a fantastic arrangement.
Remicade has been a last-ditch measure to control Adam's severe Crohn's, and so far it's preventing the perforations and sepsis he's endured in the past. We're praying that the inevitable development of Remicade antibodies is far in the future because there isn't much in the research pipeline to go to next.
Meanwhile, we parents get to perch in a microscope waiting "room" that's anything but comfortable. Seven armless seats with the worst ergonomics I've ever seen in an airless anteroom that's about 8 feet wide by 12 feet long! I always try to angle for the corner seat because that way I'm not in the path of strollers headed to the lab that shares the infusion lab's space, nor will the door to the lab smack me in the knees. Otherwise, it's a constant dodge.
I truly do not mind the waiting room because I appreciate the space set aside for patients. I can get up and move around. The patients are tethered to their IVs.
Three hours of Remicade equates to really productive knitting. I hope to get to the heel of Jaywalker #2 and swatch a new project. Plus I have a J. D. Robb in case my hands get tired.
Remicade is coded by the insurance company like chemotherapy, and there are many similarities. Every eight weeks, he's hooked up to an IV for 3 hours of measured dosage. The infusion lab is staffed by GI Care for Kids (the pediatric gastroenterology practice) so it's set up for the primarily tween and teen patients' comfort. Recliners, a TV, a bunch of current DVD's, snack tray and two amazing nurses, plus half a dozen pediatric GIs right around the corner and Children's Healthcare/Scottish Rite across the street just in case . . . it's a fantastic arrangement.
Remicade has been a last-ditch measure to control Adam's severe Crohn's, and so far it's preventing the perforations and sepsis he's endured in the past. We're praying that the inevitable development of Remicade antibodies is far in the future because there isn't much in the research pipeline to go to next.
Meanwhile, we parents get to perch in a microscope waiting "room" that's anything but comfortable. Seven armless seats with the worst ergonomics I've ever seen in an airless anteroom that's about 8 feet wide by 12 feet long! I always try to angle for the corner seat because that way I'm not in the path of strollers headed to the lab that shares the infusion lab's space, nor will the door to the lab smack me in the knees. Otherwise, it's a constant dodge.
I truly do not mind the waiting room because I appreciate the space set aside for patients. I can get up and move around. The patients are tethered to their IVs.
Three hours of Remicade equates to really productive knitting. I hope to get to the heel of Jaywalker #2 and swatch a new project. Plus I have a J. D. Robb in case my hands get tired.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Happy Saturday!
There was a great cartoon in the Baby Blues series last week. It showed the weekend BEFORE and AFTER kids.
BEFORE . . . relax, sleep in, read the paper, enjoy a great new restaurant, yada yada yada.
AFTER . . . synchronize your watches.
Since 5:30 this morning, I've washed clothes, walked the dog, cleaned up the main floor, changed bed linens, and emptied the dishwasher. I also unexpectedly drove over to St. Luke's to take a shower. There's a water main break down the street and who knows when we'll get water on again. That's more of the fun of living in an aging urban environment. Lots of great culture. Really bad infrastructure.
Now it's time to fix everyone some lunch and gear up for the first day of spring training. AG's softball season starts today with lovely weather and a half-finished ballpark. After years of delays for one reason or another, a cancelled Fall Ball season, and worries about not having this year's Spring season at all, the county finally started work on Murphy-Candler's softball fields. (The original construction season would have started right at the end of one spring season and end right before Fall Ball.) And now there's a drought. So even though the fields are technically finished, the sod isn't. The girls will have to play on a football field and we'll have to drive over to another park for practices.
Sigh.
Anyway.
I'm putting together my travel bag, knitting that is. The fold up chairs are tossed in the back of the van along with AG's amazing array of softball gear. It'll take us a few weeks to get back into the groove of practices and games. All in all, we love the softball season and are really glad this one didn't get cancelled as well.
Travel knitting is all about size and pattern complexity. I have very stringent requirements:
I also have my Under Armour ready - February is COLD and metal bleachers are COLDER. So while the girls are warming up on the field, the parents are slowly going into hypothermia. Hence the fold-up chairs. At least, that used to be the solution. I haven't seen the new layout yet so chairs may not fit anywhere within viewing range!
Oh, yeah. Need to add one more thing to the van: a really large warm fleece blanket.
Play ball!
BEFORE . . . relax, sleep in, read the paper, enjoy a great new restaurant, yada yada yada.
AFTER . . . synchronize your watches.
Since 5:30 this morning, I've washed clothes, walked the dog, cleaned up the main floor, changed bed linens, and emptied the dishwasher. I also unexpectedly drove over to St. Luke's to take a shower. There's a water main break down the street and who knows when we'll get water on again. That's more of the fun of living in an aging urban environment. Lots of great culture. Really bad infrastructure.
Now it's time to fix everyone some lunch and gear up for the first day of spring training. AG's softball season starts today with lovely weather and a half-finished ballpark. After years of delays for one reason or another, a cancelled Fall Ball season, and worries about not having this year's Spring season at all, the county finally started work on Murphy-Candler's softball fields. (The original construction season would have started right at the end of one spring season and end right before Fall Ball.) And now there's a drought. So even though the fields are technically finished, the sod isn't. The girls will have to play on a football field and we'll have to drive over to another park for practices.
Sigh.
Anyway.
I'm putting together my travel bag, knitting that is. The fold up chairs are tossed in the back of the van along with AG's amazing array of softball gear. It'll take us a few weeks to get back into the groove of practices and games. All in all, we love the softball season and are really glad this one didn't get cancelled as well.
Travel knitting is all about size and pattern complexity. I have very stringent requirements:
- Ease of transport.
- Conducive to knitting while sitting in a fold-up arm chair.
- Pattern easy enough to memorize (no tricky counting or changes midstream).
- Single skein/ball design - forget stranding.
- A picture of what I'm making for all the curious parents.
I also have my Under Armour ready - February is COLD and metal bleachers are COLDER. So while the girls are warming up on the field, the parents are slowly going into hypothermia. Hence the fold-up chairs. At least, that used to be the solution. I haven't seen the new layout yet so chairs may not fit anywhere within viewing range!
Oh, yeah. Need to add one more thing to the van: a really large warm fleece blanket.
Play ball!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Casting around for the next project
As if my queue isn't busy enough:
Saturday morning, I visited my favorite LYS, Cast-On Cottage in Roswell. I hadn't visited since the new owner acquired the shop. There were two classes in progress, friendly staff meandering through the pattern room and various store areas, and lots and lots and lots of yarn, patterns, accessories, etc. Even better, the staff was friendly and seemed to really enjoy working with knitters.
I needed sock forms to block Jaywalker. They had them! In various sizes! I wanted a shawl pin to accent my mixed-media design from last year. They had some real beauties! I wanted to see some of the latest patterns. They had an extensive library! I spent just an hour in the shop this time, but will definitely return shortly because I did indeed get some ideas.
Hello to Marcie! I told you I'd mention you and the shop in my blog.
She and owner Theresa Giordanengo were wonderfully helpful to T when he arrived with the kids in tow get my Christmas present. They even called other LYS to help him find an item that was sold out at Cast-On Cottage. Unlike the sniffy staff of another LYS in Atlanta (how dare he arrive near closing time to purchase a ball winder!!!!), they really believe in customer service.
- Jaywalker (half done - casting on sock #2)
- Prayer shawl #3 (1/3 complete)
- Mukluks (just beginning)
- Layette for ShareAtlanta (complete except for booties)
- Ice Queen
Saturday morning, I visited my favorite LYS, Cast-On Cottage in Roswell. I hadn't visited since the new owner acquired the shop. There were two classes in progress, friendly staff meandering through the pattern room and various store areas, and lots and lots and lots of yarn, patterns, accessories, etc. Even better, the staff was friendly and seemed to really enjoy working with knitters.
I needed sock forms to block Jaywalker. They had them! In various sizes! I wanted a shawl pin to accent my mixed-media design from last year. They had some real beauties! I wanted to see some of the latest patterns. They had an extensive library! I spent just an hour in the shop this time, but will definitely return shortly because I did indeed get some ideas.
Hello to Marcie! I told you I'd mention you and the shop in my blog.
She and owner Theresa Giordanengo were wonderfully helpful to T when he arrived with the kids in tow get my Christmas present. They even called other LYS to help him find an item that was sold out at Cast-On Cottage. Unlike the sniffy staff of another LYS in Atlanta (how dare he arrive near closing time to purchase a ball winder!!!!), they really believe in customer service.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Where everybody knows your name . . .
Every town has one. That eating place everyone goes to all the time. It's been around forever, the decor is forgettable, the prices are low, and the food is pretty basic.
The Old Hickory House in Dunwoody is that place. It's a barbecue restaurant that really shines at breakfast time. Every Friday morning, T and I meet there after he drops off A at the high school and just before I go to the Nature Center. He likes his big fluffy biscuit sandwich. I like a fried egg and rye toast or sausage links. Nothing fancy, certainly nothing healthy. But we really enjoy the time together.
I just got off the phone with TangleGirl (yo, Kris!), catching up on felted clogs, the forgiveness of felting and the heresy of incorrect patterns. (She purled awhile, exactly as the directions indicated, only to find out it was WRONG and mucked up the pattern. Don't you just HATE that?)
Rip it. Rip it. Blasted frogging.
I'm casting on the mukluks this weekend and will post pix of the yarn and WIP as I go. I'm also continuing on Jaywalker #2. We'll see if fun outpaces tedium.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
All better now
Five reasons things are better at the Knitternall House:
1. AG is nearly over her cold. She was out of school for two days, which meant I was out of work for the same period. I spent much of yesterday catching up the backlog.
2. I just finished a gi-normous edit job for one of my copywriting clients. Six hours of proofing indices, tables of content, technical data, cross-references, captions, and legalese. Hitting that "send" button felt really, really good.
3. My Preschool Phonics classes are just zooming. The kids collectively had a cognitive "growth spurt" over the holiday break and most are catching on. Many are even reading fluently!
4. I finished six scarves, a prayer shawl, and started a ShareAtlanta layette, so my charity knitting is right on schedule.
5. The ice blue kid silk mohair and suede soles arrived yesterday so I can start Ice Queen and the mukluks!!! Paradise Fibers was a dream to work with.
I'm craving a visit to my favorite LYS, Cast-On Cottage in Roswell. Maybe, just maybe, there will be time to indulge that craving on Saturday. I'm in the mood for some stash-building. And I'd love to dig through their new patterns for the queue.
Jaywalker #1 is nearing the toe and the dreaded second-sock syndrome is looming. Gotta fight it. Must . . . cast . . . on.
1. AG is nearly over her cold. She was out of school for two days, which meant I was out of work for the same period. I spent much of yesterday catching up the backlog.
2. I just finished a gi-normous edit job for one of my copywriting clients. Six hours of proofing indices, tables of content, technical data, cross-references, captions, and legalese. Hitting that "send" button felt really, really good.
3. My Preschool Phonics classes are just zooming. The kids collectively had a cognitive "growth spurt" over the holiday break and most are catching on. Many are even reading fluently!
4. I finished six scarves, a prayer shawl, and started a ShareAtlanta layette, so my charity knitting is right on schedule.
5. The ice blue kid silk mohair and suede soles arrived yesterday so I can start Ice Queen and the mukluks!!! Paradise Fibers was a dream to work with.
I'm craving a visit to my favorite LYS, Cast-On Cottage in Roswell. Maybe, just maybe, there will be time to indulge that craving on Saturday. I'm in the mood for some stash-building. And I'd love to dig through their new patterns for the queue.
Jaywalker #1 is nearing the toe and the dreaded second-sock syndrome is looming. Gotta fight it. Must . . . cast . . . on.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Snow in Atlanta and other oddness
I know everyone laughs at Southerners and the way we react to even a dusting of snow. Sure, we go overboard. But snow is so rare here that it's worthy of our undivided attention. We like to imagine we'll be
housebound for DAYS, so we stock up on unnecessary foodstuffs. We act like an inch of snow on the ground is plenty of support for the sleds we optimistically purchase and keep stored in the basement for years on end. And we pile the fireplace full of logs, sit back and enjoy the unique pleasure that is snow in the South.
Check out our house! There's a sight we don't see every year. I like the pattern the snow makes on our front mat. Hmm . . . is there a knitting pattern here?
I made a batch of beignets for the guys this morning. A and his best friend are playing video games and will head out shortly to try the sled on the hill near the house (our neighborhood is very hilly - houses perch high above the street on one side and the ground slopes sharply down to a creek on the other). AG spent the night with her BF D and is reported to be happily freezing her tushy off.
The only worry on the horizon is Scout Sunday tomorrow at St. Luke's. A and his troop are supposed to participate in the service, covering everything from prayers and Scripture readings to a flag ceremony and overview of the year's accomplishments. But we're not sure yet if all this pretty snow will turn to ice overnight. I don't care where in the country you live. Ice isn't a good thing to drive on. I just talked to the parent coordinator and assured her we'd be there regardless - one of the many benefits of living just a few blocks from the church. My guy can take multiple roles in the service to help cover for boys who can't make it.
I'm finishing a prayer shawl and will switch to my Jaywalkers shortly. The first sock is almost to the heel part, so it's moving along very well. I really like the yarn - it has a nice feel to it and the striping is fun. It seems to express the Jaywalker pattern perfectly. I'm making the upper portion a bit longer to suit my longer legs.
Back to the snow. I'm going to enjoy every single moment of it because Southern snows are just too fleeting.
housebound for DAYS, so we stock up on unnecessary foodstuffs. We act like an inch of snow on the ground is plenty of support for the sleds we optimistically purchase and keep stored in the basement for years on end. And we pile the fireplace full of logs, sit back and enjoy the unique pleasure that is snow in the South.
Check out our house! There's a sight we don't see every year. I like the pattern the snow makes on our front mat. Hmm . . . is there a knitting pattern here?
I made a batch of beignets for the guys this morning. A and his best friend are playing video games and will head out shortly to try the sled on the hill near the house (our neighborhood is very hilly - houses perch high above the street on one side and the ground slopes sharply down to a creek on the other). AG spent the night with her BF D and is reported to be happily freezing her tushy off.
The only worry on the horizon is Scout Sunday tomorrow at St. Luke's. A and his troop are supposed to participate in the service, covering everything from prayers and Scripture readings to a flag ceremony and overview of the year's accomplishments. But we're not sure yet if all this pretty snow will turn to ice overnight. I don't care where in the country you live. Ice isn't a good thing to drive on. I just talked to the parent coordinator and assured her we'd be there regardless - one of the many benefits of living just a few blocks from the church. My guy can take multiple roles in the service to help cover for boys who can't make it.
I'm finishing a prayer shawl and will switch to my Jaywalkers shortly. The first sock is almost to the heel part, so it's moving along very well. I really like the yarn - it has a nice feel to it and the striping is fun. It seems to express the Jaywalker pattern perfectly. I'm making the upper portion a bit longer to suit my longer legs.
Back to the snow. I'm going to enjoy every single moment of it because Southern snows are just too fleeting.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
So, what's the blog today?
My daughter asked. Just as inspiration was striking, she peered over my shoulder to see what I was writing. This whole blog thing has her fascinated. As a truly gifted writer in her own right (those are her teachers' words, not just mine!), she's very curious about the process of writing and all the ways writing gets into the reader's hands. I foresee a blog by her one day very soon . . .
Meanwhile, what's the blog today?
I was thinking about the difference between originality and creativity today. There is a difference. In the knitting world, originality is sometimes random, oftentimes scarce. It's a burst of genius that comes from lots and lots and lots of effort, imagination, and risk-taking. Creativity comes more frequently, whether in the colorways a knitter chooses to express a design or the reinterpretation of a concept.
I've been following the Annie Modesitt's pursuit of fair compensation and recognition as a knitwear designer. You go, girl! Certainly, a designer deserves far more compensation than the current "standard." Publishers of knitting magazines and yarn manufacturers have fairly narrow profit margins because their audience is relatively small (compared, for example, to a Better Homes & Gardens or Real Simple, which have broad appeal, larger circulations, and deeper pockets). So they have to watch their costs. Yet they'd be nowhere without the designers' efforts, which are the reason knitters buy the magazines and design booklets in the first place.
And there should be a definite hierarchy of compensation. Genuine originality warrants higher compensation. Check out Ravelry. The top 10 designs now underway by thousands of knitters include FREE designs! Jaywalker, for example - will Grumperina continue designing out of the goodness of her heart? Are the paid designers getting the royalties they deserve?
I sure hope so. Because knitting designers have a direct impact on the quality of my knitting and my satisfaction in the craft.
Meanwhile, what's the blog today?
I was thinking about the difference between originality and creativity today. There is a difference. In the knitting world, originality is sometimes random, oftentimes scarce. It's a burst of genius that comes from lots and lots and lots of effort, imagination, and risk-taking. Creativity comes more frequently, whether in the colorways a knitter chooses to express a design or the reinterpretation of a concept.
I've been following the Annie Modesitt's pursuit of fair compensation and recognition as a knitwear designer. You go, girl! Certainly, a designer deserves far more compensation than the current "standard." Publishers of knitting magazines and yarn manufacturers have fairly narrow profit margins because their audience is relatively small (compared, for example, to a Better Homes & Gardens or Real Simple, which have broad appeal, larger circulations, and deeper pockets). So they have to watch their costs. Yet they'd be nowhere without the designers' efforts, which are the reason knitters buy the magazines and design booklets in the first place.
And there should be a definite hierarchy of compensation. Genuine originality warrants higher compensation. Check out Ravelry. The top 10 designs now underway by thousands of knitters include FREE designs! Jaywalker, for example - will Grumperina continue designing out of the goodness of her heart? Are the paid designers getting the royalties they deserve?
I sure hope so. Because knitting designers have a direct impact on the quality of my knitting and my satisfaction in the craft.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
More than a haircut
About a month ago, AG said she wanted to cut her hair. Her gorgeous, multi-hued, long red hair. She'd been growing it for a few years in preparation for Middle School and all-things-tween. So I told her to wait - let's see if this is an impulse or really what you want to do.
In the spirit of reasoned debate, I pointed out:
My daughter is nothing if not determined. This kid knows her mind better than any adult I know. She doesn't care what the crowd is doing (particularly the Queen Bees and their courts) and she can always grow it again. I really admire this about her.
Somewhere along the line, her BF D joined the game. Both wanted haircuts, and both wanted them at the same time.
After careful consultation between moms, we made a weekend of it. D spent the night, we got up this morning, and breakfasted at Panera Bread. Then we dropped in at Azima here in Dunwoody, my fave place to get my own hair cut because they do really good work, charge reasonable prices, and TAKE WALK-INS.
(Sure, Great Cuts does the same thing, but that's a newbie factory. Azima is much, much better than that. I never have a hair appointment because I can't plan that far ahead.)
Both girls were taken at the same time. No wincing, no gulps.
And they look wonderful. Nice jaw-line blunt cuts, with bangs for D and without for AG.
Of course, there's a knitting connection. I worked on Jaywalker (MagKnits) while both girls enjoyed their pampering. The first sock is coming along very well. The pattern is easily memorized and I'm in the leg portion, so it's as close to mindless knitting as it gets.
In the spirit of reasoned debate, I pointed out:
- Long hair is "the look" for tweens and teens.
- You've been growing it for more than 3 years.
- You won't be able to wear a pony tail or a messy bun (both of her favorite styles).
- It's not long enough for Locks of Love.
My daughter is nothing if not determined. This kid knows her mind better than any adult I know. She doesn't care what the crowd is doing (particularly the Queen Bees and their courts) and she can always grow it again. I really admire this about her.
Somewhere along the line, her BF D joined the game. Both wanted haircuts, and both wanted them at the same time.
After careful consultation between moms, we made a weekend of it. D spent the night, we got up this morning, and breakfasted at Panera Bread. Then we dropped in at Azima here in Dunwoody, my fave place to get my own hair cut because they do really good work, charge reasonable prices, and TAKE WALK-INS.
(Sure, Great Cuts does the same thing, but that's a newbie factory. Azima is much, much better than that. I never have a hair appointment because I can't plan that far ahead.)
Both girls were taken at the same time. No wincing, no gulps.
And they look wonderful. Nice jaw-line blunt cuts, with bangs for D and without for AG.
Of course, there's a knitting connection. I worked on Jaywalker (MagKnits) while both girls enjoyed their pampering. The first sock is coming along very well. The pattern is easily memorized and I'm in the leg portion, so it's as close to mindless knitting as it gets.
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