the yarn, oxygen. the stitches, my breath.

we recently experienced a short break in the Winter weather. we emerged from below freezing for about a week; a breath of warmer air was drawn deeply into my lungs, anticipating the dive into the second half of Winter. a Winter that will be saturated with knitting. my queue is, after all, clogging up with projects. let me tell you about a few of them:

item #2 for my future Skif collection, Zena. as stated in a previous post, she is ready to go! pattern, check. yarn & needles, check. swatch, check. but, I promised myself that I would not start knitting her until I complete Bellagio. in the meantime, there are many projects looking to unhinge her from her place in the queue.

a 1940's waistcoat (button-up sweater vest) from the Victoria and Albert Museum Knitting Collection. The pamphlet the pattern is from is called: Jaeger Hand-Knit No. 44, Essentials for the Forces. I have been looking to aquire a waistcoat for work, to keep my core warm but allow for my sleeves to be rolled up...

after the completion of my Café au Lait Scarf on size 19 (15mm) needles, I have become enamored with the idea of knitting a larger project (such as a sweater), with bulky or super-bulky yarn.

due to the lack of mens sweater patterns that appeal to me, I am taking on the challenge of designing and knitting a sweater for next Winter. in fact, I have quite a few sketches of initial designs, but I have recently hit upon a concept that I will explore in depth in the near future. I very well could be on to something.

Stephen West's Boneyard Shawl. completely taken by the idea of "shawl as scarf". Boneyard Shawl is a simply elegant pattern that features ridges and a garter-stitched border. its architectual and lets the yarn show itself off in an understated, refined way.

I can not tell you what project will be next.
I just need to breathe.

working in diffused light

The chaos that is Christmas was not all that chaotic this year, but it did sneak up on me and left me unprepared. I want to cozy-up in an empty room, in the glow of the Winter sun... and I want to knit. I crave the simple, modern look and feel of the advert in the design magazine you were reading last week. I crave the results of some serious dedicated work but, I can barely seem to keep up with the Winter.

overcast skies and pullover sweaters are the norm as one week runs into the next one. Bellagio is still on the needles as the spring queue is jockeying for position. Winter always takes its toll on me. The holiday season gets me through the new year. The NFL Playoffs and the Super Bowl get me through to the beginning of February. February to April is a struggle. its difficult to take the day to day necessary actions to survive. let alone getting me to the design magazine advert outcome that I so truly desire.

my desire for a design advert future has influenced my eyes this Winter and is drawing me to colors with little or no hue. colors like charcoal, slate, fog and mist... I am reminded of living in Seattle and her coffee drenched masses walking around with their disposable black umbrellas. I could duck out of the rain into a furniture store on Western Avenue. modern sofas in gray and black leather abound. I marvel at the lighting fixtures and the steel and wood credenzas. if only I could spend the afternoon in a window that overlooks Elliot Bay, in a beautiful modern chair with knitting needles in my hand and smooshy grey-black wool travelling through my caffeinated fingers.

taking the chill off

to get closer to perfection, more time must be spent in process. completion of a project marks the end of process. and then the project is evaluated. (oftentimes, against the harsh judgment of perfection)

I want to have something to show for my work. i.e. I want to finish projects. (completion)
I want the projects to be the best I can accomplish. (as perfect as possible)
striking a balance here is difficult for me since the two concepts work against each other in a constant tug-o-war in my brain.

I long for a sense of completion in the midst of Bellagio. the progress alone on Bellagio is not enough... being comfortable IN the process is one thing. being satisfied (by completion) is quite another thing, altogether.

one of the small projects I decided to take on was a scarf for my sock dog, Retro. he has been begging me for a new sweater, but I thought he should start with a scarf first, and maybe next year I will make him a sweater. using the "omitted" colors of the Noro sock yarn for the Bellagio project, I knitted him a scarf. which he loves, btw. it turns out that the Lil' Noro Scarf I knitted for Retro was not enough to satisfy my need for completion. the scarf was too easy...

so, I started a hat. a hat would help with some skills that have not received much practice and I would also be learning some new skills: knitting in the round (+leapfrog join), knitting ribbing, using double-pointed needles, following a pattern to completion, proper finishing techniques...

a hat would also be good for taking the Autumn chill off until I complete the sweater. I think Retro can whole-heartedly relate.

after you, Bellagio

since I did not make time to blog recently, I am overrun with things to talk about:

how beautiful the Habu bamboo tape (A-157) is. (pictured above)
does Retro, my sock dog, really need a scarf, or does he just want one?
is visiting the LYS of any and all places we travel a good idea?
how much patience does it take NOT to start a project?
what are the benefits of a knit class session as opposed to an open knit session?
will my Bellagio EVER get finished?

these are all questions I would like to answer and talk about, but in the interest of time and in the interest of interestingness, I am promising myself to post about only a few topics and to post more often. I used to struggle a bit to find things to talk about in my blog, but now it seems that the knitting portion of my life is emerging. as a result, this blog is becoming what I envisioned it to be. slowly, step by step.

I made a promise to myself: NOT to start knitting Zena until I finished Bellagio. so, I have done everything I can possibly do with Zena without actually starting her. I have figured out the yarn I want to use to pair up with the Habu bamboo tape (A-157) and have purchased it. I bought an accent yarn. and lastly, I have swatched and have gauge. I have to get done with Bellagio so I can introduce Zena to you. she is going to be amazing!

Bellagio has not been touched in a week. a hat (for Janet) and a scarf (for Retro)are standing in her way. despite the neglect, she still looks like a beautiful WIP. I think I captured her good side. she is donating her omitted colors to make a scarf for Retro... and maybe, if there is enough scrap, another scarf (for charity). it seems that my Bellagio is too self-sacrificing. maybe I should promise myself to finish Bellagio before I start anything else...

stash season

autumn has arrived in Chicago with a clear-cut deliniation. a front marched in, dropped some thunderstormage and then it was jacket time. or more appropriately, sweater time.

I figured out how stashes get started, but I am committed to not growing my stash to overflow my one "stashbox". I can hear you right now saying, 'yeah, right', but I am serious. the only reason I have lingering yarn is because I had the project first and I wanted to find the yarn for the project, then I changed my mind... now, I have yarn that needs a project. the way to keep stash volume low is to commit myself to using the recently stashed yarn next... to find a project for the yarn. that is, following my next project.

today, I made a pattern purchase. another SKIF, Zena. I was toying with the idea of knitting Zena in a single strand of lux-y Malabrigo, but I am choosing to use some bamboo "tape" from Habu (A-157) as one of my two yarns, if I can. if not, I will try to find something similar (read: a flat, paper-ish, tape/ribbon yarn). the other yarn will be wool. I am going for a wool rather than a bamboo, linen or cotton mostly because I intend on making my Zena perform her sweaterly duties and keep me warm. and now, I have 6 skeins of worsted weight Malabrigo in my stash.

I am completely obsessed with the bamboo tape. its light, strong and flat. mixing the tape with a wool yarn will add complexity and texture...

Bellagio update: finished right front panel and all the transitions to the back. I am now knitting down the back and finally feeling like I am making real progress. "Noro Bellagio" is the name I gave this sweater on Ravelry, but I secretly call it my "Chaos Sweater" to wear as the world slips into chaos... and on that note, maybe I DO need a yarn stash.

stitch by brick

many weeks have past since my last post and my Bellagio should have that much work to show for it. it does not. my physical body has that much work on it, and since my job at the moment is fairly physically demanding, I am in pretty good shape. scratch that. I am in darned good shape, I reached my goal weight, and I feel fantastic! (just in time for my new job [a promotion] on Monday)

my sweater, however, is hobbling along (in addition to my writing skills)... my fingers may have not been knitting as much, but my mind and actions have been laying more support for it in the near future. since I have not written in a while, I will outline just a couple/few of the things I have done over the past several weeks.

Stitches Midwest.

I now have a set of exotic wood knitting needles... 3/4" square. Thank you so much, Joe! I figured out the approximate equivalent of gauge by taking the parimeter (3"), converting it to millimeters (76.19mm), and figuring diameter if the parimeter were a circumference (24.25mm). the needles are just shy of gauge 50 needles (25mm) I have (about) size 50 needles! I promised Joe that I would push my boundaries and think in a different box to make use of the needles. new challenges await.

The Habu textiles booth was amazing! so many beautiful and unusual yarns. color palletes I could bathe in. Janet bought the makings for kit-78 ("Kusha Kusha" scarf) I had surmised to myself in the recent past that I would be the first one of us to buy Habu. I guess not. I also think I will love Japanese knitting patterns... my visual/symbolic nature gets enabled.

Malabrigo Event @ Nina.

hung out with Tobias and Antonio and bought 6 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted (at 20% off) to become my next sweater. in Malabrigo. Black Forest 179. so soft. so beautiful.

My very first knitting circle attendance @ Sister Arts Studio.

wine, comfortable environs, good company, another attendee wearing SKIF. whats not to like? thank you, Donna! I had been looking around a while for a place that I would feel...

SKIF Trunk Show @ Sister Arts Studio.

today is a nice day for that, doncha think? Zena is queued up next... I feel like knitting.

inductive construction

casually making progress on Bellagio.
stranding is less tedious then I originally anticipated.
I have made 2 felted joins to omit undesired teal sections in the colorway of the yarn I am knitting up and the joins are invisible...

I spend time thinking about sweater construction, how a body relates to a sweater, and many questions in-between. I do not have enough knitting knowledge or experience to fully immerse myself in it, but I want to know more, more!, MORE!! I will learn an amazing amount from completing Bellagio, I have no doubts, but it seems that I am a little impatient.

I also have a desire to use some stashed Malabrigo for something.
maybe a small second project? I do not know what, though.

before I began to knit, I was displeased with almost every hand knitted item that I had come across. all the bad yarns, the amateurish designs, the "novelty", awful colors and/or color combinations, the irrelevant items... all the quality items I encountered seemed to be garishly showoff-y or tried to do too much at once. where was the simple, useful, elegant, well-designed, fashion-forward, detail conscious, non-obnoxious knitting? and where was it... for men? or at least unisex? (is this asking too much?)

after being drawn in (to knitting), I am still having difficulties finding knitting that *really* inspires me outside of the initial things that drew me to actually begin knitting in the first place. I tell myself that I am just not looking hard enough, or smart enough. -- while I do admit to being a quite a picky bastard, I would also like to believe that the community of like-minded knitters is a little bit larger than I perceive it to be... or am I to create my own inspiration?