just maryse

Knitting MoJo

i don't normally do KALs. but i do kind of like those mystery ones. in the past i've made mystery socks. this year, i joined leethal's mystery shawl KAL.  her work has always intrigued me and i thought it would be fun. plus i had lost my knitting mojo. it was time to jump back in.

one thing i was able to confirm, is that i'm a process knitter. i frogged this piece at least half a dozen times because i wanted it to be right. and rather than getting bored with it, i knit it that much faster just trying to keep up with the rest of the knitters.

it's been so much fun. there are short rows and multiple colors and no picking up of stitches. i'm not sure i even like it all that much but i'm learning new techniques and that's fine by me.

i'm almost done. maybe tonight.

Put Your Torches and Pitchforks Away

in my quest to be a happier person, i've tried to avoid unnecessary drama, so i only check out facebook and twitter occasionally.  heh. but today, i made the mistake of checking both out during the whole ravelympics brouhaha of 2012.  if you don't know what i'm talking about, you can do one of two things: IGNORE THIS POST RIGHT THIS SECOND; or read this article by adrian chen of gawker. 

so here's the thing.  i kind of don't give a shit. i am not raising my needles in protest. i'm not going to boycott coke (i prefer diet pepsi anyway) or mcdonald's (i get a big mac on road trips of 4 hours or more and i enjoy an egg mcmuffin upon occasion). and my love for the olympics is so strong that i'm definitely not going to not watch them because the USOC has demanded that the term "Ravelympics" not be used.

am i sad that the ravelry crew have to deal with this? yes. they work hard and don't need a big organization like the USOC sending them scary letters over something they had nothing to do with.  but they'll work this out and lawyers will make it go away.

do i think the USOC has a right to protect their trademark? to quote the ridiculous sarah palin, "you betcha." considering the vomitous discussions in ravelry forums about copyright i think we can all agree on this.

do i think the following passage is a little harsh?

"We believe using the name "Ravelympics" for a competition that involves an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others, tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games.  In a sense, it is disrespectful to our country's finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work."

yes and no. yes because clearly the poor law clerk who wrote this letter and the general counsel, just don't get the spirit of the ravelympics. that passage is insulting and dumb. because if anything, those who participate in the ravelympics do it out of respect and fun and love of competition.  and if some of their projects are lacking, like the olympics, it's not about winning, but about participating and pushing the limits of their capapbilities. but i don't blame them. i really don't. i made the mistake of reading someone's blog post where she equated knitting a sweater to running 400 meters.  yeah, um. no. 

but the way they dont' get it is the same way i don't get scrapbooking. or trekkies. or dungeons and dragons.  and yet there are millions of people who get very excited about all of those things, and i think they are ridiculous. so why should i expect someone who doesn't knit to give a shit? or to even  GET IT. 

so that's what i have to say.  so knitters. put your pitchforks away.  nonknitters already think we're nuts.

Eye Candy Friday -- Yes There Is Knitting

i haven't posted much knitting this year. the beginning of the year was spent working on some secret projects. and since my time has been my own, i've been working on my fussy cut blanket.

i've been very distracted lately so progress has been slow.  but i'm getting there.  i love love love the colors.

 

More Macros

i have to admit that shooting these macros havve been more of an effort than i had hoped.  weird how that is, that something -- photography -- that i've loved for so long has me feeling meh about it. but it's an exercise that i think is important for me to complete. i feel very undiscplined lately.  i've been eating too much and too much crap (my weight has become so much an issue that if i don't do something soon none of my clothes will fit.  i've already started avoiding social events because i feel so bad about myself), i've been spending $$ on stuff that i don't really need and sometimes don't even want once i've gotten it home, etc. you get my drift. anyway, i could easily quit this macro may thing but i think it's important that i continue only to keep me from being a total undisciplined sloth type person.  so concludes my navel gazing session for the day.

more shots with my 35mm and macro filters.

 

 

 

 

And the Winner Is......

thanks to everyone for your comments.  it was really nice.  and i'm sad that i don't have copies for all of you, but ...

i do have a winner.

MOLLY!!!!

now i've "known" molly for awhile now. and she's not a knitter or crocheter (i know! what the hell) but she is a very very talented quilter. she makes such pretty colorful things.  go look.  i mean it.  right now.

see?

anyway, thanks to everyone for playing along.

by the way, this is the fussy cut blanket designed by the  mason-dixon ladies.  the pattern is in the book.

 

Mmm Chevron-y

oof i finally finished something that i can blog about.  damn it!

in january, i took at shawl design class with ann weaver at the black sheep knitting company in needham. i was very excited. i'm not really a shawl person, but i wanted to learn something that would allow me to just knit and kind of design on the fly without too much planning in advance and her techniques were exactly what i wanted/needed to learn. 

plus i've got an obscenely large sock yarn stash. this type of project is perfect for sock yarn (even though neither yarns used in this shawl were from my stash. DO NOT JUDGE!)

i love a chevron/wave pattern AND stripes so this variation on the baby chevron from jan eaton's 200 ripple stitch patterns book was perfect for what i saw in my head.

and i knit. I COULD NOT STOP KNITTING!  it's all i could think about. and i made mistakes that i could not let go. so i frogged. and reknit. and made mistakes that i could not let go of. so i frogged again!  and i reknit again. but i knew i would finish it.

i knit until i ran out of yarn.  

 and i love it so much.

related: if you ever get a chance to take a class with ann weaver, please do. she's a patient and generous teacher and also lots of fun.  she is awesome.

What I Made in 2011

a tradition here in blog land is to do a rundown of what we made the previous year.  an inventory, if you will.

so i spent a few hours on new years eve going through my flickr stream and making a little photo mosaic of what i made.  and here is the result.

i did a shit ton of spinning! well for me anyway. and i knit 6 pairs of socks! which surprised me. i really didn't feel as if i'd made that many, considering that the last pair took forever. there are some other things i made that aren't here that are sekret.  that i can't show you. and the end of the year was spent doing some swatching. i worked on a couple of blankets that also aren't here because they aren't finished. but i did finish one crocheted blanket. it's still sitting in a box in my hall. i haven't given it to the recipients yet.

i was very excited to see joan and gale's book Craft Activism come out (i planned on doing a review months ago and time has gotten away from me. but i will in 2012).  it is fantastic (it has the accolades to prove it -- Library Journal and Amazon chose Craft Activism for their Best Books of 2011 lists). and i was very proud to see my name come up in the acknowledgements.  that doesn't happen too often in my day job - i'm just kind of expected to be awesome all of the time (ha!)- so it was kind of exciting for me. i'd like them to start another one so i can help them again. (oh i'm not kidding).

for 2012, i don't make crafty resolutions. i've got a couple of other sekret projects in the planning stages and i'd like to self publish some things that are roaming around in my head. i'd like to finish the blankets that i've started (not that we need them as it's 50 DEGREES TODAY WITH NO SNOW ON THE GROUND IN JANUARY IN NEW ENGLAND!!!) and i'd like to learn how to weave. i bought a loom over a year ago and i've yet to try it. gah! and i plan on writing more crafty book reviews. i love books. they are so pretty.

so that's it!  happy new year everyone!

 

WIP Wednesday without WIP

after 2 months, i finally finished my soctoberfest socks. in previous years, i've participated in kirsten's mystery sock knit thing, but this year she had real life things to handle.  CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? and totally dropped the ball on designing a mystery sock for us.  thanks kirsten. sheesh.

so i made just another one of my 2x2 ribbed socks.  this time i chose a very neutral palette. i've been in a gray neutral, black color mood lately, so the colorway fit with what i was interested in working with.

the yarn is noro kureyon sock (the details have been raveled here). i really love this yarn. the bands of color, even when only browns, grays, rust and cream, really make me happy.

and maybe because i've been obsessed with gray lately, i've taken to wearing makeup and giving myself manicures again. (the flickr makeup frenzy may have something to do with that too). or maybe it's just because i'm a week away from another birthday and i'm clinging with all of my strength to some vestige of my youth. heh.

 

before i was collected yarn and fiber, i collected makeup and nail polish.  heh.

 

WIP Wednesday

so yeah i'm knitting.  slowly.  or at least it feels that way.

october ends in less than a week and i haven't finished one single sock.  but it doesn't matter, because it's not really a race. right?

i turned a heel. in my defense, i made great progress at rhinebeck only to figure out that i had dropped a stitch AND HAD TO UNKNIT ALL OF MY WORK.  that's what i get for drinking and knitting.  priorities.

i've also been working on the Fussy Cut Blanket. 

this is such a wonderfully fun pattern to knit. garter stitch, noro silk garden, no seaming. what's not to love?

this pattern, by the mason dixon ladies, can be found in Craft Activism by Gale Zucker and Joan Tapper.

one of these days, i'll write a proper review.

No Rhinebeck Sweater Here

i think it's important to put that out there.  i do not knit a rhinebeck sweater. not this year, or any year.  last year i wore a store bought sweater. this year i've been threatening to wear polar fleece.  (that is if it's cool enough. it's been crazy warm here in the northeast.)

but i am  knitting a sock. because it's socktoberfest bitches!

and yes, i've gone neutral. i don't tend to work in these colors but it's sometimes good to mix things up. and i do love my noro.

tomorrow after work i head out west to rhinebeck.  so maybe i'll see you there. i'll be the one not wearing a handknit sweater.