fairy knitting

Used to be when I knit lace with mohair my needle of choice was bamboo but when I cast on yesterday it felt like the sticks in my hands were bats. Not graceful. I fished around the place for another needle and all I could come up with was a pair of bright green plastic ones. Okay. They are okay. I would prefer a sharper point, but they are light and easy to handle. Today, as my concentration continued to drift I suddenly realized that the needles and the yarn and the room all matched. Sublime acquatic tones for this lacey confection meant for a small fairy princess.

heart

knit patch. been playing with intarsia. its maddening to do but i heart picture knitting.

run

baby run

fun

this big box of yarn was delivered...fun for me and
for felix!

match

MATCH HEAD
This afternoon the neighbor kids came over and we all sat around and drew with crayons. I love drawing with kids because they are so free. After they left I pulled out my watercolors and painted this.

eyelash moods

A few years ago, when eyelash seemed novel, I used it to embellish the seams on this festive skirt. Yesterday, while wearing the skirt I contemplated trimming the eyelash. Giving it a buzz cut, only I would have to manicure it piece by piece and so, it shall remain. Festive.

play

dear tulip

This is the sketch I submitted to Knits magazine that became the sweater "tulips" in the Fall 2006 Knitscene.
The lovely Julia from Mind of Winter had suggested that I might write something about the submission process as a topic for my sparse blog. My original swatch had been in two shades of linen, a melon and French blue. The fabric felt crisp and summery with lots of air and drape. Part of the design process when making a pattern for a magazine is working with a yarn different from what might have been originally imagined. The editor sent a tencel/alpaca blend yarn that was lovely and soft but created an entirely different garment. I don't feel that attached to things I make for hire. The process is challenging and exciting but I know from the start that my knitting will be packed up and sent off to another place to be photographed and live inside the pages of a magazine or book. And that’s cool! With that in my mind, I am up for yarn changes as part of the process and consider it an interesting aspect of making something new.
Most designs start with swatching. Where does that start? I might see a yarn that looks delicious, and say “ooh I must have”. Yes, that is the usual beginning. But sometimes I might get a picture in my head of something to make and then things start with the sketch. Occasionally, the steps are mushed together and there is no telling of what came first, the sketch, the dream, or the swatch.
While drawing this sketch my mind drifted to a countryside I have never been to but would like to visit, my appetites were tickled with the aromas and flavors of this distant land and it was a lovely experience.

bracelets

.

These days Felix has entertained himself much of the time. He discovered my box of beaded bracelets and claimed them as his own. Shortly after I took this picture the bracelets were off his wrist and on the ground while he squealed with excitement over a large rock.

capture

a little scribble therapy

messy

My desk in it's usual state of disarray is it creative chaos or just plain messy? Lots of things in the works: eyelet top in hot pink cashmere, a doll (that my son declared scary…uh oh) and yarn yarn yarn for massive swatching.