Lifting the scale

I've been a very busy bee of late. Quite unintentionally these activities fall into three categories - let me tell you all about them one at a time!

First the knitting. (it's my favourite so why not start with the sauce?)

There's a line from the film Persuasion that comes to mind about my knitting habit. Mrs. Musgrove says about Anne: 'Oh, Lord bless me, how those fingers of hers can fly about!' Really, with all humility it feels like that right now.

First off the sticks were the Herringbone Socks. Check out these colourful beauties! I started off trying to make the eponymous socks from an Interweave download. Frankly, it was a horrible pattern. No matter what I did, they wouldn't fit nicely or look fetching. I tried 3 times...that is some serious frogging let me tell you. So...using the stitch alone, I made up an entirely new pattern. I'm testing it out now and I'll post it here for one and all. Free of course, just like the pattern I tried to use but couldn't make work. It features a garter stitch sole and columns to break up the herringbone. The heel is also unique to me so far as I know. For you history types, I know it dates to pre-WWII France for sure and I'm adding it to my stack of knitting research so there may be an addendum.

The yarn is pretty and plush and was a gift from Rita. (Thanks Rita!) No tags so I can't share who made it but it appealed to me with it's bright, happy colours.

I worked on these on my breaks at work so it took a while, but still under 2 months. Fantastic!

All the while, I've been working on the Dragon Scale Socks for the Pern Yarn club from Castle Fibers. The pattern has gone through beta-testing and I'm so happy with them!

So as not to spoil the treat for the club members, I'll just give you a snap of in-progress socks.

Here is a shot of the heel and the scales in their wild and untamed state. It doesn't look like it here but there are 99 scales in each sock. Yes. 198 scales total for us bi-pedal types. When they have been tamed, it really does look spectacular. You'll just have to be patient and see them when the pattern has been released. The idea is to gather the series into a book so if you know of a publisher, send them my way. I'd love to talk with them.

Since the scale socks weren't really travel-friendly (2 sets of dpns, ends, ends and more ends) I started in on the companion socks to the Frosts of Assabu wrisites for my on-the-go project, mostly at lunch since the H-bones were being blocked. The wristies pattern could easily be converted into a mitten, particularly using the toe (variation 1) from the socks as a guide. I'll be packaging those two into one pattern download later this week and posting it to Ravelry.

Here's a peek:

For those of you who aren't Rav-folk and haven't read up on the story of the wristies, I'll sum up.

A dear friend has de-camped to Japan. Last year was her first winter on the island and while she's a good mid-western gal and fully acquainted with the concept of winter, she had been somewhat misinformed of the true nature of the climate on the island she now calls home.

The autumn was quite crisp and our correspondences brought up cold fingers on a few occasions. I use my own fingerless mitts pretty frequently during those transitional seasons so I set about constructing some especially for her. Since they were to combat the frosts in Assabu, it seemed a very appropriate name to give the pattern. After I shipped those off, I had fully intended to construct the socks as companions (but for me) but somehow other exciting knitting adventures got in the way. (Like the Dragon Wing Shawl, the Mansfield Park Shawl and other odds and ends...) Since I was on a roll of making socks pour moi, these seemed like the best idea ever. Of course they were!

In between times in the last 2 weeks I've also begun knitting the Voyageur tuque for La Compagnie de La Verendrye. Re-creationists after my own heart (purists!). The initial hat has been fulled and is being adored by the 16-man company. The plan is to knit 16 hats in the end, but research is ongoing and I'm working hard to get an audience with the find that is the only known extant tuque of the period. More on that in future.

So...not bad for a month or so of knitting! Looking at it all, makes me wonder when I had time to do all the other stuff I want to tell you about.

Next week: Pottery.

Wagon's are bumpy, sometimes you fall off...

Ok ok ok. I fell off the wagon. Fell off and rolled. Down the hill. Into the ditch. You with me on that image? Good.

Well, it's a new year, lots of projects have come and gone, winter is passed, buds are bursting etc. etc. Time to start again. On the wagon. Properly on the wagon and for good this time. Ok readers, you will have to keep me to this. I will too but help is always welcome.

Today's post is about blogs. I know. Revolutionary, talking about blogs in a blog! I've been following a few lately and they have been broadening and enlightening. True, I follow plenty more besides, but the ones I'd like you to consider are special and each one deserves it's own little spot.

I have been an avid fan/follower/Sister Goddess to Mama Gena and her School of the Womanly Arts for some time now. Years in fact, thanks in part to some adventure and 'right thinking' that Helen and I embarked on in the darkest hours of PG research. Her books brought fresh ways of thinking that opened us up to the pursuit of pleasure. Hedonism it the purest and rarest form that gives pleasure, which is something we as women (and indeed humans in general) have been divorced from in the saddest and bitterest ways possible. I have so much more to learn, to share and internalise thanks to this woman. In all due sincerity, I am a better woman from this contact. Now she has a blog! The books are wonderful, I dream of attending Mastery Class one day, her emails are inspiring but the blog. Well. The pictures of these woman - in touch with their honed, toned pleasure - are truly captivating. They aren't bawdy shots, or even body shots but a full flight of maidens is pretty wicked stuff. Contagious stuff. Check it out, she has lots to say and it always always produces a smile.

Deb Dawson Dunn is an extraordinary woman in her own right. She was/is my coach and again, her lectures, blog and playshops are so full of contagious joy that her name needs spreading. Her company, Get It Dunn, has so much to offer I am not just linking to her blog but her whole site. Like Mama Gena, she has enriched my life through her wisdom and guidance. If you live in Winnipeg, come check out her last free lecture of the season on May 26 at the Reh-fit centre. Really, I had planned to say so much more but it seems redundant. If you check her out, you will see it for yourself.

Lastly, this is a blog I only recently (as in this year) started following. I don't necessarily agree with everything he writes but Dragos Roua has stuff to say. Often, it's good stuff. Sometimes I really really want to email him and offer to proof read his posts...but as a self taught English speaker, I think he is doing very well indeed. His posting rate is far higher than my favourite gals but his range of topics is different. I find that even if I disagree with a post, he has perspectives and analogies that make me think. Since personal evaluation and thought are what growth is all about (at least to me) something that gives me pause or that provides me with the chance to check in with the ol' psyche to see how I really feel about something is an invaluable interaction.

So, I hope you'll take some time and check out these great bloggers. Somewhere between them is my blogging lodestar. Regular, informed, informative and full of joy is my goal. Actually, move the joy higher on the list. I will also be posting updates on my business growth. I'm still working on mastering my craft(s) and sorting out the fine print but I'll be sharing all of those adventures.

Wagon's Ho!

A dedicated design blog - No Way!

Yes, it's true. Rita and I have created a dedicated blog *just* for design, knit and crochet things.

We're taking turns posting, keeping each other motivated to share our amazing skills. Check things out there from time to time.

Of course, I can't not talk about knitting here once in a while!

International Year of Natural Fibers - 2009

Yes. It's true. This year is dedicated to natural fibres. Who knew? Pretty exciting stuff and their website has lots of interesting things on it for fibre geeks. Given that I just bought a bunch of linen and another bunch of ramie, it was a super find. I had always known that ramie was a bast fibre but hadn't realised it is equally as old as linen and was a relatively common ancient textile. All the cool mummies are wearing it.

The linen and possibly now the ramie will be morphed into my ambitious autumnal sewing spree. After a long summer of strolling around in garb, I've decided it's high time to make some new stuff. The sewing hasn't stopped, but it's all been for other people. For the next few months, unless there is money attached to it, the sewing is for me.

My etsy shop has been woefully neglected. This is primarily because every time I would make something to put up there, it would sell to someone I knew before it even hit the site. Go figure. This fall is dedicated to getting the shop stocked up. I've announced my ambition so now you'll all have to hold me accountable for this commitment. My other commitment is to NSF (gotta love those initials!) and our craft sales. We've signed up for one on 29 Nov. at the Crescentwood CC. This too will take some stocking up to prepare for. Luckily, having planned to be at one in Oct that failed to materialise, we are somewhat closer to prepared. Getting the displays worked out is going to be a tough one. So far that is why my other etsy shop is empty. I have stock, I just can't seem to make it look as good in the pictures. Based on discussions with others, this is a very real problem for the cottage crafter. Staging is everything and a good picture more often than not means sales.

This week I moved around my holidays a little. I had been planning on being busier than I now will be (contact me if you want to hear the story) so this was a great opportunity to have a look at maximising my time off. Thanks to a happy collision of statutory holidays and banked time, I will have 10 days off over the yuletide period. Some of thise might be spent roaming around so if you want a visit, claim your days now! It's plans like these that make me really miss having a cottage - particularly a winterized one. A wood fire, baking, coffee and the stillness of snow, trees and sunshine declare happy winter to me. Nevertheless, it is already feeling like the perfect time to recoonect with myself and possibly rescue my skis from oblivion. All this musing on winter is particularly amusing since it's currently sunny and edging up to 26C today.

Today I'm wishing that those people who are so deeply unhappy in themselves find peace and release.

A month, a-new

Several false starts to this update. I guess I have a lot to say and don't know where to start. I'll be more brief, simple.

Thank you to those who have purchased my pattern on Rav. It has really made my day and I am grateful for the opportunity to share my ideas and to have others have beautiful things as a result. It has inspired me to undo the backlog of projects/patterns/gifts and make some small, tentative steps forward. Thank you too to Miss Doom for her help on things technical. I am so grateful for your friendship, sometimes I get all teary-eyed at my good fortune. This goes for a few others among you too of course...but MD spent 2 hours on the phone trouble-shooting with me so I owe her huge huge thanks!

K. Knittsy things. My mom's birthday socks are coming along nicely. After the 3 frogged versions, I've finally hit on the execution of the design that I am satisfied with. The name is proving more of a challenge than normal though. I feel like calling them 'Cosmos' socks, the swirling pattern makes me think of the universe at large, swirling around the vastness of space. That may be too opaque a name though. Suggestions? I'm going to post it on Rav under 'birthday socks' until I decide what to call them.

I've also finished the first of MD's Elfin House Slippers. I hate grafting a lot so I've redesigned it to reduce the stitching to the barest (essential) bones. It's kind of a boring knit but they look so cute when done it's worth the plod.

The Baby Yoda sweater I made was well received by my co-worker this week. I'm so excited that it has gone to a good home.

Thank you Tom Power!

Ok. Had to share. These folks are incredible! Thank you to Tom Power (Deep Roots/CBC 2) for playing this today.

The Quebe Sisters. OMG. Go listen. I am seriously thinking of going to SD to see them live, just 'cause.

In fact, I suspect I heard a concert on CBC back several months that I have been singularly unsuccessful in locating online despite the assertions of the host that that was possible...hmm.

A question of desire

Ok Sete - I'm writing!

So much has happened and I kept meaning to write but then of course, well, I didn't. I'll sum up now. The potted version of a story is always shorter so fair is fair.

I have a crush, his name is Jason. He has beautiful blue eyes and he lives behind the cheese curtain. Go figure.

This story starts with Knitter's Connection. Fiona and I went there to set up her first booth as a professional dyer. SUPER COOL! Was a blast. Seriously. We had transportation tribulations but they could not dim the immense joy in her company, the adventure and the experience. The transport tribulations are now finally over (as of yesterday) so now is actually a good time to tell the tale. Effie was carrying us through the land of cheese when there was a horrible noise. It was 1am, dark, west of La Crosse. We managed to get to La Crosse -miracle 1- and found a competant, SEXY, transmission guy -miracle 2- he said he'd do what he could, then proceeded to do lots and lots more than anyone I know, including my friends! We eventually got underway again and KC went off brilliantly. My yarn budget went into repairing Effie via Skadi's help. I honestly get teary when I think of how absolutely blessed I am with the friends I have in my life now. Thank you universe! Jason was the guy. What a guy. I flirted, offered to kidnap him to Canada and keep him...and I meant it. He's called a few times, I'm waiting til Monday to call since it's a holiday weekend for you kids to the south. Effie has required some additional, related repairs. A seal leaked and the trickle down (haha, pun!) caused some chaos. She's better now. Visa will love me for quite some time based on the profits they are turning off my account. I can make more money.

Skadi's had a horrible week and I am sending all my positive thoughts to her. Please do likewise.

In the knitter-verse, things are trucking along. I have the patterns ready to go for the Queen's Leisure set and will be posting them on Rav shortly. I failed to take pics of the socks before I mailed them so I have to wait to post that one. It was a great exercise in using up left over yarn. I am a hoarder of yarn so if you think tossing 30 g of yarn is acceptable - shame on you! Eventually these projects will be collected into a book of patterns. The title: 'Socks and Ends' let's hope that is still free when this things grows it's flight feathers.

The first pair of socks for Tim are just about done. It's pretty exciting. Trading is awesome. Win-win-win (the extra win is because we both feel like the winner on top of actually BEING a winner). Next pair is likely to be DK or sportweight - may be a pattern coming on. I feel a little twinkle in that designing part of my brain.

The albatross is still hanging off my neck but this weekend should see the end of it. Living with guilt is too damn hard to maintain.

Have I mentioned I really really need an ipod Touch? It has a voice recording component...no more patterns-after-the-fact-wtf-did-I-do for this gal. Effie being a bigger girl called dibs on all free-range cash for the moment so for now, the idea of the ipod is enough.