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Knitting (and shoes!)

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I got truly fantastic shoes in New Jersey last weekend. Thanks to a great sale, I got two pairs for less than the price of one, and because they are Naturalizers, they are actually comfortable. As in, I wore them to a wedding where I stood around for several hours straight and my feet felt better than they usually do wearing flip-flops.

Despite living with a photographer and claiming to be one of sorts myself, these are genuinely pitiful photos - I was too impatient to set it up properly or wait for natural light. So go see what these beauties actually look like and perhaps you can understand my current adoration.

Quite why I love shoes so much, it's hard to say. I do know that when Eric said he'd like a new pair of Doc Martens for his birthday, my heart skipped a beat.

Now that we're sufficiently riled up, let's talk about knitting.

Sorry Carson, no progress lately on Eve. I'm in the midst of a hate affair with variegated yarn, so I need to get over that before I can finish her in good conscience.

I have, however, worked some on the Razor Cami.

It is coming along slowly but nicely. It's actually solid white yarn, but well, yeah. Lazy photography strikes again. I'm so charmed by the lace pattern and look forward to wearing it. (It'd better fit, damnit.)

I started Hedera socks a while back, then frogged them completely, and am back at the twisted ribbing again. I have a feeling these will take a very very long time, but as they are my first socks, I'm okay with being patient and working to make them perfect. They have become the project I work on when I am feeling intensely obsessive-compulsive and need immediate order and control in my world. I understand the calm serenity of knitters now.

I recently got some delicious Knit Picks Sierra bulky wool/alpaca in Natural.

That is becoming an Anthropologie-inspired capelet from a Craftster pattern. I've never knit with bulky yarn before, and it's on my nerves a little bit. Mostly it's to do with the springiness and the way the stitches want to jump off the too-short needles I'm using. I'm really looking forward to finishing and wearing this though, as the yarn feels fantastic against my skin.

In the same yarn package I got a big pile of Shine Worsted in Wisteria.

This is becoming a Cozy shawl/lap blanket thingie for my grandmother.

The all-lace thing is a little awkward, but I think it's coming out alright. Once blocked, I'm sure it will look better, as in, less like a tangle of yarn. I really want her to like this a lot, so I am working to make it special. I'm also concentrating on positive things when I knit it. As airy-fairy as it probably sounds, I believe that the energy you put into a project radiates out from it, so I don't want to work on a gift for my grandmother when I'm cranky or having a lousy day. Something about our relationship requires that I actually tell the truth when I say this is made with love.

Lastly, in a moment of insomnia this weekend, I learned to knit cables - weehaw. It turns out it is astonishingly easier than I thought, and this expands my knitting vocabulary in wonderful ways.

(It seems I am easily impressed.)

This is the very beginning of the Tasha bag, which I will probably line with fabric and interfacing and use to carry knitting projects or something. Generally I love the idea of knitting myself a bag, but it turns out I am as particular about my bags as I am about shoes, and it's questionable as to whether I can make something I'd be happy carrying.

Something I've observed since starting knitting and sewing this summer is that I can't stop looking at clothing now. I'm fascinated by the way things are made, the construction details, the shapes - I find myself looking at knit items the way I look at paintings - wondering how I could achieve that effect or modify it. It certainly makes people-watching more interesting and fills my head with ideas everywhere I look.

Eric has suggested that perhaps I have a problematic obsession with knitting. The other day I made a multi-page chart of knitting projects, current and planned, with columns of links to the patterns, needles needed, yarn I've picked out, dates started, and a woefully empty column of dates finished.

All I'm saying is, it's been a long while since I've made a chart of this sort for my painting.

Then again, my painting is going better than it ever has, and I am finally happy working in my studio. Knitting has actually improved my finger dexterity and hand-eye coordination, and after making peace with size 1 DPNs and intricate lace, a size 00 paint brush seems downright manageable. I can finally do tiny detail without holding my breath. Score.

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This page contains a single entry by Vicki published on September 13, 2006 3:45 AM.

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