Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

As stated, this post is a little off-topic. But, as this is a blog about knitting and the readership tends to skew female, I decided to include it. Back in late March, Steven Spielberg (Amblin Entertainment) released in theaters Ready Player One , based on the 2011 novel by Ernest Cline. I've read the book twice or, more accurately, listened to the audiobook performed delightfully by Wil Wheaton. The story is set in a not-too-distant dystopian future (2044), in which most people spend their time online in the OASIS, a fully-immersive online virtual reality. The book is a love-letter to 1980s popular culture, especially geek culture. It has references to Dungeons and Dragons, Monty Python, television, music, and various video and arcade games. It is quintessentially a Gen X story in the way Forrest Gump was a Baby Boomer story. Much of the story's action takes place in the online simulation where there is a universe-wide hunt for Halliday's Easter Egg. In that world, ou...

Sometimes the universe seems to say, "Ok, this is the moment for X." For me this summer, the universe is all about cables. Last weekend I bought a copy of Something New to Learn About Cables by Arnall-Culliford Knitwear. I am guessing Jen and Jim are a married couple in Frome, Somerset, the United Kingdom? After reading this book, I am already interested in their other books Something New to Learn About Lace and A Year of Techniques . And I would eagerly sign up for a class if I saw them on the schedule at a major knitting show. I will happily plop them into the knitting pantheon, right next to TECHknitter. Why do I like this book so much? First off, I like the small format. The book is 6¼ by 8¼ inches. While 8½ by 11 or 8 by 10 is a common size, it may or may not fit easily in a knitting bag. I like a smallish book that can be tucked into my bag. And there is a sticker inside with a download code for Ravelry, so I can have a digital copy on my iPad or print just ...

One of my weaknesses as a designer is that I tend to be too complicated. I get wrapped up in new techniques or projects that highlight extreme craftsmanship and forget that a lot of people just want to sit and knit and relax. Back in April, I had just taught my "Easy Reversible Cables" class at Unwind. I was still traveling when I read the e-mail announcing a second call for proposals for the autumn issue of Cast On magazine. I was surprised that more people weren't already familiar with the reversible cables technique, especially since Lily Chin has been teaching it for more than a decade. So I proposed a rather simple scarf. The autumn issue of Cast On went live last week. You can read it on and download it from the TKGA website , if you are a member and log in. "Legerdemain" is a good basic scarf. As with so many of my designs, I have thought about the details. Italian cast-on and a tubular bind-off gives the scarf a clean couture beginning a...

And what else did I see at TNNA? Wholesale yarns: Aalta Yarn . A vendor out of Pennsylvania. Several good, solid bases for sweaters. And she has nice gradient cakes for shawls. Alexandra's Crafts . A hand-dyer from Oregon. She also carries spinning fiber and a nice travel lazy kate. Ancient Arts . I knew this hand-dyer from advertising and patterns in Interweave Knits. They have a wonderful range of beautiful colors upstaged by colorways based on cats and dogs. Anzula . Hand-dyed yarns in luxury bases. Proof that cashmere goes with everything. Baa Ram Ewe. Anglophile knitters, rejoice! This vendor proudly "celebrates Yorkshire and its rich woolly heritage." They carry locally-sourced and spun yarn, as well as patterns that will make you look like you belong on BBC America. Baah Yarn . Hand-dyer from southern California with a nice range — self-striping, speckled, variegated, solids, and kettle-dyed effects. They also have special monthly colors. Bellatr...

Late last year a took a big step in my professional development and joined The National Needlearts Association by becoming an affiliate member. TNNA is the national-level trade organization. It is best known for hosting a winter trade show and a summer trade show. This is where shop owners often go to see the latest products. It is how they decide whether to carry yarn from Trendsetter or Prism ; wheels and looms from Ashford , Schacht , or Kromski ; notions from CocoKnits , or patterns from Stitch Sprouts . TNNA also organizes Spinzilla and Local Yarn Store Day . Membership is $195 per year. And for a designer/teacher like myself, joining also meant acquiring some letters of recommendation and copies of my published designs. It wasn't a five-minute process. And then I needed to decide how to make the best use of my investment. Recognizing that I need to write a book (actually, probably more than one) on versa lace, I decided to attend the summer convention in Cleveland,...

This is just a quick post to say," I have no idea what is happening here." I have a stash of beads and sequins from my great grandmother. The stash also contains beads and sequins of newer vintage. I'm not 100% sure of the age of contents of this vial. What I do know, based on the position of the vial in the storage array, is that these sequins were a blue-green turquoise color. How they became zombie sequins, I do not know. And if you open the lid, the acid smell will wake you up, if you aren't alert already. I've seen this happen to other vials of sequins in my stash. I'm not sure what causes it. Anybody know? Where's a chemist when I need one? And, yes, the sequins are headed for the trash. Update: 4 September 2018: One of my dear friends, Camille, saw this blog post and noticed no one had commented. Her mother has a chemistry degree, so Camille asked her mother if she had any ideas. Here is the response: I do have an idea. The clue is th...

Actually, it took a more like three years. I read about weaving more than I actually weave. There just aren't enough hours in the year. Way back in the spring of 2015, I decided to weave a pillow for my car. I had bought a full-body pillow, but the fabric had torn along the seam. I browsed the weaving books in my library, and went with a snowflake twill from page 25 of Twill Thrills . (Note: XRX now offers their Best of Weaver's series on a stitchip . This is a great way to have a digital library. I consider this seven book series essential, since each book covers a different weave structure.) I used some leftover Aunt Lydia's size 10 crochet cotton to sample. Yes, I actually sampled! I warped the loom, threaded the pattern, and wove with different tie-ups to see what patterns I got. I wrote notes. I figured out some extra threads to make the pattern repeat flow from side to side. I planned the project. I bought the yarn (8 balls each of black and victory red)...