Friday, July 16, 2004

a ChicKnits Dirty Little Secret Presentation
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I have never read or owned a book by Elizabeth Zimmermann. That’s right – hard to believe – but like many of last decade 20th century knitters, I’ve been a slave to fashion magazines, knitting mags and yarn company publications, like Rowan and Jaeger, Vogue and IK.

I will confess to having picked up a couple of EZs books over the years but actually put them back down because, (swallow hard), they weren’t written in a way I enjoyed reading. Essays, like this one, can contain a wealth of information, but you have to dig for the jewels and nuggets.

The Y2K Knitting Boom I’ve been living in is one driven by the Internet with its wealth of graphic design and white space publishing. It puts those nuggets right up in there for you to grab like a gold ring at the carnival, GUARENTEED.

Because I’ve worked as a television photojournalist for years, I’ve honed and wittled away my attention span and stroked my appetite for the delivery of compressed data within 30 sec. or less or YOU/I CHANGE THE CHANEL. I am a deadline driven diva.

I’ve been missing alot. I know. Many people have written to me, some nicely, gently, some holding huge EZ sluggo mallets in their tiny fists and have asked me, What the —-, Bonne…

So it’s back to the roots for me.

And what better place to start than in 1940, with Ida Riley Duncan! I’ve copped a copy (a 1968 reprint of that 1940s gem – groove-o-matic cover art, oui?) of her famous Complete Book of Progressive Knitting, on eBay. Now I have one of Ida’s other books (Knit to Fit) which actually was published shortly after this new aquistion. It is a TEXTBOOK and is a clearly written formulaic GEEK approach, suitable for a Phantom Class that will never be offered anywhere I’ve seen. I fantasize about taking this class at, hmmm, maybe Columbia College downtown?!

Hey, I’m a dweeb with a keyboard – don’t hit the girl wearing the glasses, will ya?~!
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the Little Bad Muse twirls…

This edition has chapters on the Fundamentals of Wool; Blouses; Socks; Knitted Pants for Small Boys (!). I can’t wait to dig in this weekend and see just what I’ve been missing from one of the most fashion forward decades of the 20th Century.

Thursday, July 15, 2004


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Onde = Wave = Ombre

more Onde Knitalongers
reach the Finish Line!

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Tara writes: “…Taylor in her new Onde with Sophie (our new kitten); aren’t they just a pair.

It was a really fun yarn to knit with, and it kept my interest going in the never ending St stitch with the color changes. I get bored easily, and this kept me going wondering what it would look like next.

I didn’t quite get the measurements right, but it’s got a bit of growing room for Taylor.”

Onderful Onde Done!!

FANTASTIQUE, Tara – so beautiful and so is your Taylor – thanks for sharing the little schmoo, Sophie as well!

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I’m making great progress on my Gilet!

Sleeve #2 is finished! I steamed out the rib at it’s bottom to see how it is going to lay and I like…

That is until I dropped the steamer on the floor and BROKE IT :(

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

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BLIMEY!

I couldn’t resist this wonderful color when I saw it in the store on the rack. It had the freshness of spring, the excitement of a summer day, the COLOR of…

OGRE?

Ogerific, I say, the more the merrier!

Anyone who’s ever been out yarn hopping with me can attest to the fact that after I walk into a store – any yarn store – anywhere – I will walk in a straight fast line quickly to the first LIME I spy.

Like a bee to the pollen, I BUZZ and adore, court and fondle, and with great effort, push off and try to inspect and appreciate something else.

Sometimes, the attraction is too strong – and GLADLY, I ended up with this hot, hot, hot color just made to order for these HOT Summer days.

It gives me great pleasure to pull this out on the bus, after I’ve waited in the city soup at the stop, and just look at it in the Summer Light. This saturated SUPERcolor just makes sense now in a way that it never will in the middle of winter.

The mystery for me, though, is why this attraction is so strong to begin with. And even though you don’t see many people wearing this color often, when they do, it is always striking.

I am intrigued by why all humans have a favorite color. To echo our libidenous brothers who delcare “I’m a Leg Man myself” I’ll have to just SHOUT “I’m a LIMEY for sure…”