Asymmetry II and a Moving Announcement

As you can see, I'm still working on the Asymmetrical Cardigan at a plodding pace:


The cat is laying on the fronts, and the back of the sweater and the backs of both sleeves are currently on the needles. Only two more inches before I can start binding off some stitches! I love it when the needles aren't so full and the rows go faster.

The merino I'm using (Berrocco Pure Merino Nuance) is wonderful: it's soft, squishy, and it has a nice sheen that makes the stitch pattern pop. I am a little worried that the shifting colors and the stitch pattern are a bit much together. Even if in the end it's decided that's the case, this will still be a great bumming around sweater.

I have been making progress with my Gocco of late. I'm working on building an inventory for my Etsy store which I'll open after my move to Chicago. I thought, why not create some inventory I can use right now? So I drafted this:

In real life the image is 6" by 4", but I couldn't get it to upload at that size and attempts to enlarge it just made it grainy. What do you think? Gold ink on black card stock?

Myself in Pictures

I ran across this on a blog and it struck me as sort of brilliant.

1. Go to www.flickr.com
2. Type in your answer to the question in the "search" box
3. Use only the first page
4. Copy the html and paste for the answer

I spend half my day teaching composition basics to college students, and the other half of my day interacting with kids under 5. I always thought it sad that these 5 and under folks can't somehow capture their headspace, as I'm convinced that kids that age live in fascinating and perverse little worlds. They have to: the world is so new they're constantly having to process it. Wouldn't it be cool if this phase could be somehow preserved for revisitation at an older age? Maybe this is how it could be done, as the picture chosen is clearly chosen for a reason.

I'm wondering how to alter it for the college level, too. Maybe draw a link between visual and written composition?

Here's mine:

What's your first name?


favorite food?



What High School did you go to? (this would have to be changed for the kids - daycare, maybe?)


favorite color?


What's your favorite drink?


dream vacation?


favorite dessert?


What do you want to be when you grow up?


What do you love most in life?


One word to describe you?


What do you dream about?

Elvis! (part deux)

Well, here it is folks. My most recent and heinous creation:

The fabric, as mentioned previously, came from Graceland. It was brought to me by a friend, but I, myself, have visited Graceland twice. I've also been to Tupelo, Mississippi, where The King was born.

The first time I visited Graceland was the anniversary of his death. The line was so long that we had to wait over an hour in the Memphis summer heat before we could even get tickets. Inside the house foreigners were taking each other's pictures in front of the quintessential Elvis jumpsuits and children were going "Dude!" in response to the room with floor to ceiling green shag carpet. I saw a Japanese man reverently place a plaque on Elvis's grave (which, I think you all should know, is right by his swimming pool).

Many of the folks visiting that day were in their sixties. Some were in tears, but it seemed more about mourning their youth than frantic fan worship. I watched as a perfectly coiffed white haired woman wiped her eyes in front of a TV playing an interview of Elvis as he was discharged from the Service.

I asked one of the ladies leading the tour how she felt about Elvis. She gave me a look and didn't answer; I assumed that all he meant to her was a third rate job. I thought about how he paved a path for Motown and Rock as we know it, and how he challenged a sexually suppressed society. I thought about all the songs written about Elvis (Boy from Tupelo by Emmylou Harris, Elvis Presley Blues by Gillian Welch, to name only two). I thought about how amazing and quintessentially American it was that a sharecropper's son could attain such astounding fame. I thought about how beautiful his voice was.

My friend and I talked one of the tour leaders into taking our picture in front of the house. We each held a sign with arrows pointing to each other, and lines from Paul Simon's song, Graceland. Mine read "Child of my first marriage," and the hers, "My travelling companion." The woman taking our picture was literally melting in the sun: her tall, complicated hairstyle was collapsing, and her makeup was running. As she handed me my camera she asked, "What's those signs mean?"

I wonder how Elvis would feel about this apron. Supposedly toasted peanut butter and banana sandwiches were his favorite. Maybe that should be this apron's maiden meal.

I'm Approaching Famous...

...actually, I'm just feeling special.

MothHeaven interviewed (should we call in kniterviewed?) Kate Gilbert (genius at large) on her blog. The heart of the interview was about the Sunrise Circle Jacket, and I was linked as an example of the sweater in a shorter, colorful version.

Give the interview a read. What I like best is the way it illustrates knitting as a community art. When I was getting my M.A. in Creative Writing I often felt so isolated, and it seemed so ridiculously ironic that I was writing about people while all alone at my little desk by the window. I have never felt this way about knitting, and Julia's interview reveals why that is so in such a wonderful way: here's a single pattern that has been used and perfected by many to suit their personal tastes, sizes, and styles.

Thanks for the nod, Julia, and thanks even more for the interview!

Blankie, Yarn, and a Hike

Sorry for being MIA for the last week or so. My mother came to visit and we did a whirlwind farewell tour of Northern Arizona. As much as I may be glad to move on from here, I have lived here for seven years, and you don't live in a place for that long without accumulating a long list of people and places to say goodbye to.

Our first stop was Havasu Falls. Unfortunately none of my pictures from the three day backpacking trip would translate to the computer, so I leave you with this one from the Havasupai Tribe's website:

Yes, it is that amazing. And totally worth the 25 mile round-trip hike.

Then we went out to the Cameron Trading Post and I bought some yarn:

They hang the hanks from nails in the ceiling of the grocery, and they look so beautiful. Wool is a large part of Navajo crafts and culture, so this yarn is very special. I didn't know, though, that the trading post has a website. I can continue to order yarn from there in Chicago! I'm thinking I'll make a tam with one of these hanks. Any of you have some good pattern ideas? This yarn is best used with size 8 needles.

And finally, I finished this project after an embarrassingly long time (think years):

It's a blankie for Mr. Crafty, who very much deserves it. See all those little squares? They just about made me lose my mind.