stress on the block

I had a great experience knitting up a scarf for a friend.  And I credit it to hours of preparation (read: thinking about it, false starts and stress).  She was with me in the yarn store and chose the Noro herself.  Then, at her apartment, she showed me other scarves she had and told me what she like and disliked about each.  So the result was a six foot long scarf in 1×1 rib.  But as with most Noro, the yarn varies from thick and fluffy to very thin and delicate. When finished with the scarf it isn’t a uniform width overall. I know that it is time to block it.  I have read about blocking on blogs and heard about it from shows.  Now. . .the only book I have on knitting is Stitch N Bitch. And the author does offer instructions on blocking. Those instructions involve submersing your newly constructed wool garment in water.  I read these instructions many many times before I decided to give it a shot.  Because frankly, it defies logic.

But there it is. Under water.  In my kitchen sink. Which was meticulously scrubbed and cleaned before this endeavor began.  Soaking a wool scarf.  Well alright then.

There is the happy scarf on my kitchen floor drying on my Star Wars R2-D2 towel (I have revealed too much).  The result was fantastic.  Though I have to note that’s two scarves as gifts and none for myself.  boo.

happy valentine’s day!

This post was written about four different ways before publishing.  I was originally going to rail against a holiday that is not so much about love, but about showing your love.  Then there was the ‘look what craft I made for the holiday’ version.  And so on.

But I really think I would like to say Happy Love Day to those without significant others. And that I think there’s someone out there for everyone, and unless you’re a serial killer or child hurter type, most everyone deserves felicity in love.

For the factually inclined, Slate has a wonderful article, that they’ve published before, about the origins of the heart symbol. 

And because you should take care of yourself while crafting, and avoid carpal tunnel, here are some arm and wrist exercises I’ve become devoted to.

Finally, I did craft for the holiday.  I made a fabric card from Denyse Schmidt’s book.  I made a little alteration inside the card you might be interested in.  I’ll post pictures soon (I had to get it too the recipient!).

Happy Holiday!

mid-air knitting

I’m currently in Phoenix (look! cactus!) working, and did some research into flying with knitting needles before I got on the plane. Check out:

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1252.shtm

for the TSA’s official stance on taking needles on board the plane. I normally have the bamboo knitting needles, but my most current project is on metal needles, so I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to bring them on board. But while checking my bag at the curb I was sneaky and asked the sky cap if it was okay if I brought them. He then flagged down a TSA official (you can recognize them by their snazzy shoulder epaulets) and asked her if it was okay. She said yes, so I snatched the needles and yarn out of my suitcase.

Then the snotty lady behind me said, “You can’t bring lip gloss, but you CAN bring metal knitting needles. ungh.” I smiled beautifically at her, then pranced into the terminal.

Oh, and did I knit at all on the plane? Of course not.

I was taking a nap.

I really don’t have an excuse for not writing for two months. So I will just say I was taking a break. A nap. Though really, since I started blogging in October, that’s akin to saying I took a nap at 1pm after I woke up at 10am. Which I’ve done before. I’d rather not say when.

I think the reason was a combination of working a lot around the holiday and suffering a bit of burn out. Plus I hadn’t been crafting as much as I would’ve liked, so I didn’t feel like I had anything to post about. And being such a fan of the blogs listed to the right, I had a bit of low blogger self esteem. Low blogger esteem? e.g. . .I’m not such a witty writer. . .I don’t craft that often. . .my skill level is clearly beginner, etc. But I had a revelation over the past couple of days that there are blogs for everyone. If you are a super pro and knit complicated sweaters or hand piece and hand quilt award winning quilts, then there are blogs for you. So I will make this blog my own.

I do have some show and tell items, but I don’t want to blow my wad all at once (dirty!) so I will trickle it out a little over time. I guess I have start back at Christmas with the brother scarf. He loved it!!!

And I think it looks very dashing on him. He took a trip to the cold and rainy Pacific Northwest, and he said it came in quite handy. Which, honestly, is the best thing, I think, about making a gift for someone. That they think it’s handsome and useful. Right?!! I almost think useful is better. Well, that’s not true. Handsome and useful is better.