Time Lord Wanted, TARDIS Mandatory

When I saw this diagram,

I finally knew what I needed — a Time Lord!! 

Let me restate that. I need to BE a Time Lord.

Why you might ask? Well, for any number of reasons.

First, I would go back in time to the beginning of 2014 and write that brilliant blog post I never got around to. Since I wouldn't be changing anyone's timeline, I suppose this would be ok. I truly can't image my blog posts affecting the course of the world or changing history.

But wait! From a knitter's perspective, that's not all...

The TARDIS — imagine what kind of yarn a knitter could hide in a TARDIS. While the space, where I currently house my stash, is finite and eventually the yarn will go pouring out the window, a TARDIS would solve that problem! Bigger on the inside? Yes please. And so deceptive! No one will ever know the extent of that stash. (Well, they wouldn't if I didn't compulsively list it on Ravelry to keep track of it.) I mean, really how much yarn can one police box hold?

I assume knitting is supported by the Gallifreyans since the fourth Doctor had a 16 foot scarf that many a knitter has duplicated. (Although frankly, that's a lot of garter stitch. Too much, if you ask me. When my son asked for a Dr. Who scarf, I taught him to knit and bought him the yarn.)

Then there's the Sonic Screwdriver that seems to be the all-purpose fix-it tool. Just think of the knitting errors (I mean, unintentional design elements) you could fix without the cursing, frustration, and gnashing of teeth. Perhaps it would even translate poorly written patterns into English (or German, or whatever language makes it understandable.)

Companions? I don't know that, as a Time Lord, I'd have just one companion. Knitting, while it can be a solitary endeavor, is best done with friends. Lots of them. If you're going to travel through time, you might as well have companions that make you laugh and understand your knitting obsession. Not to mention, the TARDIS would be able to hold everyone's stash!! And spinning wheels and looms and ... well, it boggles the mind.

And finally there's that two heart thing. While I can't come up with a specific reason why two hearts would be valuable in knitting, I do think the world would be a better place if we all had two hearts.

So to recap: Time Lord, TARDIS, companions, sonic screwdriver... 

All I can say is allons-y! 

A Knitter's Holiday Dilemma... (in rhyme, of course)

Twelve days before Christmas,

        and things were a mess.

There were projects unknitted,

        the knitter was vexed.

With only two hands ,

        plus a list, oh so, long,

            How can I get finished?

        where did I go wrong?

In choosing my gifting,

        was it overambitious,

            To think it’d be easy,

        to grant everyone’s wishes.

So how to get started?

                    how to prioritize?

            How to still look amazing,

        in everyone’s eyes.

So the list has been written

                   the yarn’s all been bought

            The time has been scheduled,

                   to ease my distraught.

Yet, here I sit...

       and think, "where will I fail?"

I’ll know after coffee

      and reading email…  

If the Sweater Fits...

I knit shawls. Lots of them. In different shapes and colors. The number of shawl patterns I have is obscene and I keep finding more I want to do. Really! It's a sickness ... 


I have yarn to do socks and I have a lot of yarn in sweater quantities for ... wait for it ... sweaters. Other knitters in my local store are more versatile in their projects - a sock here, a shawl there, a sweater now and again. 

But I seem to be stuck on shawls. And I finally think I've figured out why.




A shawl always fits. If it's too small, it's a shawlette. Too large? Maybe a throw. You kinda can't go wrong with a shawl.

I've made a pair of socks. I am still waiting for Big Foot to claim them

A sweater? In the past month I've watched no less than three knitters try on sweaters that were closer to completion than they were to beginning. As they got ready to put the sweater on, the rest of the us held our breath. We all knew what was coming. We all knew this was a moment of truth. And we all knew what it feels like when it becomes obvious that what you're doing isn't working. All that work, now what?

So we watched, holding our breath, crossing our fingers ...

Only one of those knitters was able to continue, the other two tried to figure out how to make what they'd done better. Seems there's really no way to make a sweater that's too small get bigger. Or stretch a too tight bind-off that makes the front of the cardigan shorter than the rest of the hem.  

Believe me, in the hopes that the fit was only an optical illusion, making it fit was tried. Yank here, pull there. Even the delusion 'that S#!T will block right out' wasn't convincing. The only thing that was going to work was ripping back and redoing. And potentially ripping back and redoing ... again.

My guess is that both of those sweaters are currently in time out until the knitters have the heart to face them again. As of last night, the third sweater was almost done.

I can't face knitting a sweater right now. 

The stress of moving my mom closer and keeping up with work and home has been, um, not good for my weight. Ice cream? Yes, please! Potato chips? You bet! Salad? Yeah, not so much.

So while I have a sweater's worth of yarn, I don't know that I have a sweater's worth of yarn for one that would fit me right now. And I really couldn't face spending all that time knitting only to find out I didn't have enough.

Life's too complicated at the moment. Knitting is my happy place.

For the time being? I'll knit shawls. They fit.

I Can Be Taught... (StitchesMidwest Part 2)

Well, kind of. 

If nothing else, I'm good at paying attention and knowing what was said. I may not be as good putting it into practice.

First, let me start by saying that the teachers at StitchesMidwest were AWESOME. They knew their topics and were good at communicating to their audience. As a recovering corporate trainer, I can tell you, this is difficult even with good trainer training. So please understand, as I sing their praises, I was a tough and discerning observer, not only of the subject, but also how it was being taught. Subject matter experts do not necessarily know how to teach (why do you think there are corporate trainers?) 

And these were Subject Matter Experts Extraordinaire.

My first class was a short market session on Continental knitting. For the non-knitters here: there are generally two techniques for knitting. English style is done by 'throwing' the yarn over the needle with the right hand. Continental is 'picking' the yarn being held in the left hand. Neither is wrong, just different, and allows for changing up how the hands are being utilized.

Kellie Nuss was very patient in working with each of us, watching how we held our yarn, managed our tension and made the movements for both the knit and purl stitches. (I got the knit stitch, no problem. Purl stitch? Problem.) Kellie demoed  by using large needles and bulky yarn that made watching her hand movements easier, and she circulated around the group so we got different views of those movements. So while I didn't master Continental knitting, I do feel confident enough to keep practicing. And for a market session, that's all I could ask.

My next class was a three hour session on the Ergonomics of Knitting. Now this sounds like a snoozer, right? But I needed to figure out how to lessen the fatigue in my hands and shoulders as I knit — so I went. And let me tell you, Carson Demers knows his stuff (and he should. He's a physical therapist and a Certified Ergonomics Assessment Specialist) and how to make it as entertaining as one can make learning about posture. He dispelled the myth that Continental knitting was faster than English, depending on who was doing the knitting (I would not be fast at Continental, at least not yet) but that it was a way to ease problems that arise from repetitive motion by switching up how the hands work the yarn and needles. And he explained why knitting 'injuries' are far more prevalent today than in years past (computers, anyone?) 

Who knew one of the worst things we, as knitters, could do was sit smooshed up in our favorite comfy arm chair, feet tucked under us, to knit? That it will only add to our pain in the long run? Turns out, we're not doing ourselves any favors by propping our arms on a table or chair arms either.

I learned the benefits of square knitting needles, using circulars, having multiple projects going at the same time on a variety of needle sizes and yarn weights as well as the reason I shouldn't sit knitting for hours at a time. And holding a warm cup of tea, before starting to knit, is a good thing.

After that three hour class, I still find myself assessing how I can ensure that my "happy place" (knitting) doesn't cause me pain ... and next time I'm taking Carson's Swatch-buckling class so I can learn to knit and walk at the same time.

Enough for today — next week I'll gush about my class with Franklin Habit who was every bit as lovely as I had hoped he'd be.

I Am a Sheep in Knitter's Clothing

Dear SpaceCadet®,

Your enthusiasm is catchy. You wrote in your blog about loving the addictive Zoom Loom. How you couldn't put it down. That it was so much fun. And it was a great way to use mini-skeins or leftover yarn.

Turns out, I am a sheep. (I'd have said lemming, but that didn't seem to fit in the fiber community.)

So ... Now I have one ...

... and not sure what to do with it?

Just so you know, I have local enablers. A gaggle of them that are MORE than willing to help me spend money. Do I really need someone enabling me from Pittsburgh?

Now, to be fair, I trust your opinion because, well ... how can I not trust someone who dyes some of the most beautiful yarn I've seen? The creator of my very first yarn club (yes I am a proud and loyal member of the InterStellar Yarn Alliance.)

When I bought the loom, at StitchesMidwest, the first thing my traveling enablers companions said was "I had one of those as a kid. To make potholders." 

So did I!

Maybe that's why it called to me from across the marketplace. Maybe it wasn't you. No, I distinctly remember saying "OMG, that's the thing the SpaceCadet® loved." Maybe I'm just rationalizing by pretending it's nostalgia.

When I got the loom home, my husband took one look at it and said "wow, my grandfather used to make potholders on something just like that."

Enough with the potholders already! 

So I've spent time researching what can be done with a Zoom Loom. I was a bit discouraged when the first thing I found were coasters. Aren't those just miniature potholders? Things picked up a bit when I started looking at what others were doing by joining the squares — like a blanket. Then I realized there were YouTube® videos, websites, Pinterest® boards, and Ravelry® groups. All around the topic of weaving on a small loom.

Who Knew? Turns out this thing is baaaad. (Good thing it's sheep and not lemmings. I have no idea what a lemming sounds like.)

So I suppose it's time to pull out some yarn (not yours, right now. Maybe after I've practiced - I'm not wasting the good stuff.) I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Or you'll know when I join the mini-skein club. But one thing at a time.

What's the worse that's can happen? I'll have a lot of potholders and coasters. It's all good.

Your's in Fiber,
Leslie

P.S. - We had Show and Tell last night at the yarn store.  Everyone wanted to know what I was going to do with the potholder maker. I am soooo going to show them!

What Does K-N-I-T spell? Community! (StitchesMidwest Part 1)

SQUEEEE - that's my experience at Stitches Midwest in one word. One made up word, but one word none-the-less.

What an experience and what a community!  I'm thrilled to be a part of both.

It began with a five hour ride with two of my enablers friends from the local yarn store. I don't think the conversation stopped the entire time and made the five hours fly. Am I wrong?

Then there was the Market. Major Squeeee! We entered (one with a color coded map and attack plan, one with some ideas of vendors to visit, and one who basically said "whatever") and were bombarded with the sight (and dare I say smell?) of yarn. Gorgeous yarn. LOTS OF IT! And not your everyday, 'I can get this at the local store', yarn. These were independent dyers who loved to tell you what their inspiration was for a particular colorway or why they used the base they did. I've been to trade shows where employees hawk the corporate wares, but this was a room full of passion. From the yarn, to the hand-thrown yarn bowls, the hand-carved drop spindles, the felted stitch markers and the custom made project bags (to name just a few.)

A community of passionate people who loved what they did. How many of us can say that on a daily basis?

And their passion was (ummm...) contagious...  

(So contagious that one of us walked around the market, for three days, with a broken toe. Not once complaining, even when the other two of us winced at how painful it looked. Perhaps a study on using yarn as a non-narcotic pain medication is needed. What am I saying?! Yarn is addictive!)

Then there were the connections...

Many times the topic of using an acrylic yarn would come up and I'd mention it was the only yarn I gave my mother to knit with. Since this isn't a yarn most of us knit with (see descriptions of market above), there were questioning looks as to why I'd do that to my mom. Tell them it's due to the dementia, and the stories of others dealing, or having dealt, with the same come pouring out. Like the story of the mother, with Alzheimer's, who in her last days, had all of her daughters come and knit with and around her — one last time.

Connections that we all had a story. Connections that we all used knitting to get us through the hard times. Connections that showed us we're not alone.

No matter where you sat, if there were other knitters near, an easy conversation started. "Where are you from?" "What are you working on?" "I've been wanting to make that, would you be willing to help?" "Did you see glass stitch markers in the market?" and the ever popular "What did you buy?"

Connections that make a community.

A community that also includes its own set of rock stars. Yes, there are knitting celebrities. Yes, some of them have egos. No, I didn't meet any of them. Yes, I did try to act normal nonchalant around Franklin Habit and impress him with my creativity (I kind of failed on both accounts, except when I used my Hershey kisses to improvise as the square tiles we were using to create designs. I hated telling him it wasn't so much creativity as it was laziness to get up and get two more tiles. But he took a picture of it because he thought it was cute. This was not how I had intended to impress him.)

All in all, I had a blast. I came home with a few souvenirs (did you not see the picture?), new, as well, as deepened connections with other knitters, and new knowledge about my craft and myself - but more on that later. 

I have a yarn hangover. SQUEEEE!

We're Not Your Grandmother's Knitters

If the last two days brought to mind music, today the tempo is more upbeat and the theme is Billy Joel's song and the line "you may be right, I may be crazy." Only substitute WE for I.

For tomorrow I am off to STITCHES Midwest. I'd have said a knitting convention, but that just pisses off the crocheters and they have feelings too.

And I am pumped or in the vernacular of the fiber community SQUEEEE!

I asked my husband if he wanted to drive three of us to Chicago for the weekend. He couldn't imagine why I wanted him there until I suggested that if he drove, we could knit. Next came some comment about eye and sharp stick, but I told him that isn't something to be said around knitters who carry the tools of their trade.  He said he couldn't imagine spending five hours in the car with three of us, and then when he thought about a whole hotel and conference center full ... well ... needless to say, no chauffeur and one of us will be driving.

Mike's apprehension may have been based on the text conversation I was having with my 'peeps', at the time. It  was around the topic of willy warmers and penis cozies and a potential side business. (One of the knitters was at an Irish festival and thought the guys with kilts might need them. In case you're wondering, yes, there are patterns out there for them — click at your own risk if you don't believe me.)

We are NOT your grandmother's knitting group.

On Friday night we had our monthly 'Sit and Knit' (it used to be Ladies Night, but some guy complained so it got changed. I have yet to see him come — wimp.) The ages ranged from 16 to 70+. There were sweaters, socks, shawls and one unidentifiable project being made with acrylic Red Heart. Topics ranged from matchmaking (my son and the daughter of another knitter. Hey, it's the only way I hear how it's going. You think my son tells me?), progress of our projects, exploding toilets, vacation wine math (if you leave on vacation with four bottles, drink two bottles, how many bottles do you come home with? The answer is eleven), new yarn and patterns we've seen, books we're reading and in general how everyone is doing.  You know, your typical Friday night conversations. At one point I was laughing so hard I feared for bladder control and another knitter thought I was never going to breath again.

Where was I? Oh yes, the convention and why Mike won't be our chauffeur. I still don't get it. We're mostly harmless.

So tomorrow we'll pack a vehicle we finally agree on and hit the highway (Said vehicle must fit multiple suitcases, knitting paraphernalia, a spinning wheel and cooler on the way up and then all of that, on the way home along with stash enhancements acquired at said convention. My car won't work. It would get us there, but not home. Crap, I forgot about the knitters! Semi?) I anticipate five hours of knitting and laughter. What's that joke? Three knitters walk into a store, one teacher, one real estate appraiser and one college administrator...

Expect posts and pictures from Chicago where I'll be walking through a trade show, sitting in classes learning new techniques, networking with other knitters, and likely acting like a groupie in Franklin Habit's class on Saturday. Did I mention the pajama party on Friday night?

All I can say is "you may be right, we may be crazy. But it just might be a lunatic you're looking for." Oh, and SQUEEEE!