I HEART VOGUE.

It tends to surprise people that one of my most prized little indulgences in this life is my subscription to Vogue magazine. Every time my new Vogue arrives, I have to run to get a cup of tea, and maybe some chocolate, so that I can curl up for the next hour or so turning page by page through the magical world of high fashion and world renowned artistic visionaries. How could this possibly be a surprise? I love fashion. I love art. Vogue is the absolute world class Queen of Fashion Art.

Sacrebleu! What is this? How on earth could I miss such a sweet little succulent.. er.. Vogue?!

I just bought my first issue of Vogue Knitting, and I'm absolutely transported by the incredible knits inside. I want all of them. Page after page of heart-skipping, voluminous, chunky-soft yarn made Fashion Art. I'm in heaven.

The best part about Vogue Knitting is that, unlike it's predecessor, after drooling over piece after piece that you'd like to walk down the street in-- you can actually turn to the back to find the patterns to MAKE THEM YOURSELF!

We Stitched and Oh, How We Bitched!

The first weekly Stitch n' Bitch has just ended; the last girls have left. How I love having women around and doing crafty things! Sarah learned to knit; Casey learned to cast-on; Melanie and I worked on our circular needles for the first time; Melissa used a knitting loom to weave what would have taken me hours! We snacked, laughed, gossiped, and caught up: It was great. Who knows if we'll be knitting next time or if this will eventually evolve into a general craft night or something else. All I know is, I love my friends and I love getting together with them!

Stop-Motion Commotion

A few months ago we went to a camping art and music festival on a friend's recommendation. The Oxblood Masquerade was a festival of the arts in the middle of the woods. There were stages, music, costumes, crafts, and the one that caught my eye the most- art in a field. Here was a big field with artists sitting at their easels and other "canvases" just doing their thing right there in nature. You could just walk up and watch it all happen.

Our trip to the field brought us to the most extraordinary set up, where we incidentally ended up spending the rest of the evening. It was an interactive station set up to allow anyone to walk up and make their own stop-motion movie. Per and I were on cloud nine. There was scented play-doh and chalk. We got started on our spontaneous story (see it here) and spent the rest of the evening waiting around to see everyone's movies played on a projector in the field (see them all here). We made some good friends at that installation and Per got a great project out of it.

Last night we joined those friends for a continuation of that installation: The Edge of Imagination Station (I love rhymes and alliteration!). Set up in a small gallery space in east Austin, this time there was a white wall, colored balls, paper, stickers, props, and chalk. The idea this time was to steer away from claymation by providing other mediums to work with. People were getting creative! Per used chalk and paper for his underwater animation, and I was able to take one of my favorite art forms, paper cutting, to bring the changing seasons to life. We couldn't wait to see the final results. The animations weren't shown last night, but I will be sure to post a link as soon as I get one.

Purlina Purlizkova

It's Superbowl Sunday and it's quiet on the streets of the University campus neighborhood. Per is at the skate park skating and I'm home alone on this gorgeous, sunny, warm first day of February. I decided today was the day to learn to purl, so I took up my knitting, my "Stitch 'n Bitch" book, and a short video from YouTube.com.

Well, not only am I purling, but I am now proficient at the stockinette stitch, ribbing, and seed stitch! I made a really fun swatch that has several rows of each of these stitches. I can use it as a reference in the future... and it looks neat!

I just sent out my first invitation for a Stitch n' Bitch right here at my own place. I'm looking forward to seeing my girlfriends and continuing on the almighty path of the kneedle!

Something About Knitting

As a souvenir to this time in my life I am knitting a candy cane striped scarf. It's only the second scarf I have ever knit. It's cute, but I'm not convinced that it's entirely right.

I'm following the method for making stripes in the infamous knitting handbook "Stitch 'n Bitch". It basically states that to start a new color, or stripe, you cut the old color with about six inches to spare, hold the new color with this piece at about the same length, then just start knitting with the new color at the beginning of the row. With these six inch pieces that are hanging from the side of your scarf, you tie a loose square knot and then later, untie and weave it in.

It looks horrible. I have a bunch tassels hanging off one side of the scarf. I have yet to try weaving them in, but something just doesn't quite feel right. In the future I may try knitting one color, then weaving the stripes in over the knit piece. That might make for some nice texture.

On another knit note, I finally bought myself a knitting basket which I love. Time to start collecting yarn!


Jan 13, 2009. KNIT NOTE!
I visited my grandmother this weekend, a lady with over 50 years of knitting experience! I showed her my scarf and asked if I was doing anything wrong. She assured me that it was exactly how it should be, and even showed me a couple of other methods which may have even been more difficult.

She showed me how to weave in my leftover ends where the new colors begin and end, and even gave me a needle to do it with. The needle is thick and has a rounded point and a large eye to thread yarn through. To weave my ends through, first I'll untie any small knots I've made to keep them in. Thread the piece of yarn through the knitted stitches (of the same color) at least a third of the scarf's width or more. The most important thing at this point is to grasp your scarf width wise (not length wise) and give it a good pull, or stretch. This will allow the yarn to settle deeply into the knit and not be easily pulled out later by simple daily stretching of your scarf. Once you've done this, you can snip off the end of the now hidden yarn.