Monday night one of my dear friends from work killed herself. All I can imagine is what she went through those last hours of her life.
I think though, that Shevette herself would want to be remembered in those happier times. She had the best laugh, the sweetest disposition. She was kind beyond her means. She was a devoted mother, and a loyal friend.
If there is anything to be learned from this it is this:
reach out to someone you love. Reach out and mend a fence or bridge a chasm. Reach out with a kind word and a smile. You could be saving someone's life.
Sculpting life out of fiber, one stitch at a time.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Dyeing to get over artist's block
Yes, I have it. I have writers block; painters block; sewers block (as in sewing, not blocked sewers). Everything creative within me is blocked except for knitting. And my hands hurt. What kind of deal is that? Is it the force of the universe reaching out to smack me upside the head for being too full of myself? Dreaming and and aspiring too much when I have no real talent, as my internal "Editor" likes to to tell me? My negative self-talk has got to go. It's very hard to get anything done when your internal nag is trying to talk you out of it.
"What?! You aren't going to try dyeing that? You can't do that, you'll just ruin it!"
"What?! You want to mar that perfectly beautiful blank canvas with that? What a waste of materials you can ill-afford...save them for something better"
"What?! How dare you ruin that perfectly lovely blank page with your sribblings/meanderings/ramblings...blah blah blah...."
This goes on in my head all the time. I know what you are thinking, that I probably need a really good therapist. But I am not actually hearing voices -- I am merely arguing with myself, trying to overcome a sort of creative stage fright. I get it everytime I face a blank anything. But a new skein of yarn? That's a different story.
I can get the yarn and cast on and get going. This goes well until 9/10 of the way through a project I suddenly run out of enthusiasm as it occurs to me that I wont be as happy with the product as I was with the process. It's not going to fit. The sleeves are too tight but the fit is too lose. Or the yarn is completely cheap and ruins what was otherwise a decent knitting job. But I now have a cure for that. I call it planning. Below goes some of my convulted planning. Or lack thereof.
From now on, after several not so great sweaters projects, I tell myself I am going to pick the pattern first, then get the yarn. Knowing what I intend to knit and picking the yarn accordingly will probably go a long way to improving the odds of a successful outcome. I've finally come to realize I need more practice at innovation and knitting before I can just wing it.
And so the last two projects I knitted, admittedly super-easy, I found the pattern then I found the yarn. And I am absolutely delighted with the results and so were the recipients' moms. The green baby sweater for Liam and the blue baby sweater for Ashyd. Both were from the One-Skein Wonder Baby Sweater. Both turned out great. Both moms were thrilled. And I discovered how much I like not seaming!
Inspired by this recent success, I was casting about (no pun intended) for another project. I had the yarn my daughter selected for a fall lightweight cardi for my granddaughter. But here we are again: I had yarn but no pattern. Selecting a patten involved 1) finding a toddler size, as my recent successes were for some vague 6 months size. and 2) My daughter couldn't decide on a pattern she wanted-she could tell me what she didn't want, but not in a considered analytical way. What I have gathered from her rejections is that she doesn't want it too boxy looking. I presented her with a whole slew of pattern ideas from 10 different library books and hundreds on the net, nearly all of which were promptly squelched with "Not that" or "No!". The one pattern she was slightly okay with involved...shudder: seaming! So I had to search pattern books and Ravelry and Knittingpatterncentral for days until I found a free Lion Brand pattern. I don't know if my daughter will like it but I do like the construction methed: pretty much the same as the One-Skein Wonder Baby Sweater but sized for worsted yarn and bigger kiddo. I have started and I am ready to divide the body for fronts and back. So I guess I am nearly 1/3 done. If nothing else this little jacket, which I intend to line, will be good for very casual trips to the playground or store.
Meantime I wanted to reward myself on the good job with the little-baby sweaters, delivered just in time for fall, and make something for myself.
So I decided to experiment with dyeing and felting. I wanted to use what I had on hand, because I am trying to be frugal. So where to begin?
1.I had an unused skein of Debbie Stoller Full O Sheep in that natural color that I thought would be perfect for my experiment.
2.I had some time.
3.I had some Kool-Aid. Or at least I thought so, as I searched the cupboards, convinced there was alot of Kool-Aid. But guess what? Apparently someone drank it all (it was August of course it was consumed)!
4.Instead I settled for food coloring-- the 4 little bottles in the box?
So about 2 days worth of research later (mostly on Ravelry), I took the plunge, tee-hee! With no further ado I unwound the yarn around the back of a dining chair. Then I tied the ends into the bulk of the yarn. Then I washed it with gentle shampoo. I didn't have baby shampoo or Eucalan or Soak so I settled for my own shampoo..horrors. I can hear some of you now, gently chiding me for being so callous about my yarn. Its pretty sturdy yarn. I think it can stand up to the same stuff I use on my own head!
Notice I skipped an important step, I forgot to tie it off with cotton yarn every so often. Thank goodness it wasn't a huge skein of yarn (just under 200 yards). I forged ahead not thinking about that step until much later.
Recipe:
1 tsp of red coloring
1/2 c vinegar
1 tbsp of table salt
Water to just cover the yarn
I just sprinkled, dripped and poured all this in on top of the yarn/water mix in a Corning Ware casserole dish. I nuked it in the microwave on high, rested it 2 mintues, nuked 2 minutes. Then I took it out of the micro, set it on the counter, put the lid on and left it over night.
The next morning virtually all the dye had soaked in. It wasn't bright red, more like a varigated coral color, yet I really like the result. The color varies from a light pink to an orangey reddish. I gently washed and rinsed it, (my shampoo and conditioner again).
Then I rolled it in a towel to gently squeeze out the excess water and laid it out on another towel to dry. Other than turning it occasionally I let it alone for several days. I had the smack-myself-in-the-forehead moment when I found it to be dry and realized I had some work to do to get it rewound into a useable ball. It was almost starting to felt, apparently I had agitated it a bit agressively when I was dyeing it trying to mix the color through. Anyway, I very carefully untied an end and separated the starting strand and followed it through and finally got the ball hand-wound into an outside-pull ball. I dont have a yarn swift or any sort of help for this. But it was a nice relaxing 2 hours of winding while watching something on PBS, I think Mystery.
Anyway, the end result on the dyed yarn: I am very proud of it. It's sitting on my desk displayed like a trophy, just begging to be used.
Here I am gain: back at square one. Yarn with no pattern. I want to take my experiment a step further and knit it into something to felt. The yarn isn't terribly soft so I don't want to wear it. It will make a great felted...something. But there is only about 197 yards. Now what? Make a teeny tiny cell-phone cozy, a felted bowl, or...of course I found a pattern I fell in love with- Noro Kureyon Felted Scraps Bag. This bag would be big, and luxurious and gorgeous and the perfect shape and I need alot more yarn. I have yarn. I have a pattern. The two don't necessarily go together. So I think I will use the yarn for a teeny tiny felted project or dye another skein or two in colors that will go nicely and make something this or??? Then I will buy Noro Kureyon to make that bag I have fallen in love with!
But look- I have gotten over my block. I wrote something. True I have written alot of self-centered twaddle, but it was good to cough it up and really get it out of my system. A start, that's all I needed.
"What?! You aren't going to try dyeing that? You can't do that, you'll just ruin it!"
"What?! You want to mar that perfectly beautiful blank canvas with that? What a waste of materials you can ill-afford...save them for something better"
"What?! How dare you ruin that perfectly lovely blank page with your sribblings/meanderings/ramblings...blah blah blah...."
This goes on in my head all the time. I know what you are thinking, that I probably need a really good therapist. But I am not actually hearing voices -- I am merely arguing with myself, trying to overcome a sort of creative stage fright. I get it everytime I face a blank anything. But a new skein of yarn? That's a different story.
I can get the yarn and cast on and get going. This goes well until 9/10 of the way through a project I suddenly run out of enthusiasm as it occurs to me that I wont be as happy with the product as I was with the process. It's not going to fit. The sleeves are too tight but the fit is too lose. Or the yarn is completely cheap and ruins what was otherwise a decent knitting job. But I now have a cure for that. I call it planning. Below goes some of my convulted planning. Or lack thereof.
From now on, after several not so great sweaters projects, I tell myself I am going to pick the pattern first, then get the yarn. Knowing what I intend to knit and picking the yarn accordingly will probably go a long way to improving the odds of a successful outcome. I've finally come to realize I need more practice at innovation and knitting before I can just wing it.
And so the last two projects I knitted, admittedly super-easy, I found the pattern then I found the yarn. And I am absolutely delighted with the results and so were the recipients' moms. The green baby sweater for Liam and the blue baby sweater for Ashyd. Both were from the One-Skein Wonder Baby Sweater. Both turned out great. Both moms were thrilled. And I discovered how much I like not seaming!
Inspired by this recent success, I was casting about (no pun intended) for another project. I had the yarn my daughter selected for a fall lightweight cardi for my granddaughter. But here we are again: I had yarn but no pattern. Selecting a patten involved 1) finding a toddler size, as my recent successes were for some vague 6 months size. and 2) My daughter couldn't decide on a pattern she wanted-she could tell me what she didn't want, but not in a considered analytical way. What I have gathered from her rejections is that she doesn't want it too boxy looking. I presented her with a whole slew of pattern ideas from 10 different library books and hundreds on the net, nearly all of which were promptly squelched with "Not that" or "No!". The one pattern she was slightly okay with involved...shudder: seaming! So I had to search pattern books and Ravelry and Knittingpatterncentral for days until I found a free Lion Brand pattern. I don't know if my daughter will like it but I do like the construction methed: pretty much the same as the One-Skein Wonder Baby Sweater but sized for worsted yarn and bigger kiddo. I have started and I am ready to divide the body for fronts and back. So I guess I am nearly 1/3 done. If nothing else this little jacket, which I intend to line, will be good for very casual trips to the playground or store.
Meantime I wanted to reward myself on the good job with the little-baby sweaters, delivered just in time for fall, and make something for myself.
So I decided to experiment with dyeing and felting. I wanted to use what I had on hand, because I am trying to be frugal. So where to begin?
1.I had an unused skein of Debbie Stoller Full O Sheep in that natural color that I thought would be perfect for my experiment.
2.I had some time.
3.I had some Kool-Aid. Or at least I thought so, as I searched the cupboards, convinced there was alot of Kool-Aid. But guess what? Apparently someone drank it all (it was August of course it was consumed)!
4.Instead I settled for food coloring-- the 4 little bottles in the box?
So about 2 days worth of research later (mostly on Ravelry), I took the plunge, tee-hee! With no further ado I unwound the yarn around the back of a dining chair. Then I tied the ends into the bulk of the yarn. Then I washed it with gentle shampoo. I didn't have baby shampoo or Eucalan or Soak so I settled for my own shampoo..horrors. I can hear some of you now, gently chiding me for being so callous about my yarn. Its pretty sturdy yarn. I think it can stand up to the same stuff I use on my own head!
Notice I skipped an important step, I forgot to tie it off with cotton yarn every so often. Thank goodness it wasn't a huge skein of yarn (just under 200 yards). I forged ahead not thinking about that step until much later.
Recipe:
1 tsp of red coloring
1/2 c vinegar
1 tbsp of table salt
Water to just cover the yarn
I just sprinkled, dripped and poured all this in on top of the yarn/water mix in a Corning Ware casserole dish. I nuked it in the microwave on high, rested it 2 mintues, nuked 2 minutes. Then I took it out of the micro, set it on the counter, put the lid on and left it over night.
The next morning virtually all the dye had soaked in. It wasn't bright red, more like a varigated coral color, yet I really like the result. The color varies from a light pink to an orangey reddish. I gently washed and rinsed it, (my shampoo and conditioner again).
Then I rolled it in a towel to gently squeeze out the excess water and laid it out on another towel to dry. Other than turning it occasionally I let it alone for several days. I had the smack-myself-in-the-forehead moment when I found it to be dry and realized I had some work to do to get it rewound into a useable ball. It was almost starting to felt, apparently I had agitated it a bit agressively when I was dyeing it trying to mix the color through. Anyway, I very carefully untied an end and separated the starting strand and followed it through and finally got the ball hand-wound into an outside-pull ball. I dont have a yarn swift or any sort of help for this. But it was a nice relaxing 2 hours of winding while watching something on PBS, I think Mystery.
Anyway, the end result on the dyed yarn: I am very proud of it. It's sitting on my desk displayed like a trophy, just begging to be used.
Here I am gain: back at square one. Yarn with no pattern. I want to take my experiment a step further and knit it into something to felt. The yarn isn't terribly soft so I don't want to wear it. It will make a great felted...something. But there is only about 197 yards. Now what? Make a teeny tiny cell-phone cozy, a felted bowl, or...of course I found a pattern I fell in love with- Noro Kureyon Felted Scraps Bag. This bag would be big, and luxurious and gorgeous and the perfect shape and I need alot more yarn. I have yarn. I have a pattern. The two don't necessarily go together. So I think I will use the yarn for a teeny tiny felted project or dye another skein or two in colors that will go nicely and make something this or??? Then I will buy Noro Kureyon to make that bag I have fallen in love with!
But look- I have gotten over my block. I wrote something. True I have written alot of self-centered twaddle, but it was good to cough it up and really get it out of my system. A start, that's all I needed.
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