In Keeping...

...with flags, here is something that my Aunt F gave to me yesterday.

She did the machine embroidery with her Brother sewing machine.  the machine has at least a couple dozen designs in its memory.  Last month my Aunt F, who does not live far from me, called and asked me to stop by to help her download several holiday designs that she purchased online.  I was glad that I could help.  She is also my godmother.  She has lung cancer, and is doing well for now, but like she says, "I still have cancer." 

This is the towel she gave to me just a week after I had helped her.  It was shortly before Easter.

I will treasure these towels for the rest of my life.  I have been thinking about my Aunt F...

Though I have long felt that I was most inspired to live-to-create by my parents and my paternal grandmother (who sadly are no longer with me) my Aunt F (who is my father's sister) has also lived a life in keeping...

Like me, she "just likes to make things".  Her illness may have slowed her down, but she keeps on...  I so love that.
      

Midweek Meditation

"Do something, do something to that, and then do something to that."   
             ~  Jasper Johns, American contemporary artist, born May 15, 1930.

Flag, encaustic over a collage, 1954-55.

"In the place where I was a child, there were no artists and there was no art, so I really didn't know what that meant. I think I thought it meant that I would be in a situation different than the one that I was in."

Detail of Flag (1954-55). This image illustrates Johns' early technique of painting with thick, dripping encaustic over a collage made from found materials such as newspaper.

"I have no ideas about what the paintings imply about the world. I don't think that's a painter's business. He just paints paintings without a conscious reason."


Photo credits:
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4243628742988805386#editor/target=post;postID=2279236680656121072;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=postname
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jasper_Johns,_Flag_%28detail%29.jpg

The Scrunched and The Scrunchable

I am writing to introduce two of my current WIP's.  I have nicknamed them the scrunched and the scrunchable.

scrunch - verb

1. To crush or crunch.

2. To crumple or squeeze; hunch.

scrunched - past tense of scrunch

The scrunched is my latest top down sweater project made with Ysolda Teague's pattern "Lauriel" from her book LITTLE RED IN THE CITY.

To keep it simple, my Ravelry name for this project will be "Lauriel". 

As an aside (that is not really an aside), I am still not convinced that top-down seamless sweaters are best.  I did buy a 32" long circular needle to replace the 24" long one in the photo, but everything (knit at the correct gauge with a yarn that has a 'springiness' to it) is still unpleasantly scrunched and tight.

My own thoughts are that an hour's worth of seaming can be well worth it, if it makes all of the knitting straightforward and pleasurable.  Am I alone on this?

scrunchable - capable of or suitable for scrunch(ing)

The scrunchable really is that -- a scrunchable scarf made with yarn containing stainless steel.  The yarn is from Habu Textiles, the pattern, "Hakusa Scarf"  designed by Kristin Johnstone. 

To keep it simple, my Ravelry name for this project will be "Hakusa".

  

April FO's: 3 of 3

3 of 3

Finished April 20, 2013

Betty 

Pattern: Betty by Marie Wallin
Yarn: Rowan Pure Wool 4 ply 

I wrote a little while ago about how I acquired this yarn in post called Destiny.  I like a fine-gauge wool sweater in early spring, but it will be far too warm very soon.

    

 

April FO's: 2 of 3

2 of 3

Finished April 10, 2013

'Mineral' Beauty

This is, by far, my favorite of the three SWIRLS that I have made.
It is the shortest and it is as light as air.
'Mineral' is the yarn's color name.

Pattern: Sheer Beauty by Sandra McIver

Yarn: Shibui Knits Staccato & Silk Cloud

I bought this yarn at Gosh Yarn It! and I made this swirl as I taught a series of classes there on making a SWIRL from the book KNIT, SWIRL! by Sandra McIver.  My students were awesome!

2 of 3

on

1 of 3

Not bad.
 

April FO's: 1 of 3

I somehow got quite far behind on posting about what I am currently working on (WIP = Work In Progress) and even more behind on what has been finished (FO = Finished Object).

I had the idea to post about my three April FO's, one each, on the last three days of April... but now I am behind on that as well...

1 of 3

Finished April 5, 2013

A New Shell

I love, love, love this shell!
  The fit is very forgiving.  The armholes and neckline are quite flattering.
I would definitely use this pattern again.

Pattern: Trace by Kristin Spurkland

Yarn: Tahki Yarns Ripple

The yarn is a thick-and-thin cotton "tape" yarn which contributes a super amazing amount of texture.  I purchased it at Gosh Yarn It! about two years ago.  The first shell I started with this yarn was about 3/4 done when I ripped it all out.  As happens sometimes in knitting, it just was not working.  I am so glad that I started a-New.

Midweek Meditation

Villa Borghese, 1960

“I don't paint to live, I live to paint.” 

                                 
                  ~  Willem de Kooning, Dutch American Abstract Expressionist,
                                                                   born April 24, 1904

Photo credit: http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artwork/2

Free Pattern: Boreal Headband

I created a new project and pattern for my most recent two-handed stranded colorwork class.  I am now offering this pattern as a free download at my Ravelry Pattern Store.

The double layer headband was designed as a teaching project in two-handed, stranded Fair Isle knitting. It could also be used for swatching your colorwork knitting in-the-round as you check gauge for a larger project. There are two versions: one for worsted weight yarn and one for bulky weight yarn. 

© Carolyn Kern

Pattern: Boreal Headband by Carolyn Kern

Worsted weight version made with Cascade Yarns Cascade 220,

100 yd (91 m) MC, 30 yd (27 m) CC

 US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 5 (3.75 mm) needles

 

© Carolyn Kern

Pattern: Boreal Headband by Carolyn Kern

Bulky weight version made with Cascade Yarns Eco+,

50 yd (46 m) MC, 30 yd (27 m) CC

 US 10 1/2 (6.5 mm) and US 10 (6 mm) needles 

 

Though, I will always think of this technique as "Fair Isle", this is not entirely accurate.  Here is an interesting quote from the Wikipedia article Fair Isle (technique), as it appeared on April 21, 2013:

 

"Some people use the term "Fair Isle" to refer to any colourwork knitting where stitches are knit alternately in various colours, with the unused colours stranded across the back of the work. Others use the term "stranded colourwork" for the generic technique, and reserve the term "Fair Isle" for the characteristic patterns of the Shetland Islands."

For some time now, I have been planning to post a short "Stranded Colorwork Tutorial".  Look for this in the not too distant future. 

Colorwork Meditation #6

From the Zig-Zaggy garden at Brantwood* which was the home of John Ruskin.

"The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most."   

                          ~John Ruskin
                          English Romantic Writer and Painter, 1819-1900

* The Zig-Zaggy is based upon designs first sketched by Ruskin 130 years ago, and is said to represent Dante's Purgatorial Mount. Fully realised today in contemporary form, it allows you to begin your tour of the gardens by making an allegorical journey to Paradise.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ennor/3566862832/