Holiday Reflections

On Christmas day, in the evening, 2013

Hours after dinner, most of us are still inside... a moment reflected on a window and caught by a camera...

It was after desert... (the candles are already burning low)... but before the traditional family card game of Apples to Apples.  Thirteen for dinner and ten for Apples to Apples.

In the morning we awoke to a fresh coat of snow.

A Couple of (Process) Gift Knits

As I have written before, see here and here, I do not really do a lot of Christmas knitting.

I simply do a whole lot of knitting all through the year... and then just a small amount of last minute Christmas knitting with an even smaller amount of success (see above links).

This year has been no exception.  There will be two gifts that just happened to be knit because each offered up a new knitting experience.  I would call both of these knits "Process Knits".

Within the knitting community the terms "Process Knitter" and "Project Knitter" are bantered about.  The idea is that you are either process-oriented in your knitting.  (You love to knit for the experience of the knitting, and do not care if the results are useful or attractive.  You never swatch and would never rip out anything.)  Or, you are product-oriented.  (You knit because you love to make beautiful and useful objects, and you would totally re-knit anything not to your liking.)

I am of the opinion that each of us who knit fall somewhere within the scale -- most are not completely one or the other.

The first gift will go to Mr K's brother.  He is, by far, not someone for whom I would normally knit anything.  But over the last year, he has asked, not once (during his Easter visit), but twice (on Thanksgiving day), for a hand knit anything for Christmas.  Because I had completely forgotten the Easter request, and because I have been busy meeting design deadlines and dreaming of what to knit for the quick last minute gifts for those that I do normally knit for, that Thanksgiving request really threw me.

At first, I thought, why not make a hat like this one that I made for Mr K back in, I think, 2008?

   
The pattern is Turn a Square by Jared Flood.  The yarns are Cascade 220 and Noro Kureyon.  (I cannot tell color numbers or yard used, as it was made quite long ago.)  When I located the pattern in its print form, I also located my printed pages of the modifications that Jared Flood blogged about for the Cap Karma Hat by Smariek.

This reminded me that I actually made a modified Cap Karma around the same time as my Turn a Square from some leftover yarn of my mother's.

The yarn is Brown Sheep Co's Lamb's Pride worsted in the color blueblood red.  When I finished this hat, I offer it up to all who lived in this house at the time... when no one claimed it, it went into a mud room drawer with all the odds and ends mittens, hats, ski goggles and such... to my knowledge, it has never been worn. 

I hand-washed the hat.  It is a little tall and a bit bright, but I am going to give it to my brother-in-law.  He did say anything.  (I'll let you know if he likes it.)

That hat is truly a "process" knit.  I only decided to knit it because I saw the modifications on Jared's brooklyntweed blog, and I wanted the experience of working them.

I will be gifting my sister, who loves everything that I have ever knit for her, another "process" knit.  This one is totally 2013.  Back in January I was in New York for Vogue Knitting Live.  I had always wanted to try working with stainless steel yarn, and one of the venders at the market was Habu Textiles who are known for their unique tactile yarns including several that include metal.  It was a great opportunity to see the yarns in person.  I have already shared my Hakusa scarf here.  It was finished this summer, after which I made a smaller one that I named Hasuka Junior which I will keep for myself.

The 'materials' for the shawl/scarf were Habu Textiles A-20/21 1/20 silk stainless steel (69% silk, 31% stainless steel) and N-75 2/48 Fine Merino (%100 merino).

I just wrote a note to my sister about the project and tucked it in the box under the scarf.  (I'll let you know if she likes it.)

I consider both of the Hasukas to be "process" knits.  They were made because I wanted the experience of working with a truly metallic yarn.  (Honestly, except for the first few rows, where there was not much to hold onto, and the metallic yarn was used singularly, it was not very different than any other knitting.)  What is cool, though, is that the edging is so very "scrunchable".

If you are also preparing for the upcoming holidays, I hope that you are able to go about it with a light and happy heart... no worries, please!  
   

The house of...

For about a week now I have been thinking (but only in my own head) that this "Kern household" is really the "Carolyn Kern House of Design".  A bit of a stretch, but all of these things have happened this week:

I finished my work on a super secret project for a design to be used by a very famous (to the online knitting community) yarn company.  That yarn was amazing!... It was such a fun knit!... I will share it with you when the time is right.

A nice little cube of a box came in the mail.  Inside of it was probably about three times the yarn that I will need to make another super secret project that will appear in a widely distributed print magazine next year.

I think the idea that, as soon as one goes out, the next one is already here, has gone to my head (but it's OK, because mostly I keep it to myself).

Just yesterday, I received one of those polite emails with the words, "thank you", "we had so many great submissions", "can't use them all", "don't have room for yours" and "hope to work with you in the future".  It is true that rejection letters are just a part of the whole process.

And...

This house is also a family home with Christmas coming... I have a lot of work ahead me!  Today there was some shopping and there will be sugar cookie baking.  For various reasons, we will not begin to decorate until next weekend... there is still a wreath with autumn leaves on my front door.  I will be cooking two rather elaborate traditional dinners.  (I always do.  It is one thing that I take in stride.  One step at a time, and really worth all the work.)  There is a lot more gift shopping, and all of the gift wrapping, as well as one very special birthday coming up soon!

Whew!  I can do this though, just one day at a time, and every day with some knitting in it :-)

I like to include at least one photograph in my posts.  Here is my latest  (non-secret) FO, Tartan Mitts made in Titus yarn by Baa Ram Ewe, project name: Sir Titus Tartan.

I will be giving them to my daughter for Christmas.  (They are not a surprise.)  I am keeping the red ones for myself!

 

Midweek Meditation - Kandinsky style

"There is no must in art because art is free.”  
                                                                         ~ Wassily Kandinsky

When I think of Kandinsky, this work, Squares with Concentric Circles, 1913, is what comes to my mind.  It is one of my favorites.

"I applied streaks and blobs of colours onto the canvas with a palette knife and I made them sing with all the intensity I could...."

"Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul."            

                                                              ~Wassily Kandinsky,

                                                           Russian painter and art theorist.

Kandinsky is credited with painting the first purely abstract works.

On White II, 1923

Composition X, 1939

"Music was important to the birth of abstract art, since music is abstract by nature—it does not try to represent the exterior world, but expresses in an immediate way the inner feelings of the soul...

In addition to painting, Kandinsky was an art theorist; his influence on the history of Western art stems perhaps more from his theoretical works than from his paintings."
                                        ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassily_Kandinsky
                                                            December, 3, 2013

 Photo credits:  http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/wassily-kandinsky/color-study-squares-with-concentric-circles-1913
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kandinsky_white.jpg
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kandinsky_1939_Composition-X.png

Harper's Bazaar: Paired Accessories

I have had a pattern published in Knitscene Accessories 2012, and one in Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2013.  A pattern of mine that is included in Quince & Co., Scarves, Etc., also appeared in Mollie Makes, Issue 14.

It should not surprise anyone to know that I have sent out many submission proposals to similar publications that did not get selected for publication.  At this time, I enjoy designing accessory projects.  I look for ideas in many places.  Sometimes I like to search current fashion images online.

In a search for "fall 2013 accessories", just weeks ago, I ended up finding a story from Harper's Bazaar, "Perfect Pairs: 10 Sets of Stylish Winter Accessories".  It is by Chrissy Rutherford and is dated November 27, 2012.  I bookmarked it thinking that one day I would like to share it here (with you).

This image is on the cover page where Chrissy wrote, "This winter forgo your boring black knit accessories and opt for this season's offerings of vibrant colors, rich textures and fun patterns.  Don't fret... we've done the pairing for you."  Here are a couple more of these...

I found these pairings oddly enjoyable.  I kind of thought, "I'll bet I could do that."  I like to put things together.  Here are a couple more...

When I saw an old purchased tartan scarf in my old scarf box not very long after I bookmarked the HB article, I knew that my own pairing was in the works...

 
Introducing... my latest FO, "Pop of Red" Tartan Mitts, paired with my "Old Scarf Box" scarf.  What would Chrissy think?

Gift-A-Long Update

Just a reminder that the first part of the Gift-A-Long promotion on Ravelry will be ending at midnight tonight.

There are approximately 3000 patterns for sale on Ravelry with a 25% discount, all using the same coupon code "giftalong".  Here is a link to a very important thread where the approximately 160 (indie/independent) designers have declared which of their patterns are included in the Gift-A-Long.  These are considered "participating patterns".  I am on page 2 of the thread, right here.

As the sale comes to an end, I want to remind my readers of the second part of the promotion.  There are hundreds of prizes to be won!  Many are patterns (electronic prizes), but there are also a great number of physical prizes.  For a chance to win the prizes, you need to select one of the participating patterns (see the "link" above), and enter your project by posting in an appropriate KAL/CAL thread.  (It does not matter when you buy the pattern, before or after the sale period are both OK, but the pattern does have to be a participating pattern.)  Another wonderful place to browse participating patterns is at the Gift-A-Long Pinterest Boards.

Just by posting in one of the KAL/CAL threads, you will have a chance to win random prizes.  There are some games going on, as well.  After you finish a project, post (one time only per each FO) in the Official FO thread (with a photo if possible).  Each FO post is an entry in one of two large prize drawings, I believe that they will be on December 1 and then shortly after the December 31 end of the GAL KAL/CAL.

I am very grateful for a chance to be a part of this promotion!  I cannot express how amazing it was to watch those who organized this (in about a week) setting it all in place.  Fantastic amount of work!  The Pinterest boards are lovely.  (Volunteers had to pin each pattern individually.)  The prizes are all organized into lists and ready to be won.  Oh, and did I forget to mention the advertizing help... images for posts and ravatars, and those great transparent tags with instructions on how to layer them onto a photo.  I think the fact that the group has 4 administrators and 25 moderators indicates how much work is still being done to make the KAL/CAL's a lot of fun for everyone.  Please consider joining in the group and the GAL KAL/CAL's!  Post those FO's for more chances to win!

Happy Holiday Knitting!  Happy Holiday Gifting!  
   

Midweek Meditation

"Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen."

                                                                        ~ Leonardo da Vinci

More Peaches

Peaches in Paintings

 
Paul Cézanne is one of my favorite painters.  He painted a lot of paintings with fruit in them.  This one is named Still Life with Peaches and Pears.  From the Wikipedia entry on Paul Cezanne:  "Cézanne's often repetitive, exploratory brushstrokes are highly characteristic and clearly recognizable. He used planes of colour and small brushstrokes that build up to form complex fields. The paintings convey Cézanne's intense study of his subjects."

Cézanne's work came to mind when I began my last post, but I felt that the peach photograph would be more evocative in a discussion on looking at the colors in a real life peach.  There is no doubt that Cézanne saw "all gray, and red, and purples in a peach".


The Color "Peach"

I was thinking about "peach" Crayola crayons (Oh, how many hours I colored and drew with them as a child!)  I found a web page that shows Crayola peach crayons through the years.  Here is a photo from that website of the 1962-197? peach that I used.  (Much as I remember it.)

Here is the current, since 2006, peach Crayola.

Does either one look anything like a peach?  I think not.  "Peach" as a color is a third (see 3) definition for peach (from www.freedictionary.com):

peach (pēch), n.

1. the round, pink-to-yellow, fuzzy-skinned fruit of a tree, Prunuspersica, of the rose family.
2. the tree itself, cultivated in temperate climates.
3. a light pinkish yellow color.
4. Informal. a person or thing that is especially attractive, liked, or enjoyed.

A Peach in a Poem

And one more peach came to me as I wrote my last post.  I was remembering a poem with a peach in it, from a class I once took on modern poetry.  I found myself searching until I found what I vaugely remembered...  The poem is by T.S. Eliot and its title:  The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.  I was surprised to find that the word "peach" is used only one time in that entire poem.  But the words "Do I dare to eat a peach?" were the words that I remembered most.

Enough said on that.  It would be completely out of my realm to begin to discuss literature, but I do like to read a good poem every now and then.

Colorwork Meditation #11

Photo Credit:  http://jaimejofisher.com/favoritethings/inspired-by/1588/

"The man who can see all gray, and red, and purples in a peach, will paint the peach rightly round, and rightly altogether. But the man who has only studied its roundness may not see its purples and grays, and if he does not will never get it to look like a peach; so that great power over color is always a sign of large general art-intellect."      
              ~ John Ruskin, 19th century English romantic writer and painter

I also quoted John Ruskin in my Colorwork Meditation #6.  I will admit that he sounds a bit pompous in the quote above... but I do remember when I first really noticed the redness of tree branches in April, and I do remember when I really could see that all grays are really lavender-grays or green-grays or whatever-grays... I believe that it is a gift to all who love color that we can see "all gray, and red, and purples in a peach".

Do you know what I mean?  Do you agree?

Previous Colorwork Meditation: #10 (Water)