110: exotic urchin

I've been finishing hats like a woman possessed. The first was last Saturday, when I took time that I should have used to mark exams to knit furiously and joyfully through a handspun Urchin. Sophie gave me this Studio Loo skein called Violet Fiction for a housewarming/birthday present. You may remember the yarn when it used to be this:

Now it's this:

Reaction is mixed, by which I mean everyone loves it but my mom, who hates it with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. I think she's just jealous.

111: beanie redux

The second hat is part of my attempt to use my knitting for social good instead of just relaxation, practice, artistry, cheap gifts, etc. It's a Boy Beanie from the Happy Hooker in variegated Patons Classic Merino called Jungle. The contrasting green is the Lemongrass Lion's Brand Wool left over from my mittens. It's going to a local homeless shelter/soup kitchen, where it will hopefully clothe one of the visitors.

112: Queen Bee hat

The third hat was done before the second, but needed embellishment. It's a Bzzz Hat for Queen Bees out of Sn'B Nation. The yarn is Headwater Wool Marupe that I picked up at the DKC Knitter's Frolic last spring with the change I found in my pockets. I've been dreaming about this hat for a long time. I've got a bit of a thing for bees, and this will eventually be a set with a scarf and possible wristwarmers. The bee buttons aren't that great, but they get the job done. I found them at the local Michael's.

113: belly dance socklets

This isn't a hat, although I finished it in the midst of my binge. They're little socklets to wear during my belly dancing class for a bit of slippage on turns. Why buy ballet flats or (ugh) cut up other socks when you can spend a few hours making small colourful tubes? I knit these while marking exams, and finished them minutes before beginning class last week.

114: kara

Also not a hat. It's an amigurumi carrot that I decided to do after an argument with Blake, in which he insisted on orange hot chocolate for my in-process toy cup. Instead of such an abomination, I made a carrot. The pattern is my own, although it's way too simple to need one. All I did was make a circle, crochet a tube, and start decreasing. When I thought it was too short, I did a plain row, then kept decreasing. It took a bit of finagling to make the tip, and I don't know that I followed any recognized crochet technique other than "givin'r," but the end result is quite pleasing, with that purposely frayed end coming off there. The orange is Sugar n' Cream worsted cotton, and the green top is more Lemongrass Lion's Wool, which I attached and chained until I felt like stopping. Then I picked up the other end and chained that too. The result is marvellously eccentric, dready leaves. The mouth is the same yarn. They eyes are 8 mm safety eyes. Tremendously fun, tremendously simple. Her name is Kara, after a girl in Blake's class. Kara the carrot.

115 & 116: cupcake & chocolate cup

The reason that I had to make Kara was because I was in the midst of making these guys for the Jakaitis kids. It's K8rs' birthday party on Saturday, and we decided to make a cupcake and a cup of hot chocolate for her and her brother to play with. They are a mix of Sugar n' Cream cotton, Butterfly cotton, and Cool Spun cotton, with fun mail order safety eyes and beads from Michael's. Do they look like sprinkles to you?

There are still a few more pictures hanging around, but I am totally knackered, so they'll have to wait. And I'm almost done another urchin!

Labels: birthday, blake, crochet, drunken knitters, fo, friends, gifties, knitty, snb

finished on August 27, 2006.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

For my 30th birthday, my mom took me out to see Hair. It was an exciting event for me: I was basically unfamiliar with the so-called storyline, but I loved some of the songs and wanted to see it all unfold. So my mom, being the theatre push-over she is, bought us some tickets and I got me an early birthday present.

In addition to the play, which was pretty awesome, we also indulged in one of our other theatre-going vices: clothes shopping (a third vice is eating, but we won’t go into that). There’s a store near the theatre called Timbuktu that’s run by an ex-hippie and filled with gorgeous exotic fabrics. Last time we were there (“Urinetown”), my mom bought a traveling suit. This time we both bought dresses. Hers was red with a flower pattern; so perfect for her that we both felt strongly that she already owned it. Mine was a blue & white layer cake of a dress, a floor-length sundress blockprinted in shades of Delft blue. Air currents want to frolic with this dress, and it’s long enough so that the world is not surprised by my nudity when the wind gets whimsical.

But as I am the type of personality that I can never be satisfied, a problem arose. To whit: I hate hate hate hate current sandal styles. So this pretty pretty dress, clearly a summer dress, would be matched with my grody flip flops, my 8-holes, or my ‘vogs. I loves my ‘vogs, but they really need socks. Therefore, I decided to knit some. All of the lacy socks I saw were way too substantial for my purpose, which was to match this confection of a dress. So I picked up a couple of skeins of my favourite Koigu PPPM, found a lace stitch on-line, and swirled in as many girly touches as I could manage.

Specs: these socks were to be super-feminine, super comfy in summer as I defied sandal fashion and stomped around in my 'vogs. I combined a picot cast-on with a simple 7-stitch, 4-row lace pattern (called Lace Wings), added an Eye of Partridge heel for the birdy implications, and then named it after my shoes. (I also watched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy obsessively while knitting the first sock, so there's a little bit of Vogon in there too.)

I took the first one to a Drunken Knitter’s Night in July, where it was much beloved. Since drinking was involved, there came a point when I messed up the lace. I pondered tinking, but the people around me told me it didn’t matter.

”But what if I want to submit this pattern to Knitty?” I half-joked to Amy, who was sitting beside me.

”I’m sure I won’t notice,” she replied graciously.

Holy shit, I wondered, did I just pitch a design to Amy, Editrix of Knitty? Did she just say something nice instead of rejecting my lame ideas and incompetent design-work out of hand? Will I actually go through with this crazy idea? This requires much pondering.

From that point on in the summer, these were my submission socks, kept under wraps. I approached a few of my knitting friends for help with the photos, but nothing was resolved until the September Drunken Knitter’s Night, when Jacquie B. offered her sharp artistic eye and her ginchy new camera in service of the submission socks. Thrilled to be doing something before all the leaves turned, we settled on the following weekend.

The shoot itself was great fun. I’ve always wanted the glory of modelling (I am, at least technically, a Leo) but lack the traditional attributes to realize this goal (such as grace, poise, passion and beauty). Jacquie was patient with my lack of experience, and made the shoot into a big romp through Kew Gardens. If these socks look good, it’s because Jacquie made them look good.

Jacquie B's fantabulous vog on gallery

The next part of this story took place months after, as the completed socks were waiting for a seasonal submission date. Widdershins had been out there for awhile, and I found myself wondering if I had a toe-up version in me. When Michelle offered to test-knit, I knew I had to try. So I did the math, bought her some co-ordinating Koigu PPM in fire colours, and asked her if she could make my bird rise from the ashes (in this case, ashes = toes). Then we spilled tequila on the yarn. Hee!

She did a terrific job, knit them longer just for fun, and then used her mannequin feet to model. I can't help but think that her clutch-knitting is what sent us over the edge. And now, I'm a published knitwear designer! I'll try to let it go to my feet, rather than my head.

the pattern

Labels: design, drunken knitters, fo, friends, knitty, socks