Feral Knitter

What I Did Last Summer

My trip to Meg Swansen's Knitting Camp did not begin auspiciously. However, I did prove that it is possible to wake up in north Seattle at 5:33 AM and be seated on a flight pulling out of the gate at Sea-Tac aiport at 6:50 AM. I will leave my language upon waking up to realize that I had not set the alarm correctly to your imagination. Honestly, I did not think that this was possible, given the physical realities of morning bodily functions, caffeine requirements, and geographic distance. Plus, don't forget parking.

I flew into Kansas City to visit with my friend Marilyn--she has an extensive collection of spinning wheels, looms, and books, so I was in seventh heaven. We drove up to Iowa City to spend the night at Greg's--our route included a scenic side trip on highway 2 to Fort Madison, IA, to eat at the Ivy Bake Shoppe. Wonderful. The millennium toffee bars in particular.

The route from Iowa City to Marshfield, Wisconsin, seemed to involve a trip to Illinois--we stopped at The Fold, a marvelous fiber destination. Their website doesn't begin to cover the extent of stock. I found an old copy of Color Trends by Michelle Wipplinger, a used copy of Eye for Colour by Bernat Klein, and Koekboya by Harald Bohmer on natural dyeing in Turkey and beyond (a FABULOUS book! and offered at a very good price).  

Knitting Camp was great this year. Entering the room feels like going home--I range around the tables, picking up the original garments knitted by Elizabeth Zimmermann or Meg many years ago. There's always something new to see.

Greg and I have a rigid set of traditions around camp. Thursday night: introductory buffet at the hotel: Friday breakfast at the Kitchen Table.

Friday dinner at Sceeter & Otis' in nearby Hewitt. Wisconsin Friday night fish fry, of course--the waitress always recognizes us. (Greg's partner says it's because we are freaks....). Please note that Gayle (left below) and Mabel are not freaks.

Saturday repeat breakfast, dinner at Culver's. Sunday breakfast at the Marshfield Family Restaurant (Kitchen Table is closed); pizza night dinner at camp. What can I say? Elizabeth Zimmermann herself said that you add to Christmas traditions at your peril; so it is with knitting camp. Any variation leaves us shaky.

So, camp itself. There's an incredible amount of talent in the room. I learned some cast-on variations that I, let's be honest, will forget within one week. I saw some wonderful garments in the show and tell. I learned a new way to close the little gap at the top of the heel gusset in a sock. Knitted shibori taught by Linda Lutz. Wild fisherman rib and mosaic variations from Morgan. A sweet little bird pattern from Cheryl Oberle. A knock-out double-knit coat by M'lou Baber (her book will be out in December!). That's M'lou on the left.

I finished the Leo Vest:

Meg showed the sweaters that will be in the next Wool Gathering:

I took lots and lots of intensely unflattering photos during camp. Be grateful that I didn't post them. These will remain with me unless I get pissed off, so if you were there you'd better be nice to me. The only reasonably good photo was of Poppy, who is irritatingly photogenic.

Greg mentioned to the group that the best thing about camp was that he could spit-splice publicly without anyone commenting. Cheryl Oberle offered a hint that was worth the cost of camp: Just pretend that you are stiffling a yawn.

Books going going gone: Sweaters from Camp (Fair Isle knitting--there are plans afoot to re-issue the technical introduction, but don't hold your breath), Poems of Color (Bohus knitting), Vatid Troid, Vamsad: Knitted Jackets from West Estonian Islands (Greg and I call this the Vapid Troll book), Foroysk Bindingarminster (Faroese color patterns).

Book good/bad news: Bridget Rorem's eagerly awaited book on lace has been tabled, but the patterns will be offered as single booklets. Soon!

Camp dates for 2009 have been posted: You know you want to be there!

P.S. I had many opportunities to see the devastation the Midwestern floods last month left behind. Cedar Rapids looked like a war zone, the University of Iowa art department had moved to an old hardware store, and many of the fields we passed were still under water.

Shhhhh.....

I'm at Meg Swansen's Knitting Camp and I don't have any room left in my brain.

Ask Ms Feral

What is a speed swatch?

Speed swatching is a technique I've developed to help me evaluate color choices quickly. Well, relatively quickly. Speedy in comparison to a bad blind date, that kind of quickly. Speedy in comparison to trying to figure out which colors to put in a motif swatch and then swatching and then changing an element or two and then swatching, ad nauseam. By grabbing all yarns in the color families I'm interested in and doing a simple swatch in diagonal stripes, I can see what is out of place, what is out of value order, and what might be needed. By the time I've determined the motifs I want to use, I am more aware of how the colors work together and have a better chance of having the subsequent swatches work out. In my workshops we use this technique to play with colors and narrow down our designs.

What is the best buttonhole for corrugated rib?

When I was asked this question, I had to admit that I had never done a buttonhole in corrugated rib. But being the Fair Isle obsessive that I am, I decided to test a few. My absolute favorite so far is called "Medrith Glover's Buttonhole for Corrugated Rib" and the instructions can be found in Sweaters from Camp, an invaluable collection of stranded garments plus complete techniques and design introduction edited by Meg Swansen, Amy Detjen, and Joyce Williams.

I don't have a macro setting for my camera, so I can't show this to you very well. The lower buttonhole is "Medrith Glover's Buttonhole for Corrugated Rib." This picture demonstrates another important swatch concept: you can swatch for color AND technique. This is a speed swatch done as corrugated rib with buttonholes thrown in here and there.

That's all we have room for today. Please let Ms. Feral know if you have any other questions pertaining to Fair Isle knitting or how the world could be run better.

Surrounded by Color

My Design Your Own Fair Isle 3-day workshop was held last weekend at the lodge-like home of Suzanne Pedersen, organizer of the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat. It is an honor when people take time out of their lives and money out of their budgets to attend one of my classes, so I try really hard to make it worth their while. Designing a complex colorwork pattern involves so many different elements--and, let's face it, design dead ends that can be really discouraging. The eleven women in the workshop, however, did not give up, even though the heat on day 3 nearly hit record levels. I had a marvelous time, and I hope they did too!

Bird's eye view of the workshop area

 

A parade of value swatches

A parade of speed swatches

 

A parade of motif swatches

I swear I took photos of every swatch, but all I can seem to find on the camera card are stray pictures of blurry feet--my camera did take off on its own at times, snapping pictures when my finger was nowhere near the button. I think it also did not take photos at times that I actually pressed the button. Bummer, because every swatch at this workshop had enormous potential. At any rate, I apologize to Ann, Stephanie, Terri, Wendi, and Lizbeth for the lack of photos--their non-appearance here is no reflection on their loveliness! If anyone took some pictures, please send them my way! (Oh, I see that Carrie blogged extensively about the weekend here--and excellent use of black-and-white photography to see value differences.)

In the days following a class, I write up notes on what went well, what needs to be revamped, and what new discoveries we made. I learned a lot! We'll be having another Fair Isle class reunion at the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat in Tacoma, Washington, next February--I look forward to seeing what progress has been made on these embryonic sweaters. Thank you for being such a great group! 

Dull Report: Black Sheep Gathering

Standard sheep photo to prove I was there.

Loved the Black Sheep Gathering, of course, even though I do not feel particularly inspired to write about it. The two classes I took were stellar--I'd show you a photo of the incredibly fine cashmere laceweight yarn I spun, but Gingko has noted that it is "not very impressive." How she can say this of a beautiful 12" piece of yarn I cannot figure....

I was sorely tempted to come home with a few Babydoll Southdown sheep, the cutest things I've ever seen (even cuter than the pygora goats, if you can believe that). The ones I watched were extremely docile--they are the size of medium dogs, sturdy, with teddy bear faces that are smiling all the time. Instead I came home with a white Shetland fleece, half a moorit Shetland fleece, and half a lovely black Corriedale fleece. At least I got the smell!

The market was overwhelming. I did purchase a pair of combs from Carolina Homespun (a planned indulgence), black and dark moorit Shetland rovings to add to the color range, and two painted rovings from Chameleon Colorworks. Oh, and seeds for Japanese indigo and dyer's weld!

Gingko took good care of the lichens while I was away, although listening to me explaining how to babysit them caused Ryan to laugh a lot.

Ryan's Afghan

Many people have written to me asking if they can still participate, so I've extended the deadline to July 10th.

And ANNE--my emails to you keep bouncing back with the message that your inbox is full! And your blog has restricted commenting....

Seeing Red

The lichens continue to ferment on the kitchen counter in their half-gallon canning jars. Each time I wander into the room or wait for the coffee to brew or the toast to brown, I lift off the lids for a little bit, close the jars again, and give them a good mariachi/martini shake. There are six jars: three Evernia prunastri, one Usnea hirta, and two Parmelia sulcata. The E. prunastri that I started on June 6th is already showing lots of red; the others, some started as recently as three days ago, are dark brown-to-reddish shades.

My windfall (literally) lichen haul has not been used up yet--I might have to go buy some more jars....

Fair Isle Design Workshop

There are two openings in the 3-day workshop I'm teaching next weekend, being held in Preston, Washington (near Seattle). Sheila posted a some picture of the venue (here). If you have found yourself free of obligations June 27th-29th, come join us.

Ryan's Afghan

It is a joy to check the mailbox every day as the squares arrive! They are beautiful. I didn't manage to include all of them in this shot--trust me, this will be lovely.

Black Sheep Gathering

I'm off to the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon! My sister Tori and Ryan are joining me for the weekend there--by carpooling and sharing a room and buying our food at the nearby grocery store, I figure that I will have saved enough money--at least $3000, right?--to buy some fleeces for the Fair Isle from Scratch project! I'm also hoping to find some Cormo and Finn and CVM and and and.....

Road knitting--handspun, hand-dyed lace yarn

I'm signed up for two classes: Popular Wheel Mechanics (I am so hoping that this time the discussions of ratios will stick to at least one of my brain cells) and To Spin a Fine Thread. Judith MacKenzie McCuin is teaching both of these, so I expect to learn a lot. 

Letter from Afghanistan

My nephew Jake is stationed in Afghanistan--I thought you would appreciate what he wrote recently:

Well I'm coming up on 5 months now here in sunny Afghanistan and thought I would share some of my opinions and views with everyone who has the pleasure of not being here.

While Afghanistan is and always has been a country of war, it continues to accept western influence. Most of the Afghan people welcome the U.S. with open arms. Never have I drove to a city in Washington where I knew no one and greeted with a smile from almost everyone. Maybe it's the uniform, or the fact that we are doing something good here. I like to believe the second of the two.

In my time here (about 5 months) I have seen a lot of tragedy but a lot of good as well.... But one fact still remains the same this is one of the poorest if not the poorest country on the planet.

My biggest point of this message is do not for a second take for granted what you have right now. You have to live your life to the fullest, this may sound like one of those posters hanging up in shop class you know the ones that say "honor" etc with a picture of some eagle flying. But what I'm saying is true. Take it as you will but there are kids afraid to go to school around here. Most of the schools have barb wire surrounding them. The people that aren't against us are just as much of a target as we are. Bombings are constant across the country in civilian towns.

People live off of homemade bread, rice, and goats. There are sheep herders who walk 20+ miles to make a living. Living in tents in the middle of the desert. Most homes are made of mud, sticks, and some feces. Pissing and shitting in the streets, most towns get their water from a well, and some have to walk to other towns just to get the water.

So what I'm saying again, live your life to the fullest please don't take anything for granted. I know I wont when I get home. Some of you out there aren't proud to be an American but after a visit to this place or places like this, you would change your mind. Love your wife, husband, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters don't spend time on arguments life is too short. I have become more mature over here when it comes to certain things, but don't worry hopefully I'll be the same Jake when I get home. Just a little better at the things I knew I needed to improve on.

Keep him in your prayers--and the people of Afghanistan, too, while you're at it!

Move Along, Not Much to See

Michale of Crooked Needles memed me!

The rules: The rules are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer. Play nice, children!

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? I was just starting to knit, actually. I'd learned some 20 years before but I never really learned, if you know what I mean. My first sweater has 1998 knitted into the hem. We were living in Seattle; I was doing freelance editing for Microsoft and other companies. I spent a lot of time volunteering as a Girl Scout leader and in Gingko's classroom. Shadow was a puppy. I was probably dieting. Really, not much has changed except that I don't show up in Gingko's classes at the U and my days of selling cookies are long past.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today - not in any particular order? Well, it's 8:30 at night, so I'll give you my list for tomorrow (and yes, I make a list every night for the next day): walk Shadow, mow back yard, knit swatch for upcoming workshop, create new lichen jar, clean out closet.

3. Snacks I enjoy: if it has that heavenly combination of salt and sweet, I'm your gal! And I can hardly pass a Sees Chocolate shop without stopping to get some milk chocolate-coated caramels with almonds.
4. Places I've lived: Seattle zip code 98105; Seattle zip code 98115; Seattle before zip codes. Glasgow, Scotland; Salt Lake City (2 months for school); Longview, Washington; Berkeley, California.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Go on lots and lots of fiber-related trips and workshops around the world--I'd bring friends, too; tell John he could hand in his notice at work and sign up for classes at the university every quarter for the rest of his life; pay off the mortgage; send my nephew to college; give lots of it to Heifer International, Doctors without Borders, and our local food banks.

6. What are some jobs I've had? Babysitting; weaver (inkle loom belts for cash in high school); Hebrew bibliographer for the University of Washington Library; teaching assistant, Hebrew; office assistant; purchasing agent; editor and desktop publisher.

7. People I want to know more about: I think just about everyone has done this by now.... I maintain the right to ask in the future!

The Obsession Continues

Lichens day 5

 

They are starting to bubble a bit, which is good--a sign that they are beginning to ferment. I expect that the continued cold here in Seattle might be retarding their progress a bit (last week was the coldest first week in June on record--people are calling in Juneuary), but slow and steady would appear to be the watchword. I think I'll start another jar with a different species of lichen.

Avocados day 3

I'm heating up the jars in a water bath to retard spoiling, which would mess with the red/purple shades I'm looking for (apparently, I should say: I'm trusting my guide, Carol Lee, who wrote the Spin-Off article). The heat is pulling out some color from the avocado pits. They'd been looking pretty unpromising until now!

Leo Vest

I'm still messing with the collar for the Leo Vest, but it looked so cute hanging off the dining room chair that I had to share this photo.

Woman Obsessed

I don't know what has come over me! Now that the Pandora's box has been opened, it seems that everything in my life conspires to draw me deeper into the wilds of natural dyeing. I was at the food co-op on Saturday when I noticed that the deli worker was making avocado something. Yes, they had no use for the pits and peels and yes, I could have them. (It is a testimony to the intense humiliation training I have put her through that Gingko did not shun me from that point on as I carried this large, slimy, green bag of goo around the store.) I had remembered an article a few years ago that described how to get enticing reds and purples from avocado (Spin-Off, Fall 2002; Carol Lee, Dyeing with Avocados.) Long-suffering John searched my back issues in California and read the article to me over the phone.

Yesterday I washed the peels and pits to remove all traces of avocado meat, which can make the dye brown. There were 14 pits and peels from about 10 avocados (a little hard to judge because some were broken up). I had to throw out many of the peels that had been broken into smaller pieces because it was too hard to scrape the avocado flesh off of them. Treating the pits and peels separately, I chopped them up, put them in jars, and filled the jars with boiling water. Carol Lee suggested turning the jars upside down--I assume this is to cut down the chance of mixing with oxygen, because apparently mold is the biggest problem (it turns the dye to brown). It's interesting how different the two jars look at this point: pits on the left and peels on the right. Strangely, a piece of pit that was left on the counter due to my sloppy housekeeping habits had turned red by this morning, so I expect that the dye substance is there somewhere.

Avocado jars day 2

And the Lichens

The lichen jar on day 4 is continuing to perk along. I give it an airing and a good shake every so often, and today I added some ammonia because the lichens have swelled to the point that they are nearly not covered.

I read on Ravelry that blending this mixture could speed up the process. I don't have a blender, though, so I'll just let this take its time. Still, an interesting thought.

Other Stuff

All this fuss is in the pursuit of color, of course. If you, too, love color you might enjoy Fiberewetopia Valerie's post this morning about her 2 weeks at Penland--check out the Flickr photo gallery. I promise you a soul-destroying visit from Ms. Envy before you are done.

I'm going to start adding categories to my posts so you (and I) can find stuff in the archives. This idea came to me when I was trying to find that one post that told me which needle size I was using for a certain project--I hadn't realized how much I've written as I near the 300-post mark!