Choosing between inspiration and perspiration

I have a dirty little secret. I have this sweater that I started when I moved to this state back in 1994 (gasp!).... The first yarn I bought in Oregon! The body is done, and I've started the sleeves. I like to work both sleeves at once, that way they'll match and both be done when I'm done - sort of like the appeal of working two socks at once on circular needles. They'll both match without having to measure 40 hundred times, and when you're done, you're done. I haven't tried the 2 socks on circulars yet, but it definitely appeals.

Ever since Madrona I've been mentally casting about for the Perfect Project, something worthy of the knowledge poured into my ears, maybe something I could parade about in next year at Madrona. But this little voice keeps nagging at me to finish up that poor lonely green sweater. Maybe THAT'S what I should parade around in next year. Except of course it lacks the allure of the new. What is it with us - or at least me - that makes us (me) want to just keep casting on new and exciting projects? I cast on another pair of socks because I only had 2 other pairs on the needles.

I'll have to get pictures of the Poor Lonely Green Sweater. It started with the best of intentions, like all projects. Then I moved again, and it got stuffed into a piece of furniture that I couldn't get to (literally - I had furniture and boxes stuffed to over 6 feet in height in a "spare" bedroom with no walkways at all while I lived in a temporary place for nearly a year - the cats ADORED this room because it afforded them much amusement, not the least being that once they were in there, there was no way I could get them out. Vet appointment? Gosh, that's a shame, I was taking a nap 4 boxes back...)... then I worked on it some more, then who knows what sort of angst possessed me to abandon my knitting for years at a time. The lure of the loom? Then I knitted on it some more while spending a lot of time with my dad when my mom died. Then the sweater was at dad's house, but he was coming over to mine to visit. And now.... well, maybe now it's time to buckle down and knit. The sleeves are easy! One simple cable up the center, how hard could it be?

Ask me again in 2 months....

Diane

Madrona report

Wow that was wonderful! I think it's pretty much impossible not to have a really good time at any fiber/knit/spin/weave fest of any sort, so saying I went to one and had a good time is sort of repeating myself. How could I not??

There were classes Thurs through Sunday, and vendors to see and a constant parade of spectacular hand knits (I think I got whiplash), and a lengthy list of Knitterati (see the list of teachers for this year). I didn't have a class on Thursday, so I got to poke about in vendo-land at leisure and catch up with some folks I don't see very often, or hadn't yet met but needed to. Then I went to the Museum of Glass (in another life, I'm going to learn to do glass, woweeee) for the afternoon.


All of these pics are from the glass bridge, which is an overpass over a busy freeway and you look up and see all of these amazing works of art. These are looking straight up. There was more, much much more.

This charming fellow was in this wall of amazing vase-type pieces also before you get into the museum. I'm really amazed at how much glass art they've put out there to share with the world all the time, for free. You could spend days studying these and looking at them in different lights. What also struck me was that there is a freeway and a freight (train) yard right below all this glass. The amount of vibration that this bridge is subject to boggles the mind. I don't know how they cushioned it so well, but I'm sure glad they did!

Inside the museum they have a huge furnace and many people working on pieces, demonstrating how it's done. Fascinating to watch! Plus of course various exhibits and the museum gift shop, also filled with color and shape and inspiration. I highly recommend a trip!

And I got to knit and knit and knit, and watch the scenery from our 18th floor (!) hotel room. I've never really lived in a city, so it's definitely a case of the country cousin coming to town. (I suppose college in Tucson does count as a city, but really - it's the Old Pueblo! it's not a City, is it??) We had really fabulous weather, which meant that we got some gorgeous sunrises!

Mt. Rainier in all its glory!

And then the classes! I took a sideways sweaters class with Margaret Radcliffe, lace knitting with Evelyn Clark, and intarsia with Lucy Neatby. They were all great classes, and I learned a lot - not the least of which being that I am a very slow knitter and need to find a better way to knit. I didn't keep up with the rest of the class ("It's not a race".... okay, but I don't want to be last either! I miss out if I can't keep up). I'm self-taught, like many people, and what I learned from the little pamphlet from the Coronet store when I was in single digits for age was a good start, but it can be improved upon!

I'll leave this post with a couple of pics of Lucy Neatby's works - the lady knows how to play with color! I love it, I love it, I love it!!

Madrona 2009, here we come!

Diane

Well phooey

So there I was, innocently minding my own business, blogging away.... got finished, clicked preview, yup, looked good. Clicked "back" and it was GONE! nooooooooooooo!! Apparently that's a bad idea. Apparently you should click "hide preview" instead. And all that nice saving that blogger does while you blog? Sort of useless apparently, if you click back... Let that be a lesson! That was Saturday. I hadn't the heart or the energy to attempt it again that night. Of course it was an exceptionally clever entry, full of witty turns of phrase. Gone, lost forever. Sigh.

Tim, our wonder web and catalog guy, knit some hats! He was kind enough to share with me, and then I took some really rather horrible pictures, and didn't have the foresight to look at them before the hats left the building. Another lost and gone forever opportunity. I'll share one picture anyway, because, well, I can. It's a great hat! Too bad you can't see that. There were 2 hats, made with the same yarn (Big Wool from Rowan, in a brown shade). Tim said something about one of them being more feminine than the other. They're both the same yarn, and same shade. I looked at the hat, looked at Tim, looked at the hat, looked at Tim and said in my most articulate manner "huh?" He made one of the hats in a seed stitch, and felt that the extra texture made it more feminine. What do you think? Is seed stitch more feminine that stockinette?

Meanwhile, I'm getting ready for Madrona! I'm so excited I can't stand myself. My buddy Anita and I leave tomorrow for four full days of knitter madness! I'm going to be completely star struck with all the big names that will be everywhere, and will attempt photos (but given the spectacular proof seen above, that may be more of a threat than a promise... if you see me pointing a camera, you might want to duck). My poor sweetie has been very sick and I'm been avoiding him (can I say "like the plague"?) cause I really really really want to be fully functional. Here's hoping!

Happy trails to you! And I'm just going to publish with no preview.

Diane