While You Weren't Watching...

I started and finished a little hat, Scandinavian style, stranded colors, in red and grayish blue, in the stars and ladders pattern. Stars and ladders is an old design used quite a bot in old Scandinavian knitwear, its alleged to refer to the necessary effort, like climbing a ladder, in order to reach a lofty goal, like the stars in the heavens. Who knew the Scandinavians were so spiritual?!

I'm working up a pattern for the hat and for a pair of complimentary fingerless mitts.

I'm using Dalegarn yarn, unusual for tis kind of work because it contains a generous amount of mohair. I like my stars and ladders fuzzy. It's a nice feeling yarn, a little short of sportweight. I knit this hat with #3 (american) needles. It is guaranteed to be a warmish hat, the stranding makes it jsut about double-thickness.

Gracie's Desire

My stepdaughter, Evona and her children, Elias and little Gracie were here from San José last weekend. It had been Christmastime when we saw them last, and weren't they a welcome sight!

Elias has turned 12, and is doing that summertime growth spurt, he's handsome too and quite tan this year from hanging around poolside. Gracie's as cute as a bug. It's true! how else can that cuteness be described? She's all smiles, until she's not, then she's like a little dark cloud. This visit though, the clouds were all gone. 

But boy, is she busy! Like a little butterfly, or maybe a hummingbird is more like it, she moves quickly from one thought/activity into another, endlessly. She saw a fancy stemmed glass, she wanted water from that. When she needed to wash her hands I handed her one of my handknit linen quest towels, which up 'till then hadn't been used, she did her business, dried her hands and brought the towel out into the living room whipping it around, wringing it and throwing it into the air. She found my stick, a five foot length of smooth eucalyptus, and wanted to know why I would keep a stick behind the front door, picked it up and started to move around our tiny apartment with it held horizontally, risking bumping into the new HI-DEF, or any number of my paintings. She had to find out what the rug-thing in the living room was made of. When I told her it was a cow hide, she denied it, but then became intrigued by its slippery feel and started to roll in it, taking the sheepskins with it and making herself a cocoon. She found a lost earring and a few buttons under the bed. At the playground she was a pro at climbing and wiggling. Ooftah! she was all over the place and into everything. After they all left, I was very glad to head to bed early. She wore me out!

A classmate from highschool lives here in Petaluma with his family. His daughter is the same age as Gracie. We saw him on the 4th of July, looking for the group who had her with them. I couldn't help but feel empathy for him. It was so much easier to chase down a kid when I was in my twenties and thirties, and here he is in his fifties hunting down his daughter. 

Gracie let me know she'd like mittens and a little hat knit just for her in pink and purple. If she can get only one color, she wants purple. Elias wants a hat and mitts too. With his I have to watch not to include a "gang" color in them, which in our neighborhood means red and blue. So I guess a little pattern writing for childrens' hats and mitts is in order next.

Here's a photo of Gracie and Honey taken over Christmastime; she's pouting because we won't take her to Toys R Us on Christmas Eve. You can see what I mean about the cloud.

Scoliosis in the family tree

Scoliosis was pretty easy to live with when it didn't hurt. Somehow, with all the twisting and bending of my spine, it didn't hurt until I got older and probably more inflexible. 

It hurts today. Between my shoulder blades on the right side of my spine it feels as though someone thrust a knife. Often it's like this, hurting right there, making me consider I might be a victim of betrayal. 

My mom has the same sort of curve, her's leans to the left, whereas mine leans to the right. Both present themselves at T4, and secondary waves roll up the neck and down the lower back. 

My great-grandfather on my mom's side of the family was a character I understand. And it seems like this flaw was handed down through his blood line. I never got to meet the man, but I heard stories about him and even read about him in an obscure Utah history book.

This much I know; He was the Sheriff of Juab County, Utah in the last part of the 19th century and into the 20th century. His name was Daniel Joseph Cronin. His wife, Sarah Ferguson and he had altogether 13 children. My maternal grandmother, Margaret Louise Lucas, was their oldest child. This great-grandfather rode his horse throughout the county for his business as the sheriff. Once he even rode all the way to Idaho, stalking a murderer who'd stabbed someone to death. While it's awe-inspiring to think about riding into another state in order to perform such a function, it's even more astounding to hear he did it all while wearing a metal brace he'd been given for the purpose of holding up his crooked spine. I firmly believe people were different back then, that kind of dedication and perseverance seems elusive in this age. Someone once told me I had an aura of capability and determination about me. Maybe I got this from Dan, but chances are not I think...those kinds of traits coming from personality rather than by blood lines. 

Tentacle Hat update

The "tentacle hat" is finished and it's a cutie. When I tried it on with the tentacles pointing up, it kinda looks like a crown, yet it also looks as though I have dreadlocks. A perfect hat to wear if you want to change your looks quickly. It also looks very elegant when worn around the neck with the tentacles pointing down and hanging around the neck like a fancy Egyptian necklace. 

I wrote out a pattern for it,  named it "Fringe" and have designed the page, though I'm waiting for someone attractive to fall into my path so that they can model it so I can take a shot of it and include the photo on the pattern.

I'm excited today about some of my paintings being shown at Indigo, a cute little shop on Kentucky Street in Petaluma. Michele, the owner is going to hang them above the dressing rooms.

SF Giants' Stitch-n-Pitch and the tentacle hat/neck warmer

Last weekend Knitterly and the Muench Yarn warehouse in Petaluma held their annual sale. Among other yarns I picked up three skeins of Berroco's "Celtic" in a colorway that has been discontinued. I'd made some nice hand-warmers from "Celtic" last winter for my son and brother for Christmas, and I was inspired to do it again, though I don't know who the recipient is to be yet. As I finished the second hand-warmer on Monday, the thought came to me of making a matching hat or headband. I'd used the hand-warmer pattern out of "Weekend Knitting" by Melanie Falick. (I love this pattern, so elegant, simple and versatile.) I would make this hat or headband to match, by knitting it up vertically in garter stitch using short rows if it was to be a hat. But as I cast on the first row, I was intrigued by the idea of casting on a few extra stitches and casting them off on the next row, forming "tentacles" at one end and knitting straight across all the rows instead of short-rowing, making a doubled up headband that could also be used as a neck-warmer. 

Last night was the SF Giants' Stitch-n-Pitch game against the D.C. Nationals (Gnats) which ended in a win for the Giants, breaking a painful seven game losing streak. Our seats were in the section with all the other knitters, but a small mistake on my part landed us in a less congested section. Other knitters were there too, adding a feeling of belonging. 

One knitter in front of us was knitting a blanket out of some multi-colored, fluffy yarn. The knitter she was sitting with was knitting something light green and silky looking in-the-round. I had to work hard at not giving her suggestions to make her knitting more pleasurable. She was struggling with the yarn, stabbing her needle into each stitch and knitting continental style but with the yarn wrapped around the tip of her left index finger, which she was having the stretch way out and wave around in order to hook the yarn with the needle. In addition to this problem, she was twisting each stitch as she knit, making all the stitches more dense and tight. It was difficult to watch. It was no wonder she'd stop knitting for long stretches of time while her friend knit along happily.

As the game went on, my headband/neck-warmer was growing. Usually when I tried to knit at the baseball game, I'd get so worried about getting hit by the ball, (our old seats were in the bleachers under the Coke bottle sculpture in left field.) but here up in the upper deck and behind the foul zone, it felt safe. I'll bet the Giants' staff thought awhile before they picked out the knitters' section. Honey and I had a good time, although we were very late getting home.

As I write this, it's almost halfway knit. I'll post a photo when the whole set is done, and I plan to write a pattern for this interesting. multi-purpose garment.

Anna 

Fur-nanda Llama

A few years back I made this little charmer, Fur-nanda Llama, by needle-felting some llama fleece and little bits of yarn together. I kept her at my desk at work for awhile, she was a real conversation starter there. I had to take her home however, when it seemed like she talked to much. Really, she's such a chat! I thought I'd share her with you today.

She's holding a skein of yarn, waiting for you to wind it onto the ball she has in her lap. I made her a simple muslin peasant dress and a red skirt. She has small button eyes. Her tiny rocking chair was made by Honey. She's always had a prominent place in our home, somewhere where she can make noise without disturbing us, like the kitchen.

SF MOMA show: Frida Kahlo

Seeing Frida Kahlo's paintings up close is worth a trip into The City.

I'd long had admiration for Frida's work. Her self-portraits are so moving and meaningful to me, and I feel she's very beautiful in spite of the everyday standards of beauty in the U.S.. Being a chronic pain patient, I can relate to her visions of suffering and yet find them pleasing to my eyes. 

We took the day on Monday, driving into San Francisco, parking, walking through Buena Vista Gardens and into the geometry of the Museum of Modern Art building. Up to the 4th floor we climbed, slowly making our way into the crowded exhibit, following the people ahead of us—the place is so crowded we can't see at first just which painting is coming up. Shuffling, we see her paintings slowly, we are close to them, more close than others who are rushing to say they saw the exhibit. 

Her method of applying paint is appealing, especially considering many of her paintings were done while she was lying in her bed, and confined in a brace or cast. Many of her works have tiny amounts of paint applied with what must be cat's whiskers. What else could lay down such little strokes?

The painting which moved me the most was "The Broken Column." The background is a ruptured Earth. Dry, dead grass covers most of the background, broken up by huge, dark rifts, like fault lines. The sky is blue, yet there is a foreboding grey cast to it, like Golgotha on Good Friday. In this portrait her hair is down and flowing, and she looks at the viewer, but not straight-on like in her other portraits, and there is no blood shed. She is naked under her brace, wearing a sort-of loincloth around her hips. Her torso is divided vertically, the rift slightly more dark than those of the Earth, and within the rift is a broken Ionic column, simulating her own fractured, crooked spine. Nails are driven into her loincloth, up her lower right side, crossing to her left side at the breast. Unlike her other portraits she is alone. No pets, no lover, no husband, no other Frida, making this one seem the most tragic of all. Her expression is that of being in pain, but being perhaps, too tired to cry. As I looked at the painting, I started to cry. I had to look away and choke back my grief so that I could get through the exhibit. 

After we had seen the exhibit, we walked back through the gardens and down Mission Street where we spotted Mels Drive-in. Hungry, we went in and took a seat at the counter. Mel's is unique. Juke boxes are scattered through the eatery which you can operate with a quarter. Chrome and red leather predominate the furnishings and black and white photo stills from the movie, "American Grafitti" are action captured on the walls. I ordered a Blue Plate special; Rotisserie Chicken with vegetables and mashed potatoes. Honey ordered a burger with fries and a cup of coffee. Honestly, the mashed potatoes were lacking seasoning, even a little milk or butter while they were being prepared would have saved them. The chicken and vegetables were excellent. Later, Honey ordered up some pie ala-mode, allowing me to taste, yum!

Anna  

Project update and other stuff

After having left the project alone for so long, and realizing I was making up stuff to do in order to avoid frogging and fixing the cable problem, I finally had the where-with-all to approach the task. 

Frogging can be a risky venture, especially with silky yarn like Berroco's Bonsai. It's been pleasurable to feel the yarn slipping through my fingers as I knit, and its heft is comforting, but these two qualities make frogging even more treacherous. Shelli at Knitterly in Petaluma outlined the best way to approach it; Lay the piece of knitting on a clean, flat surface. (Don't try to frog while the piece is held vertically, as this causes the slippery yarn to undo a few rows down as you are ripping.) Carefully remove the needles. Frog (rip, rip) until you get one row above the row where the problem first occured. Grab a much smaller needle than what you've been using, and one-at-a-time as you pull the yarn out of each stitch, transfer the stitch below onto the smaller diameter needle. As you start to knit again, be conscious of the way your stitches lie—that is, make sure your not twisting them, and don't forget to switch back to using your larger needle. Phew!

Now I'm on my way again. I even bought yarn for a future project; I'm going to make a simple fringed scarf for my mother. She's elderly and wanting to wear more pink, but thinking pink's not appropriate for her age. After having seen the way pink transforms her skintone, I'm sure it's a good thing. I got a skein of Alchemy's "Pagoda" in the color vermillion. It's 100% silk and has a sweet nubby texture. Future yarn review!

Latest project

Being a long-time knitter, (I learned in 1972, but became passionate in 1993.) some of you might be surprised to find out I struggle with it sometimes. Most times I knit quickly and without many problems but this latest project is a bugger. Not that it's very difficult, it's a challange, but not difficult. I am knitting a simple shell, out of Berocco's "Bonsai," with a seemingly straightforward cable up the front and garter stitch edges. 

This project started innocently; I swatched first, carefully blocked the swatch, read my gauge, drew a sketch including details of the cable, the edges, where the shaping would take place, I calculated my cast-on—I do all this because I plan to design and publish my knitting patterns. This shell is to a shop example, perhaps hanging out at Knitterly next to a stack of the patterns I plan to sell.

At first, I used size 7 needles and cast on the number I calculated and knit for awhile, nearly a whole skeinsworth, before I noticed it was quite a bit bigger than I'd planned. I frogged it—rip, rip, but not before I calculated the gauge on that. I cast on again using my new calculations. Darn! The cable I started over the garter stitch bottom border made the border lumpy looking. I frogged it again. This time I plan the cable start within the garter stitch border, I cast on again. It was going pretty good this time, I had some decreases happening along either side every six rows and I was up to the bust where I'd planned to knit some short rows so that the shell would fit better over my chest, like darts on a well fitting blouse. I'm doing the short rows beautifully when I lifted up the knitting and saw... horrors! I hadn't followed what was going on within the cable and I'd cabled the crosses where I didn't have to! And darn this yarn is slippery, and I'm going to have to frog back to the beginning of the short rows! And that means picking up all those slippery stitches and feeding them back onto the needles.

There it lies, on the coffee table, waiting for me to finish it. It's been hot, I've had some appointments, I've been making up excuses so that I can justify not knitting more on it. My mind is taking me to new projects, but I must decline... I really must finish this shell so I can take a photo and finish writing the pattern so I can earn some money. Maybe today I will knit again.

Anna Hallquist

Berroco's "Bonsai" a review

I had an idea to make a pattern for a new handknit top. I went to Knitterly in Petaluma and chose a couple of yarns to make swatches so I could see if either were suitable. I quickly determined that neither of the yarns were going to be perfect for my idea, but as I knit the swatch with the Berroco "Bonsai" I was inspired to design another top; a simple tank with little shaping, garter stitch edges and a fancy cable going up the front all the way to the V-neck, where it splits up and forms both sides of the front neck border. Sweet! The pattern is being written as I knit along, and I will make it available soon. 

What pleases me about "Bonsai" is its lovely luster, silkiness and fabulous drape. It's not such a thin yarn that I have to use little needles, in fact it knits up quickly on size 7 needles, with very even looking stitches. I think its fiber content; mostly bamboo with a little nylon, is going to be a cool fabric without requiring a lot of fuss. It is handwashable in cool water and dry it flat. Berroco says "Inspired by the rhythmic markings on a bamboo tree, our ribbon yarn is made from cellulistic fiber derived from bamboo. It is woven into a narrow ribbon that is wrapped with a delicate nylon for a touch of high sheen. It's dyed in 9 exquisite shades." Well rhythmic, cellulistic, exquisite it is!

"Bonsai" is a silky yarn and so it comes with requirements; Use wooden needles, or at least plastic needles with a little drag to them, because this yarn slips and slides off of metal needles. You don't want to be losing those precious stitches! Take care of your hands and nails while working with this yarn too, because rough skin or the littlest rough edge on a nail can catch on this yarn, creating a potential for a snag. SNAG is a four-letter word!

Anna Hallquist

My intention:

Knitting is a passion of mine, so I'm pleased to announce that I am equipping myself to design, compose and publish my knitting patterns. In addition, I plan to write knitting and crochet product reviews and post them on this blog, at least until I develop a name for my business. Once a name is given to my activities, I'll move to another blogspot with that name, hopefully.

I bought a little Mac Powerbook this weekend from the Apple Store in the Santa Rosa Plaza. Knowing what I wanted before I went to the store made it easy and fast to choose. I had thought I would want the 17", but after comparing the heft with that of the just-as-powerful 15", I chose the 15". I chose a cute, pink padded cover for it, picked up a free, little green Nano for Honey, and came out with a smile.

I ordered some publishing software online, but the package is embargoed until Tuesday, when I'm told it will be available for download.

Look for me on Ravelry!

Anna

Striving for Beauty

My Lord says we must strive for beauty in order to evolve, and we want to evolve as humans, or we'll die out. To complete the evolution of mankind, we must become perfect. Letting go of the ego and living with presence, love and kindness assists us on our trail upwards.
To choose beauty always--the genuine Beauty of the spirit rather than the more common "beauty" of seduction--is a challenge, not a struggle. If you are struggling with Beauty you are doing something wrong. Intuition is used, rather than intelligence, to make choices and decisions that uplift the spirit.
How will you know intuituon? Intuition speaks to you through your gut, you feel it in your solar plexus. Intelligence, when it's being applied toward a concrete goal is a benefit for us on Earth, but when it's not engaged in accomplishing a goal, the incessant chatter of the ego arrives in the dialogue of the mind, polluting thoughts overtake our psyche, and often we choose to act wrongly and justify our actions with rationalizations.
Eckart Tolle wrote about evolution in his book, "A New Earth." A rock, as it has completed its evolution (obtained perfection), becomes a crystal. No two crystals are alike, but they are all perfect and beautiful. As plants complete their evolution, they flower. As certain reptiles evolved into birds, they achieved perfection and became beautiful.
As I write this, blue jays outside in the "science fiction tree" are busy feeding their chicks. (Albert and I have come to find the name "science fiction tree" appropriate for the tall, leggy plant in the garden, which we have failed to identify, and which looks like something out of "Star Trek.")Their fantastic, iridescent-blue plumage shimmers as they hop down to the ground to find grubs. They are truly beautiful. And that blue is out of this world!
What does "Strive for Beauty" mean to me? It means I am careful to always ask myself: "What is my motive in doing _____?" If, when I choose to wear lipstick, I find my motive is to get a desired effect, such as attention from my boss, then putting the lipstick on becomes an act contrary to Beauty. But if I find that the motive to wear lipstick comes from a feeling of Beauty, then putting the lipstick on is uplifting for my spirit. Of course, I must be careful in checking the ingredients of the lipstick to avoid polluting this body.
Even the most scarred and misshapen women have Beauty. With careful choices, and practice, Beauty is manifest.
Like wise, when I am making, and that is my verb, "to make," I strive always to make things of Beauty. Whether I am painting, knitting or cooking, to make beautiful is synonymous with making perfect.
Don't fear perfection! It will be your salvation!