momtourage

Book Related

In an attempt to save money and staunch the growth of my knitting book collection, I put two books on hold at the library, thinking it would give me more time to peruse than at the bookstore, hoping I would identify and learn certain techniques during the two weeks allotted to me. But I guess with knitting books, it just doesn't happen that way. An order has been placed and the books are now en route to my permanent collection. Oh well, at least I know exactly what I'll be getting.

 



And now that the yoga challenge has timed out (though I am keeping to an every other day schedule, which is a bit more realistic) I am free to return to voracious reading. The book club I belong to meets tonight and we will be discussing a book I read not just once but twice over the past month, one that I highly recommend.

I noticed that this particular book, A Short History of Women, struck quite a chord with readers on Amazon. People either loved it intensely or found it unreadable, a type of controversy that I always find probably means it is something worth exploring further. I wonder if this is partially due to the grimness of the subject matter, which involves a similar emptiness in the characters' lives over place and time or the fact that it imparts a sense of futility and ennui whilst and after reading.  Which I don't think is a bad thing, mind you. However, reading it the first time I was so caught up in the mood and plot and was left with such a hollow feeling myself (it is impossible not to search for similarities in one's situation) that I decided to give it another shot. I felt like I was missing something important. Well, I was; namely the craft of the writing - so beautiful and carefully constructed that I was compelled to read passages aloud. I am looking forward to discussing it tonight.

And so I turned from this much lauded (and hated!) novel to another, Chronic City. Yes, I respect this writer immensely and yes I have read all of his novels thus far, but I do find them dense and slow reading. So I am also reading a very powerful memoir I found in the Brooklyn History section of the library. Oh, and various children's books to my sons. Though I did finally admit that I actually lost Moominland Midwinter - the first library book I have ever ever lost, much to my eternal shame. Wherever could it be? We never took it out of the house so I can only conclude it has been spirited away by some Moominish character. Perhaps.

Learning Curve

Since I am home with a bad cold today, I took the opportunity to finally put the finishing touches on those very subtle Faeroe Island Mittens I was supposed to have finished and mailed off two full weeks ago. But better late then never, right? And you know how I feel about those zzzz... type projects...I felt that this project could have easily become one of those.

So here they are, in all their glory, languishing on Sam's art clothesline. Something about the blue paint and the light in his room made the mittens photograph true to color.

I have to admit, they grew on me a bit more as I neared the end of the project. I'm still not thrilled about the very very subtle color contrast. A shade or two up would have been, for me, ideal. Also, this is the last time (you can quote me) that I use alpaca yarn for a color work project. I always forget how much that stuff sheds until I work with it again. And don't even get me started on stitch definition. But at any rate, here they are, warm and cozy and most importantly done.

Too Far?

I have said it before. When I am in reading mode, I read exclusively and voraciously. When I knit, I am productive like nobody's busy. And now it seems that when I take up yoga in a serious way, I maybe push my body too far.

I say too far, because I noticed what I think are tiny burst blood vessels on my hands yesterday. And I think it may be due to all of the hand motions - clapping and shaking and raising - that I did in a Friday night, 3 hour long yoga workshop. That's probably not a good thing.

To back up a bit, I have long been interested in Kundalini yoga. At least interested enough to take one class at my local yoga clothing shop (in addition to selling comfy clothing they also offer occasional, inexpensive classes). I also briefly fantasized about doing a Kundalini weekend at Kripalu and checked in several times with the class schedule at Golden Bridge. (But never actually made it there.) So when a friend told me she was doing a weekend workshop with Gurmukh and asked if I wanted to join, I said why not. On Friday we found ourselves in a packed room, waiting for the workshop to begin. Then it did begin, and went on and on and on. Now, I knew that one repeats actions for an extended amount of time in this type of yoga. You just don't get into a pose and hold it, deepening into yourself. Nor do you flow into another pose, as in vinyasa yoga. To provide a better picture: Let's say you raise your arms, shoulder height straight out. Now bring them into a goalpost shape, hands raised, palms flat to the outer walls of the room. Now repeat this action at a pretty rapid pace for at least 4 minutes. You are probably chanting or singing at the same time too - which is somewhat of a welcome and trance inducing distraction, but then what happens to the breath?

And that is what I found myself worrying about often. I am most familiar with yoga that emphasizes the breath as life force. And maybe it was because I am a novice to this practice, but I often found myself not breathing or out of breath or trying to imagine how I could fit my breath into the practice in a comfortable manner. That said, there was a lot of collective energy to experience, which is something I normally don't feel in other practices. So there were things that I observed/experienced that I would want to find again, and other things that nagged away at me, and made me wonder if I was really getting the benefits I should from this practice.

Suffice to say, I am still mulling it over. And hey, an extended workshop format is probably not the way to jump into anything physically demanding. I spent some time yesterday doing restorative yoga, because I needed to and in preparation for the continuation of the workshop tonight. But can I do it? Is it even physically possible? I will see how the day progresses and then decide.

Do as I say...

Not as I knit.

Subtle colors, right? Well, seeing as this is the only (of about 15 photos) that actually gives a vague idea of the Faroe Island pattern of the mitten, I say it is too subtle, especially considering the work that went into it.

And it all stems from the best of intentions. A friend with a winter birthday loves soft fabrics and classic colors, so I decided to knit her super warm (dog-walking) mittens from Folk Mittens. I adapted the cuff from the single color it calls for and the contrast seemed fine. As you can see, I plugged ahead, thinking that the more mitten I knit, the more evident the pattern would be. Well, it is soft and warm and the pattern is nice, only you have to squint to see it in anything but broad daylight. And now that I have come thus far I feel compelled to finish the second mitten as well. The thought of ripping it out and using the yarn for another project seems too grim.

But lesson learned. Alpaca is NOT suitable for color knits.

Arctic Front

The same degree of cold seems much colder in Brooklyn than in Maine. Perhaps it is due to mindset, or the dismal lack of snow, or the chill that seeps into your boots from the concrete sidewalks. A few weeks ago, I was happily skiing in below zero temperatures. But this morning, back in the city, I begrudged the brisk walk of only a few blocks to go shopping. Though some of it was undoubtedly due to the difference in task.

So what to do, in the winter, in the city, when spring seems most distant? You can choose one route and seek out warm places - the tropical greenhouse at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the library, the coffee shop with delicious hot cocoa. Or you can embrace the cold, decide to snuggle in and knit soft alpaca mittens, read wonderful and moody winter-themed stories and books, cook soup, sip tea. There is a stillness to winter I will miss when it's gone, best to make the most of it while it's still here.

Done!

Just a quick post to mention that the two year odyssey of the Latvian Fingerless Mitts is finally over!

I am very pleased with how they turned out in the end. Now onto the next pair of folk mittens...

Knitting Resolution

And oh yeah, I did make a sort of knitting resolution as well. If you are familiar with Ravelry, you probably know that you can flag a project as a wip (work in progress) or zzzz... When the wip actually becomes a zzzz... is totally up to you. Personally, I am thinking a 3 month statute of limitations (with zero stitches knit) constitutes a downgrade to zzzz....

3 months because I just don't like having unfinished objects hanging around! I admire people whose pages have dozens of wips and several zzzzs... I imagine that their lives are filled with an ease and the relaxed attitude mine lacks. The sight of a zzzz... or a wip on my own project page is certain to engender a feeling of dread, even shame. The upside of this is that if I post a photo of such an object on the page I will be sure to finish it more quickly than if not.

So it was with the Latvian Fingerless Mitts which I began to knit in November, 2008. I started it in a knitting group and all was going swimmingly until I snapped two of my size zero bamboo needles (one right after the other, so that the entire set was unusable) while discussing something very upsetting. Eventually I did buy a metal set, but it was slippery and less user-friendly with this type of knit. My enthusiasm waned. I should have realized that after I placed a post-it note (start on round 25 of hand, 9 of gusset) directly onto the page and shut the book, I would not come back to it for a very, very long time. As in December 2009.

A series of events (including constant reminders from my Ravelry page) sent me back to the project, and the first thing I did was whip out the wrong needle (the one holding the entire thumb gusset thus far plus some of the hand stitches) in my haste to recommence. But I was full of resolve. I fished out a tiny crochet hook and set about getting back to where I was previously. After that things moved along smoothly. In fact now I am nearing the end of the thumb gusset on the second mitt, pondering my earlier mental block with this project.

And now I have resolved to make January a color knitting month. I dug out my old Folk Mittens book and will move onto something from that when I am done. I have always admired Fair Isle type knits and have dabbled in them in the past. Perhaps 2010 is the year when I will finally, fully, fall in love.

It Just Happened That Way

Down to the wire with two final knits and wouldn't they turn out to be red and green?

Okay, well, raspberry and green. At any rate, happy holidays!

Last Hat

Hooray! The last holiday hat has been knit. Now for those remaining two pairs of mittens...Still, I feel as if I'm on the home stretch.

This is one of those instances where I set out to knit a particular hat yet ended up modifying the pattern so much that it bears scant relation to the original. The pattern is written for super bulky, which I thought I had in my stash (but didn't) so I modified it for bulky, then decided after 3 rows that I didn't want to knit flat from the top so cast the bottom on in the round. And then ultimately I decided to make it a lot longer than the original as I decided it would be a good idea to have an extra roll of warmth around the ears.

Still, I am grateful for the original inspiration!

Hat SmackDown

There are a couple of reason for a post slow-down, the main reason being that I have knit about 10 hats over the past couple of weeks, in a desperate attempt to stick with my 'hand knits for the holidays' plan. This is Modus Operandi for me. I do like a theme and an all-encompassing gift (hats all round!) and in the past that has included scarves, mittens, and a yearly rotation of sweaters for 'main players' in the holiday gifting scheme.

Plus, the hat project has allowed me to try out all sorts of new, free hat patterns from Ravelry, with interesting decreases and twists and attempts to reinvent the wheel, which is basically what I think of when I ponder knitting philosophically. There are only so many stitch variations, which multiplied make an exponentially large number of stitch pattern variations, and then there is yarn choice, shaping and the garment one has in mind to toss into that mix.

Now, the two hats below may look like they are shaped in exactly the same manner, which they are - sort of. Only they use a different combination of stitches to create the pleasing pinwheel pattern on top. And although they were both quite fun to knit, for me the Boy Hat is the winner, mainly due to the fact that the purl 2 together through back loops directions in Rib-A-Roni (green) confounded me (okay, okay, so I was too lazy to look it up on knitting help...) and then when I got to Boy Hat, p2ttbl was replaced by the simple, oh-so-familiar knit 2 together.

In fact, I liked the Boy Hat so much that I made an executive decision to turn it into my oldest son's annual hat, rather than a Christmas gift for my step-brother.

And that means I have to get moving on knitting just one more hat. Oh well.