knitting hierarchies and a mind-numbing treatise on my own philosophy of knitting

1. I finally got my emailed invite to Ravelry.com. Yay!! I immediately clicked through the link and registered as unskeined. The sucky thing was that I was at work at the time, and couldn't really spend much time clicking around or reading. I am soooo looking forward to diving into it this weekend for real. After I got the account set up, it was another hour before I could leave work, and I have to admit, I was useless for most of that time.

Between the surprise Ravely invite (I mean, I signed up but didn't really expect the email so soon!) and trying to figure out where my seat is in Radio City for the True Colors concert with Spanky via email, and thinking about FINALLY getting to go buy yarn tomorrow with my friend Angela (for the Master Knitter program! I'm not randomly buying yarn anymore! Honestly. I mean it this time...), I couldn't concentrate at all. Also, one of the books I worked on is up for a Lambda Literary Award, and the ceremony is tonight. I don't think it is going to win, but wow, that would be so cool if it did. All in all, I'm twitchy and anxious, but I suppose these are all good things to be jonesing about.

2. This afternoon I also had a conversation with a relatively new co-worker about knitting. See, I posted a while ago about the Yarn Harlot and how she spoke at FIT about the welcoming spirit and accepting nature of knitters and how I thought that was kind of hype from my own experiences with the snobby yarn shops and the hierarchies I perceived among knit bloggers and knit groups in NYC. And after I wrote it, I thought maybe I'd been too harsh. I mean, it isn't like I've been shunned or anything. I just think that everything is not as unbiased and welcoming as we may all want to think.*

Anyway, what does this have to do with my friend at work? Well, she had just come from another company where there were some rabid knitters, who happen to belong to a big-G Group. A group I've heard of, but have never actually seen in action. And her reaction to knitting was that she thought she would like knitting since she was a weaver, but that she found out that she was so perfectionistic that she could never get anywhere on a project because she would always keep ripping it out. But her friends invited her to their Group, and she went a few times but found the members insuffrable because she could sense very clearly the hierarchies within the group, and it made her uncomfortable.

The fact that she knew them and had this reaction was obviously very interesting to me. I do love gossip. Sadly. But also, I mean, there is a certain amount of herd mentality to the knitting community. Everyone makes the same patterns (for good reason as they are quite awesome, but still, there are TONS of patterns--why the same ones?), virtually everyone professes to dislike ALL acrylic yarn, etc. And I don't have a lot of patience for this side of the knitting "community." But there is also a genuine love of quality, of craftiness, of fierce independence (is that ironic? that thirty people can knit the same sock and yet passionately defend their choice to do so?) that is quite charming and which I think does in fact bind us together as a group.

So why the hating? If someone designs their own patterns, are they inherently better than someone who just knits along happily following someone else's? To be a real knitter, must I really learn to spin and dye my own yarn? Can I only knit dishcloths? Baby clothes? Toys? Or does that make me just a hobbyist that someone who is a big-K Knitter in a big-G Group can feel superior to because they knit fabulous cabled sweaters in hand-spun yarn that was custom-dyed to their specifications by someone they are on a first-name basis with although they've never actually met? And even if I'm not like that personally, is that the implied standard I'm supposed to measure myself against if I want to be a big-K knitter myself?

Anyway, then I started thinking about what draws me to knitting personally. Do I aspire to that aforementioned standard? I don't have much desire to seriously spin (although I am vaguely interested in how a drop spindle works, but not really enough to want to go out and buy one) or to dye my own yarn. I am not even really excited about making up my own patterns, although I suppose that may grow on me someday.

What I really like is the precision of figuring out a written pattern; of turning someone else's words and diagrams into a garment or accessory--something useful. I like trying new patterns and new techniques. I like how logical and (again) precise knitting is. If you follow the steps in order as they're written, then you come out with a predetermined (usually correct, pictured with the pattern, hopefully) result. And if you vary from the directions, you can get interesting riffs that may turn out to be something more desireable, but you at least have a baseline from which to measure the variation (ie: the original pattern). That's why the master knitter program appeals to me, I think. It is logical and goal oriented. Everything builds up to something. When I'm left without directions of even the vaguest kind I shut down. I'm not an artist--I'm a craftsperson. That's what is fun for me. I like pretty yarn as much as the next person. But I don't hoarde it for no reason. My hoarde is built on that potentiality I spoke of in my last post. The potential the yarn has in it to become something else is what I'm attracted to. And I want to use different kinds of yarns to discover the potentiality of different fibers or different weights of yarn. Buying yarn just because it is pretty seems like a waste of money to me. But again, I'm not an artist. I suppose, the standard I'm reaching for is one of vast knowledge and infinite variation, technical skill and confidence in my ability to pick the right patterns and yarn for the right occasion. We'll see if I ever get there.

*Don't get me wrong--I love my knitting group, and I love all the wonderful people I've met online and those who've stopped by my blog and offered a comment or two have my infinite gratitude. I've been fortunate in my personal relations so far. I just want to resist those invisible barriers I feel herding me into the group that is my perceived "caste" based on my appearance or my knitting ability by people who don't know me.

Anyway, next time, PICTURES. A finished sweater sleeve! Swatches, swatches, swatches. And maybe a bit about podcasts. I love them so.

witness

1. i've been listening to cyndi lauper a lot lately. she's a fantastic performer, and i'm getting really psyched for this. we have ridiculously good seats for this five hour extravaganza, and i'm going to thoroughly enjoy it. Cyndi Lauper, Erasure, Debbie Harry, The Gossip, The Dresden Dolls, and Margaret Cho!! Ok, the Misshapes DJs are going to be there too, but who cares about them? Five hours! I can't wait. I should just bring that frigging sock with me and finish it for pete's sake. god, i'm so excited. We have extra tickets, too, so if you have some money to burn and want to support the HRC, drop me an email or leave a comment or something.

2. I started a spreadsheet to try to really get a handle on my stash, since I'm (very ineffectually, i should mention) trying to knit some of it down, and i started really panicking. I'm not only not making inroads, but I'm actually gaining more yarn! And half of it is unlabeled or half knit, and i have no idea how much of it i really have. Makes it hard to track yardage, you know? So I gave up after one bag. It is so overwhelming. I was telling Spanky on the phone today that sometimes being in this apartment by myself is oppressing. There is so much potentiality, that I can't possibly finish it all. All the books, all the yarn, all the recipes. All these things that I want to do but can only dabble in, are oppressing me with the potentiality. It is turning from fun into a chore, almost. So, I started a sweater.



3. Late to the party as usual, I'm sure you all remember the Lace Leaf Pullover from Loop-d-Loop and IK. I bought the yarn for this (20 balls) two or more years ago when I had just started knitting, and was saving it for when I had learned more, or whatever. I'm not even sure why I waited so long to use this. It is Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky, and is now very hard to find (discontinued?). It was purchased with this specific sweater in mind, and I'm happy to say that it is working out quite well. The color is an olive green. You can't really tell from the photo, because the light sucks in here. I thought for a while that I'd run out of yarn, but I only used about 9 balls of the yarn to get this far, so I'm pretty sure I'll have plenty for the sleeves and the grafting, which could in itself be a disaster. I am going to practice, I think, on some swatches for that, and make sure I research how to do it ahead of time, and also keep the lifelines in there, so that if i screw up, i can do it again. I kept all the stitches live, as I read on a few blogs that it was easier to do the grafting with the live stitches.

I had a little trouble with the first lace bit when I started, but was able to fix it without too much trouble, which was nice. I didn't have to rip it out--I just dropped the two stitches, and retwisted them the right way. Very proud moment, that!


It is probably more apparent if you click through, but you can probably still see it--in the top left corner of the right leaf, where they touch. The mistake is in the left photo.

4. Anyway, back to the stash, I just figured it would be better to tackle it with bigger projects than to keep plugging away at it with small toys and dishcloths. At that rate, I won't ever make a dent. The next thing I'm doing is starting Spanky's wedding sweater. I'm using the M-D perfect sweater pattern here, and I want to add an intarsia image as well, but I'm having a little trouble finding a picture of what I want. I bought all the yarn (cascade 220) in the Webs anniversary sale (over on Friday, I believe), so I think I can excuse that purchase, since it was so fricking cheap, and I needed to buy it anyway. So that's another big project that I need to get started on. I need to finish by October!

5. Finally, the next thing obsessing me is the Master Knitter's Level 1 program. I just got all the materials suggested for it yesterday, except for the yarn. I still need to figure out what I'm going to use for the swatches but I did get binders (two--they were on clearance for $1,50, and I'm going to eventually need the other for the next level), tags, and clear sheet protectors for the swatches. I am probably going to wander around in the city tomorrow, in search of the perfect yarn. I hope places are open.

6. Finally, a cute couple of pics of Stella. Spanky sent her a card from Florida:

Excuse the crazy eyes. She usually never looks straight at the camera, so I just clicked.

Then today, I was trying to set up the sweater bits on the kitchen counter, which involved a bit of clearing up, and she wanted to be up with me. I didn't want to put her on the counter (dangerous!) so we opted for the Urban Hound pouch that Spanky's mom gave us. Stella loves it. She just hung out in the pouch while i bounced her around like she was a fussy baby, and eventually, she fell asleep in there. SO CUTE.

update

The high points of the last few weeks:

1. I got a new haircut, like I said... I like it some days more than others, but it is definitely better than the mop I had before.



2. I gave Catherine her baby blanket. I think she liked it.



Surprisingly, it matched the Moses basket that the rest of the office got for her. I was pretty impressed with my psychic ability to match the colors... heh.

3. I also finally gifted my Boss's version of the blanket (you remember, the small one with the matching hat). Along with this:



Dolly! All vintage acrylic from the stash, baby! YEAH. I have to use it for something, you know? Anyway, I got a really nice email from my boss, who just got the gift today in the UK, and she said that Maddie, the little girl who received Dolly, told her that the doll was a gingerbread man! I think that is PERFECT.

4. Also, I may



have had a small accident



with the dishcloth cotton:



I don't even know what I'm going to do with the bib yet. It was just compulsive! I had the Mason-Dixon book open, and suddenly I couldn't help myself. I have a whole quart-sized ziplock full of the stuff, and once I open it, all hell breaks loose. I only wanted to do one of the ball-bands for my friend Donna's birthday, and bam! Before you know it, I had two of them, plus a M-D washcloth, and the freaking bib, and I'm with my mom in a Lake County Wal-Mart scouring the craft shelves for ribbons and other embellishments. I wanted to be able to wrap that star-shaped washcloth around a bar of nice soap, like they have it in the book, but I ended up buying an Origins "Let's Circulate Salt Rub Soap" and it is too big (oh, but it smells REALLY NICE)!! So I decided to keep the ribbon in, but flat. Left to my own devices, I may knit up the rest of that bag before moving on to something else. Now, all I have left on the needles (that is active, anyway!) is my second Fly Fishing Sock. My most recent airplane ride was me finishing up the washcloths and then starting to turn the heel. Unfortunately, I had to put it down for landing in the middle, and I think I've rather messed it up. I don't care for a short row heel. It is too hard. I think I prefer the flap. I also think I prefer knitting from the top down, since that's the hardest bit to get through, and once you've done all of it, the reward comes with the turning of the heel and the gradual descent toward the toe. When you knit a sock toe up, all the fun stuff is done first, and then you're just left with a slog up to the bind off. Oh, that reminds me...

5. I finally joined The Knitting Guild of America, and the Master Knitter's Program! I am SO EXCITED. Although, right now, with my crazy schedule, I haven't done anything but carry the packet around with me for days now. I read through it, and I think it is going to be fun. And Im sure I'll be blogging more about the whole process as I go along.

But right now, I am going to bed! I have a birthday party and possibly a BBQ (if it doesn't rain!!) to go to tomorrow, and I also have to clean my entire apartment, because people are coming over on Sunday to hang out. I'm so not ready for company!