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Knitting as a Language

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One of the highlights of Michael’s and my trip to India might not have happened if Michael’s phone hadn’t died when we arrived in the country.  You see, We had been planning on using internet access and Michael’s phone to make most of our travel arrangements, as it was turned on to function internationally.  But inexplicably when we arrived in country it didn’t work, which meant that we needed to use an Indian Travel agent to book out travel.

Which turned out to be a very good thing, aside from the fact that he mentioned that there was a “toy train” that went to Shimla.  Now, at this point you all know that Michael Loves Trains.  The chance to see a small gauge train in action, winding it’s way through the Himalayas?  We couldn’t miss it.

So shortly after we arrived in India, we were taking off from Delhi to Shimla, first taking a regular train, and then switching to a small gauge train.  The small gauge train in India is an experience.  With no AC, all the windows are open (something hard to come by in the US), and so are the doors in and out of the train.  It’s switches are operated manually, and it functions with a manual system to keep trains from running into each other (which involves the passing off of symbolic keys).
 Like the days of old, the trains connect together with a pin system, which means there are people that have to get between each car and drop a pin into the latching mechanism in order to connect them.  Very dangerous.  And because it’s a narrow gauge train, it can make tighter turns and and climb steeper hills than an normal train.  So you occasionally got glimpses outside your window that looked like this:

Our Train to Shimla.

Michael was beside himself with excitement, and spent the whole time with the camera in the train door, looking at everything. Now don’t get me wrong, seeing Michael happy is a lot of fun, but not being quite the train affectionado that he is?  It got a little boring.

Michael looking out the window.

So I pulled out my knitting.

And very slowly I became aware of this wave of… awareness that was focused on me.  I saw a woman who was looking at what I was doing very intently.  So I smiled and gestured her over.  Very soon, with very little words between us, we were talking knitting.

Talking Knitting.

Pretty soon, another woman had joined it (the mother of the seatmate across from me in the picture above), who had a little more English than the first woman.

I was told that they didn’t realize that people from America knit.  I got advice on how to wear a Saree, which I had attempted to wear that day and was falling off of me by 2 pm in the afternoon (I was so close to a serious wardrobe malfunction).  I got teased about my husband, shared Indian cake, and attempted to explain American copyright (in relation to my work).  It was amazing fun.
Having fun with my knitting friends.

And the amazing part was?  We were coming together over a common handicraft.  We had very little language between us, but we had the language of stitches, of knits and purls and yarnovers and decreases.

Back from our Honeymoon in India

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Michael and I got back from our honeymoon in India Friday night, and spent the weekend recovering in different ways.  I had some classes on Sunday, but otherwise we recovered from jet lag and reassured the cats that we were here to stay.  Three days later, I think the cats have almost forgiven us for leaving.

I’ve got a whole rash of blog posts planned sharing the highlights of the trip – of which there were many.  But for now, it’s good to be home.  Isn’t it funny?  No matter how enjoyable traveling is, there is a certain relief in coming home, especially after long journeys.

So, for now, a list of reasons why it’s good to be home from India:

  • Driving on the other side of the road.  Several times while in India, I’d look up and panic, thinking our taxi driver was on the wrong side of the road.  He was not.  Silly me.
  • Being able to drink tap water. (Some parts of India, it’s not so good of an idea for people out of the country to drink tap water).
  • Cereal. I loved the food in India. It’s one of the reasons I went there!  But I’m really really happy to have my cheerios in the morning again.
  • Reliable internet. There’s internet everywhere in India, don’t get me wrong, but that doesn’t mean I could always access it.  I’m a bit of an addict, and it was good to come home to my email again.
  • My kitties. I missed them.
  • Cooler weather.  It was VERY hot while we were in India, and it wasn’t even the worst of it. I ‘m so happy to come home to Fall and COOL WEATHER!
What makes you happy when you come home from a journey?

Post Mortem: Devil at Crossroads

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Sockupied design calls can sometimes be hard if I don’t have a design already burning in the back of my brain.  In the case of Devil at Crossroads, I’d been fooling around on a train ride back from North Carolina.  I’d read about helix knitting on TECHknitting.  Naturally, when I learn something new, I like playing around with it to see how far things can go before they “break.”

The result of this brainstorming was this small little swatch.

So I put together a design proposal for Sockupied.  A little hint here: Sockupied when they give you the spec sheet (the document that tells you how to format your patterns), have a page where there are these little “mini-prompts.”  If you choose to fill them out, they’re meant to be used as inserts or marginalia for the main pattern.  After I finished Totem, I started thinking about the prompts.  One of them asks if you would like to write a mini-article on a technique in your pattern.

I thought, why don’t I write a full article to go with the pattern?

My sub looked like this:

But when I attached it to my email, I mentioned that I’d be willing to write a technique article to go along with the proposal.  Anne, the editor at Sockupied, liked this idea.  They asked for both the pattern and the article.

What are some of my thoughts on this proposal?  Well, I was pretty proud of my new layout for design submissions – the new logo, the boxes with the different color.  My swatch has a rather glaring mistake in the cable – I missed a shift and had to compensate.  I figured that the editor’s could overlook the mistake, which seems to be true.

In the proposal, the cuffs at the top of each sock are a different color.
 In the final piece, I chose to keep the helix stripping going up the entirety of the sock.  I think it was a better choice, simply because I didn’t have to write in the final pattern that each cuff would be a different color.

And on a final note: I didn’t name these socks.  CPAAG, a group on Ravelry, is a wonderful resource for coming up with names.  I’ll be using the benefits of their collective genius for time to come.

Post Mortem: Witchlace

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It’s time for another round of Post Mortems!  I have to admit, I’ve dropped the ball with the last two releases – so while I’m away you get a double dose.  Witchlace today, and Devil at Crossroads later this week.

I tried to go back and look and see if I could find the design call for the Knit Picks Collection, but it’s been lost in the email transition, more than likely.  So you’ll have to do with my recolection.

Witchlace was a natural extension of Newport.  In Newport I used side to side shaping to create a ribbed effect.  In Witchlace, I wanted to push the idea  little bit further.  What else could I do with side to side shaping?

I also really wanted to make a yoked cardigan, mostly because I was pretty burnt out on figuring out shoulder shaping when working a design side to side.  I’d been swatching in the round with broomstick crochet for a while.  After I finished with Sunburst, I wanted to do more with broomstick, but I didn’t want to weave in nearly as many ends!

A yoked cardigan seemed like the right answer.  Plus, I love little glimpses of collarbones – that hint of skin is both very feminine and sexy!

At this point, I was still proposing with my old letterhead.  I’m really proud of the sketch here – I think it conveyed very well what I was going for.  I dithered a lot about cutting out her head or not, but I’d really messed up on her face and didn’t want to do the sketch over, so I just cropped it out.  I don’t think it hurts the sub too much.

I’m not sure what I’d write about things I’d do differently or well.  As I mentioned before, I think my “hooks” (the little intros I write that frame the piece) are well done, but I don’t have much proof that they influence the publisher’s choice or not.  I think that the hooks matter a little more in magazines (where I find they are sometimes used) more than design collections like this one.  Shortly after this submission I went to my new letterhead and logo, which I think was a good improvement.

Have a Post Mortem?  Are you talking about your design subs and what you think you did well, or not?  Let me know, I’d love to feature you, or do a writeup!

Exciting News for New England Crafters

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Did you know that I’m originally from Massachusetts?  This fall I’ll be returning to my roots at the 4th Annual Fall Fiber Festival of New England!  Hosted at the Big E fairgounds in Springfield, Massachusetts, I’ll be teaching two half-day classes.

The First, Crazy Mixed Up Slipped Stitches, will be in the morning, starting at 9:30 am.  The second, Hairpin Lace Scarf in a Day will be starting at 1 pm.

I am so pleased and excited to be teaching at the The Fall Fiber Festival, and I hope to see many of you there!  Aside from the classes, there’s quite a selection of vendors, and plenty to do around the area.  The New England area has a rich history with the fiber arts, and I’m pleased to be participating in this event.

Details, as more come, will be posted on the blog.

Whoooooo!

Off to India!

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Michael and I are winging off to our honeymoon in India this evening.  Today (and last night) has been a flurry of packing, wrapping up loose ends, and arguing with myself about how many knitting  and crochet projects I can REALLY get done in India.

On one hand, we’re going to be taking the train a lot, and that is prime knitting time.

After going back and forth with myself, this is what I’ve decided on:

  • 2 balls of sock yarn (yarn under wraps, sorry) for a half-finished design submission, and needles.
  • 1 ball of sock yarn (Mountain Colors Mountain Goat) for an old half-finished sock for myself.  It’s entirely stockinette.  I stalled out when my Knitter’s Pride Karbonz metal tip broke off.  The needle breaking was no great tragedy (I wasn’t really enjoying working with them as much as I thought I was going to – the seam between the metal and the carbon fiber was not very good, and rubbed by finger), but it was sad that I stopped, the yarn is gorgeous.  I actually knit a pair of socks in the color, I ended up giving them to my mom.  Then I brought more of the yarn in the same color for myself.
  • Rainbow colored sock yarn to play with and to make a pair of socks for myself.  I haven’t knitted for myself in forever.  Two new pairs of socks to add to my collection would be great.
  • 1 ball of sock yarn and beads to play with a design idea for when I come home.
You might sense a theme with all the sock yarn – basically, I didn’t want any big project, I wanted to maximize yardage for space.  All my stitch markers, needles and scissors are packed in carry-on luggage.  I’m good to go!

On Learning Crochet

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Sweetness, now 6, has recently been asking me to teach her crochet.  On Tuesday, happy circumstance led to my having extra yarn and a hook with me.

Now, many people will start children on a larger hook and larger yarn – I’m not always of the option that those choices are the best answer.  Sweetness ended up with a size D yarn and a non-splitty multicolored sock yarn.  The multi-color because it was easier to see the individual stitches, the smaller hook and yarn because… her hands are small.  A larger hook and yarn wasn’t comfortable for her to use.

I worked a row of foundation crochet for her to work off of, and started her on double crochet. Why double crochet instead of single?  Double crochet has more of a rhythm; at least when I teach it. (Yarn over, into the “V”, yarn over, out of the “v”, yarn over, pull through two loops, yarn over, pull through two loops. After every step you yarn over.)

One of the luxuries of small children is that I could sit Sweetness on my lap (with adults this is a lot harder to do). At first, I fed the yarn and held the fabric while she manipulated the hook. When she felt comfortable, she took over holding the fabric – I was still feeding the yarn.  We worked for a half an hour.  Sweetness could have kept going, but I wanted her to leave on a good note, and her sister, Light, was getting impatient to have her playmate back.

Yesterday Sweetness and I continued, reviewing the stitch, talking about what happens when she “drops her loop.”  Sweetness’ relief when I showed her that she couldn’t have a dropped stitch the same way she could in knitting was comic.  She’s gotten pretty solid – by today she had worked a row of stitches on her own before getting mixed up about which direction she was going.  Her sister also stepped on the yarn and broke it.

The best part about all of this, for me?  Like many of my beginning students, I gave Sweetness a locking stitch marker to keep her stitches from unraveling when she isn’t using them. (I love locking stitch markers.)  Unlike my beginning students, I told her “The first one is free, but if you want another one, it’s 25 cents.” (I figured a little financial incentive would help her not loose it.)

“25 Cents! With four of those, I could buy an Ice Cream at Ikea!” was Sweetness’ response.

Now, every time I look at my stitch markers, I can only think about how many ice creams I could buy at Ikea.

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