Saturday, February 27, 2016

Finishing School

I have had a busy month of knitting.  Now I am reaching the "finish" line with several projects and I need to get past my aversion to blocking and sewing in ends and get these pieces ready to wear.

Here is what I have so far.
Ambigous MKAL from Knit Purl Hunter
Knit with Sueno from HiKoo

















Fire - Element 4 in Fiddle Knit's Elements MKAL Series
Two more rows, beads and bind-off


















Saturday, February 13, 2016

Creative Chaos

My house is a mess.  On some levels this is a pain but on others it is invigorating.
Walls showing off old paint colors, primer and new colors all at once - in the kitchen, the dining room and the family room.  I'm trying to restrain myself and not overreach. I'm still wearing remnants of grout from tiling a tub surround this morning.

These are things I did not think I would be doing again 5 years ago as I was doing my weekly chemo treatment. Even though I wasn't worrying about being alive to make all this creative chaos I really didn't think I would have the energy to do it.  I don't have the energy I did 5 years ago, but I'm learning to adapt and am enjoying the feeling of making a mess.

On a less messy plane  I have several knitting projects going and have been spinning more and more. I will never catch up with my plans and I will never come close to using up my stash, but I am moving forward and hopefully helping others along the way with their creaive journeys.
Earth - Fiddle Knits Elements
Handspun yarn with my needle lace Monarch
which I started at Lace on the Prairie


Pictures hopefully coming soon.

Mystery KAL's

Today I am writing about a phenomenon which I believe is singular to the cyber-knitting world. At least, that is how I became connected through Yahoo email groups about a decade ago.

To the un-initiated a KAL is a Knit along (can be done through a LYS like R. Rabbit's Fiber Studio) or via the internet like many on Ravelry. An MKAL takes this one step further and becomes a process of trust as well. I have participated in many MKALs over the last decade, two of which were never finished and are now in "time-out".

The first MKAL I jumped into was done blindly.  This was way before the time of Ravelry and their amazing database of patterns, etc. I just had a feeling that anyone whose online name was Pink Lemontwist couldn't be all bad.  We were working as a group from the Yahoo Groups Spindler's List. Melany sent out a pattern every week via email and we printed off our patterns and went to work.  It took me a while but I finished the 24" x 82" stole and have been wearing it for years. It took me much longer to finish her Swan Lake-inspired design, but it has since won a ribbon at the Iowa State Fair.

One of the biggest MKALs I have taken part in was a Stephen West design in 2012: Rockefeller. We had a large group from the shop working together and most of us finished.  At the Estes Park Wool Market in 2013, Deb and I were looking for other Rockefellers; there were over 3000 KALers from all around the world.

At this point I am working through a new MKAL by Erica Jackofsky AKA Fiddle Knits. Chris, Mary Jo, Mary M., Darla and I have all collected yarn, beads and bought into current design of her "Elements" series: Air.

(post begun in November. Edited in February)

Nearly three months later and I am working on two new MKALs. Erica's new shawl "Fire" and Susanna IC's Winter MKAL.