Dogs Steal Yarn

Dogs Steal Yarn Wants to Get to Know You!

Really. I do. And so, my sweets, today we have the interview questions for all our brave volunteers.

But first...Lisa is wonderful. Wanna know why? Okay, you already know many reasons why. Well, here’s another. A while back I played a photo caption game on her blog, and just for playing she sent me sock yarn! In fact, a kit to make socks with beaded spiders on them! Cool, hunh? It’s black yarn, so it refused to be photographed. You’ll just have to take my word for it. Thanks, Lisa!

Now, on to the interview questions, in order of volunteering:

Brooke:

That interview thingamabob

So yeah, that interview thing that’s going around. Mindy did it and I like Mindy a whole bunch (in the real world, even!) so I volunteered to be interviewed by her. Apparently there are rules involved. I don’t get to just answer her questions and then dance off on my merry way. Now that I’ve answered her questions and posted them here, you get to say, “Hey, Cari! Interview me!” in the comments below. And then I’ll interview you... Oh yeah... and then you have to post the same rules when you answer my questions on your blog. (No blog therefore no place to post interview questions? The universe is an inherently unjust place. Welcome.)

The rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions here. They will be different questions than the ones below.
3. You will update YOUR blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions

And Mindy’s questions for me:

1. As a confirmed (and brilliantly colorful) yarnhead, which type of yarn would you say comes closest to embodying the essence of your personality, and why?

Thick and thin handspun, hand dyed wool in colors that shouldn’t work together but somehow do. It’s a bit coarse to the touch in the skein, but knits up surprisingly well and forms an unusually water-repellent fabric. Rumored to have magical properties.

Why, you ask? Well, darling, if I’ve done my job right, the why of it should be evident within the first part of the answer without my having to explain. Did I do my job right? Hunh? Hunh?

2. What was the best live performance that you've ever seen? Music, theater, clog dancing, whatever.

Theater: Avery Brooks in Paul Robeson. On Broadway sometime in the mid-nineties. It’s a one-man play. There was a line in there where Robeson goes to Africa and a woman there touches his face and says something like, “You’re one of the boys who went away” or something to that effect and I was bawling from that point on through to the end of the show. Avery Brooks is amazing, and I’m not just saying that because I love bald Star Trek captains (though I do).

Music: Nick Cave at The Ritz, 1992. I love Nick Cave. I have always loved Nick Cave. I will always love Nick Cave. His show at the Ritz that night, on the Henry’s Dream tour, was fucking magical. One of those shows where the artist onstage is totally plugged in and you get swept right up into that energy and the entire show zips by in the space of a minute or two and leaves you dizzy and absolutely blissed out.

When I was nineteen (a month or so before the show) I interviewed him for a little goth mag and I read the article now and think, “Oh, I was so cute and young” but I also cringe a bit because I would do it very differently if I were to have that opportunity again today. Also, I was nineteen so the writing really sucks. Bonus interview material! Interview within an interview! Here’s the text of my interview with Nick Cave back in ’92, courtesy of my friend Scott’s website. (Your company might have a problem with the url if you’re viewing it from work, but the content is work-safe. His old site had a big black rooster at the header. I wish he’d put the rooster back because without the rooster it just isn’t funny.) For the record, despite the fact that Nick’s notoriously difficult with the press, he was very very kind to me. Maybe because it was painfully obvious that I wasn’t a real journalist.

3. You have just received a Soros Fiber Artist grant, giving you eight months to create an installation. In addition to yarn (and unspun fiber), you can incorporate any fiber-related tools and accessories, as well as any unconventional materials that can be spun, knit or crocheted. What do you make?

A room full of felted cocoons ranging in size from three feet long to seven feet long, which people can crawl inside.

4. Which contemporary writer (fiction or non) would you most like to smack upside the head?

Let’s reword that as which contemporary writer whom I don’t know would I most like to smack upside the head. There’s one I DO know whom I’d like to smack right now, for purely personal reasons. (It’s not a male or a new mother. That’s all I’m saying.)

So, which contemporary writer would I most like to smack upside the head for purely literary reasons? Nell “wunderkind” Freudenberger. I’m sure she’s perfectly lovely and I’m sure her mother thinks she’s terrific and she probably gives spare change to all the subway buskers, but based on the speed of her success, the nature of it, and the number of zeroes on the advance for her rather weak story collection, I must say I’d like to smack her. Figuratively, of course. (Nell, if you’re reading this, I’m just kidding, sweets. Call me.)

5. Describe — in loving, pornographic detail — what makes The Perfect Sock.

One can only imagine that Mindy (and the rest of you, you dirty birds!) was expecting some kind of response that attested to the fact that while length of a sock is certainly important, in fact width is much, much more important. And while I like a good long, wide sock as much as the next girl, what really makes The Perfect Sock is a well Kitchenered toe that cups your little piggies just so, and a sturdy heel flap that can stand up to lots of action without going all threadbare. And if it’s a pretty color that’s always a plus.

# # #

Anyone out there want to play along? Pop on down to the comments and ask me to interview you and I’ll post the questions for you on this very blog. Of course you can comment without volunteering to be interviewed. I just love to hear from you. Without you my inbox is a dreary place filled with offers for Viagra and questionable software from Eastern Europe and pleas for help from some guy named Floyd in Mauritius.

Yarn hair: The Candy-Colored Spring Edition

And look--I'm variagated!

Three days of resisting the urge to cast on for a new project

and counting.

I know I put that Lopi Cardi first on the list of WIPs to finish. I had every intention of knitting only that cardi and gift knitting until that cardi was done. I would still very much like to do exactly that. Thing is, the knitting gremlins got in the way. (Pesky critters. I never should have let that gremlin extermination contract expire but it was so expensive and I worried about how the chemicals would affect the dogs, as they are, after all, part gremlin.)

The knitting gremlins mucked about with the fair isle chart for this sweater. For starters, the color codes were reversed, and me being fantastically observant, I knit almost the entire fair isle chart for the back piece before noticing that the colors were the reverse of the pattern photo. I also knit almost the entire back noticing that the motif looked all screwy but hoping it would "come together" in the end. Yeah. Ripped out four hours of knitting there. Twice, because sometimes I'm slow to take a hint. Yep. (And as you know, I have so much free time to be knitting for four hour stretches. See, I stayed up till three in the morning knitting after a full day of work... and then frogged it all... )

After the first time I assumed I'd read the chart wrong, so I tried again, very carefully and very slowly. And no, the motif still came out garbled. Either the chart is wrong, or the instructions as to how to incorporate the raglan decreases into the chart are wrong, or I'm insane. And yes, it's quite possibly a combination of any two of the three options. (Perhaps knitting at three a.m. contributed to this, but dammit I still think it's the pattern that's off.)

Has anyone out there successfully knit this cardi? Is it just me or is the pattern screwed up? I'm willing to accept that it's just me if someone else has managed to make this sweater. I can't find errata for this pattern online anywhere. At the very least, I know they screwed up the color coding. Sigh.

So I reluctantly put that cardi aside and picked up the corset pullover. So far so good on this one, except that I have to keep fighting back the urge to eat the Calmer.

The first third of the novel is now in second draft, and revisions are moving along nicely on the second third. I can see the book as a whole much more clearly now than I could while I was writing first draft. Yesterday was one of those wonderful, rare days when I read through the manuscript as I was revising and thought, "You know what? I'm really good at this." I'm trying to remember that it's okay to actually think I'm rather good at the thing I've chosen to do with my life. What funny creatures we humans are. My book is good and it's okay to be proud of that. Funny, funny girl I am that I'm a bit embarrassed to say that out loud to you.

Oh! And it's Michelle's birthday! Go wish her a happy one!

And it's Ernesto's birthday! Go buy one of his books!

Spring WIP Inventory

Oh man are the project lists on my sidebar outdated...

Over the past year I've gotten into the habit of casting on for a new project every time I manage to grab a bit of free time. If I'd put that energy into working on what I already had on the needles, I might have actually finished some of these things. The WIP bags have multiplied steadily around me and I realized today that I wasn't even sure what was in some of them. With spring allegedly beginning tomorrow (and today it even felt like spring is around the corner), I decided tonight would be as good a time as any to dig through those WIP bags to see exactly what I had going on, to prioritize them, to perhaps decide to frog one or two... The following entry might very well be as dull as dirt for you. Sorry. It's more for my own purposes than for bloggy entertainment.

1. Aran Hoodie in Patons Classic Wool from the Patons Street Smart pattern book.

I cast on for this one ages ago. Maybe over a year ago? As you can see, I didn't get too far. You're going to see quite a few projects that consist of nothing more than four- or five-inch backs as we go through these. I'd like to finish this one in the next couple of months. Since it's a cardi it could still be worn on a cool day in May or June.

2. Debbie Bliss Ballerina Wrap sweater in baby cashmerino

This one's been on the needles for a long time too. Crawling along on size threes. I love this yarn and want to own the sweater, but somehow I'm never in the mood for black yarn combined with the small gauge. Still, I'd like to finish it fairly soon.

3. The Lizard Socks.

The first one was fun but then I lost interest. I promised a number of you that I would post the pattern, so I guess I should do that soon. I'll probably bang out the second sock one of these days, but I'm not feeling in much of a hurry to get to it.

4. Debbie Bliss Ribbed Jacket in cotton cashmere.

Man, does this thing want blocking. It's been stuffed into a project bag for months and it certainly shows. I was toying with the idea of frogging this, but it's so close to done (just a sleeve and a half and the collar to go) that I think I'll see it through. This would be a good sweater to have for overly air-conditioned offices in the summer, so I'm going to try to get it done relatively soon.

5. Texas cardi using Brooks Farms mohair.

This baby's getting frogged. No reason in particular except that it bores me to tears. I think I'll use this yarn for that sweet little Rebecca wrap instead. No rush on this one. Maybe I'll get to it in the fall.

6. Meadow Flowers shawl in Fiesta Yarns Heaven.

This is one of those projects that I started one night on a whim and never picked up again. It's been sitting around since December. It will probably sit around a while longer. No rush on this one. After I finished Clapotis I kind of lost the urge to make other shawls.

7. Syncopated Ribs from Fall 2004 IK in Cascade 220.

Yep, you probably guessed it. Started this one day on a work break and never came back to it. I'm trying to focus on cardis and jackets more than pullovers now, since my wardrobe is crying out for cardis, so this sweater is low priority. I may get back to it after the summer.

8. Lola cap from the Mission Falls Decade pattern book in Mission Falls 1824 Wool. (Noticing the influx of green? The greens are giving the reds and oranges a run for their money in my knitting these days.)

Too late for this baby. Winter's come and gone. Maybe next year.

9. Little Leaf scarf in Celestial Merino.

I want to have this to wear when it gets to be too warm for Clapotis but still cool enough for a little something around my neck. That may not happen. Who am I kidding? There's no way in hell that's going to happen. Maybe I can finish it this summer to wear in the fall.

10. Corset Pullover from Spring 2003 IK in Rowan Calmer.

Don't ask me why I posted that picture... There's barely anything there to see. I've been meaning to knit this sweater since the issue was published. Today I finally started it. This one hopefully won't spend too much time languishing in the project bag. I really want to wear this sweater. I suspect the Calmer may prove highly addictive.

11. Isa in KnitPicks Merino.

I'm just not interested in knitting wool pullovers right now. I'm so sick of winter and this sweater makes me think of snow and days cold enough to require the wearing of two hats. I think I'll be tucking Isa into the WIP basket until fall.

12. Lopi Fair Isle Cardi in, well, Lopi.

This is the top priority project (gifts not included). I started this last week and I'm really hoping to get it done soon. I can see myself wearing it a lot while the weather is still on the cool side.

What isn't pictured here? Any gift knitting, for fear of giving away the surprise. There's a pair of gift socks on the needles and an alarming number of baby gifts. SO much baby knitting to be done right now... That's really all I should be doing, but I get so little knitting time at all that I get rather grumpy if I don't spend some of it on projects for myself.

Oh...and that machine-knit cardi? Still haven't touched it to do the ribbing. I need to do that soon and then I'll take pictures of the machine and the sweater and share them.

Are you still here? You're very patient. Need I mention there are probably twenty other projects calling to me from the stash right now? And of course I'm dying to start all of them. I'm really going to try to resist, though. I want to work my way through some of these WIPs and all that baby knitting before starting anything new.

So here's the plan:
1. Lopi cardi
2. Ribbed jacket
3. Corset pullover
4. Aran hoodie

I want to finish these four projects before starting anything new. (And what's waiting around, you ask? Two projects from the Rowan Vintage Knits books whose names I've forgotten at the moment. And Salt Peanuts for AGES now, and my Hanne Falkenberg Tokyo kit. I also want to get back to the tartan jacket, but that can wait till fall. And about a million pairs of socks. And my AbFab afghan kit. And a ribby cardi. And a flower basket shawl. And four or five retro preps in various yarns. And and and... Well, you get it. And you're probably the same way. Admit it. Our eyes are bigger than our needles.)

All of this, mind you, is subject to change on a whim.

I've always relied on the kindness of Australians...

I have been insanely, uncomfortably, suffocatingly (dammit, Cari, pick an adverb. Just one.) swamped with work of both the literary and the puts-food-on-the-table kind these past few weeks. (Far too much of the food on the table and not nearly enough time for the literary, truth be told.) I've also been sick of the cold and the snow and desperate for spring.

Alison knew all this and look what arrived at my doorstep yesterday:

She's a goddess. In this box was gorgeous silk top for spinning, a big cake of mohair for knitting--both in amazing colors because this is Alison, after all, and her taste is impeccable. There was tea--green tea and jasmine, one of my favorites--this one called Buddha's Tears, and a beautiful little cup to drink it from. There was frangipani soap... Did you know I'd never smelled frangipani before? Delicious. And speaking of delicious, chocolate bars that have been hidden from the husband and will be enjoyed bit by bit with large mugs of coffee. And see those cute gingerbread bunnies? Gone already. They were perfect with my coffee this morning.

All of this goodness from a woman who's been waiting almost two months for her birthday socks! (They're going into the mail today, Al. I hope they fit!)

A very big, public thank you to Alison. Kindness, thoughtfulness, and quantities of sugar and fiber... Exactly what I needed.

The downside of knitting

...the steady accumulation of hand-wash-only garments.

I don't like handwashing sweaters. It's a pain in the ass. So I wear a sweater a bit too long, then put it aside and keep meaning to wash it. Eventually all my sweaters are in the needs-to-be-washed pile and I have to break out the Eucalen. Billy's treatment room now smells of wet wool. A roomful of wet wool sweaters? Not pleasant. Luckily there won't be a patient in there until Sunday, and he just happens to have no sense of smell.

The dark green pieces with orange are the parts of the machine-knit cardi. The orange is waste yarn, which will be replaced with handknit ribbing after I do the seaming. Maybe I'll have that done at some point next week. I've been feeling a distinct lack of cardigans lately, so I'm looking forward to finishing this one.

In case I wasn't clear in the last post...

...we are NOT moving to Portland. We are NOT leaving New York. Not gonna happen.

With work and school and writing going the way they've been going lately, I haven't had a hell of a lot of downtime. When I have had downtime, I've chosen to get some much-needed sleep. So no knitting. Pretty much no knitting has happened at all. Starting right now and lasting for, oh, 36 hours or so, I do have some downtime, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it. Tonight I will get to sleep at a reasonable hour and tomorrow morning I will sleep unreasonably late. Then I'll head over to KnitNY to meet with the Drafty Table girls and get in some much-needed knitting time. I also have plans to get to the gym, block the machine sweater pieces, and spend some quality time with the boy. Then, and only then, will I think about the next two deadlines.

When you're practically giddy about the thought of a day and a half off, you know you've got problems. I'm working on that, the whole balance thing. I'm trying to have a second draft of the book done by the end of the month. Once it goes to my readers I'll get to relax ever so slightly. In the meantime, well...I don't advise standing between me and the coffee counter tomorrow afternoon. I'm in need of caffeine and a muffin.

Still not enough to get me to leave Brooklyn

And yet... here's more evidence that supports my husband's theory that an unusually large percentage of good stuff in the world comes from Portland, Oregon.

The Thermals

"Back to Gray" has been the soundtrack of the weekend.

Billy was born and raised here in NYC but moved to Portland for college and stayed ten years. The result? The boy's got two home towns. I can't tell you how many conversations we've had that have started with him saying, "You'd love Portland. It's like Brooklyn."

Yes, well, if Portland is like Brooklyn and I'm already IN Brooklyn...

Just a little love note to my best friend

It's one in the morning and I've just finished working for the day. I have to get up in six hours to do it again. I'm doing good things, things I want to be doing, but I'm so tired. Tonight I've got a bad case of nostalgia for when I was younger and an hour lasted a significant amount of time, and there was all the time in the world to stay out late, drinking Dutch coffees at the Inkwell with my friends... None of us had anywhere else to be, anything else we should have been doing. No, I don't want to be seventeen again, but I sure did like seventeen. No regrets. I did my teen years right. Lots of adventures to fuel the writing, and lived through all of them to tell the tale. Lived through a lot of them with a certain little girl at my side. I'm happy to report she's still at my side, still keeping me out of most trouble.

Here's me and Christina (she's on the left, in case you can't see past that insane laughter on my face to recognize me) at my parents' kitchen table. My hair looks lopsided because it was. It was shaved around the sides and back and cut very short all around the top except for my chin-length bangs. And it was some shade of red or purple that the picture doesn't show. Hey...it was 1990, so this looked good. Damn good. (She and I used to shave each others' heads because it's hard to shave the back of your own head. See, that's true friendship, folks.) I wish one of us could remember what was so funny...

She's a brilliant artist, by the way. If there's any justice in the universe (I know, I know) you'll see her work out there in the world one day soon and you can honestly say you heard about her before anyone else.

Love you, Xina.