Dogs Steal Yarn

Okay...I think I get the appeal of socks on dpns instead of two circs. (Photo in black and white because that's a secret gifty sock you see there. Shhh!)

The geometry of it is pleasing, and there's the sense of doing something the way it's been done for centuries. Particularly using wooden needles, as I am. I got some kindly advice to cast on with the two circs and then switch to dpns, but I decided that if I was going to try a method that was new to me I should just go for it. I cast on with the dpns and it was fine. Easy. There really isn't that much of a logical or mechanical leap from two circs to dpns. No problem.

It's slow though, isn't it? Or rather, I'm slow on dpns. But I'm enjoying that too. I can make socks on two circs in my sleep. (Not quite the same as La Brainy. See I could knit socks in my sleep, but I've never actually been witnessed doing it.) The dpns are new and the pointy bits are somewhat alien to me and so it's bringing me back to the process, stitch by stitch. That'll get old soon enough and I'll need to go back to my circs or speed up on the dpns...but for now I'm enjoying the slowness of it. I'll probably always rely on the two-circ method for st st socks after this pair is done, but maybe I'll use dpns going forward for patterned socks. I think I might like that. Maybe that's what I'll use when I give Cassie's trademark Feather and Fan socks a whirl.

In those rare moments when I'm not at my desk...

Laundry day

Cari camouflage!

Natalya gauntlets in red Calmer knit for Christina, who really needed the Calmer more than I did. (It's the Calmer Norma sent me for socks. Norma, when I tell you why she needed these gauntlets, you'll agree it was the best possible use of the yarn.)

I got two gauntlets from one yummy delicious ball of Calmer, with this much left over:

And today, a package from Regina!

Um...a few things...

1. Marrije is teaching me to curse in Dutch. The Dutch are apparently masters of profanity. The best so far? Lul de behanger. I won't tell you what it means because I don't want to attract Google searches any stranger than those I already get. Go ask a Dutch person. It's really damn funny.

2. I ventured into Chicago yesterday to hang out with my darling Carolyn and my formerly imaginary friend Pippy. Pippy exists in the real world! And she's super cute, as one might have expected. And you already knew how cute Carolyn is, so... I didn't take any pictures. I'm a crappy blogger. I think I've already lowered your expectations enough that you won't hold this against me, though. We ate food. We looked at yarn. We looked at Carolyn's high school memory books... (Holy crap, the eighties hair! The big glasses!) I did buy a bit of yarn. One skein of Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere, 2-ply, in the Silver Fern colorway. I've been ogling this stuff for a long time, but this color was too good to pass by. A photo would be good, right? Not today. Soon. I think I'll make some kind of lacy scarf with it. Any ideas?

I...uh...also bought a set of dpns. I know. I don't use dpns. I'm socks on two circs girl. But I want to be able to knit socks on the flight home in November, and if security makes me leave my knitting behind, I sure as hell am not tossing two pairs of Addis. So I picked up a set of Size 0 Crystal Palace bamboo toothpicks. I've actually never used dpns, so that'll be an adventure of sorts.

3. Oh yeah... and Dream Agent said yes. The book will start to go out to editors next week. Or rather, this coming week. Eek!

Settling in

Crazy to think that the first week of my four-week residency is gone. I've settled into a routine and am getting good work done. I'm really pleased with the way this new book is going. I can't describe what a luxury it is, to have nothing to do but write.

I wake up each morning around 8, quick shower and a breakfast of yogurt and granola. Then three of us walk a mile or so into town for our crack...erm...coffee. I'm not a Starbucks fan, but the coffee here is absolute crap and Starbucks is the only decent thing going. It's a nice way to start the day, a bit of a walk to see the fall foliage, some fresh air, and then we buy our crack and sip it on the walk back to Ragdale, and go our separate ways and get to work. My partners in coffee consumption are Christina Chiu and Phillip Dvorak. Christina is a former student of MC's and a former classmate of Ernesto. Small world, hmmm? Or maybe it's just that all of Michael's students possess these strange homing beacons so we can find each other out in the wild. You know those really intense summer camp friendships, where you bond immediately and a week of knowing each other is worth months in the outside world? It still works when you're an adult. Good to know, yes?

Picture, pictures. I promised you pictures.

The Barnhouse, where I'm staying and where we all gather in the evening to eat dinner together. Six of the thirteen of us are staying in this building:

Ragdale House, where five writers are staying. (Then we have two visual artists, including Phillip, in a studio building I didn't snap a photo of yet.):

The back of Ragdale House:

A photo for Cassie. These handprints were probably made by a child who's now died of old age:

Here's my room. (I don't make my bed at home. I'm certainly not going to make it here.) Please note the multiple beverages on my desk. Art-makin's thirsty work, you know:

I'm getting a little bit of knitting done at night. Man, I really miss my swift and ball winder, though:

I write from around ten to three, with a break for lunch in there. Have a snack and some tea, take a walk around the grounds, then get back to work until dinner at 6:30. There's usually some after-dinner conversation, and I bring my knitting for that, and then around 8:30 I get back to work for a couple of hours. Then maybe a bit more knitting or reading, and then sleep. It's a lovely way of life, that much more special because it's so temporary. The staff treats us so well. Imagine a bizarro universe where artists are thought to do truly important work.

On the way to get our coffee the other morning, Christina, Phillip, and I came across a dead sparrow. Phillip went into a nearby pizza place to get a bag for it, and he brought it back to his studio so he can draw it. (No, no one touched it directly. Yes, we know about birds and diseases and all that.) I love being in a group of people where that would be the impulse--to come across something beautiful and make something good and useful out of its death.

While everyone is off having their fun at Rhinebeck...

...I'm here at my temporary home on the prairie. Want a prairie photo? Sure you do.

Can you find the locust hiding in this photo?

Ragdale is wonderful so far. With nothing to do except write, the days each seem 48 hours long. I'm trying not to feel as if I should be writing every waking moment of the day. It's just not possible. Tonight I took a break from the new book to play around with watercolor. I've never really used it before, and it was fun to try to figure out what was possible. My favorite trick so far? Blotting and wiping with a rag. Here's my first attempt.

I'll post pictures of the buildings and my room and more of the property soon. Don't want to give it all away at once, after all! My room is in the Barnhouse (yes, it used to be a real barn), rather than the main house. That means funky angles and a bizarre little closet that would be a walk-in if I were three feet tall. Yeah...I have been sitting in the closet from time to time. I'll admit it. It's this teeny little room with sloped sides...hard to resist crawling in there.

You know what was waiting for me when I arrived? A Welcome to Ragdale care package from Norma! As if we needed more proof of how much she rocks.

That's right. She sent me Calmer. The most edible of yarns. And red. Enough for a cozy pair of socks. Yes, I already cast on.

I suppose tomorrow the Rhinebeck photos will start to appear. I hope you all had a wonderful time. I'm loving this residency enough that I'm only .06% jealous.

The camera is already packed...

...so you'll have to take my word for it when I say that the Schaeffer Anne that Cirilia sent me (along with a copy of Knitscene) is the most perfect colorway of reds. I've already packed all the yarn I plan to take with me, but now with this yummy stuff in hand, I'm starting to rethink. My bag is full, so I'm wondering what would have to be sacrificed to make room for a hank of Anne.

The Knitscene thing... You may be wondering how that came about, yes? Last spring, the brilliant Veronik Avery (yes, I was utterly starstruck when I got her first email out of the blue. "Veronik...Avery...is emailing...me? Me? Me!") asked me to take candid photos of people wearing interesting knitwear (handknit or commercial) on the streets of New York. I was the New York photographer; Alison was the Melbourne/Sydney photog, and there were to be people doing the same in Paris, Tokyo, LA and Montreal. I'm not sure what happened with the photos from the other cities, as only Alison's and mine were ultimately used. Since I got the assignment in spring, it proved rather difficult to find folks on the street wearing knitwear. Veronik and Pam gave the go-ahead to stage some photos. And stage I did. Hence the photos of me, John, Andrea et al. I did manage to snap some photos of strangers, but as luck would have it, the photos chosen were all staged shots of friends. And me. Which is kind of weird. If I'd really thought they'd choose that photo of me, I would have ironed that skirt. Ahem.

It was a fun project, and Veronik has asked me to continue taking photos for future issues. If I'm going to lug my camera around every day again, I need to think about getting a lighter one. My digital camera is about 3,000 years old and weighs about the same as your average preschooler. (Bonus: Veronik sent me the most beautiful yarn, which you will not be able to see until the camera is unpacked and I'm back home with the stash again.)

You've read this far only because you're dying to know what projects I decided to pack, right? I know...the suspense, the torture... Well, I packed Mariah, the Turkish Cape, and a surprise third option: a Shetland sweater vest I started last week when I was hit with the sudden craving for a sweater vest. You know that feeling. You wake up at two a.m., your mind racing, your heart pounding, thinking, "Must. Knit. A. Sweater. Vest." Or something like that. So those three, plus yarn for three pairs of gift socks. I also tossed in yarn and patterns for some small, quick projects like pulse warmers, fair isle mittens, and gauntlets just like mine for the lovely John. Mariah will be started anew when I get to Ragdale. I had to frog the five or so inches of sleeve that I had. It was knitting up much looser than I like cabled projects to be. I mean, if you can't get a nice crisp cable, what's the point? So I'm going to start again, dropping down a needle size or two. May have to do some math on the gauge as a result. Let's hope it doesn't get as drastic as all that.

This will be my last post until I get to the colony. I'll arrive Thursday afternoon, but give me a day or two to get settled in before I start blogging again.

Added later, because apparentely enquiring minds want to know: John of course had to be measured to ensure a properly fitting gauntlet, and may I just say for the benefit of the boys--and girls, rumor has it--that our John boasts a most impressive width. Forearms, of course. All those knitting muscles.

Another season, another terrorist threat...

...another project knitted with anxious fingers.

One knits on the subway in an attempt to make the ride go faster; to avoid noticing how suspiciously we all look at each other and each other's bags now; to pretend that each time the train stops in a tunnel or jolts at a track switch we don't all catch our collective breath; to pretend we don't leave the subway station with that small feeling of relief at having not died, not this time.

And so, the gauntlets are finished. I used (please note this link is a pdf. don't you hate it when people lead you to download without warning?) this pattern, adding stitches to accomodate the smaller gauge of my chosen yarn. It's KnitPicks Sock Garden in the Geranium colorway, and it took less than 3/4 of one skein to make this pair on size 2 Addis.

I saw most of the Ladies of the Drafty Table at The Point on Friday, and they gifted me with a wonderful goody bag stuffed full of going-away goodness. I'm going to miss my knitters while I'm gone. Thanks to my fiber husband John (gifty bag organizer supreme), Em, Jackie, Mindy, Jenn, Cassie, Regina, Cassie, Melissa, and Valentina for making me feel so very loved.

And thanks to everyone who's been worried that I won't be able to blog while I'm away. Yes, I will be blogging. There's wireless internet there. I may be a bit slow on email replies while I'm gone, but I do intend to check in with you all regularly.

Research required for the new novel and a call to my former East Village neighbors

My second novel, which I'm just beginning and which will be my main obsession/occupation/preoccupation while at the artists' colony, requires a bit of research. The first novel, Drowning Practice, needed almost no research so I'm kind of excited about all the learning I'll get to do for this new project.

Here are some of the bits and pieces of knowledge I'll need to pick up along the way:

basic Dutch
the anatomy of a bicycle
bicycle repair tools
some political stuff from NYC in the early to mid nineties
Amsterdam squats and the European squatters movement
thalidomide

I've already done quite a bit of research on thalidomide (terrifying and sad, pharmaceutical company allowed to run roughshod over medical/drug-testing ethics) and on squats and the political stuff. Those were the big two themes, so I tackled them first. Now on to the lighter, fun stuff like the bicycle repair and learning Dutch. (Learning Dutch! I've wanted to learn Dutch for years but just never got around to starting.)

If anyone reading this was a squatter in or near the 13th Street squats around the time of the '95 evictions, I would love to talk to you about your experiences. I was there as a neighbor, and I was there when they rolled that tank down East 13th, but I was observing as an outsider. An insider's recollections would be so helpful. I've never forgotten that scene, the cops in their riot gear, the tank, the people trying to defend their homes...which is why I'm writing this novel. The book will be 100% fiction, but I'm determined to represent the political climate accurately (Guiliani before he got his 9/11 makeover, etc) and I'm absolutely coming down on the side of the squatters/homesteaders. Leave a comment if you're up for talking about it.

And how about any Dutch squatters? I know...the chances of finding squatters via a knitting blog... but hey--it's a very small world.

The packing question

So I'm leaving for Ragdale a week from Thursday, and the inevitable question has arisen: What knitting do I take with me? I'll be gone for four weeks, and will have no responsibilities whatsoever apart from writing. Barring the truly exceptional marathon day, I can rarely write for more than six or seven hours on any given day, so it's safe to assume there will be knitting time.

That said, it's still only four weeks, and there will be other things to do. Especially at the early stages of a project, it helps me to work visually as well as in prose, so there will also be time spent drawing and working with cut paper. It isn't practical to bring my oil paints (because of the mountain of additional crap needed to paint with oils, and are you even allowed to bring solvents on an airplane?) so I'm going to experiment with water color. It should do the trick when I need color to get the idea out, and it'll be a good stretch for me. Water color forces you to think in terms of negative space, rather than in terms of building of layers. I'm all about building up layers, in paint and in fiction, so it will be interesting to see how the water color affects the writing...

My point (I swear there was a point), though, was that even with these four weeks stretching ahead of me dedicated solely to art making, I still need to resist the temptation to bring fifty knitting projects with me. So I need some help deciding what the bring.

As far as what is already on the needles:

The Turkish Cape from the Fall 2005 VK, which is about 15 percent done. Okay...maybe more like 10 percent (and yes, I made changes to the pattern. I'm not a checkerboard kind of girl any more than I'm a pink and turquoise kind of girl):

Mariah. All I've got so far is this little bit of a sleeve.

A pair of cabled gauntlets. I'm up to the gusset in the first gauntlet. You know what, though...forget about this one because it'll probably be finished before I leave. Here's the first partial gauntlet, anyway. I'm using KnitPicks Sock Garden.

The Corset Pullover is also on the needles, awaiting its sleeves and strappy bits, but I haven't touched it in weeks. I'm kind of bored of it, so I think it's best to let it wait at home. Absence will make the knitting heart grow yadda yadda etc and I will return home with renewed zeal to finish it. Or something.

Okay...now for the projects that aren't started that are eligible for a four-week excursion:

That silk, mohair, and paper cardigan kit I bought from Habu.
Salina from Rowan Vintage Style
Gloria from Jane Ellison's Noro Knits

Sad to say, I could easily have selected at least fourteen other projects to bring with me and start while away... I really have too much yarn in the stash. (But may I say, Mariah is being knit with yarn that had been in the stash forever, and all potential projects are coming from the depths of the stash.)

And do we have to count the sock projects? I'll be bringing yarn for four pairs of socks, because I have a lot of gift sock knitting to do. But socks don't count. Or do they?

What to bring with me? I think I should probably keep it to three main projects plus socks... Help!

Oh...and proof that I'm doomed. Oscar is fascinated by needles.