Pricey jewelry

And here's the broken gear that caused it all. The repair man gave it back to me and the first thing I thought was, "What a great necklace that would make!"

The oil problem might not have been my fault after all. He said someone had actually put oil on the motor, which you should never do, and which I didn't - I only put it around the hook and bobbin case, and it couldn't have reached the motor from there. So it must have been whoever repaired the machine last. And since it's been working fine other than the broken-gear thing, I'm not in such a hurry to take it back in for cleaning.

Today is Worldwide Knit In Public Day. I didn't do anything to commemorate it last year, and I'd been looking forward to it this year. My regular knitting group is planning to meet, but I just don't feel much like knitting or being in public right now, so I can't decide whether to go.

Art

Last night we went to my friend Amber's art opening. Saw some art, ran into some old friends, had way too much wine and Italian food (at the restaurant next door). At the gallery across the street was a bronze casting demonstration. We'd never seen that done before, and it was fascinating. The portable forge was made out of an old clothes-dryer drum, lined with ceramic and heated by a propane tank. The woman we talked to said the regular forge they use (at one of the local colleges, I believe) cost thousands of dollars, whereas the guy spent less than $100 to make this one, and it actually works better and is easier to use.

I wish I'd had my camera with me. I had only seen molten metal on TV, I think, not up close and in person. It's just indescribable how it glows (and sets afire almost everything it touches, like grass and steel washtubs).

The big news is that I'll have an art opening of my own, of a sort, next Friday at Tennyson Gallery. I'm responsible for 1/3 of one piece that'll be in their upcoming show, "The Delicate and the Strong". Amber and I and another friend, Kelly, collaborated on it. Yes, the gallery misspelled both my first and last names on their site. I'm wondering if I even care enough to correct them. The photo on the gallery's site (haha, no link, I'm gonna make you hunt for it) shows it only partially finished. Here's Amber loading the completed version into her car:

You might, as my husband did, be wondering what those things are attached to it. "Are those…crocheted vaginas?" he asked when I brought it home. "No," I said, "actually they're knitted." I have now taken to referring to Amber as the Vagina Knitter.*

Talking to Kelly last night I mentioned my trepidation about doing the last part of the piece - her beginning part seemed so happy and joyful, and Amber's contribution so tongue-in-cheek political, that I worried my ideas would bring it down into a big whiny complain-fest. But she said I interpreted her part completely differently from what she was thinking (not a bad thing, just different) and Amber seemed to think my addition was the perfect complement. All in all I'm pleased with it. We'll leave it up to the audience to decide, I guess.

In other news, I just got my first spam comment here. Considering it's the second comment I've gotten at all, ever, I suppose I should be glad at least someone's paying attention. Yay.

*And what an amazing trick that would be!

Fangirl

Last night I met Debbie Stoller!

Navajo or Ellen?

It's become apparent that, at an early point, I skipped two rows of the chart on that green sweater. You can see that one cable that's a little shorter than the rest. I thought it would be no big deal and not show, but now I'm all angsty over how the front and back might not match up, and how this sweater's got such sentimental value to me that I'll want to keep it forever and will it drive me nuts if it's got a glaring mistake and - and - and….

I'm certainly not unraveling back to that point to fix it; I have at least twice as much done now as in that picture. But maybe when I'm all done with the back, I can undo the bottom and re-knit it downward. Maybe.

I'm thinking of the time in Girl Scouts when we learned weaving with little popsicle-stick looms. Ellen, the perfect girl who always sold 100 boxes of cookies (there's one in every bunch) was all upset because she'd made a mistake in her weaving. I tried to console her by saying that the Navajos intentionally put a mistake in every blanket they weave, because nothing human can be perfect, only the divine. She shot back angrily, "Well, I am not a Navajo, and this is not a blanket!"

So I guess I have to decide - for this particular project, do I want to be a Navajo, or do I want to be Ellen?

Green sweater takes shape

…well, sort of. I've cast it on, anyway.

That's how much I've gotten done of the back so far. I started with a pattern from a book of designs my mom gave me, most of which are rather dated (and not in a cool vintage way; this was one of the least '80s-looking). It called for size 2 needles, but I couldn't even get the gauge small enough on size 1. I would have had to do some altering anyway because the pattern didn't go up to my size, so I just decided to use the cable pattern as a general starting point and wing it according to my own measurements.

Here's a closeup showing more detail. The panels in between the cables had a neat seed-stitch triangle motif, which I altered slightly and added some glass beads. Here's where the irresponsibility comes in. I didn't have the right size and color of beads in my stash, so I bought them new. The bead store was closed when I just had to have them, so I went to a big craft store and spent way too much money on some beads that weren't quite right. The next day I saw the error of my ways, went back to the bead store and got more suitable ones. Price of beads (not including the ones I'm going to return to the craft store): $8, bringing the total for this sweater to $13. Plus labor, which I'm not even going to think about.

I'm making it on straight needles because I don't have a circular in the right size (my precious Denise needles only go down to a 5), meaning I'm also going to have to sew the dreaded side seams. I think I'm at least going to try to do the sleeves on double-points. I have only one chance to get this project right - I'm having to break the yarn so often to string more beads onto it, I won't be able to unravel it again and start over.

It’s a carnival!

Jill at fiftyrx3 is having a Sustainable Style Carnival - she invited readers to send in pictures of their own reused and recycled clothing and creations. Some very cool stuff over there - and my coat and sweater-yarn made it in too!

It’s so inspirational to see the ideas other people came up with. I love those ReModern bags that the Worsted Witch wrote about. I do not need more handbags. I do not need more handbags.

Second coming of the green sweater

The other weekend I was running some errands across town and decided to stop in a thrift store on my way home. I wanted to find some sweaters to unravel to reuse the yarn - something I’d been meaning to try for a long time. One sweater in particular caught my eye: light green, ribbed, lightweight but huge and floppy. This was my sweater. I’d donated it to a thrift store years ago - but I could have sworn it was a different store. It had likely gone through at least one other owner in between, and now it found its way back to me.

Of course I had to buy it. $4.99 is a damn reasonable price for serendipity. I’d loved the sweater for its color, but it was way too big for me. Now it’s giving me another chance to turn it into something that will fit perfectly.

It’s HUUUUGE! And the perfect shade of green to match Blanche’s spooky glowing eyes.

Here’s the unraveling in progress. I still need to decide what to make with it, but whatever it is, I’m sure there will be no shortage of yarn.