Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Yarns in the Pipeline?

Best Quote I Heard All Day
"Start thinking outside the box"--one of my many corporate bosses

So, apropos to last week post, I have come to an epiphany about the so-called knitting world.

Are You a PC or Apple Knitter?
Therein lies the rub. Knitting, due to the enormous popularity of the craft, has become a corporate nightmare, as I see it. Once a craft that attracted people who were individualistic, since 1997, when the KnitList became the refuge of many KnitDweebs and knitting started to take off, knitting has become "big business" propelled by the yarn companies and magazines.

In other words, the knitting "world" is now the fucking craft paradigm, pardon the jargon.

Anyone who remembers when Knitter's Magazine still made a connection with its readers, when Interweave Knits was edited by people who understood the individualistic nature of the craft, when yarn company ads were less like an insurance company commercial and more like an ad in your local paper, remembers that knitting was and still can be a personal, expressive craft.

Yes, knitting has joined corporate America.  Hence the rise of the knitting celebs, along with ghastly knitting jargon. I never have, never will use the following:
  • Knitterati
  • Knitterly
  • KIP
  • SEX
  • SABLE
  • Tink
  • Frog
  • The word "ewe" in any form of idiotic pun

God help us all, there's even a book on knitting jargon--"The Secret Language of Knitters."
This is why I will always be an indie. Knitting does not define me. I define it for myself.

Tour de Fleece
As you know, if you're a Tontant Weader, groups and me don't generally equate, with the exception of my beloved skanks at Stix-n-Stitches, Sheila and I having been separated at birth, and my occasional appearance on Ravelry.

This year, because I have more fucking time on my hands than ever before, I've decided to join Team Peleton on Ravelry. Why not? I spin every day anyhoo. This week, though, I've been rushing to get the Black Bunny Fibers Bluefaced Leicester/silk of the Joy to free it up for TDF.

This was fun to spin, another entry in my project to spin various weights. I used two different colorways, both with that amazing yellow. Carol, I don't know how the fuck you got that yellow but I love it!

Now, I have some Chasing Rainbows bombyx silk top in the Pansies colorway that's been percolating in the fiber stash for several years. Laceweight is calling.


Got four ounces of this stuff that I'll attempt to spin during the three-week TDF period. For those of you who are interested, it starts on Saturday, July 3 and continues until the end of the Tour de France. Check out the group on Ravelry. I'll post my progress here as well as on Ravelry.

Shut Your Sockhole
Recently, I read in some knitting rag that you can't avoid holes in cuff-down heel gussets. Bullshit. I've got my own little tricks that make for a nice gusset join with no holes whatsoever.
This is the Punk Princess's teeny foot doing a preliminary modeling for one of my Fiberality Stoopid TV Knitting sock designs. She gets to keep all the socks, too. Liz is the only one in the family with small feet. The rest of us wimmens have humongous dogs.

I did take a shot of the gusset so that you can see WTF I'm talking about.
If you're interested, I'll write about how I do my gussets next week. Ah, fuck it, even if you aren't interested, I'll write about it. Holeless gussets are rare and handy, dontcha know.

Have a great 4th, skanks!

10 comments:

Ted said...

I would like to know about hole-less gussets.

Kat said...

Me too! I have my own technique for dealing with gussets, but am always interested in others. I might learn something better than my unorthodox method. :)

L said...

I would like to read your tips too. Like Kat, I have developed my own tricks to get rid of the holes, but I would like to learn what you do.
Cheers from Belgium

Julie Kwiatkowski Schuler said...

I only made one pair of socks in my life, but I didn't notice any holes in the gussets. I'll have to see what I'm missing, though.

Unknown said...

Love the disdain for knitting terms, but I have to admit I like the term tink and frog. Tink particularly since it's both the sound made on metal needles when you undo your knitting one stitch at a time and the word knit backwards...at least that one is clever.

Like you wrote...it's more important for someone to define themselves and their knitting, even if that means adopting words that have become a bit too cutesy.

FiberQat said...

By all means share your hole-less gusset method. I'm curious to see what you do.

I haven't picked out the fiber I'm going to do for TdF. It's going to all be on a handspindle. The one I really like to use has somehow vanished in the mess of my house, so I better get cracking and find it.

Anne said...

Like Julie, I've only knit one pair of socks. I'd like to see your technique for heel gussets. I didn't have any holes in mine, but I'm up for learning something new.

Sharon said...

Someone actually wrote in a knitting publication that gusset holes in socks knit top down can't be avoided? Duh! Guess that's what happens when people who don't know how to knit write for knitting magazines.

By all means, show us your method. FWIW, one of the reasons I keep reading your blog is because your knitting has never followed some sort of herd instinct. You always do as you please - and then tell people what they can do if they don't like it. Which is very cool!

EileenW said...

I rise to defend knitterly. If it was good enough for Mrs. Zimmermann, it's good enough for me.

Besides, it describes something for which there is no other word. And it's not cutesy, like the reprehensible tink and frog.

Vanessa said...

I've only knit a few pairs of socks, all top down, and all free of gusset holes, and am always curious to learn what more experienced knitters do to avoid them.