It Was Winter All Summer

If you haven't seen it yet, the new issue of Twist Collective has an illustrated poem by Franklin Habit a la Wallace Stevens's "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"

Here's my favorite stanza, but you should go read the whole thing:

XIII

It was winter all summer
It was snowing
And it was going to snow
The knitter sat
In his favorite chair.


Nice work, Franklin!


Here in Flatbush, it's raining cats and dogs for the umpteenth day in a row. It's been raining cats and dogs forever. It feels like it's been April since April, and we're halfway through June. The sun mostly shows up as a vague blob of brightness in the grey. I've been thinking of the rainy chapters of One Hundred Years of Solitude, where it rains for five years and everything in Macondo grows mossy and perma-sodden and all the livestock gets washed away.

Blah.

Brain Coral Against Breast Cancer

Last October I rode in the Tour de Pink, a 200 mile charity bike ride from Hershey, PA to New York City benefiting the Young Survival Coalition. It was an awesome, gorgeous ride full of friendly folks - any of you bikers out there should sign up. I'm not riding this year, but I'm still supporting the cause in my own special way. I've posted a new pay-what-you-wish pattern to the shop - Brain Coral against Breast Cancer!



When your ruffles have ruffles, interesting things happen! This is one of the simplest patterns you’ll ever follow, but the results will wow your friends with higher math. The resulting shape looks kind of like brain coral, kind of like a spiral, and is totally impossible to put down.

This is a pay-what-you-wish pattern.
100% of the proceeds (any donation you make minus Paypal/Google Checkout fees) will benefit the Young Survival Coalition, the premier international organization dedicated to the critical issues unique to young women and breast cancer. YSC works with survivors, caregivers and the medical, research, advocacy and legislative communities to increase the quality and quantity of life for women diagnosed with breast cancer ages 40 and under.

Skills Required:
* knit, purl, yarn-over, i-cord

Materials:
* one circ and two dpns.
* adaptable to any yarn.

My Reindeer Flies Sideways

When I was a kid, my mom taught me a version of this Girl Scout song sung to the tune of Pomp & Circumstance. It's a great little number to sing at graduations - that march needs words!

(Sung to the tune of Pomp & Circumstance):

My reindeer flies sideways, she's better than yours.
My reindeer can cha-cha; she can open up doors.
My reindeer is purple; yours is a pea green.
My reindeer's a Girl Scout; she can dig a latrine.

My reindeer wears p-jays, yours sleeps in the nude,
My reindeer has manners; your reindeer is crude.
Your reindeer uses fire starters, my reindeer uses *just one match*
Your reindeer gets chilly; mine wears a scarf and hat.

My reindeer wears a poncho; your reindeer gets wet.
My reindeer is healthy, yours goes to the vet.
My reindeer flies sideways, your reindeer flies upside down.
My reindeer is perfect. Your reindeer is *dead*

World Wide Knit in Public Day is June 13!

Join us as we knit with thousands of other knitters around the world on the same day!

World Wide Knit in Public Day
Saturday, June 13, 2009
10am - 1pm
Brooklyn Public Library - Central Library
10 Grand Army Plaza

• Learn to knit
• Book Raffles
• Charity Knitting
• The Knit Doctor
• Storytime for Children
• Spinnng Demonstrations

Bring: Your project and a smile!

Non-knitters welcome - we will teach you how.

Nowhere near Brooklyn? Find a World Wide Knit In Public Day event near you here.

Antimacassar

Last night my friend Shana taught me the word antimacassar. Her best fave sitting room chair had finally given up the ghost after months of spewing forth yellow foam and upholstery tacks whenever anyone sat on it or even gave it a stern look. The new chair is a fancy beige number inherited from Grandma Dora, and comes complete with armrest covers and an antimacassar. Antimacassar is the fancy word for the piece of cloth that goes over the top of an upholstered chair. Like this:

Netted Antimacassar from KnitHeaven.com

Or more recently, like this:

thanks, wikipedia!

Wikipedia tells me that Antimacassars were common in the Victorian period, and were commonly handmade, tatted, crocheted, knitted or netted of white cotton. Google a little harder and you'll find antimacassar patterns in all four crafts in Beeton's Book of Needlework, which is cram-packed with all kinds of old-timey goodness. I'm a total sucker for this stuff - like this knitted rosette pattern:I will hypnotize you.

So: what is this macassar that antimacassars are anti? Victorian hair goop!

Rowland's Macassar Oil

A Big Hat Book and an Australian Pole Cosy

Autogyro from Knitty (by me)

Hey - re-posting a couple calls for entries here for anyone who's interested.

The brilliant and talented Annie Modesitt is putting together a picture-book of 1000 knitted hats. All knitted hats are welcome, and there are prizes for original designs. Get the skinny here.

Photos by Jake Dobkin in Gothamist

And if the 9th Street Fence outside ps122 or the yarnbombed parking meters of Montague Street in Brooklyn got you all excited, grrl+dog is organizing a massive stitch-up of the columns outside the National Gallery of Australia. Complimentary hand-made bling for all who participate. Find out how to play along here.

Knit the Golden Spiral at PS122 - Stitch 'n Bitch to follow

Want your own spiral to love?

As part of the Yarn Theory exhibit at the PS122 Gallery, I'm hosting a free workshop on knitting the golden spiral. It's the same form used in the piece I made for the show and (if you've been tuned in to my work for a while) the top half of the "Seuss-y" Christmas Tree.

Knit the Golden Spiral with Daniel Yuhas
Saturday, May 9
Noon to 2 p.m.
PS122 Gallery - 150 First Avenue (corner of 1st avenue and 9th Street), NYC

Come learn to knit a three dimensional Golden Spiral. Spirals like these occur all over the place in nature, from the nerves in our eyes to the shape of our galaxy, not to mention seashells. There's all kinds of math going on here - the golden section and Fibonacci numbers and the greek letter phi, but in practice it's a simple, intuitive, and meditative pattern to follow.

Students should have some experience knitting in the round.

Bring your favorite yarn and a set of double-pointed or circular knitting needles a few sizes smaller than the yarn package recommends.

... immediately followed by:

Yarn Theory Stitch 'n Bitch
Saturday, May 9
2:00 to 6:00 p.m.
PS122 Gallery - 150 First Avenue (corner of 1st avenue and 9th Street), NYC

Come check out the show, and meet your fiber-y friends or make new connections. Come as you are, and bring whatever you’re working on to show and tell. Everybody’s also welcome to contribute to the ongoing yarn-bombing of the Ninth Street fence that’s taking place as part of the show. Snacks and coffee graciously provided by PS122.