Wendy Bernard's Blog, page 21

At Least "I Think" My Hair Looks Fantastic

Today as I sat in the chair at the salon doing the things that I do to it every couple of months, we got into this conversation about how long we go between hair washings. Used to be, I'd manage an every-other day routine, but lately, I find, that the longer I go and the more junk I put in it, the more fantastic it looks.

Seriously. I can put wax in it and wow! It'll stay put in a Kansas wind storm. Go out for a run? No problem. The salt on my scalp will make it appear fluffy and come-hither. It has actually been a running joke in our house that the dirtier my hair gets, the better it looks.

So as we're talking about this, my stylist, her young assistant and myself, the young assistant sighs and says: "Here I am on Day Number Two and it's a greasy mess. I don't know how you do it."

And then it hit me.

So I said, "Well, it's probably because you're still secreting stuff."

Then I heard a lady with a walker sitting next to her cackle behind us. 

(Like the hairs you used to see on other older ladies' chins? Remember how you wondered why they never plucked them? Like that, my eyesight is probably not good enough to view how my hair "really" looks. Aging: It's just an adventure. Keep saying that. Aging: It's just an adventure.)

In other news: Girlfriend's Swing Coat Sweater is practically hanging in time in terms of progress, but if you look closely, it has grown ever so slightly.

Lace: Why? . . . Why?

I know that this isn't a picture of lace because I'm designing something for a book and I can't show it to you. It's a picture of my progress of the revamped Girlfriend's Swing Coat Sweater in Spud & Chloe Sweater, Waterslide. I know, I know, it's going slowly but I'm struggling over here with lace.

I've never been a fan of knitting lace or lace knitting (there are people who will correct me or inform me what the difference is and I know what the difference is but don't want to go into it here. Just know, both types have something against me). I've never been a fan because whenever it seems like I'm on a roll I end up having to tink back and when I tink back I manage to drop stitches or yarn overs, get everything tangled or drop a stitch marker or two and lose my place.

The other "hilarious" thing that happens to me is I put the project in my lap and somehow, somehow, when I get up from the chair the working yarn gets caught on something and next thing I know: r-r-rrrrip! Why? Why? Dear Universe: This is no longer funny.

It is kind of like writing an entire college thesis and having your computer crash and lose all the data. Wait: That actually happened to me once. Losing lace isn't as bad.

And don't tell me to put in a lifeline. Last time I did that, I managed to slip my working needle out completely and lose a day's worth of work. The good news is, I'm using to die-for yarn and it cheers me up.

Speaking of cheering up: After mangling another four inches of the lace item under discussion, I came home to find what Blue Sky Alpacas calls a Shade Card Kit. If we designers are lucky enough, sometimes a yarn company will send you such a thing. This one is a doozy. Seriously. I opened it and tears sprung from my eyes. It's a yarn junkie's dream. 

It made my day of tinking, sweating bullets, tunnel vision and muttering under my breath complete. Feast your eyes on the boxes of yarn which, I found out, you can purchase. I asked permission to post these photos because I knew that if I posted them you'd all go nuts and try to score them. I didn't even know that you could buy such a thing. Turns out you can. At least I know that you can get the ones for Blue Sky Alpacas here. The Spud & Chloe one, I'm not sure about, but I thought I'd show you a pic of that shade kit, too, because it is adorable, and you can spot the Waterslide Sweater yarn in the bunch.

Time to Re-Vamp

Doesn't this picture just kill you?

This picture is just killing me. The yarn is so pretty. And I have this yarn here, sitting right next to me. Sitting right next to me it's killing me, too.

There is a certain sickness I have and I really don't want to blame it on yarn, but to tell you the truth, it is probably the yarn's fault. Look at it. Just look at it. Doesn't it just kill you?

Truth is, I have been wanting to re-vamp a pattern I designed years ago, probably one of my firsts. Girlfriend can no longer wear it, in fact if she puts it on, it now looks like a shrug. The Girlfriend's Swing Coat is a fun knit and I always thought that the front (you can't see it here, I remember Girlfriend was not cooperating during the photo shoot) needed a little more finishing. So, when I re-write the pattern and re-knit the sample, I'm going to add another option for finishing the front. And although I had originally knit it in Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton, I think the Spud & Chloe Sweater pictured above in Waterslide would be a perfect substitution. I guess I will have to check the gauge, though. So, stay tuned and I'll show you progress--if I make it through without dying from sheer bliss, that is. It kills me, the yarn.

BTW: I just found out about a $15,000 scholarship fund. Five $3,000 scholarships are now available to students who can knit or crochet. Jimmy Beans Wool has teamed up with people in the fiber arts industry to provide what they are calling the "Beans for Brains Scholarship" for deserving knitters and crocheters. Can you believe this? It's a merit-based award for students who will be attending an accredited institution in the Fall of 2011. If you want more information and/or an application visit the Beans for Brains Scholarship page at Jimmy Beans Wool.

 

Vintage Modern Knits and Giveaway

Ever hear of Roositud? I didn't, until I read Vintage Modern Knits by Courtney Kelley and Kate Gagnon Osborn. Roositud is actually a form of "knitted embroidery" (my words) that is an Estonian inlay technique where you take a contrasting color yarn and sort of wrap or weave it between the back and front of your knitting as you go. It looks a lot like crewel, actually.

The thing I like most about this book are the introductions to the various traditional, vintage knitting techniques that have been used throughout the years. And if you like to, or would like to, say, knit a Bohus-styled matching mitten and beret set or maybe a round-yoke fair isle sweater, but with a more modern twist, this is a book you'll enjoy. (Bohus is a Swedish technique of using multiple colors, sometimes more than two per round, and with purls thrown in for good measure--see? I'm so smart now that I've read through it!)

There are 22 patterns that range from accessories like hats, mittens and shawls, to pullovers and cardigans. And if you aren't quite sure how to do steeks and stranded colorwork or similar techniques, there is plenty of additional information contained in the book.

One thing that occurred to me as I flipped through the book is that every pattern uses The Fibre Company yarns, but in different weights and fiber blends. But then when I discovered that the authors own Kelbourne Woolens, the distributor of the yarns used in the book, it made sense to me. All the patterns, however, are labeled with standard weights, so if you cannot use the yarn, substitution should be pretty easy.

So, what is your favorite, most left-toenail technique or style that you like? Fair isle? Faroese? Twined Knitting? Or just plain ol' garter stitch? Speaking of garter stitch, I once knew someone who sat up and announced, while she was knitting: "I've been knitting for a couple years; now I want to learn how to purl..." Yeah, yeah, I've told that story before but it cracks me up every time. Har har.

Okay. So, here's the deal: Leave a comment with your favorite technique or something funny you heard in a knitting group related to learning new things and in a couple days I'll randomly choose a winner!

COMMENTS CLOSED - I will use a random number generator to find a commenter and contact them. Thanks for playing along!

By the Way: I Do Have a Favorite Side of My Face

So I was walking my loop today and instead of walking up the right side of the nasty hill that kills me every time, I walked on the left side. And then I had this feeling that it was somehow easier on the left-hand side instead of the right-hand side. How could it be? Problem is, I can't offer one iota of a hypothesis since I never got past bonehead algebra and consequently never studied physics or a subject that could come within two hundred miles of a reasonable explanation.

Seriously, it wasn't as tough to walk up that side of the street while going up the hill. How could that be? I mean, I might have one leg that is longer than the other so maybe it "feels" like I'm walking a steeper hill while on the right. But then again, Rocko has real short legs and bolts up the hill like crazy while on the right. Maybe it's because he's lower to the ground and doesn't feel gravity the way we do--or that he has four legs and I have two. All I know is that it surprised me that I could walk up the left-hand side of the hill with ease and yet if I walk up the right-hand side it kills me. Every. Single. Time.

Call me the Barbra Streisand of walking up hills.

Or maybe let's just forget about it.

Which brings me to this: I am not a natural designer. Heck, I'm practically not even a knitter. I had the goal of writing a new pattern for the next book (Yeah! Third book!) today, or rather, getting started on it, and I tell you what: I didn't figure out how many stitches to cast on until after two o'clock.  There are people out there who whip out patterns and other things without a single thought and here I am, sitting in my pj's all day and barely getting by.

This thing that I do isn't as easy as it looks. I don't like getting funny looks when I tell people I write books about and for knitting. The funny looks aren't because it's a tough gig, either, and I guess that is part of the problem. These schmucks think it's sorta dumb.They think it is sorta dumb. Yes, I had to say it twice: They think it is sorta dumb (third time is a charm).

I guess you have to be in one big room with Other Crafters to not get a funny look.

Truth is, I feel like I'm trudging through mud, I tell you. Mud. Mud mixed with caramel and extra floor magnets thrown in for extra trudge. I think I need a day off. This knitting-book writing gig is kicking my butt.

And no, I'm not quitting.

Here was the answer I was looking for all day: If you want something to be about 19 inches and you have a gauge of 5 stitches to the inch and the stitch pattern requires a multiple of 6 sts plus another 3 plus another 2 then you can, by all means, cast on 95 stitches.

Ugh. I have plans to go to the yarn store with a friend tomorrow, but after that, I think I'll go to the quilt shop and get another few half-yards of fabric and quilt my eyeballs out the next couple of days. I know, I know, I should be working on the book. It's due in May, after all. Thing is, I figure that all my quilting will make the yarn jealous and therefore a little "easier," you know, like the girls get when the boys don't pay enough attention to them.

Hand Dyeing Yarn and Knitting With It - Reviews and a Giveaway

I remember years ago dyeing yarn with Kool-aid. I mean, it was sort of all the rage and I confess I knit a pair of socks using the Kool-aid yarn and even though I've worn them and washed them several times I can still detect a bit of Lemon-Lime and perhaps a smidge of Soarin' Strawberry when I sniff them. Come to think of it, I may have blogged about dyeing the socks and I got an email from a very popular knitwear designer living in Germany and I sent her a big package of the stuff so she could give Kool-Aid dyeing a try as well.

Now knitters are expanding their horizons and dyeing using the real stuff, natural dyes that come from rhubarb, goldenrod, holley-hocks, even onions, things that they can grow themselves or find in nature. The book, Wild Color by Jenny Dean is a guide to making and using these type of dyes. This is one of those books that, even though you may never actually get around to dyeing using the methods she outlines, will be taken off the bookshelf and looked at over and over. The book is just lovely to look at. All the dye plants are beautifully photographed and the color swatches that the dye will produce delight the designer in me. The experience of looking at these pages reminds me of a cross between thumbing through the pages of one of those horticultural indexes Sunset magazine publishes and standing at the paint color swatch counter at a home decor store. Wild Color is a total keeper.

I'm a lover of hand-dyed yarn. Thing is, it can be tricky and fickle. Sometimes it pools when you least expect it or maybe the stripes you thought would be wide turn out to look more like streaks. The Knitter's Guide to Hand-Dyed and Variegated Yarn by Lorna Miser (she founded Lorna's Laces) has a whole section on recognizing what kind of yarn you have on hand. Whether it is long-repeat or the colors are spun together after dyeing (like Noro) or if it is a self-patterning yarn, she tells you what to look out for if you want to avoid pooling, or what to expect when you work with other types of hand-dyed's. She also has a number of projects to knit, as well as a number of stitch patterns that will show off the multicolored yarns best.

I want to give away a copy of Lorna's book. Please leave me a comment stating whether or not you like pooling (just say "Love it!" or "Hate it!") and I'll pick a random winner. I'll leave comments open for a few days...

ETA: I have locked the comments and send the winner an email! Thanks everyone for your comments. I REALLY want to go through them and see whether or not pooling wins or loses, but wow. Lot's of comments to go through!

And Then a Day Sneaks up on You

I have Mod Podge all over my fingernails. It's going to ruin my manicure. Not that I ever go and have someone actually tend to my nails because I can't sit still long enough without ending up in some sort of a mild panic. Last time I had a facial, like 20 years ago, I had such issues with having someone touch me without knowing them that my thumb kept sticking up, as if I was giving the lady a "thumbs up." I kept noticing it, and then I'd tuck it in and within a minute or two, it would come back out. It was a battle, really, and although you probably think it's hysterical, to me it was not. I have to say, however; the esthetician noticed it and asked if my thumb was sore or something.

But the Mod Podge all over my fingernails makes me feel good. My mom was an artist in pretty much every sense of the word (never made money from it, though, so I guess that makes her even more of an artist) but she always was the one with the good ideas. Once, there was a coloring contest at the Red Barn (hamburger joint in Minnesota) and the prize was a free hamburger with all the fixings. Anyway, my brother Marc and I each colored a picture and turned one in. My mom helped my brother because he was a boy, probably, and guess what?

He won.

Forty-two years later and I'm still mad at her. I wonder what Girlfriend's classmates will think when she turns in her book report and accompanying game that is due on Tuesday. I helped her. I helped her to the point where I'm a Mod-Podge-ing fool. I swear. I Mod-Podged every, single thing that went into her report. In the beginning, Girlfriend was all about the Mod Podge and wanting to stick it onto every surface of her report cover, the game box, the actual game board, you name it. But by the end of the process (about two weeks' worth), she was laying on the couch while I continued to slather the stuff on with glee. I bet you twenty bucks we'll get an A. 

After a week of temps in the 40's and 50's we had sunshine and 80-degree weather, so we went to the beach today. For a minute I felt mom in the air and I want to go back tomorrow. The moment I felt her was when I looked down at the foam the water was making as it made its way to my feet. I thought it looked like pizza crust and then I felt her laugh.

BTW: I never let an opportunity for car knitting go to waste. Although I had nothing non-book on the needles, while HWWV pulled the car out I ran upstairs and grabbed a couple balls of some trusty Regia (Twisted Merino I think).