From Iceland With Love... Wool!

Yesterday I had the best surprise!  My mail lady brought to my door a package from The Icelandic Store, one of my most favourite yarn shops in the world!  Literally.  I had visited it on my yarn cruise in 2014.  I ADORE Iceland.  And I adore their yarn.

Lylie, my little sweetie-pie helped me, erm, "open" the package.  More like destroy it in my haste to get at that wool!  Zora, our lovable but nutty lab, gave it the sniff test and I am happy to say it got a wag of approval for being sufficiently "sheepy." Aren't these colours beautiful?

A couple of weeks ago, I read on Kate Davies blog about the Hap-Along being hosted by KnitBritish.  Shawls are not really my thing.  Not that I don't like them, in fact, I love shawls, but I never gave myself the time to knit them.  Too busy designing hats and socks.  Now, I've got a hankering to design a shawl, so what to do?  Why knit a few, of course.  About time!

As you know,  I joined a mystery shawl knit along by the designer Rosemary(Romi) Hill.  It is progressing swimmingly and I'm having a ball.  The juxtaposition of lace with increases, decreases, garter stitch and colour is stunning.  Romi knows her stuff!  It is so hard to wait for Friday to receive the next part of the pattern, or "clue."  Enter the Hap-Along.

(This is new for me.  The idea of having more than one project on the go is strange for me; I'm a monogamous knitter.  And for them to be shawls?  Decadent!)

What hap shall go on my needles?  Hansel (Half Version) by Gudrun Johnston.  I love the colours and as soon as I saw the pattern, I knew it had to be knit in Icelandic Einband Wool.

© Gudrun Johnston

Now I cannot wait to finish this weeks clue for the MKAL so I can cast on this version of Hansel.   It will be my go-to shawl for the summer!  Can't you just see it with a strappy tank top with jean cut offs?  Or a cute little skirt...

What's on your needles this week?

How To Remove The Title Of A Widget In Blogger

Of all the blogging platforms to use, I really love Blogger.  Yes, a lot of people say that it is too cumbersome and very hard to customize, but if you are not afraid to dip your toes into the raw HTML, you can do some pretty awesome stuff.

One thing I hate about the blogger widgets is that you must specify a title for most of them.  For example, the Google+ badge widget.  Is it really necessary to have "Google+ Badge" written over the badge?  Ugh. 

So, after scouring the internet without much success to permanently have the title left blank on a widget, I came up with this little work around.

First, go to the "Templates" section on your blogger menu once you are signed in.  Click on the "Edit HTML" button.  Before you do anything, make sure you have a copy of your blog saved, just encase you mess up and need to go back to the original.  Ask me how I learned that.  Grrr.

1. Look for the name of the widget title you want to remove.  In this case, it is "Google+ Badge."
2. Delete the code:  title='Google+ Badge'
3. Delete the code:<b:if cond='data:title != &quot;&quot;'>
             <h2 class='title'>
               <data:title/>
             </h2>
           </b:if>
4. Click on Save Template.  Refresh your blog and see the title over your Google+ badge is gone!

Huhzahhh!  No more title over the widget in blogger.  :)

#wearyourknitting campaign Selfie!

#wearyourknitting shot.  Not the most flattering picture, but you get the idea.  It was Bite-Your-Arse-Off cold that day.  Look at the snowbanks in the background!  Thank goodness for wool. 

Wearing my new designs! Look at the snow in the background. Blah.

A photo posted by Nin L. (@nin.designs.knitwear) on Apr 21, 2015 at 5:16am PDT

A Year Of Handmade #6... Blogs That Inspire You

Today's topic in the list of #AYearOfHandmade created by Rebecca of Rebecca Bee Designs is "What blogs inspire you?"

 Kate on her bike.  Image from http://www.theknitter.co.uk

1. katedavisdesigns.com :  I adore Kate.  Her blog is inspirational, intellectually stimulating, funny and full of great knitting tips.  Kate is a Scottish academic that lives with her partner Tom and their furry friend Bruce, the most inquisitive and lavishly doted upon black lab.

 Bruce Copyright KateDaviesDesigns.com

Why do I love her blog so much?  Kate is very real in her online personality.  She shares the good, the bad, and the opinionated in a very candid fashion.  She seems like a great person to sit down with, have a few beers or cups of tea and discuss and just talk.  I have a feeling we'd  either have a rip roaring verbal sparring over contrasting opinions or nearly bust a rib laughing about some great silliness. 
Kate is a scrappy survivor of a stroke.  She worked incredibly hard to regain what others might have accepted as lost for good and had the balls to take her life in a new direction.  The picture of Kate on her trike was a huge influence to me.  I adored long distance biking before my trauma and mourned the loss of it keenly.  Balance is an enormous issue for me, along with anxiety.  But, I got back on a bike last summer and accomplished another goal on my list.  I may be wobbly, but the biking bug is back in full force.

     2.  http://ysolda.com/blog/ ... I really love going through the old posts and reading Ysolda's insights as she rocketed to knitting super-stardom.  She is fun, witty and very smart. 

 

Copyright Vimeo.com

And, like Kate, she is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to sewing!  (I'm still a grasshopper in the sewing circle of life.)  Ysolda is a twenty-something Scot that teaches a mean sweater shaping class and an extraordinary business woman to boot.  It's on my bucket list to attend one of Ysolda's classes in the future.  I must say, as much as I love Ysolda's old blogging, her current entries are few and far between.  But when they come, they are usually excellent.  Ysolda is actually the impetus for me purchasing my beloved Olympus Pen camera.  Her photography is so beautiful! 

      3.  http://www.livelovediy.com ... A non-knitting blog?  Yup.  I love Virginia's spunk and vision.  She got me wielding a paint brush and looking at old furniture with a different eye.   She also got me over the horror of painting wood, LOL! 

 

Copyright "livelovediy.com"

 

Copyright "livelovediy.com" 

Virginia also serves up some sage advise on a verity of subjects and her "how-to" tutorials are excellent.  I also have a more discerning eye when I go thrift shop shopping.  Make the hubby happy too!  :)

     4.  http://www.rebeccabeedesigns.com ... Back to knitting blogs.  Well, mainly.  Rebecca is an awesome Canadian (yeah!) crafter that taught herself to knit, and oh my, she is on fire. 

Copyright http://www.rebeccabeedesigns.com

This young lady (yikes, that makes me sound so old) reminds me of Ysolda Teague, the early years.  Rebecca always has interesting posts and tips that get the creative juices brewing.  I love her Instagram pics.  Her "blog voice" is witty and original, the makings of a very fun read!  Rebecca also started the #YearOfHandmade link up party, which I find really fun to participate in.  Along with being so social media savvy, she has some really cute designs for crochet too.  Sadly, I'm not much of a crocheter, so I can only admire them from the other side of the hook.

     5.  http://www.getyourknittogether.com ... Another life and knitting blog.  I really enjoy seeing the alert pop up in my email that Lesley's got a new post out.  Not only is she a fellow Canadian, but lives in my home Province!  How cool is that?!? 

 Copyright http://www.getyourknittogether.com

And she is laugh-out-loud funny.  Seriously, some posts must not be read with a mouthful of hot beverage, 'cos it'll be spurting out your nose.  Remember, you've been warned!  Currently, she is working on an epic sock yarn scraps blanket.  It is crazy cool, but I don't think I've got the fortitude to take on such a task.  She has a ton of sock yarn with a serious sock yarn fetish.  You can find her patterns over on Ravelry here.

So, these are some of my inspiring blogs in a nutshell.  Hmmm.  I think there is more, but I can't remember them right now.  That's not surprising, considering my short term memory thing.  I think I should make a link list on my site. 

What blogs inspire you?

A Year Of HandMade #5: Favourite Thing You Have Ever Made

Eeeps!  I'm falling behind in my blogging list for the #yearofhandmade link up!  Onwards, and hopefully I'll catch up during April... :)

#5:  What is the favourite thing you have ever made?

That is a tough question.  I craft.  A lot.  Hmmm.

Right now I'm in the throws of dyeing yarn, so... I'd have to say this nifty large tool:

The PVC Skein Winder

Now this is not a picture of mine, but I made it exactly to the plans, so it is virtually identical.

It has a diameter of almost exactly 2 yards.  I can use it upright or lay it flat on the floor, depending which is the easiest choice for my poor shoulder.  It spins like a dream!  (The skein winder, not the shoulder, LOL!)

Here is another one I might make...

I can see this as being very handy for rewinding a dyed skein.

If I choose to dive deeper into the natural dyeing world, I think I'm going to build a foot pedal powered skein winder with an electronic counter.   Something like in the video below...

And I think I'm going to build one of these!  'Cos it looks really handy and fun! 

So how about you?
What is the favourite thing you have ever made?

Monday Musings... Scars, Tattoos, and Memories

I dropped the kids off at school, then drove home to sit in my car in the driveway thinking about memories in the very early morning light.  Not just mental memories, but physical representation of them.  What sparked this?  Believe it or not, a pop song from the movie "The Hunger Games."

Recently I've been, well, "searching" for myself.  Wondering who I am and where am I.  This stems mainly from being fractured so very badly from a trauma that left me physically and mentally in pieces.  I remember not much of my recovery and there are huge painful gaps in my memories.  But I do remember asking one of the many specialists working with me and my poor brain if I should be "sewing" the old pieces of me that I could remember with these frightening new pieces of me.  Or should I just kill the old "me," forget her and let myself grieve for her.  Surprise, surprise, no clear cut answer.

Seams are the scars of cuts and are necessary to make something new.  In medicine, they talk of letting wounds "knit" or heal, to make the tissue or the brain whole again.  But, there is a scar, a "seam."  A physical reminder of the wound itself. 

I never understood the urge to get a tattoo.  One of my girlfriends has an art gallery all over her body.  Not for me.  Why change what you were born with?  But this morning, it dawned on me that the tattoos are memories printed on the skin.  They are symbols of where you are and your ideas of who you are at a certain time and space.  And they can define you.

Tribal tattoos and body scarring has always fascinated me.  Now I don't mean those silly "tribal" tattoos that every Tom, Dick and Harry were plastering their bodies with in the 1990s.  I mean the "real" ones that indigenous peoples create on themselves in relation to their customs and cultures.  Ever see the movie "The Piano"with Harvey Keitel?  I adore that movie.  The Maori people in it are fascinating, and I find the tattoos that they adorn their faces with really beautiful. 

Gorgeous designs and patterning!  (And the men are handsome to boot!)

To tattoo the face is a very bold thing to do.  There is no hiding it, but it can be a "mask" that is meant to be interpreted by the viewer.  Maori facial tattoos are to highlight the strength and the fierceness of the warrior.  That is the "mask" they wear and idea they project.

I can relate to this.  At my darkest point, I used smiles, jokes and being very attentive listener as a "mask" the pain and mixed up person I was.  One of the psychologists hit it right on the head when he said I was so very funny and engaging, but obviously I was wearing this mask because I was in his office.  Happy people are not referred to him.  That was like a left hook to the jaw and the masked slipped.  He got the see the real mess underneath. 

And now back to "The Hunger Games."  Katniss is damaged from the games.  She exhibits symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  I think she was predisposed to this from the trauma she sustained earlier from the death of her father and the emotional withdrawal from her mother's breakdown.  Being the one to make sure the family did not die of starvation was also a huge stress factor.  She was primed for PTSD.

Jennifer Lawrence did a wonderful job portraying Katniss.

Lorde, a young New Zealand singer/poet wrote the gripping song "Yellow Flicker Beat."

Beautiful lyrics.  I especially love:

I'm a princess cut from marble, smoother than a storm
And the scars that mark my body, they're silver and gold

 And these:

And now people talk to me I'm slipping out of reach now
People talk to me, and all their faces blur
But I got my fingers laced together and I made a little prison
And I'm locking up everyone that ever laid a finger on me

Ah, ptsd and a little hyper-vigilance in there.   Gotta love that mix.

The scars are silver and gold, they are precious because she can never forget how she got them.  That brings me back to body adornment.  Tattoos and scarification.

I recently found out about tattoos created with white ink and I adore them.  They looks like a ghost of an image, a light kiss of colour applied to the skin.  But as beautiful as they are, I am still hesitant to get one.

They must be applied by a master tattooist because the white ink is so hard to control.  It can get into the "blood" and move slightly, making the design look like a scar.  Designs must be applied free hand due to image transfer inks applied to the skin for a tattooist to follow can mix with the white ink whist the needle pierces through them and muddy the white ink.  If they are done right, they are so beautiful.

 

 They make me think of knitted or tatted lace when I look at them.  Knitting was so central to my recovery.  Should I tattoo a design on my body to pay homage to it?  Hmmm.  

When in New York for Vogue Knitting 2014, it dawned on me that this city would definitely have a tattooist capable of quality of work I am thinking about.  But I did not have any time to research it properly.  Plus, sitting in workshops trying to learn new things with a skin wound did not appeal to me.  I let shrugged the idea off.

I've chatted with a few people that have amazingly, insanely intricate tattoos that I've met here and there.  The main consensus indicates that these types of tattoos are not stable.  They tend to fade over time.  Huh.  If I have a mind to do it, I'm going to research that further.  If I ever choose to tattoo my body, I want that visual representation of a memory to be permanent, like a scar.  

Scars do not bother me.  In fact, they can be rather beautiful.  Scarification is a process of cutting and removing pieces of the skin in a pattern for body adornment.  It's like cutting your "brand" into the skin.  Every person's skin reacts differently to cuts.  The scar may be raised or flat.  They may fade to white after time or they may not.  Tricky things, scars.  

The permanency of scarification appeals to me, but the process?  Not so much.  If you are not faint of heart, try googling scarification.  All I can say is YIKES.

So, if you were to celebrate a memory, what would you print on your skin?

Participating In My First Mystery Shawl Knit-A-Long!

Things here have been quiet while working away on my latest cowl pattern.  Hope all your crafty endeavors are progressing the way you want!

Remember how I once said I don't usually knit from other people's patterns?  Well, that's totally changed for the next few weeks.  I signed up for not one, but two mystery knit-a-longs!

What's a mystery knit-a-long (MKAL)?  Basically, you are sent part of a pattern over the course of a set time and just knit it!  You don't know what it looks like, but there are usually little hints or clues.  Sometimes there are "spoiler" chat threads in the designer's group so you can see what others have knit.  It is a lot of fun!

So here is the one that I started on first:

Don't you just love the colours of that yarn?

And me being me, signing up just days before the MKAL meant I couldn't buy that yarn.  It is sock weight but I had nothing like those colours in my stash.  We were told a light and dark yarn were needed.  So, do I go out and buy some new skeins?  NOPE!  I bought liquid Kool-Aid, and the Walmart version of it instead.

I was gonna dye me sum yarn!

Years ago, I bought several POUNDS of undyed sock weight yarn.  I was building up my courage to dye it with natural dyes.  Still not there yet, but I dipped my toes into the Kool-aid dyeing pot.  Or casserole dish, I should say.

It was truly fascinating to see the heavily coloured water become almost clear within minutes of placing that thirsty skein in the dish.  I used this tutorial on how to dye with kool-aid.  Basically, it was a kettle of boiling water, squirt liquid dyes in a glass jar until I liked the colour, swear as I burnt my fingers by picking up that jar to empty into casserole dish, swish the dish a bit, then place yarn in dish.  I wanted a kettle dyed yarn look, you know, that uneven saturation of colour look throughout the skein.  I achieved this by adding only enough dye-water to cover the skein half way.  Once the skein was in the dye, I poured more boiling water on it until it looked like it does above.  (Plus I mashed it down and stirred slightly with a spoon, 'cos I can't leave anything alone.) Let it stand until the water was room temperature and rinsed it in room temperature water.  Then hung it up to dry.  Too easy!  Thought that the sweetened with fake sugar might be a problem, but nope!  Not sticky or crunchy at all.  I think it was due to letting it cool completely before rinsing. 

I love how it turned out!  And look how it knits up....

Above is Clue#1 knit up... taken during daylight.

And Clue #2.... taken at midnight, 'cos I'm obsessive, LOL

I'm using KnitPicks connectable needle tips in size US5 or 3.75mm.  I must say, I'm not enjoying them.  They keep unscrewing from the cable.  And the cable is not as flexible as I'd hoped for after I boiled it.  Meh.  I still like my ChiaoGoos much better, but did not have any in that size.

Up next, making mini skeins and dyeing them with Easter egg dyes!!!!  That's for the other MKAL.

Happy crafting everybody!