50 years of wonder

\”Hello everyone and thank you all for being here today!\” Said the woman at the front of the theater wearing the Tom Baker scarf and hat. She also had on high, brown leather boots over very fitted taupe- colored pants. The whole ensemble brought to mind Indiana Jones and an English riding competition all at once. She was standing at the front of Kiggins Theater in Vancouver, Washington, USA on November 23, 2013 facing a room full of 350 Whovians, seated and waiting to view the Dr. Who 50th Anniversary episode as one gigantic Whovian Fandom. The show was to be simulcast all over the world at exactly the same time. The room was quivering with anticipation and everyone was silent, wishing to savor every moment the day could bring. We all watched the Tom Bakeresque announcer.

Out coveted tickets meant poster, mugs and awesomeness!

The woman continued, \”You could have done so many other things this morning instead of lining up this morning at 7a.m. outside of this theater. You could be home with your kids watching t.v. or attending a soccer game, or eating breakfast in your  warm home. But you didn\’t. You dressed up your kids and yourselves in all sorts of crazy Whovian costumes and you came here today to wait in line in the freezing cold. You chose whimsy. You chose fantasy and creativity. And we support you! This is a place you can be as crazy as you want. You can come here and feel free to fly your freak flag!\” The room, full of cosplay adults and kids alike, erupted spontaneously, as if everyone was waiting to here this, into clapping and cheering and whistling.

\”But why are you here?\” The room collectively smiled. \”You are here for the love of the doctor, who stands for so many good things in the world. The Doctor stands for anti-violence and anti-bullying. He stands for speaking up for those who cannot speak and protecting those who need protection. He stands for self-sacrifice and helping.\” This very moment, as the room erupted again in enthusiastic agreement, I realized why I have come to love The Doctor character so very much.

We waited outside in 27degree weather for 2 hours!

He is a super-hero for the underdogs and the bullied. For those who are taken advantage of or exploited. The Kiggins announcer was right, and I had never even seen it. I, who like so many others (probably many of whom were in that very room with me) was bullied and sometimes even terrorized as a child by others, loved this icon for so many reasons that I never even knew until that moment.  I began, surprisingly, to tear up.

These were the reasons that my knitting silently falls into my lap when the show comes on and I am not even aware that my mouth is gaping in a smile as I stare at the storylines, idle hands on my knees, my coffee getting cold next to me on the table.

Inside was a tea party, complete with cake, fruit trays and mimosas. This lady was dressed up in steam punk garb, but I think she looks like River Song. \”Hello, Sweetie!\”

The Doctor not only saves others, he empowers them. He sees the special qualities and the hidden braveries in every day people. And he might show up anywhere, anytime and in any time, to take away the next protege, the one who needs encouragement or escape or a better life. And without fail, these people–these unlikely heroes–rise to any occasion in every situation, surprising even themselves in becoming people they never knew they could be. It reminds us–or tells us for the first time–to rise, to be more, no matter what others have told us or what naysayers may say. You can always be better than your circumstances seem to allow.

Dr. Who is not the typical sci-fi show, which are often based around military themes like Battle Star, Star Trek, or Star Wars and many others. No. Dr. Who is for those who always hoped they could be more. For those who feel that they can and should be able to contribute something to the common good, and it makes it all seem so possible.

My first real try at color work. I was motivated.

And you never know. He might be coming for you.

Tons of families were there, decked out in costumes. The Girl Who Waited,  Amy Pond, is standing with the suitcase.

My daughter Annie and friend Iris both are David Tennant!

3-D!

I took a pic of this man in the dark theater! He won for best costume. He told me his wife crocheted his \”Ood\” costume. Now that\’s love!

This line wrapped around the block

I knitted myself a Tam of Rassilon, free pattern found on Ravelry. The seal of Rasillon is a Gallifreyan government seal and can be seen on the clothes of some of the characters in the war room scenes. Rassilon is played by Timothy Dalton, former 007.

If you don\’t know what \”Bad Wolf\” means, I can\’t help you. Watch the show. Then you won\’t miss \”Bad Wolf Day.\”

Me and Tina (Dr Who BUD!!) are fanatics for sure. I love my Van Gogh Skirt and top!

Fez\’s are a Dr Who fav.

Ever hear of this thing to the left? This is The Conscious Competence Learning Model. If you have ever worked with learners of any sort, you probably have heard of it.

I heard it first in college. In dental hygiene programs, this is one of the ways they explain to you how to process your feelings of frustration and anxiety while learning how to safely use very small–and very sharp–blades safely on very delicate oral tissues. And usually the first ones to experience your budding skills were your friends and classmates. This concept also applied to shaky, first-timer hands using long syringes loaded with anesthetic. Friends first!

Pretty nerve wracking.

What does this have to do with knitting? Everything.

Galaxy Quest had it right.

Knitting, along with any other skill you may be interested in trying and mastering, falls just fine into these learning stages.

Ever take a knitting class? Ever see that person in the room who just doesn\’t seem to \”get it?\” They huff and puff and get annoyed or irritated and sometimes they may even blame the instructor or their yarn or their needles for what they perceive to be \”failure\”…all in an effort to explain why they believe they \”cannot\” learn the skill they came to learn. Is it true they cannot perform the new skill? NO. In the vast majority of cases, YES, they can learn the skill. 


Think back to a time when you learned a skill. Riding a bike is a good place to start. Hardly anyone learned to ride a bike the first day they tried it. No. People often start with a trike, then a small bike with training wheels. At some point the training wheels come off and your dad helps you wobble crazily down the road while bending over awkwardly and trying desperately to hold on to the back of your seat.

You eventually fall down. Maybe you don\’t want to get back on that day. Or a few days. Or weeks. But you eventually get back on. Through trial and error, skinned knees or elbows, maybe even some social pressure from friends who are younger than you who are already proficient  in the mystical ways of bike riding (that was me, by the way), you get back on the bike again and again…and again…until you are riding like it\’s nothing. You no longer have to think about it so hard or at all. Soon, you no longer really consciously remember that you couldn\’t do it before because it has become so natural.

I took a Double Knitting class and it required a LOT of concentration!! (And ripping out)

Why did you ride the bike? Because you were ashamed in front of your friends? That is only one of many possible motivators. You rode the bike because you allowed yourself to go ALL the way through the stages of learning.

And you didn\’t even know it.

I like how this particular website explains this model for the stages of learning:

1. Unconscious Incompetence—We don\’t know what we don\’t know. The learner is unaware of his or her knowledge gap, misunderstanding, or lack of a particular skill.
2. Conscious Incompetence—We become aware of our limitations and begin to learn. The learner now realizes the importance of a skill but fails in trying to apply that skill.
3. Conscious Competence—We perform competently when we deliberately focus our attention on the task at hand. The learner, through practice, can now apply the skill but has to think about each step.
4. Unconscious Competence—We naturally perform excellently, the skill becomes second nature. The learner can apply this skill effortlessly without conscious thought. The learner has mastered the skill as a result of many hours of practice.

I committed to learning on my own, so I tried a new and sort of frustrating pattern on my own at home.

Sometimes we don\’t want to go through the stages–it is uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing, especially if we feel others are \”passing\” us. Heck, read some of the above stage descriptions. Looks uncomfortable. And it is. We don\’t like some of the feelings associated with the learning experience. We want to skip right ahead to total success.

Something I learned going through the process of learning how to perform the delicate and sometimes admittedly difficult task of skillfully and knowledgeably cleaning (especially what some may know as \”deep cleaning\”) teeth is that it is okay to be a beginnner and a learner. (I had a prof who repeatedly said to us frustrated students, \”Calm down! You\’re leeeaarrrrnnningggg…\” she\’d drag the word out for emphasis and fluidly wave her hand sweepingly across the room) And no matter that it may take some of us longer to get to the end than others. We can get there.

My college experience, along with the fact the dental hygiene programs are very competitive and limited entry, gave me new insight and self-confidence. It opened my eyes to the fact that if I choose to go through the process, I can do many things. No, it is true, not every thing, but many things.

And I choose knitting as one of the things I am willing to work through.

Knitting is one of those endless worlds where everything unfolds farther and farther away from you as you go. You master the knit stitch, then there\’s the purl. You get that one down and here come increases and decreases…. and how many types! Before you know it, people around you are using words like seaming, then cabling and lace and double-knitting and *gasp* steeking. And don\’t even talk about understanding which fiber to use for what purpose.

Coffee pattern I downloaded

I quit knitting almost as soon as I started learning at 8 years old. While I now know why that happened, I still sometimes personally feel like I started knitting too late in life: there will now not be enough years in my life to accomplish everything I want to learn. That\’s just the nature of it. (Of course, I meet lots of knitters now and they all say that same thing, even if they have been knitting 40 years. I don\’t think that makes me feel better, exactly, but it is a fact of the skill.)

I have been knitting for 5 years now at 44 years old, and I know I have only scratched the surface. And I see that I go through the learning process, not only as one \”big thing\” for all of knitting, but every single time for every single new skill learned. I have resigned myself to the fact that each step will be frustrating and hard but I will make it through the steps.

There was a girl in one of my more challenging classes in high school. I noticed that every day she would stay after class for a minute and clarify assignments with the teacher, and clear up any misunderstandings she felt she had during the class. She was never afraid to ask questions. No one else did that, including me. Even if I understood all the concepts and ideas in the class better than she did, and she seemed to struggle, she still did better than I did in class. Why? She was okay with the feeling of being a \”llleeaaarrrnnnerrrrrr….\” I was not.

Why am I on this soapbox?  I don\’t want the frustrated knitter in the class to quit. I want people to know that they can succeed, even if it takes a little more time and frustration in payment. So get used to those initial feelings. Embrace the ripping back and ripping out. Pour yourself a glass of wine or cup of coffee and walk away for a moment, but not forever.

To anyone who ever felt like throwing down you needles: at least you are not stabbing them into your friend\’s delicate oral tissues and hoping you will still be friends after the ordeal is over.

Try again. It will be worth it.

Me, Annie and Amy in the back yard 2014

When I was growing up, Easter meant getting a brand, spanking-new dress, handmade, from my Grandma Miller. It was a highlight of the year for me. She would not only make a dress for me, but one for my mother and one for herself as well. They were always spectacular.

My mother and I would get up Easter Sunday morning and dress to the nines. On that day, I was allowed to wear nylons (instead of tights, as a young girl) and a grown-up style slip, usually on loan from my grandmother. My hair, done the night before, was carefully arranged by my mother, who would be wearing her red \”dressing up\” lipstick and her very coiffed wig du jour.

I would step with my family out into the sunlight of the morning in new white leather shoes–sometimes patent leather for extra shine–and head to church to meet my grandma. When all of us women gathered outside the baptist church on those mornings (for I was a woman on all Easters), my mother and dad would pull out carefully transported corsages from the car and remove them from their plastic containers.

My mom or dad helped me to carefully pin the flower onto my dress, so as not to squish the fragile petals of the orchids or lilies. And I, who rarely felt beautiful as a child, felt glorious, if only for that day in the entire year.

Annie has searched high and low to find a Peter Pan collar!

I want my daughters to have that experience at least a few, if not most, Easters.

This year, I sewed dresses for Easter.

Annie chose an old fashioned, vintage style from around the 40\’s or 50\’s and Amy Rose received a special dress, pattern designed by my friend Jona Giammalva (sewist and designer extraordinaire). Amy Rose\’s dress has the last remnant of ric-rac from Grandma Miller\’s original stash. She also happens to have some vintage thread on there (magenta and right off the wooden spool), along with some Daisy Kingdom fabric I purchased from the downtown Portland store as they were going out of business several years ago.

Annie\’s dress has her favorite: a Peter Pan collar.

Both girls loved the dresses. Annie even wore hers the very next day to school (with Doc Martins, ala Molly Ringwald era style)  and Amy nearly slept in hers that night.

I loved watching them feel beautiful. And I knew Grandma Miller was smiling…even without the corsages.

I have completed my test knit for RUST by Gabrielle Danskknit. It was a surprisingly quick to knit pattern with interesting and simple changes in the fabric as you go along, such as color changes and eyelets. It only took a total of 170.30 yards and/or 104grams of worsted and heavy worsted weight yarn to complete the single loop cowl.

I was using what I had on hand (at first–who doesn\’t end up using a test as an excuse to hit the LYS?) and thought it might be cool to use some different textures. I started out with a base of Knit Picks City Tweed in Habanero, heavy worsted weight. Then, I decided to pull out the fleck colors in the tweed besides the main rust color: black, cream and brown.

For that, I added Lamb\’s Pride Worsted Weight yarn in Oatmeal and Wild Oak and Lamb\’s Pride Bulky Weight in Onyx for the center piece.

The piece is designed symmetrically in stitch count from top to bottom, with evenly spaced eyelet rounds and a central garter stitch band, so I did the same with the colors.

I am modeling it with my Fuego hat (new) and my 1980\’s Stratojac Coat (Old….Goodwill but vintage find!!).

I would recommend this pattern to newish knitters who are looking to learn knitting in the round and/or some yarn overs/eyelets. It is VERY fast to knit. All of us testers were surprised, and at only 3 stitches to the inch if you use the right yarn (mine was smaller at 3.5 st/inch), you can be even faster than I was.

It is not \”live\” yet, but should be for sale soon in Gabrielle\’s Ravelry shop.

Happiest of knitting to you all! 🙂

(Does anyone else notice how we all say that? \’Happy knitting?\” It\’s like the knitter\’s version of the Vulcan salute: \”Live Long and Prosper.\” Just sayin….)

….to make.

The sweater took one year to complete, nearly to the day. Why? You say? Or, if you are a knitter, you may have maybe just a few ideas why this would be. No, it is not a complicated sweater. In fact, just the opposite.

First, the entire sweater is stockinette with 2×2 ribbed edging. In pieces. That you have to assemble. There is no colorwork and not a single stitch of any other type besides stockinette–did I mention that already? There is no shaping, and the funnel neck simply extends up from the front and back halves of the sweater. I just couldn\’t bring myself to keep working on it when distracted by so many other tempting and yummy things that wanted to be made. So it sat, sadly in the bottom of the knitting queue (figuratively and literally) for a very long time.

Then recently, upon picking it up again, I realized that this sweater had potential. It was something that I would probably buy if it were on a store rack. It might not even have to be on sale. It had a boxy shape (one of my personal favorite shapes for sweaters and tops) and a turtleneck. In fact, that piece was even in the name! What was I waiting for? I picked it up and took a second look. (Okay, a 55nd look…)

This sweater, from The Yarn Girls Guide to Simple Knits, is called \”A Tempting Turtleneck.\” It is a curious, and really, to be fair, interesting combination of techniques. For the person looking for a first sweater pattern, this may be for you as it truly does not have any shaping and is really straightforward construction-wise.

And though I am joking about stockinette, let\’s face it: when it is done right and in the correct yarn, it is very nice indeed. It looks nice on just about everyone as far as a fabric goes. And in this case, you have absolute control over the length of the body of the sweater and the arms. (My arms are extra freakishly long, according to off-the-rack clothing.)

The challenging parts of the sweater include seaming and the construction of the turtleneck.

Yes, I said it has no shaping, and it is knitted straight up from the front and back, then the two pieces are seamed together at the shoulders and continued up said neck to the end. Wait a minute, you say, If I seam the turtleneck right up the sides, that creates a seam selvage on the inside. If I turn down the turtleneck (which you are \”supposed\” to do), the seams will show.

My solution to this was to seam the shoulders together, NOT break the yarn, poke the needle into the inside of the turtleneck and seam it from the \”inside,\” the part you see when turning the collar down. That way, the seams were formed on the \”outside\” of the collar as it is seen when it is unfolded.

I like how it turned out, and when the sweater is worn, collar turned down and all, the seams are not seen.

The sweater was knitted in Marble Chunky by James C. Brett. Here it is at WEBS yarn store, I bought mine at Craft Warehouse locally on sale.

And since I have been wanting to become more proficient at seaming, I used very light purple yarn, sport weight, on the chunky weight sweater. I thought it might be a good way to reveal any seaming issues. But to be honest, I would do it again as it was very easy to see and actually made the whole process easier.

The Yarn Girls, in their books, say that, in theory, you should be able to seam a sweater in highly contrasting yarn and, in theory the yarn should be invisible to the observer.

This experience showed me the theory is sound; it played out just fine in real life. Now…if only we could try that with wormholes….

I love working with Gabrielle Danskknit. She is my neverbeforeseen friend to the east and north in Montreal, Canada. She is a knitwear designer there who is about to enter medical school. She designs cute and simple patterns that are easy to follow and are friendly to read. That is, her very agreeable personality comes out in them, even in abbreviated fashion. How she does that, I don\’t know.

Currently, I am doing another test knit for her, and here is my swatch to intrigue you:

\”RUST\” is a cowl with her signature simple construction and fun feel. I will keep you updated as to its progession and release. If you are interested in her other patterns, you can find them here in her Ravelry store.

And even as spring threatens warmer weather, don\’t forget to get your cozy on once in a while.

After all, cozy is a state of mind, not a temperature.

Lacy&The Leaves Baby Blanket, Gabrielle Danskknit

One of the things I have tried out over the last several months was test knitting.  I joined the group \”Free Pattern Testers\” on Ravelry back in the late fall of last year and promptly spent too much time looking in from the outside, believing that I would probably not be of very much help to anyone writing new patterns.

Once I got over my irrational fear of failure, I grabbed a pattern from the long list in the group called \”Lacy& the Leaves\” baby blanket. I took a deep breath and dove in. After all, how hard could a baby blanket be? While the pattern was not hard to knit (and the instructions were just fine, even though it was a test knit), I did not do a good job managing my time on the project. We had planned a camping trip not long after I accepted the test knit and I wound up knitting madly most of the trip, to my family\’s chagrin, since I am the one who cooks all the camping meals.

After several family meals of granola bars and Capri Suns, I finally finished the blanket at Fort Stevens in Warrenton, Oregon and took some photos of it. My family, who had no pictures of their own from that trip, looked on during the test knit photo shoot, munching on the now barley palatable Nature Valley Oats n\’ Honey bars in silence and dreaming of a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon that may yet come even if only on the last day of the trip.

The camp ground had wi-fi, which I had mostly been using to apologize to the designer, whose test this was,

for my tardiness in finishing the test. I finally was able to finish up and post photos and fill out the paperwork for the project and head out with my family on my bicycle and into the camping activities sunset.

Since then, I have test knitted a few more projects, including some hats and socks, seen here in this blog post. (Links to my project pages and to the patterns are provided under each photo where available)

Test knitting is a really good learning experience for anyone wanting to know more about design, or even just about knitting. It can be eye opening and even affirming; like in school when you are asked to \”grade\” another person\’s paper and you realize just how much you know about commas after all.

I currently am about to test another pattern for a lovely cowl for Gabrielle Danskknit of Montreal, Canada. Look out for another new pattern soon and I will keep looking for fun ways to learn more about knitting!

John\’s Aviator Hat, Gabrielle Danskknit

Jules for Aviators and Explorers

Embrace the Socks, Gabrielle Danskknit

Beatrix

Alpine Flowers Fair Isle Hat

Tiptoe Slippers, Hanna Tjukanov

Hello again!

I, like so many other bloggers, have been quite remiss in my posting frequency.  I will not say that I am making a New Year\’s resolution to remedy this ( I also get out of that since it\’s April and nearly, really, May, right?) but I do have a recently created \”to do\” list for the blog down on actual paper (does anybody use that stuff anymore? I love it….am I the last one?) in pencil (so as to account for changes) and have the best of intentions to provide you, the reader (and I realize there really may be only, literally one reader…I am okay with that) with hours and hours of upcoming semi-riveting reading and amusement.

And no, I have not–for a single moment–stopped knitting, sewing, cooking and otherwise crafting for one second. I do love it all so 🙂

Since I last visited you, I had completed my first for sale pattern, which I developed for a class I was asked to teach last fall in Lyle, Washington at the Homesteading Fair. Well, they have called upon me again for this upcoming September and I have been thinking about what to teach this time.

Last year, I taught an all day class on toe-up socks which was fun and informative for me as well as I hope it was for the participants.

This year, I am thinking of something a little less difficult skill-wise, but still at a sort of intermediate level. I am thinking right now of teaching how to knit a hat with simple stranded color work on bulky weight yarn. After all, most knitters have at least tried knitting a hat and, with Christmas not all that distant following the fair, it might be nice for people to have a quick pattern with a new twist (the colorwork) to make simple, fun and what will be well loved gifts.

I will keep you informed as this notion develops!

Anyone interested in the fair here in Washington State can follow their blog here, or their facebook page here. Anyone interested in finding out what homesteading is, can google it or start here. You will be surprised at what you find!

fairislerona: A week on the Isle of Mull: We have just had a week in Mull and stayed at the gorgeous  Treshnish cottages  in the North West of the island.  We had fabulous weather – …

Hello, all!

Just a quick note to announce that I have posted a new free pattern, available as a downloadable pdf on Ravelry. It will remain free until January 1, 2014.  That way, everyone who would like a quick, sockish Christmas pattern can take advantage of it at no cost!

The pattern is called \”Slipperish Socks\” and was created for the workshop I taught a couple of months ago. It is a toe-up sock pattern that works up quickly in worsted weight yarn. For extra usefulness, I have created the pattern to include sizes from older baby/toddler to large man–this naturally includes a wide variety of foot circumferences, from 4\” to 11\”.

You can find the pattern here in my Ravelry \”store.\” (I say that in quotes since all 4 of the existing patterns are free so far!)

Happy Holidays to everyone! I hope to be back writing more soon!!