Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Everyone, be proud of my unsocial, ungathery self, for I have done the previously unthinkable and joined a knit-along. Sockapalooza 4, everybody, Sockapalooza 4 and I are BFF's!! In fact I was so excited to get my pal's information last night that I immediately casted on and finished a sock!
Tada! Isn't it a beauty???
OK not really. I mean the part about having started the sock last night. It is definitely, without question, very beautiful, so much so that I will buy for my lovely little sock a little sparkly tiara and build her a little runway so that she may sashay her pretty self around the house for all to admire. You can thank CookieA for this brilliant pattern, called the Twisted Flower Sock.
I started it several weeks ago and have been knitting it very off and on. Through the first round of pattern I had a sneaking suspicion that it was going to be too big for me. I kept chugging along though, one because the pattern is, well, so drop-dead gorgeous, and so fun to do, and second, I was hoping that perhaps I would be assigned to someone who might specifically mention liking
- sock yarns with that tight beady twist (as Cherry Tree Hill Supersock has)
- solid colored yarns (this one's in Burgundy)
- and had a slightly bigger foot than me, maybe half an inch or so longer and wider...
If all applied I would be able to just go ahead and knit this for my pal.
And wouldn't you know it: Check, check, and check on all three counts!
I didn't follow the pattern through to the heel, fearing it would too loose.
But I might very well change my mind. It is only May (May!?!) afterall...
*****
So speaking of swaps, I'd like to take this final opportunity to thank everyone who participated in the Knitterly Letter Swap. I hope everyone enjoyed writing and receiving their letters. I did. There was a period where I had a letter waiting for me in the mailbox for 4 consecutive days. It was better than Christmas! I owe several replies...Anyway, there were a few snafus with lost letters, returned letters, etc. and I tried my best to follow up with people, but of course it's impossible to police and to make sure every letter gets to where it needs to go. Last week I paired up all letterless folks who contacted me with a "savior," and they sent their letters out to you almost immediately (thank you saviors! and those who volunteered but didn't get used). So I really hope all of you who joined have received at least one letter, and that you've got your letter-writing juices flowing enough to continue writing more!
Filed Under: Letter-writing | Socks | Sockapalooza | Twisted Flower
Monday, April 23, 2007
OK, all ye members of Club Knitterly Letter Swap. Two things:
1) If you have not received a letter from your initial pen pal yet, please send me an e-mail (scroll to the very bottom of this page), and please type "KLS I didn't get a letter" in the subject.
2) If you have received letters and would like to write another, e-mail me and please type "KLS letter savior" in the subject.
- You do not have to be in the swap initially to be a letter savior, so those who missed out in the sign-up round can sign up to be a letter savior now.
- HOWEVER please be prepared to write and send a letter within a day or two of receiving an address, which I hope to send out tomorrow at the latest. There will be no two-week waiting period for this.
****
I wish I had more to say, but I have not knitted very much in the last week. The reason is not a loss of interest, but a demotion in priority. Knitting - and maybe blogging - will have to take a backseat for the next couple of weeks more. Which is ironic because, ready to start fresh in a new home, I bought a new domain name for this site two weeks back. Now there's no time, and no content. Bleh.
So for now I leave you with photos from this weekend. Turns out I wasn't the only one rejoicing in the glorious spring sunshine.
La la la! So happy to be outside.
Filed Under: Cats | Letter-writing
Monday, April 16, 2007
It's been two weeks since participants of the KLS have received their penpals and I hope I hope I hope most everyone has written and sent their first letters.
Yah? Please?
Here's my little pile of letters that I have received over the last few weeks.
Happy happy! Joy joy!
Ah, such a small wonder how letters can bring about a case of the warm and fuzzies inside. I particularly enjoyed being addressed as "[My name] & Feline Staff." That gave me a good chuckle.
I'd love to see photos of your letters, so if you've received yours, let me know!
And if you have not received your first letter yet, also let me know and I'll uh...I will...er...well I don't know what I'll do exactly, except to make sure that a letter gets to you asap. I have plenty of stationery left!
Filed Under: Letter-writing
Monday, April 02, 2007
Despite that it's a dreary damp day, and that it's Monday, today is a good, sunshiney day. It's the first day of baseball season (SO excited about that). And it's the official start of the Knitterly Letter Swap! I spent all of yesterday checking and re-checking the list of sign-ups, and firing off emails with the names and addresses of your penpals.
Everyone who signed up should have received an email from me with your penpal's information. If you think you have signed up but received no email from me, please let me know.
I wouldn't be surprised if I messed up somewhere, given that I was expecting um, 30, 35 participants at the most, and received nearly 200!
The assignments were random for the most part, but I made sure that everyone would be writing to, or receiving a letter from, someone not in their state or country or their general vicinity. Obviously given that the majority of participants are from the U.S., most will have at least one penpal from the states. Overall though I tried to make the pairings as geographically diverse and as balanced as possible.
At the end of the day there were participants from:
- 40 States (California and Massachusetts representing the largest numbers, and Colorado close behind)
- Canada - Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia
- Australia
- New Zealand
- UK - England, Wales and Scotland
- Germany, Finland, Austria
- Japan
Other tidbits:
- Ages range from 17 to 50's
- All female participants. Save for one. :)
- All knitters. Of course.
So hooray! Thank you all for participating and have fun writing!
Filed Under: Letter-writing
Friday, March 30, 2007
Until then, click here to read about the Knitterly Letter Swap and join!
Edit: Sign-ups for the KLS has now closed. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PARTICIPATING. The response has been really amazing. Look for an email from me this weekend, and in the meantime get your writing muscles warmed up!
And here is some Eye "Candy" Friday for you to use as writing "inspiration" for when you start your letter.
Very little motor control when writing this.
I made a lot of mistakes in this letter to a knitterly penpal - that backspace key is awfully useful as it turns out - but sent it anyway. They're a part of the letter's "charm." Really. :-\
Filed Under: Letter-writing
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
My BFF, the recipient of the red Monkey socks and the one who gave me my nickname "Cat," became engaged back in October. Since then she's kept me appraised of all details - the church, the possible reception locations, the food, the color scheme, her dress.
However there was one very important piece of information missing from all this. And it wasn't until yesterday that I found out what it was.
"We need to discuss what flowers you will have..."
"Me?"
"...and will need to pair with your dress. Yes you get some flowers - "
"Me?"
" - either as corsage or bouquet or hair."
"But...am I..."
"Are you what, kitty?"
"I don't know!!"
"I had flowers at YOUR wedding. You get flowers at MY wedding."
"Yes but - "
"Why are you worried kitty?"
"You were a bridesmaid. Am I a bridesmaid?"
"You are a matron of honor."
"HAHAHA YOU NEVER TOLD ME."
"YES I DID. First thing!"
"No you didn't."
"Right?"
"You did?"
"Didn't I?"
"I don't think so."
"OH MY GOD."
Flashback to October 2006 when BFF's engagement was first revealed...
"FINALLY!!! I can be BRIDESMAID! Heh."
"Yes you can!"
"HAHAHA!"
"I've had it in my head that I wasn't 100% bridesmaid because I invited myself. And then we never talked about it after that. So I just assumed I wasn't..."
"Yeah I said yes you can and I thought that was it. Dude that's hilarious."
So at long last, hooray! I am officially BFF's bridesmaid! This will be the second time I've been asked to be maid of honor, but the first time that I will actually perform the task. The first time my relationship with the bride-to-be - who I'd known since 9th grade - completely dissolved months before her wedding. Needless to say it was ugly, and ultimately very sad. There was just no other way around it though. But that's another story for another day.
Right now I'm very excited to officially be my BFF's Cat of Honor. Thank goodness this comedy of errors has ended. During my recent trip to NYC in February she assumed I was there to shop for a bridesmaid dress. Ha ha! I wasn't! Which explains why she thought I wasn't really "into it." Imagine though if I had bought a dress, and it was all gold and shiny and low-cut and bedazzled with rhinestones. Imagine if we had kept up our assumptions until 2 weeks before her wedding?
Communication is key, people.
**********************
In knitting news, at long last I am on the sleeves of Kooch! This thing is far from being close to finished though. After the sleeves there's the collar to knit and attach. Then the border for the front, including button holes. Then the buttons to sew. Then the belt. One day my friends, one day.
**********************
The deadline - this Friday - for the Knitterly Letter Swap fast approaches! Thank you to everyone who has signed up so far. There are lots of you (yay!), and I am so pleased to have my organizational skills tested in this way. Heh. I have tried to reply to each person as "confirmation" but have lost track here and there. So if you haven't heard from me, don't worry. I have your info. Woot!
Filed Under: Letter-writing | Life | Rowan | Kooch
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
30 March 2007: THE KNITTERLY LETTER SWAP SIGN UP HAS NOW CLOSED! THANK YOU FOR ALL WHO SIGNED UP!
I got started on writing a couple of letters and it's a little harder than I thought it would be! I mean physically. My hand has forgotten how to hold a pen...I hope when you guys receive my letter you're able to read it :-\
OK then, since it takes only two people to successfully swap letters, and since there have been at least two people who are interested in doing so, I have decided that there enough participants to warrant a letter swap club for knitters, and that I will organize it. (!!) I'll be real creative and call it...The Knitterly Letter Swap.
So if you have a stationery stash that rivals your yarn stash, and the idea of writing a letter pleases you as much as receiving one, just like the good ole days before the Internet took over our lives, then the Knitterly Letter Swap is the thing for you!
THE HOW AND THE WHAT
1) E-mail me your full name and address by March 30, 2007.
Subject: Knitterly Letter Swap
- Include your name and address.
- Also include the url to your blog if you have one.
It would be preferable if you have a blog, just so your penpal can have a little bit of context before they write you. But if you don't have one, please include a very short summary or bullet about yourself - your favorite yarn, favorite color, food, etc.
2) Each person will be assigned another person to write to.
In other words, each person will initiate a letter to someone else.
Everyone's penpal will be selected randomly.
I will notify you of yours by April 2, 2007.
More clarification:
Amanda just asked: Since
every person is assigned one person randomly, this means that the
person I initiate a letter to is NOT the person initiating a letter to
me, correct? Correct! Therefore, this little project should net me 2 different pen pals? Correct again! All said, you will have 2 different penpals: one you initially write TO, and another you RESPOND to.
JUST TWO SIMPLE RULES
1) Write to your penpal within 2 weeks. Just so people have a timeframe of when they might expect a letter.
2) Respond to whomever initially writes to you.
Again, within two weeks.
So when all is said and done, you will have written two letters to different people, and received two letters from different people, all appoximately within the month of April, depending on the speediness of the postman of course and where you live. Ta da!
(Seriously, does that make sense?)
KEEP IN MIND
This is about bringing the art of letter-writing back (if not for just a few rounds)! It's meant to be low-key, and for fun, and for people who love paper goods and love writing letters.
This is just a way to jumpstart the penpal process into motion. Whatever
happens after this initial round is up to you. If you find true love with your
penpal, you can of course keep writing.
Though I am no enforcer of the law, if you join and somehow don't write, I will grrowl and your penpal will cry.
You might receive an overseas penpal. Which is COOL! But I thought I'd throw that out there in case you're adverse to licking an extra stamp.
What you want to write about is up to you, but I liked the idea of including a few personal items with your letter. You could:
1) Attach a snippet of your favorite yarn, or yarn from your current project (as if it were a lock of hair, haha).
2) Snip the current weather forecast from your local paper. To my penpal in sunny California: see how cold it still is in Boston!
3) Include a pressed flower from your garden. I can't do this because everything is still dead.
4) Include a copy of your favorite recipe.
etc. etc. etc.
And, of course the prettier the stationery, the better :)
Looking forward to hearing from you fellow letter-lovers!
Filed Under: Letter-writing
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
I have this collection of Japanese silkscreen paper. The collection is small, but the immediate, visceral feelings it illicits from me is anything but. Is it just paper? No way. For me this stuff is like my favorite sock yarn dipped in platinum and then encrusted with diamonds and covered in hot fudge and then placed next to a kitten.
What is that odd sound of a word that I've been seeing lately on blogs? Is it "squee"? If you've ever encountered Japanese silkscreen paper face to face, maybe you've squeed too (but probably not), and wonder why people don't just wallpaper their entire house with them, as I've often pondered about doing to mine. On the outside too.
 
Love love love you all.
But since just a single sheet isn't exactly economic, I have so far just had to make do with smaller projects, such as these handmade journals, which I fill with doodles of my boys.
 
I've also wallpapered the office cubby holes with them.
 
Before and after of my Very Orange Office.
But THIS is my greatest most prized collection ever.
With these paper goods I will build Shangri-la!
My coveted stash of Crane paper goods. And I don't even have anyone to write to! Nevertheless, my goal is that this stash just gets bigger and larger and wider. Even though I hardly write letters anymore, I can never get enough of stationery. It is my #1 Achilles heel, even more so than sock yarn by a mile. Just looking at that mountain of paper - all 100% cotton! - makes my little eyes well up with tears. 99% of this stash is courtesy of Duck's mother who used to work at Crane. As my dealer she feeds me paper crack every Christmas, birthday, anniversary, Easter, Flag Day. (By the way, Crane's is also responsible for producing the U.S. paper currency and I believe the Euro as well. The company has a very fascinating history.)
The obsession with paper goods has been lifelong. I have more stationery than friends to address them to, and more blank journals and more sketch books than any inkwell can fill. And I want more!
Hey! If you want help me go through my paper stash, I'd love to write you a little letter! (I love the physical act of writing too - and conveniently enough I also LOVE PENS!) Forget emails and text messaging and comments and whathaveyou - how about receiving a good old-fashioned honest to goodness handwritten letter? Honestly, when was the last time you received one that wasn't from your great-aunt Betty on your birthday?
Squeee!
Squee?
Filed Under: Letter-writing | Life
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