Destiny's Childe Cover Preview

I finished my first stab at making a cover for my upcoming short story, Destiny's Child, today. I might make another version or two just to try out some other ideas, but so far this one's not bad. The story is about a prescient boy who tries to change the future for someone he loves. 

On My Knitting Needles: The Merino and Cashmere Cowl

Cowl’s are the new "it" garment. I saw an article in the New York Times last winter that got me interested in them. The title was something like can the cowl save Christmas. I made one for myself last year and I wore it all winter long.

Clothing sales were kind of dismal in winter 2010, according to the story, clothing designers were trying to make cowls happen because it was an article of clothing that most people didn’t already have in their closets. The designer cowls the Times featured were really hot, but the prices were well past the limits of my budget.

I thought about it, and finally said to myself, "hey that’s a tube, I can knit a tube," and my first cowl was born. Of course, being me, I couldn’t just knit a tube. That cowl turned into an exploration of using the golden ratio as a design tool. 

I considered trying to knit it as a moebius, but my skills weren’t up to the task. Check out the moebius cast on method below. Cat Bordhi, knit wear designer and knitting Goddess, gives a great lesson in casting on a true moebius.

 
  Eventually, I just knit it back and forth like a scarf then grafted the two ends together after giving them a twist.

The project on my needles now is another cowl inspired by the first one. My aunt saw me wearing mine and asked if I could make one for her too. It’s on a much smaller scale because my Aunt Veronica is a much smaller person than I am. 

I spent a few weeks swatching and hating my swatches when I found this neat pattern called Aqua Ripples in Simply Knitting magazine, Issue 81, June 2011, page 67. 

I loved how fast the cowl grew in the bulky yarn. The pattern looks a lot more complicated than it is, every other row you just go back to the basic three by one rib, very relaxing TV knitting.

And no, I couldn’t just follow the pattern and make the shallow, but very nice cowl pictured. I’ve modified the pattern so that the cowl would be longer and wider than the original design. Cowls feel more luxurious to me when you can twist them once or twice around your neck, or pull them up to form a hood.

The yarn was a Michael’s find: Lion Brand Super Wash Merino, a blend of 70% merino wool, 20% cashmere with a dab of nylon in Slate (color # 150), an elegant shade of gray. You get the warmth of wool and the softness of cashmere. I thought it was a steal at $7.99 a ball. 


I'm planning a visit with her over Labor Day weekend. I should have her cowl completely finished by then.

If I have enough yarn left, she might even get a pair of fingerless mitts because I really like knitting this pattern.

Some Summer Reading

I’ve accepted that I’m what Barbara Sher refers to as a scanner. I have a zillion interests that I pursue with varying degrees of passion for however long the fire lasts. I say this to prepare you for my summer reading list.It seems a little, how do I put it politely—eclectic?

The Post American World

Fareed Zacharia says, "This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." I’m nearly done with this refreshing look at the past and future of American hegemony. 

Knitting the Old Way, by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and Deborah Robson

I’ve been a knitter for about three years now and I’m just becoming adventurous enough to try to stop being a slave to patterns. Ms. Roberts breaks down the construction methods for traditional garments so that line by line instructions aren’t necessary. I made a shawl using basic “how to make a triangle,” instructions and embellished it with stitch patterns of my own choosing. I frogged that thing more times than I care to count, but in the end I love wearing it and I have an understanding of how to make a triangular shawl with or without a pattern.

UnHoly Angels, by Karen Fenech

I added this to my reading list because when I got to the end of the sample I downloaded I wanted more immediately. What can I say about a thriller that has murder, suicide, grave robbing, child abuse and political corruption in the first four chapters—buckle up it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Hard Day’s Knight(Black Knight Chronicles), by John G. Hartness

How can you not laugh at a story about an overweight, vampire who tries to solve mysteries wearing a spandex body stocking, a cape, and a utility belt? The sample chapters had me laughing out loud.

On China, by Henry Kissinger

I see On China as a companion to the Post American World. I’ll be taking a look at the modern relationship between China and the United States through the eyes of the man who designed the American side of the exchange.

That’s the lineup so far. I’ll post another one of these updates in August

TweetLit #1: I Am The Hunter

Hmm, she's hip for an H&M girl. Watching her browse mall goods, unaware she's prey thrills me. H&M, Gap, Macy's, sheep! Taking her wallet was easy. She even apologized for bumping in to me. I dubbed her Mocha.

I bought a shiny, new hatchet with Mocha's credit card. I need to make space for her. I'll pick her up in a few days.

Doe's in the cage cuddling her predecessor's head. She ate the rest, eventually. Tacos for her last meal I think.

Cage cleaned, steaks, roasts, ground meat prepped, before I left, I put Doe's head in the cage. I'm ready for Mocha.

(c) 2011 Lisa Toppin


If you'd like to see I Am The Hunter in its original form search Twitter for #iamthehunter. For more Tweetlit, follow me on Twitter.

A Puzzle And A Haiku Have A Baby

I'm getting a kick out of writing these microstories. This first one was like figuring out a puzzle. How do I create a full scene with each tweet when I have less than characters? The answer: graph paper and loads of rewrites.

I've fallen in love with Sharpie Liquid Pencils. I know it's an erasable pen, but the ink looks really pencilly, and after about 24 hours it's indelible. That means lots of working time for rewrites and no smudgy notes. Yay Sharpie!

Twit Lit? What do you call a story told in Tweets?

I listened to an Accidental Creative podcast yesterday. The show was an interview with Noah Scalin, who created the Skull-a-Day blog. I was really inspired by his project and decided to create one of my own . I'm going to tweet a super short story every day for a year and a day (love the fairy tale-ishness of that). Some tweets will be complete stories, others will be just a portion of a tweet series. Tweet-tastic I'm psyched.

What's Next?

I'll have the next short story ready to upload by the end of May. I finally have a working title that I might keep : Seeds of Fate. It's part of a quotation from Harry S. Truman;  "Actions are the seed of fate deeds grow into destiny." I'm still open to another title, but this was the one that evoked the theme of the story for me. 

This story takes place in the world of my novel many years in the past. I'm kind of toying with the idea of fate. Are certain events predestined? Can we influence our destiny? If we can to what degree?

Speaking of predestination, tomorrow is May 21, the projected date of the "Rapture," sort of a kick off party to the Christian doomsday. The excitement this latest end of the world scenario has ignighted (the second by Harold Camping btw) makes me think a lot of people believe in predestination.

Is there a date set for the end of the world in a cosmic outlook calendar? I don't know, but I'd like to think we are free to create our own destinies both individually and collectively as a species. In any case, as an eclectic pagan, I don't have to worry about being kidnapped naked by a supernatural being.  Wow, doesn't that sound like the plot of a paranormal romance?