Textured Stitches Book Signing

I had a really great Artist Date this week. I went to the Lion Brand Yarn Studio for the Textured Stitches book signing. Connie Chang Chinchio, is a busy working mom who managed to design the patterns, write the book, commute from NJ to DC and have a baby in 2011. I was exhausted just writing that.

The book, typical of Interweave publications, is full of gorgeous detailed, photos of contemporary, wearable sweaters and accessories. Chinchio's designs feature textural accents that add a touch of elegance to simple shapes.

I want to make a sweater this year. So every time I get my hands on a knitwear designer I'm planning to ask his or her opinion of what a good construction method for a beginning sweater knitter. Chinchio recommended a top down raglan. Maybe, I'm going to look at a few to see if there's anything I like.

I got a couple of pictures of the sweaters in Textured Stitches. They look great in the book, in person the knitting was soft and lofty. The colors were much richer in person too. Check out my pics from the evening:

The Dire Wolf is my inspiration this week. I kept running into images of them. The Shifters of Lowell Island are the last remnant of the Dire Wolf in the world. Click here to see picture of what Dire Wolves might have looked like.

I didn’t get much work done on 101 Acting Questions, Answered! This was a difficult week for me. I was just getting back to work after being out sick, flat on my back in bed sick, and on my second day back to the office there was a major flood in the building. 

My schedule was completely disrupted. This week I spent a lot of my off time just trying to catch up on my work. Things should settle down somewhat. I will have a new version of the cover to show you. 

I think what I’ll do in next week’s post is put up all of the variations I’ve come up with and see what people like best. Stay tuned.

If you visit my blog at 101 Acting Questions with Nelly Odessa you'll find a post about social media for actors.

The Secret History of Lowell Island

There was an ancient painting in a cave on Lowell Island, the paintings were ancient when the first of the Algonquin peoples settled the islands of Long Island Sound. 

The cave drawings seem to show a changing of the guard after the last ice age. The time of the mega-fauna had come to an end and most of the larger carnivores died off when the last of their prey animals went extinct. This die-off included the Dire wolves. That’s the temporal explanation of the scenes depicted in the cave. 

There is another story depicted in the cave paintings that predates human habitation of North America. The paintings depict battles between wolves huge, short-faced Dire Wolves and smaller more nimble modern wolves. As the pictures progress, the Dire Wolves seem to lose territory until they were pushed right off the North American mainland, and the final picture is of three Dire Wolves on an island. 

In a universe where matter can’t be created or destroyed, it seems that the energy of the wolves may have remained behind on Lowell Island after the death of the last pack.

A DVD And Some Knitting: The Instant Artist Date

I’m working my way through Julia Cameron’s Walking In This World. Part of the program involves setting aside time each week to go out and just do something you enjoy and that feeds your creative self.
I’d planned to go to ABC Carpet and Home.

I’d had a really busy weekend, traveling and ringing in the New Year with family and friends that I was really tired on Monday. I ended up exploring some knitting blogs that I’ve been meaning to get to and then I popped Priest in my DVD player and got some long over due knitting done on a shawl project that’s been languishing unfinished in a plastic bag.

If you're reading Cameron, I'd love to hear about what you're doing for your Artist Dates.  Check out: Julia Cameron Live for more ideas for your Artist Date.

God of Blood and Fire

The day after Christmas I heard about a tragic fire that claimed the lives of a woman’s parents and her three young children.

I woke this morning with the notion in my morbid imagination that I hear about one of these horrible holiday fires that wipes out whole families every year.

I couldn’t help wondering if there was something lurking just behind the fabric of our reality that demands a sacrifice each year. We may have moved on to new gods, but it demands it’s annual offering of suffering. I think this might be the seed of a dark, winter tale.

Magic Loop Knitting

This week I tried out  the Magic Loop technique. This might not be new territory for experienced knitters, but for me it’s terra incognita. I’ve read about the magic loop technique, but I got so overwhelmed by the idea that I never really tried it.

I found the Youtube video below that made the technique so clear. So I got my courage up and got a circular needle. I decided just to make a little ten-stitch circle.

My circular needle wasn’t really long enough, the process was a little awkward. Most sources recommend using a circular needle with a minimum of 24 inches of cable between them. I could only find a pair of circulars with a 16 inch cable this morning just before I ran out the door to work.

I had to start over a couple of times before I got the hang of it. Even with the short cord, the Magic loop is really simple. I already like it better for really tight circles than double points. I didn't take a picture of my, too loose and laddery, little circle because I was on the Q train when I was knitting and I didn't want to be that subway weirdo who stops to take pictures of the tiny piece of knitting she's working on.