This weekend I watched an independent film directed by my friend, Laurence Walsh. Filmed in Poland, Cold Kenya is serious, subtle and intriguing. It's shot in black & white, using the texture of the Polish streets and sleek modern buildings to frame the characters. The film has been accepted to the Boston International Film Festival. Screening time: June 9th, 2:30pm, at the AMC Loews Theatres Boston Common, 175 Tremont Street. The film is in Polish -there are subtitles, so leave your sticks at home. If you’re in the Boston area you should check it out.

Posted by brooke at 02:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

muted turquoise

I knit 1.5 rounds on the Shetland tea shawl today. It’s not the most advanced pattern, but it’s doing its job – pushing me to try new knitting techniques I haven’t tried before. Specifically the double yarn over. Yo. Circle inside square. Oh yeah, I’m knitting lace, I should have expected some yarn over craziness. The first round contained double yarnovers with decreases on each side.¹ Then on the next round I had to purl and knit into each yarn over made on that last round. Sometimes loops of yarn have a mind of their own. (I’ve been keeping the loop in place with my thumb and found that it doesn’t slip off so easily.) This p k into the yo yo happens twice in the repeat. How is it possible that I’m excited about yarnovers? Just writing this makes me want to get back and finish the round.

¹“The corresponding decreases can follow the lines of holes by right-leaning and left-leaning decreases…The most common form is to work a right-leaning decrease (k2tog) before the yo and a left-leaning decrease (ssk) after the yo…”
A Gathering of Lace by Meg Swansen

Posted by brooke at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Notes - Left: the somewhat cowl Right: the shetland tea shawl

How often do you whip out the tape measure to check your gauge? What affects gauge? Needle size, yarn, pattern stitch, the length of time you knit, your mood, where you knit, when you knit, what you eat/drink while knitting. We all knit differently. And yet, by going up or down a needle size we can get the gauge the pattern asks. (Or as in some magazines, shouts.) I had to get out a tool that hasn’t seen much use lately. The tape measure. I’ve been checking periodically to make sure I’m getting stitch and row gauge on the somewhat cowl. (Yeah, I am!) I also keep a pencil and paper next to my knitting, but don’t need it for this project. (Always a pencil. I’m paranoid about pens ever since reading this post by Grumperina last year.)
This is the first time I’ve knit a sweater top down and I’m loving it.

Posted by brooke at 09:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

blue sky alpacas alpaca & silk in plum - yarn for the somewhat cowl

I sat on the floor, legs crossed, back straight. I tried to meditate the organic way – focusing only on the breath. But after five minutes, I picked up the needles next to me and began to work on the new project I’m knitting.

Mindful knitting as meditation.

Edited to add:
I was just reading ModeKnit and there was a comment that the Summer IK preview is up. (Check out her Bias Corset, perfect for summer.) Ever since I knit this, I’ve been searching for a cute baby pattern. Kate Gilbert’s Pea Pod Baby Set looks like the perfect project!

Posted by brooke at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I’m reading Yarn Harlot. Which one? I have a lot of catching up to do, so I’m starting with The Secret Life of a Knitter and then I’ll move on to Knitting Rules!. (And eventually, At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much.)

Top of the stack:
The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh
Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Knitting Workshop by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Posted by brooke at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Shetland tea shawl has taken up residence on the kitchen table. (My knitting always gets the best real estate.) Despite how much I knit this week, the shawl still looks like an extra large shower cap. It’s starting to grow up. And it’s wrinkly. Doesn’t sound pretty. Doesn’t look pretty. I like watching a project take shape. You walk by it on your way out the door. Or stand and look at it for a moment before you put away the groceries. A shawl knit in the round doesn’t offer this daily change. But working on the last chart, with yo’s, k2tog’s and ssk’s every row, has made up for the lack of big-picture progress. So this is knitted lace!

Posted by brooke at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

574 sts on a 40” 3.25mm Addi needle

Six rounds to knit and then I’ll start the diamond madeira chart. (Check the errata dated 2/6/2006.)

This shawl is based on Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Pi Shawl, with different Shetland lace patterns thrown in between the increases by Dale Long. I’m glad I frogged and re-knit the Shetland fern. It was only 16 rounds and then I got to move on to horseshoes. Gotta love variety.

Posted by brooke at 03:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)