Inspiration
In art and writing classes when I was a kid, I always had a hard time deciding what to draw or write about. I would stare at the blank pages and wonder where to start. With knitting, that rarely seems to be a problem for me. Inspiration is everywhere, and I feel that I've found my calling, or at least one of them, in life. Inspiration strikes in all kinds of places. I have three examples tonight.
One - I finally got a copy of Domino Knitting, just to compare Hoxbro's (I'm sorry I didn't get the o-like character right, but the last time I tried to get it into my blog it looked all wacky, so just imagine the little line through the middle.) techniques to what I'm doing. One could safely say that this blanket uses a subset of the same techniques she describes, although I do the ends of the rows and the decreases slightly differently. It's funny - I thought about doing an I-cord border a couple of weeks ago, but it is the first she suggests in her book. Great minds think alike, I guess.
Two - in my e-mails today I found a link from Becky that we really must all go check out. http://tilkkupeitto.blogspot.com/. This woman in Finland is apparently knitting 100 blankets for some kind of charity - I didn't read far enough to figure out the details, but the blankets are eye candy! She shows all of the blankets on her Yahoo photo account here. They really are something to see, and number 95 is made out of sock yarn.
Three - on my way to the yarn store this evening, I stopped quickly at a gift-type shop to look for some note cards. I found some really pretty ones, but I had in my hands and almost bought a box from the Smithsonian with pictures of crazy-quilts on them. I thought "How perfect to send in the packages I'm mailing out." But then I had another thought. New inspiration. Something not entirely knitting-related. I'll let you know how it works out.
On to the blanket fun! As promised, here is a picture of the current stash, or rather how it looked last night. What's that big blob of orange next to the Rubbermaid container? That's Daisy, sticking her head into a bag of Koigu. Somebody must have a good-smelling cat who likes to rub up on their yarn. I think I may have to go get another Rubbermaid out of the basement.
Today there were seven packages in the mail, bringing us up to 70 packages total. 70!
Carol Ann in St. Louis sent some Magic Stripes and a chunk of black wool/nylon. Carol, your server timed out when I tried to go look at your web site - is it because of the power problems down your way? I hope you're back on line with the electricity and not sweltering in the heat. I miss living in St. Louis sometimes, but I'm glad not to be there right now with the outages.
Beth in Waterloo, Ontario managed to squeeze a few little bits of yarn in with a note card in a little envelope. You know, if everyone had sent me little bits like this, I probable would have ended up with just the right amount for the one blanket I'm working on right now.
Elisa in Camarillo, California sent some Wildfoote and some acrylic from her first attempt at sock knitting that ended in the frog pond.
Heather in West Lafayette, Indiana sent four chunks of very nice exactly-what-I-asked-for in beautiful colors.
Erika in Edmonton, Alberta sent some very nice chunks of Koigu, something that kind of looks like Bearfoot but maybe is not, and what looks like a full skein of DGB Confetti. Oh, and Erika? I can't wait to see the finished product either. :-)
Patricia from Fayetteville, NC sent some nice Regia. She says she went through a long, painful process with this yarn trying to knit up her first pair for her husband and never wants to see it again. That's too bad, Patricia- but it's funny - I made a pair of socks for my husband out of this same yarn! It's a fuzzy picture, and they were one of the first pairs I ever made too. He only wears them a couple of times a year when it's really cold out.
Julie from Rochester, NY sent three nice big chunks of exactly-what-I-asked for - and now Julie I hope your conscience feels better.
And that's the end of the new yarn for tonight. Thanks to everyone who made my day yet another Christmas in July. Even after 70 packages, it still feels like Christmas morning when the mail carrier stops by with all the gifts!
Here's your cute kid picture of the day...Julie in a Bob-the-Builder induced trance.
The blankie wants to say hi, too.
One - I finally got a copy of Domino Knitting, just to compare Hoxbro's (I'm sorry I didn't get the o-like character right, but the last time I tried to get it into my blog it looked all wacky, so just imagine the little line through the middle.) techniques to what I'm doing. One could safely say that this blanket uses a subset of the same techniques she describes, although I do the ends of the rows and the decreases slightly differently. It's funny - I thought about doing an I-cord border a couple of weeks ago, but it is the first she suggests in her book. Great minds think alike, I guess.
Two - in my e-mails today I found a link from Becky that we really must all go check out. http://tilkkupeitto.blogspot.com/. This woman in Finland is apparently knitting 100 blankets for some kind of charity - I didn't read far enough to figure out the details, but the blankets are eye candy! She shows all of the blankets on her Yahoo photo account here. They really are something to see, and number 95 is made out of sock yarn.
Three - on my way to the yarn store this evening, I stopped quickly at a gift-type shop to look for some note cards. I found some really pretty ones, but I had in my hands and almost bought a box from the Smithsonian with pictures of crazy-quilts on them. I thought "How perfect to send in the packages I'm mailing out." But then I had another thought. New inspiration. Something not entirely knitting-related. I'll let you know how it works out.
On to the blanket fun! As promised, here is a picture of the current stash, or rather how it looked last night. What's that big blob of orange next to the Rubbermaid container? That's Daisy, sticking her head into a bag of Koigu. Somebody must have a good-smelling cat who likes to rub up on their yarn. I think I may have to go get another Rubbermaid out of the basement.
Today there were seven packages in the mail, bringing us up to 70 packages total. 70!
Carol Ann in St. Louis sent some Magic Stripes and a chunk of black wool/nylon. Carol, your server timed out when I tried to go look at your web site - is it because of the power problems down your way? I hope you're back on line with the electricity and not sweltering in the heat. I miss living in St. Louis sometimes, but I'm glad not to be there right now with the outages.
Beth in Waterloo, Ontario managed to squeeze a few little bits of yarn in with a note card in a little envelope. You know, if everyone had sent me little bits like this, I probable would have ended up with just the right amount for the one blanket I'm working on right now.
Elisa in Camarillo, California sent some Wildfoote and some acrylic from her first attempt at sock knitting that ended in the frog pond.
Heather in West Lafayette, Indiana sent four chunks of very nice exactly-what-I-asked-for in beautiful colors.
Erika in Edmonton, Alberta sent some very nice chunks of Koigu, something that kind of looks like Bearfoot but maybe is not, and what looks like a full skein of DGB Confetti. Oh, and Erika? I can't wait to see the finished product either. :-)
Patricia from Fayetteville, NC sent some nice Regia. She says she went through a long, painful process with this yarn trying to knit up her first pair for her husband and never wants to see it again. That's too bad, Patricia- but it's funny - I made a pair of socks for my husband out of this same yarn! It's a fuzzy picture, and they were one of the first pairs I ever made too. He only wears them a couple of times a year when it's really cold out.
Julie from Rochester, NY sent three nice big chunks of exactly-what-I-asked for - and now Julie I hope your conscience feels better.
And that's the end of the new yarn for tonight. Thanks to everyone who made my day yet another Christmas in July. Even after 70 packages, it still feels like Christmas morning when the mail carrier stops by with all the gifts!
Here's your cute kid picture of the day...Julie in a Bob-the-Builder induced trance.
The blankie wants to say hi, too.
posted by Shelly Kang at 10:41 PM
10 Comments:
70 packages! Wow! I mean wow!
I have read all your blog entries about the blanket and the deliveries, but I had no idea it was up to that many.
That is awesome. I love the knitting community!
The blanket is looking awesome too. Thanks for the close-up, I love those. =)
I'm moving along, too. Maybe I'll do a large block soon. I'm still working on getting it wide enough, though. Loving this project! And yours looks great!
oh my gosh, 70? Truly amazing. Hey, I wonder if you're heading to the Guinness World book of records or something, not sure for what, but maybe most sock yarn donated for single project? ^_~ It's uber-cool though.
Blanky's starting to look better and better
Blanket looks awesome!! I'm dying to know about your stationary adventures - paper being my personal obsession of choice...
Shelly, your blankie is looking fabulous! I'm glad to see you rec'd my package. You guessed right, my web site is down because of the storms. Our power has been restored, but no Internet yet (I'm posting from work). Lotsa people still w/o power, so I count myself lucky.
I'm enjoying all your pics of yarn, kids & blankie!
I love seeing the progress on the blanket - especially the close-ups. If you had a huge expanded picture I think I would examine every little bit!
That is exactly how I feel about knitting, I have finally found my creative outlet. After years of trying to find the thing that 'fit' I've found it. I can see ways to manipulate the string with the sticks to give me things that will please me.
I have just started knitting socks so I have very little left over but if you want it let me know how to get it to you you can have it.
The blankie looks like it is smiling at me!
Ellen in Conn
The close-up picture really showed how cool it's going to be and I LOVE that you are using different size miters. Glad you liked the site I emailed to you - I just can't get over those blankets!
The Blankie looks beautiful. i am totally hooked on your blog, and not just because i to make my own blankie, but cute kids and knitting in one place! how licky am i?!
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