LaurieKnits

Friday, April 21, 2006

Soft Uglies by Mary Kim

This is a display which was in the Argyle Street Art Gallery - some friends had their wedding rehersal reception here - normally an open art gallery, but it does close down to host private parties sometimes, qwhich we thought was a really clever idea - it was a good way to get a bunch of people together from all different parts of the couples life, and everyone had something to experience together and chat about, without even trying - everyone could look at and talk about the art even if they didn't know each other at all. And it was a really nice space with several different areas and levels.

The little creatures featured here are by a local Halifax artist, Mary Kim, (photo at right) whose work you can read about in an article in our local indie paper "The Coast" where I found the picture of the artist and of a single close up example of one of her creatures.

I thought I had taken more pictures of this display, but I guess not! EAch creature was completely unique and completely unconventional for normally cute and fluffy stuffed toys.

I would love to see more of her work; unfortanely she does not seem to have a website or any other online mentions that I could find. Still if you ever gett he chance to see her work you should definitely take her creations in!

Latest Knitting Project - "Comfort Shawl" using Knitipicks Shimmer

My latest project is a triangular "feather and fan" type stitch shawl.

I am using the "Shimmer" yarn in Turquoise Splendor that my Secret Knitty Pal gave to me - a very fine lace yarn (70% Baby Alpaca, 30% Silk).

If you haven't heard about it yet, you should check out the KnitPicks site - they are making some fabulous luxury-type yarns available at regular very low prices - I think they have done this by cutting out the middle party in the yarn food chain - they develop direct relationships with their yarn manufacturers in places like Peru and Italy.

The prices are literally 1/3 or 1/4 of the price you would pay for similar yarns that are made of such pricey fibres (silk, wool, alpaca, etc.)

I haven't bought anything there myself yet, but the reviews on the Knittyboard seem great as far as customer service etc. - I was lucky enough to recieve 2 seperate gifts of yarn from the site.

I have two skeins of this Shimmer, and I might get some more, depending on how much shawl I have after I've worked through the first skein!

The other knit picks yarn I recieved is a similar very fine lace weight,
but is 100% merino wool, and I'm not sure what to do with it either (suggestions anyone?) In the meantime it is pretty cool to have such fancy-schmancy yarns hanging around waiting to be used!

My other Knitpicks yarn is called "Gossamer" in the colour "blue jeans" which is a variegated blue, light blue, to grey colour...

I would like to say a special thank you to all the great knitters, who help each other out all the time on the Knitty Coffeeshop, the message board for readers of Knitty, the online knitting magazine. I can't recommend the magazine or (especially!) this message board enough - particularily if you like innovative and creative knitting patterns, and even more so if you don't have any knitting pals in your area, or if you are the most advanced (read obsessed) of the knitter's you know.

I have never failed to get some answers to my weirdest questions here, and even better, it is very busy and very widespread - so no matter how late it is, someone is probably around to help you out!


And thank you to all the kind people who put free knitting patterns and tips online! Like this great Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl that I'm working on now.

I had done, ripped out, and done again, the first 30 or so lines of the pattern several times, until I finally realized that the m
istakes I kept creating were because I was doing the yarn over's (YO) the wrong way.

Now, w
ith this challenge fixed, I am having a much smoother go of it. This seems fine, except it doesn't really look like a pretty wavey pattern at all... Even when I had completed to the 30th line or so (with mistakes, granted) it still just seems to be tiny thread circles looped into very round looking interlocked circles.

(this is scanned in, so the colours are a bit funny but you get the idea)

I have read that lace patterns really don't show up nicely at all until you have washed and blocked your lace project, and I'm hoping that is why it doesn't look too spiffy just yet...

I w
ould love to hear from some more experienced lace knitter if there is any possibility that the knitting which looks like this will eventually take on the right shape and pattern, as shown in pictures of the completed shawl...

It is alot of fun though, I thought the very fine yarn (of a width like 2 strands of sewing thread twisted together, I swear!) would drive me batty but it isn't like that at all - the large-ish needles (4mm or US size 6) I'm using seem to make all the difference. I am sure it would drive me nuts if I was using very fine needles.


Maybe I should just ask Gonzo for some help?

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Childhood dream come true!

How cool is this? I finally got the Gonzo doll I've been wanting since I was 3 or 4 years old...I remember so well, my Uncle David was going to get me a present and had asked what I wanted - I was lotally in love with Gonzo and this was just at the time that they started making Sesame Street/Muppet show dolls.

Unfortunately my Uncle went with this description when he asked the store clerk for help finding the right doll... "Fuzzy, with a long nose and big eyeballs" - Imagine his suprise when I unwrapped my gift and screamed "Wow! Snuffalupagus!"

He didn't know what I was talking about - probably thought "Suffalupagus!" was 4-year old speak for "Wow, Thanks for the Gonzo Doll!"

I ended up with Snuffalupagos! Not that I didn't love him - I sure did, so much so that at some point he lost one of his huge egg sized eyeballs and just ended up having a flap of fur for one eye - he looked kinda like something out of a creepy Sesame street nightmare, or perhaps "Gangster Snuffy"....

But, my super sister was in Florida and visited MGM studious (I think that was where) and she saw this little guy and got him for me. I added the knitting parephenalia..... Gonzo is currently working on his first knitting project, a jaunty yellow scarf. Also planned in the works is a skinny 80's knitted tie to go with his preppy look. It is hilarious - he has saddle shoes, a sweater vest, and even - get this - old man pants! Yep, the waistband is right up there so the cords reach almost to his little Gonzo chest!




Also the rats are totally in love with their newest cage addition - just a simple wooden box that you get mandarin oranges, or whatever in, attached to the roof of their cage with some rags in to snuggle with and they haven't left it for about 2 weeks! I also tired sticking in a mini mouse, and mini knitted bear to see how they'd react. I wondered if they might be like Mr. Bunny and react to these little stuffed critters as tho they were alive. They were not fooled however, and seem to use the toys as just more stuff to sleep on.


I guess Mr. Bunny really did have some ulterior motives though - he was an un-fixed Mr. Bunny you see, and rabbits are really into pair bonding. It took only moments before Mr. Bunny turned the tiny teddy I gave him into his bitch, just like he was in real jail instead of a protective Bunny cage... It was both disconcerting and hilarious to see Mr. Bunny's uhmm ... Interactions... with the teddy. It might not have been true love, but it was definitely passionate.....

In other rat news, we had our first escape scare the other day... I wil often take one or both rats out and put them on one of a few wooden dining room chairs we have in the living room... They know that it is too far for them to jump down, and they are extreemly happy just hanging out on the chair seat for long periods of time. Not sure why this makes them so happy, as the total surface area is much smaller than the cage they live in, but they seem to feel all happy and free on the chairs. I made a bit of an error though, and one of the chairs was too close to the couch. Baby thought he could make the jump so he did, and promptly slipped off the blanket that was on the couch.

I had read and had experienced that Rats will instinctively run for the edge of the room where a wall meets the floor - makes sense as this allows them to sort of keep their "back to the wall" and only have to worry about what is coming at them from limited areas. Baby in particular (the previously more shy one) was always wanting to squirm away and get against the wall. We have some large storage drawer type boxes under the couch, and of course he darted right under there, so I was frantically moving the boxes and checking there and calling him.. a few seconds later I heard Pierre say from the other room - "Why is the rat in here?!" It took him like 2 seconds to get to a place that might take me 10 or 15 seconds to walk to - and my legs ar about a billion times longer than a rats! super speed!

Our cat Ranger quickly alerted Pierre to the little fugitive, by looking confused and kind of half-assedly chasing him. I scooped him up and put him back in the cage, and vowed to be much more careful about their outside the cage adventures! They are never let out unsupervised of course.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Knitted Rat Snugglie Carrier



This is my quick first model for a rat carrier... which I have been discussing on the
Knittyboard.



The "sling" (a hat) was made from a thick double stranded worsted weight yarn in
stockinette stitch.











It was just liying around to give to someone one day.






So I gave it to the rats!




I wear it cross ways over my chest. I think he likes it!




I took a bathrobe tie and wove it in a running stitch around the edge of the brim










I wear it cross ways over my chest. I think he likes it!