off to market.....

....it's that time of year again -- the summer-time, fall-and-winter-oriented trade show.  It's called the National Needlearts Association, or TNNA -- This year it's in Indianapolis at a silly time (it actually coincides with Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, which is difficult for a lot of people on the eastern seaboard and hard for me as well -- Maryland is one of two "must go" festivals -- the other one is the NY event at Rhinebeck).  It will be good to hug friends and see what's on the market, both in terms of yarn and fasteners, but also in design terms.   I will try to make detailed report next week.   svb 

Giant Yarny Caterpillar

I have in mind a lunatic, puffy bomber jacket made with triple stranded novelty yarn with flags in it, edged with ribbon.   Stay tuned.   svb

AHHHH SUMMER...

....having said that, let's be clear:   I HATE SUMMER.  I hate heat.  I am not a tropical plant.  At the slightest HINT of a temperature higher than about 75 degrees, I head for the nearest air-conditioned space.   So I am, at best, ambivalent about the central feature of summer -- high temperatures.  It is important to remember that I grew up in Minnesota, where I really do think people become highly intolerant of heat, and a good deal more tolerant of cold than lots of other people. 

But summer has other, important attributes.   Summer is the time for lots and lots of work that some of us cannot do the rest of the time -- in my case, the completion of books and articles and other things that I have promised to write and postponed because of all of those students who keep showing up at the office door (!). 

And summer is a time for long, beautiful drives to festivals, fiber expos, and conferences -- such as the TNNA conference upcoming -- all of those gorgeous displays of yarn and new designs, and a round of hugs....It's a wonderful event, and this year, I will be going with Ellen Taylor (manager at Artisan Knitworks) and Lynne Wardrop (ex-manager of City Knits Detroit and a once-in-a-while sock teacher at my place).  If we want, we can stay up all night.  Or not.  Nobody will ever know.

Summer is also a time for knitting and crochet.  Yes, I know.  It's hot.  The warmer temperatures (refer again to air-conditioning reference above) have never slowed me down.  I even like to sit at picnic tables and especially at bistro tables outdoor at coffee shops with a big ball of wool and something beautiful in my head........watching it  happen with no particular time limit.....It is a time of pure  joy.  I like to take some yarn I've never used before, an array of needles and hooks, and play with it  until it starts to speak ("YES.  That's what I want to be...DO IT").  You laugh.  Yarn speaks.  If you don't believe me, take a ball of it to a quiet place and start to make swatches.  Then, if it wants to be a sweater, I make a little drawing of a possible garment (you have to make provision for the possibility that the yarn will change your mind about what it wants to be as you go along) and start making something like a size 40......beginning with the back.  (Sadly, I have lots of backs, or starts of backs -- what I lack is not ideas, but time).

At places like Artisan Knitworks, we don't entirely look forward to summer -- It's a time of dropping revenue because people don't think of knitting in summer.  So there is a bit of anxiety until maybe August about how to pay rent.  (If you have  a favorite shop, for god's sake buy something this summer!!!!).  But what a lovely time for people to come and just sit in the cool -- talk with friends -- make new friends.

Up with summer.

svb

 

Some things perhaps shouldn't be undertaken......

 

OK folks...just because you CAN crochet something, doesn't mean you SHOULD!

Dyed on the Hoof Sheep

I used to make jokes about how I was going to buy a herd of sheep, dip them in dye, and array them over a  hillside to amuse motorists.  GOD.  SOMEBODY DID IT!   svb

Art-ish: Freshly dyed sheep run in view of the highway near Bathgate, Scotland. The sheep farmer has been dying his sheep with nontoxic dye since 2007 to entertain passing motorists.

 

Absences....

Sorry for absence from the blog -- it's very nearly end of semester and here is more or less what it feels like (a Meishan Pig -- who ever heard of such a creature?):    Look for me after April 21!!!!   svb