Today I’m doing something that’s kind of interesting: I’m going through all my stash yarn and putting some fun selections together to sell as kits with a pattern I’ve written up for a smaller version of my Artfibers souvenir shawl, which I’ve been calling my Gypsy Scarf. This was initially an idea for the funky scarf swap people but I thought anyone might enjoy it. We’ll see how many kits I can get together today. This seems like a really cool way to stashbust and spread the funky scarf joy. So keep an eye out for photos of those sets tomorrow.

Also, I’m really excited because I just found out that Knitting Pattern Central has linked to my Kitten Mittens (still one of my favorite knit things ever) and my Silk Garden Flower patterns.

Now here are some much more flattering photos of the yarn and roving I dyed the other day.

This is roving I dyed for my funky scarf swap person. I’m going to spin it a worsted weight, knit a scarf lengthwise on some 13s, then felt it with a bunch of bottlecaps held to it with rubber bands for a cool shibori resist method. I’m calling this roving We Want the Funk

This is some sock yarn I dyed for a friend of my sister’s. (Hello Laura!) I’ve been calling it Green River after the CCR song. Yes I’m a dork.

The rest is up for sale in my etsy shop.

Here is some superwash fingering weight merino that’s very similar to Green River but is a bit brighter. I’ve been calling it Waterlillies

Another superwash fingering weight merino. I’ve been experimenting with a new yarn painting technique that gives this really interesting “pointillist” effect as colors fade into other colors. Thus this is called Pointillist. It’s going cheap as there are some dark spots I’m not crazy about. I think it would still look really interesting and fun! I just thought I should mention it.

The rest is Corriedale roving that I bought from a family farm from last year’s shearing and dyed. I’ll spin it all eventually but thought I’d put it up anyway. Let me know if you want me to spin it up for you!

I’m calling this one Carnival Flirt. There’s a little over 4 ounces.

This one is Schmoop. Because blues and greens always make me feel a little schmoopy inside. Over 4 ounces.

This is called Sydney because it made me remember watching the harbor. This is a smaller one, 3 ounces.

Winter is five years old today.

9-15-2001

9-15-2001

11-01-2001

11-01-2001

11-01-2001

So far she has celebrated her special day by having breakfast, playing with her kong toy, and taking a nap. She won’t get her cake until tomorrow because Cody had to work last night.

Don’t look at me like I’m crazy a lot of people celebrate their dogs’ birthdays!

**funky scarf swap partner! I’ve emailed you back again! Please check your spam filter if you don’t hear from me today **

So I’ve been working on some custom orders the last few days. Some specifically asked for green so I decided to play with variations on that color with roving and sock yarn. It was fun. They’re all still drying and they’re in the bathroom so they’re badly lit with the flash but here are a few photos I just took.

I have some other spinning jobs to do today. Doing some neutral toned beaded yarn today. I’m very excited about all the work I’ve been getting lately and really hopeful that I’ll be able to pay for a good chunk of the cruise with my own fiber earnings.

But before I go do some work there’s something I have to get off my chest. Project Runway is starting to piss me off. (Get it? Piss and Vinegar?)

Now I’ve been a loyal viewer since the first season. I don’t blog about it much because other people write things that are far more interesting about the show than what I could come up with. But I’m a lifelong expert on the recent issues of weight that have come up on the show lately and I have to admit that I’m getting pretty disappointed in what I’m seeing.

Last week there was the whole size four being called “Zaftig”, Heidi intimating she’d rather be dead than thought a plus size, the “aufed” designer blaming having a “fat” model on being kicked off the show in an interview. And I don’t think she was *that* far off of the mark, either. I got the impression that she was tossed off the show because she designed something that made her model look fat and GODS FORBID someone looked fat.

But I wasn’t that surprised. This is an industry that is designed to screw with women’s heads and their concepts of self, and finding new things to sell to convince them that they won’t look old or fat if they use or wear this or that. It’s the first time it was really out in the open on this particular show but since Project Runway is about the fashion industry I’ve always sensed a little of that attitude floating underneath.

As a matter of fact I wrote about this issue during Season One: Wendy Pepper may have been a jerk, or someone whose footage was manipulated, probably somewhere in between, but whoever designed her clothes usually had various body types in mind and I thought that was commendable.

This week’s episode really bothered me on a lot of levels. When the moms and sisters first came out I was delighted. FINALLY the designers were going to be designing for normal sized people. Then the whining started. “Waaah I have to design for fat people!” Boo freakin hoo guys who do you think is going to buy the clothes when you work at International Concepts?

They’re supposed to be such impressive designers and they can only design for human coat hangers? Not very impressive to me. Allow me to quote myself from February 2005:

I probably wouldn’t wear any of the clothes that came down that runway. If I had to choose one or go out naked I would put on Uli’s. At least she took the body into consideration with modern design. It’s sad really because these are supposed to be the top designers and only one could come up with a good design? Shame on you all. Back to remedial body concept for you! Get ye to figure drawing classes! Do they even require those for fashion majors? If they don’t they really should.

I don’t know much about fashion trends. But I frequently get compliments on what I’m wearing because I usually wear something that is fun, reflects my personality, and usually deals well with my short and stout body. I’m not going to kid myself that I’ll wear a magic shirt and suddenly lose 100 pounds but one can still be big and look good. Seriously. And it’s not really that friggin hard to do. Anyone could learn tips like these from watching a few episodes of What Not to Wear (at least the English one) or, hell, pick up the “Big Girl Knits” book there are some great tips in there!

So here are a few alternative suggestions for the designs that I can remember. I’m not going to get into colors, I’m just interested in the shapes here. If you click on the photos you’ll be taken to the store where you can buy them.

Kayne’s model would’ve looked gorgeous with an empire waist with a V neck. They usually flatter any body type. Especially ones with good boobs and pretty skin like Michael’s mom. Rather than cropped tapered pants (a worrying trend which I’m going to just ignore like I’m ignoring the return of the gauchos), a boot-legged, flat-fronted pant. How cute would she have looked in this?

Robert could’ve done kimono sleeves without making a tent. I think his model could’ve looked lovely and floaty but still had a waist with a crossover design like this top but with some kimono sleeves added and some good shaping in lieu of the belt. And to balance out the top, a straight skirt to a floaty decorated hem with lots of fabric scraps (geometric as opposed to Santino-y) at the bottom.


I think that would have presented the interesting avant-garde kind of floaty shape Vincent’s sister seemed to want without having it be so top-heavy and tentlike

Now, the inevitable Jeffrey. I think the major mistake he’s made on this show (aside from being mean to someone’s mom and a lot of other people on camera) is losing sight of his punk rock roots. He’s supposed to be “Mr. Rockstar designer” but I have yet to see anything that lives up to that kind of title really, aside from the really obvious neck tattoos and bad attitude. Angela’s mom, having nothing to lose but not looking like a good sport, would probably have enjoyed if he wanted to play “Dress mommy in punk rock clothes” if he’d been nice about it. And wouldn’t that have been fun? This was supposed to be his unique perspective that got him on the show right? Adding some punk spice to high fashion? What a wasted opportunity to make it fun and look like a classy guy with a good sense of humor. What a shame. And don’t give me any bullshit former addict alcoholic excuses, that should make you have even more regard for human frailties. Anyway, this is what I would’ve put on Angela’s Mom.

I do think that he was on the right track with the neckline, even if he had said that ugly thing about her body issues. She was wearing a more demure neck than the other moms and I don’t think she would’ve been comfortable for it to be too low cut. But there are ways around that. I keep thinking of the new Glampyre Stitch Diva sweater design - a very low cut worn over a higher cut. With the right waist shaping it could look really nice on a plus size body. I came up with two options there. Of course, he couldn’t have knit a sweater or sewn a button down and vest in that time, but the basic idea of low cut worn over high cut with good shaping is what I’m after. I think the pants were where the color compromise could have come in. A sheer layer over a solid layer (like the pants on the right) but in wide legged pants (like the pants on the left) kind of thing. She would’ve looked longer and leaner with them, and not have to show any skin.

They’re just my suggestions. But I think they’re pretty good ones. I don’t have twelve hours to sew them and know absolutely nothing about construction so they could be impossible ideas. I doubt it though. My point really is that there are ways to dress larger women that aren’t mumus or boring. And I think it’s really sad that these designers don’t know that. If they don’t know that, how are people who don’t know anything about clothing supposed to know that?

So, of course, the designer that had the thinner model won and the one with the fatter model lost. Ho hum. Talk about baaaauuuring, Heidi.

Here are some good plus size clothing stores:
Avenue - I get my pants from here. I love their bootcut jeans and yoga pants.
Torrid - love their tops. I’m young and still have my punkish roots to really enjoy their stuff. They have a half-off clearance sale every month that keeps me in some fun shirts. I have to be careful to not go too young here. I don’t have the boobs for halter tops and probably never did to be honest. They also have some great bras.
Kiyonna- Not quite as well-known but really great, simple designs that are pretty current. I have some of their older designs that have held up really well too.
Junonia - plus sized active wear. Some great yoga and swimming stuff.
Silhouettes - some older stuff (read: boring preppy crap) but there are some slick designs and affordable prices.
Nordstrom - is probably the most popular plus size shop for designer names. If I needed a formal dress I’d go here.
I personally don’t like Lane Bryant because I found their clothes fall apart sooner than the others. So those were my resources for dressing the ladies.

How do you guys wash your non-superwash socks? I remember reading about one woman who would wear them in the shower and hang them on the towel rack to dry when she got out. Mine’s weirder and a bit more embarassing so I want to hear about how you all do it too.

If you really want to know I tend to bathe semi-Japanese style where the bathtub is just for soaking and reading paperbacks while the shower is for the cleaning. So when I’m running the bath (always with salts or bubbles) I toss my socks in there. I never wear my handknit socks anywhere that’s going to get them really dirty anyway so it’s not like they’re filthy they usually just need a rinse. So I use bath bubbles to clean them, rinse them under the tap, then hang them on the safety bar to dry.

Oh yeah like you don’t do weird stuff sometimes, ye yarn sniffers! :p

Are done! I finished the last toe up today while watching a bunch of episodes of Monarchy I tivoed off of pbs. Yes, sock knitting and shows about British History I’m livin in the fast lane.

The heels and toes in the pattern use a reverse yarn over short row from Priscilla Gibson-Roberts which gave me some trouble so I made one of Ann Budd’s Better than Booties baby socks from Interweave Summer 2005 to get a chance to practice with it. A coworker of Cody’s just had a baby girl anyway and I wanted to play with those braided cables.

So I got some good practice with the short row method and that crazy zig zag bindoff. And some play time with braided cables. I also found out that I’m totally spoiled with knitting socks on 2 circs. I had to use DPNs since I didn’t have any 0 circs and was holding those dpns so tight I actually pinched a nerve in my left hand ring finger. The tip of my finger was numb and I had to completely remove my wedding rings for the first time in seven and a half years. Both experiences pissed me off enormously. Not to mention that I still have another bootie to knit because I’m also getting spoiled knitting two at a time. So I ordered 2 addi turbos in US 0 when I ordered the lamb’s pride. They’ll be here on Tuesday.

Anyway, now that I’ve gotten some better practice with the short row techniques and that nutty bind off (which I found worked out much better when I ended up slipping them onto 2 smaller sized dpns anyway) I can definitely see the benefit. The toe is very comfortable and it’s nice to have the seam on the top of the toes instead of right at the end. I’ve always preferred commercial socks with that kind of toe seam so it’s been nice to see how that’s done.

I’ll have to try this technique with another pair sometime because it really is more comfortable wearing this kind of sock with shoes. Like hmm these adorable brown tennis shoes with pink accents I got from Target a month ago for wait for it…FOUR DOLLARS.

And it was with a 20 dollar gift card they gave me for changing my prescriptions to them. Well, my pharmacy closed and transferred my prescriptions to them I didn’t have much choice. But at least we got a few gift cards for it. And some adorable little faux converse shoes.

I never did get the striping to completely work without fail. But I think they’re close enough and pretty cute anyway. And super super stretchy. They’re breathing nicely on such a hot day. And I only used half of the two skeins of yarn I bought so I can make another pair if I want to!

Village inn parking lot

Cody took me out to breakfast when he got home from work this morning. There were four or five hot air balloons taking off in the empty lot next to the restaurant.

This was taken with my Razr phone. Please excuse the dirty windshield

uploaded via Flickr

We saw balloons taking off

Cody took me out to breakfast when he got home from work this morning. There were four or five hot air balloons taking off in the empty lot next to the restaurant.

This was taken with my Razr phone

uploaded via Flickr

Balloons over the bosque

Cody took me out to breakfast when he got home from work this morning. There were four or five hot air balloons taking off in the empty lot next to the restaurant.

This is facing east towards the Sandia mountains, the balloons are starting to cross the Rio Grande.

This was taken with my Razr phone. Please excuse the dirty windshield

uploaded via Flickr

Balloons over the bosque

Cody took me out to breakfast when he got home from work this morning. There were four or five hot air balloons taking off in the empty lot next to the restaurant.

This is facing east towards the Sandias. The three closer balloons are crossing the bosque and the Rio Grande

This was taken with my Razr phone.

uploaded via Flickr

Saw this going out to breakfast

Cody took me out to breakfast when he got home from work this morning. There were four or five hot air balloons taking off in the empty lot next to the restaurant.

This balloon was just taking off.

This was taken with my Razr phone

uploaded via Flickr