Dear Anna,
Since you're the designated link updater, I thought I'd let you delve into Frank Habit's blog, which I've been skimming on and off for the past couple of months but spent part of the afternoon having a good read:
http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/
He seems to love vintage patterns and techniques like you!
Love,
Meredith
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
A Bit On Hacking Knitting Machines
Dear Meredith,
Domestic knitting machines come in all sorts of guises, most of them rather retro - this is in part due to the fact that Silver Reed (used to be Knit King) is the only remaining company that makes and supplies new machines to the UK market (not sure about elsewhere in the world). New is pricey. Unless you're splashing out on one of those, you're using a second hand or inherited machine. Many are totally manual, but the later ones (80s/90s) and any that are made now, have computerised systems to allow you to make patterns (as in, not computerised to do the work of pushing the yarn from side to side for you, but rather the stitch structure part). I keep hearing about projects where these old computerised machines are 'hacked' to feed in contemporary designs (new machines allow you to input patterns straight from your computer). I'm not totally sure that hacked is the correct term here, but it's being used and it sounds sexier than saying 'hooking up an old machine to a newer computer and developing software different from that which it originally came with, which allows it to do/make stuff that people are interested in (and can understand) now.
Computerised knitting machines come with a huge bank of pre-loaded patterns and have always had the capability for you to input your own designs. Before that, a punch card system could be used for the same thing, but then it was only possible to make narrow repeats, rather than a single or varied pattern across the whole needle bed (200 hundred on a standard gauge knitting machine). The difference now is that the computers are being 'hacked' to receive patterns from remote sources (such as twitter) and knit them instantaneously. My friend Elvia, who is a real techy tinkerer, just sent me this video, which is a good illustration:
This stuff first blipped on to may radar with the Twitter Knitter project in Camden (London) a couple of Christmases ago. Then with the art work of Andrew Salomone. He does a good job of explaining it, so I'll give him the last word:
xoxAnna
Domestic knitting machines come in all sorts of guises, most of them rather retro - this is in part due to the fact that Silver Reed (used to be Knit King) is the only remaining company that makes and supplies new machines to the UK market (not sure about elsewhere in the world). New is pricey. Unless you're splashing out on one of those, you're using a second hand or inherited machine. Many are totally manual, but the later ones (80s/90s) and any that are made now, have computerised systems to allow you to make patterns (as in, not computerised to do the work of pushing the yarn from side to side for you, but rather the stitch structure part). I keep hearing about projects where these old computerised machines are 'hacked' to feed in contemporary designs (new machines allow you to input patterns straight from your computer). I'm not totally sure that hacked is the correct term here, but it's being used and it sounds sexier than saying 'hooking up an old machine to a newer computer and developing software different from that which it originally came with, which allows it to do/make stuff that people are interested in (and can understand) now.
Computerised knitting machines come with a huge bank of pre-loaded patterns and have always had the capability for you to input your own designs. Before that, a punch card system could be used for the same thing, but then it was only possible to make narrow repeats, rather than a single or varied pattern across the whole needle bed (200 hundred on a standard gauge knitting machine). The difference now is that the computers are being 'hacked' to receive patterns from remote sources (such as twitter) and knit them instantaneously. My friend Elvia, who is a real techy tinkerer, just sent me this video, which is a good illustration:
This stuff first blipped on to may radar with the Twitter Knitter project in Camden (London) a couple of Christmases ago. Then with the art work of Andrew Salomone. He does a good job of explaining it, so I'll give him the last word:
xoxAnna
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Camille Can Sing Us Back In To Writing
Dear Meredith,
It's been such a long time, so this is a little tentative step in the right direction, to ease back in. It really isn't because I haven't had stuff to tell you, it's just been well, summer, and then, well, it's November now!
So here's a little soundtrack to get us back up and running. It's French, it's knitting and Camille used to be a ballet dancer! How's that for a trifecta of Meredith appropriateness?
xoxAnna
So here's a little soundtrack to get us back up and running. It's French, it's knitting and Camille used to be a ballet dancer! How's that for a trifecta of Meredith appropriateness?
xoxAnna
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Knitting Photography
Dear Anna,
Gah! I'm so behind on posts... my sister Kris is visiting right now (the one you haven't met) so I've been busy showing her Ithaca and hiking and talking. However, we've also been busy taking pictures.
Our readers may not know this, but we're launching a shop in August after the Olympics for the products that the women from Uhaj have made, as well as for other handmade items. They may also not know that we met as MFA Fine Arts students at California College of the Arts, where you did Textiles (is that correct?) and I did Photography, though we both ended up branching out into other areas.
Now I know that a huge part of running a successful web store is excellent photography, so I've been digging up long-dormant photography knowledge from my brain in preparation for photographing our products.
It's a wonderful coincidence that Kris is so photogenic, and that I lent her a hoodie from the book Loop-d-Loop by Teva Durham on one of our walks, because I got the chance to retrain my photography skills as we took a walk on an unexpectedly cold day in Ithaca:
It's funny how those photo lessons come back to you years later. I learned a lot from this picture, like being cognisant of little, nagging details. I don't like that the hoodie folds up underneath, and those strands of brush partially covering it are kind of distracting, but it's still a good picture. Here's a closeup:
I love how those increase details on the shoulder with the bulky yarn look on her; they are really what make this design. I knitted this hoodie almost five years ago, wore it a few times, then kept it in my closet because it ended up being a little bit too constricting for my active lifestyle. I'm glad to rediscover it again, as I'm rediscovering what it means to take good photographs.
Love,
Meredith
Gah! I'm so behind on posts... my sister Kris is visiting right now (the one you haven't met) so I've been busy showing her Ithaca and hiking and talking. However, we've also been busy taking pictures.
Our readers may not know this, but we're launching a shop in August after the Olympics for the products that the women from Uhaj have made, as well as for other handmade items. They may also not know that we met as MFA Fine Arts students at California College of the Arts, where you did Textiles (is that correct?) and I did Photography, though we both ended up branching out into other areas.
Now I know that a huge part of running a successful web store is excellent photography, so I've been digging up long-dormant photography knowledge from my brain in preparation for photographing our products.
It's a wonderful coincidence that Kris is so photogenic, and that I lent her a hoodie from the book Loop-d-Loop by Teva Durham on one of our walks, because I got the chance to retrain my photography skills as we took a walk on an unexpectedly cold day in Ithaca:
It's funny how those photo lessons come back to you years later. I learned a lot from this picture, like being cognisant of little, nagging details. I don't like that the hoodie folds up underneath, and those strands of brush partially covering it are kind of distracting, but it's still a good picture. Here's a closeup:
I love how those increase details on the shoulder with the bulky yarn look on her; they are really what make this design. I knitted this hoodie almost five years ago, wore it a few times, then kept it in my closet because it ended up being a little bit too constricting for my active lifestyle. I'm glad to rediscover it again, as I'm rediscovering what it means to take good photographs.
Love,
Meredith
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Stalking Jackfruit Monks
Dear Meredith,
I very much like the idea of sitting and knitting on a park bench in Tokyo with you when we are octogenarians. I already have a designated bench in San Francisco where Christina P. and I have agreed to meet as oldies. A geriatric world tour of good friends and park benches is a good thing to strive towards.
In the meantime, I've been stalking monks with my knitting. I didn't intend to, but since I am working on perfecting a striped pattern with Appleton Crewel Wool, I am carrying my project with me at all times. Like after a day of pick-your-own strawberry picking you can close your eyes at night and see only strawberries, when I saw these two monks strolling outside the Tate Modern I thought I was starting to see my project everywhere.
The colour of the monks habits was gorgeous and so saturated. I loved seeing a single colour so intensely worn. It will be only one stripe amongst many colours in what I have planned to knit, so it was a nice coincidence to be working on it when I encountered them. Appleton calls this colour Honeysuckle Yellow No. 697. When I approached the monks to show them just how close the colour of my knitting was to their clothes one replied "ah, yes, jackfruit". I thought he just meant like the colour of the fruit, but it is actually what the cloth was dyed with - jackfruit tree wood chips with alum as a mordant. Reading an extensive summary of the jackfruit makes me hope I like it's flavour (I've never tried one) - it's a very multipurpose tree!
A jackfruit tree can produce two crops of vitamin B rich fruit a year, to be eaten by humans and cattle alike (they eat the leaves too). The pits that can be boiled or roasted and used like chestnuts or dried and fried like potato chips. The wood is strong and the bark can be woven in to cloth. The peel gets used in tobacco curing. It produces a substance similar to latex that gets used as glue. It also has all sorts of medicinal uses and the pith is rumoured to be used to induce miscarriages.
On that strange note, it is important to not confuse the jackfruit with a durian. While your eyes might deceive you on first glance, as they did me (the exterior has a similar nobble-y-ness), your nose won't! Durian I could understand being used to induce miscarriages - even as a foetus I'd try to get as far away from it as possible. On my last trip to The Netherlands I had a big conversation about durian and it's smell. It stinks. Susan's mother, who grew up eating it in Indonesia maintains it is yummy and doesn't smell bad, whereas Susan and I were in the it-smells-awful camp. Rebecca gave me a roll of durian paste (sort of like a fruit roll-up) for my birthday, which I had to tell her was the most disgusting tasting thing that ever passed my lips.
But back to jackfruit - I think it might be just the thing to dye some of the silk with! Certainly when we are in The Philippines, as I am not sure how easy it will be to get a hold of jackfruit tree wood chips here.
xoxAnna
I very much like the idea of sitting and knitting on a park bench in Tokyo with you when we are octogenarians. I already have a designated bench in San Francisco where Christina P. and I have agreed to meet as oldies. A geriatric world tour of good friends and park benches is a good thing to strive towards.
In the meantime, I've been stalking monks with my knitting. I didn't intend to, but since I am working on perfecting a striped pattern with Appleton Crewel Wool, I am carrying my project with me at all times. Like after a day of pick-your-own strawberry picking you can close your eyes at night and see only strawberries, when I saw these two monks strolling outside the Tate Modern I thought I was starting to see my project everywhere.
The colour of the monks habits was gorgeous and so saturated. I loved seeing a single colour so intensely worn. It will be only one stripe amongst many colours in what I have planned to knit, so it was a nice coincidence to be working on it when I encountered them. Appleton calls this colour Honeysuckle Yellow No. 697. When I approached the monks to show them just how close the colour of my knitting was to their clothes one replied "ah, yes, jackfruit". I thought he just meant like the colour of the fruit, but it is actually what the cloth was dyed with - jackfruit tree wood chips with alum as a mordant. Reading an extensive summary of the jackfruit makes me hope I like it's flavour (I've never tried one) - it's a very multipurpose tree!
A jackfruit tree can produce two crops of vitamin B rich fruit a year, to be eaten by humans and cattle alike (they eat the leaves too). The pits that can be boiled or roasted and used like chestnuts or dried and fried like potato chips. The wood is strong and the bark can be woven in to cloth. The peel gets used in tobacco curing. It produces a substance similar to latex that gets used as glue. It also has all sorts of medicinal uses and the pith is rumoured to be used to induce miscarriages.
On that strange note, it is important to not confuse the jackfruit with a durian. While your eyes might deceive you on first glance, as they did me (the exterior has a similar nobble-y-ness), your nose won't! Durian I could understand being used to induce miscarriages - even as a foetus I'd try to get as far away from it as possible. On my last trip to The Netherlands I had a big conversation about durian and it's smell. It stinks. Susan's mother, who grew up eating it in Indonesia maintains it is yummy and doesn't smell bad, whereas Susan and I were in the it-smells-awful camp. Rebecca gave me a roll of durian paste (sort of like a fruit roll-up) for my birthday, which I had to tell her was the most disgusting tasting thing that ever passed my lips.
But back to jackfruit - I think it might be just the thing to dye some of the silk with! Certainly when we are in The Philippines, as I am not sure how easy it will be to get a hold of jackfruit tree wood chips here.
xoxAnna
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Avril Yarn Stores and Parks in Japan
Dear Anna,
I set out in Tokyo yesterday to go to the Kicijoji district, fully intending to go to Yuzawaya to bask in craft heaven. But when I got out of the train station, I noticed the amazing weather and decided that spending hours indoors was not in the cards for me. I knew that Inokashira Park was close by and decided to go there instead. But before I did, I had to get my yarn store fix and walked to the Tokyo branch of Avril, which was five minutes away.
I'll talk about the knitting and yarn intself later. This post is more about the wonderful combination of knitting stores and parks. Where else in the world can you go from this:
to this:
in a matter of minutes? Maybe there's a better yarn store and park combination elsewhere in the world (London or Paris?), but this beats all others I've seen so far, including, I'm afraid, our old haunts of Imaginknit and Dolores Park in San Francisco. By the way, I love how a table and chairs are outside the store just because there's room; I noticed that at a couple of other stores on this street too. I guess there's no maintenance involved since everyone cleans up after themselves. There aren't even trash cans because people tend to take their trash home with them to recycle.
I sat at this spot in the park not only for the view, but also because there were a number of Japanese seniors talking on the bench next to me, and I wanted to see how many words I can pick out while I test-knit a DK version of one of your hats using the wool-silk yarn I got at Avril. Though the topic of their conversation was a bit lost on me, I was pleased to figure out that one man only just met the three other people in the group, because of the way they were using formal language to address him. At one point, one of them asked him how old he was, and I don't think I misunderstood when he said 84.
Then I think the two men left to take a walk, leaving the two women to sit by themselves and talk. Somehow, I imagined us knitting in a park together when we're this old, maybe even that very spot.
What I love most about Tokyo right now is the feeling I get of being alone even when I'm in public, which I never feel anywhere else. I love how I can walk around in my private world undisturbed by other people demanding my attention. I've always been a daydreamer at heart, and Tokyo is certainly for daydreamers.
Sorry I don't have interior shots of the Tokyo store; I was too shy to use my real camera and my iPhone shots turned out blurry. I do have one of the Kyoto store though from two days ago, which is at least twice as big as the Tokyo store:
I don't think there's a park close by there but it's a short subway ride to the Imperial Palace and its vast grounds:
which was where I did my knitting in Kyoto. Do we sense a trend here? I have a couple more knitting-related posts from Japan I plan to write. One is a step-by-step guide for how to find Tokyo yarn stores for the directionally challenged, and the other is about the yarns at Avril and how I ended up spontaneously joining a knitting circle. So stay tuned!
Love,
Meredith
I set out in Tokyo yesterday to go to the Kicijoji district, fully intending to go to Yuzawaya to bask in craft heaven. But when I got out of the train station, I noticed the amazing weather and decided that spending hours indoors was not in the cards for me. I knew that Inokashira Park was close by and decided to go there instead. But before I did, I had to get my yarn store fix and walked to the Tokyo branch of Avril, which was five minutes away.
I'll talk about the knitting and yarn intself later. This post is more about the wonderful combination of knitting stores and parks. Where else in the world can you go from this:
to this:
in a matter of minutes? Maybe there's a better yarn store and park combination elsewhere in the world (London or Paris?), but this beats all others I've seen so far, including, I'm afraid, our old haunts of Imaginknit and Dolores Park in San Francisco. By the way, I love how a table and chairs are outside the store just because there's room; I noticed that at a couple of other stores on this street too. I guess there's no maintenance involved since everyone cleans up after themselves. There aren't even trash cans because people tend to take their trash home with them to recycle.
I sat at this spot in the park not only for the view, but also because there were a number of Japanese seniors talking on the bench next to me, and I wanted to see how many words I can pick out while I test-knit a DK version of one of your hats using the wool-silk yarn I got at Avril. Though the topic of their conversation was a bit lost on me, I was pleased to figure out that one man only just met the three other people in the group, because of the way they were using formal language to address him. At one point, one of them asked him how old he was, and I don't think I misunderstood when he said 84.
Then I think the two men left to take a walk, leaving the two women to sit by themselves and talk. Somehow, I imagined us knitting in a park together when we're this old, maybe even that very spot.
What I love most about Tokyo right now is the feeling I get of being alone even when I'm in public, which I never feel anywhere else. I love how I can walk around in my private world undisturbed by other people demanding my attention. I've always been a daydreamer at heart, and Tokyo is certainly for daydreamers.
Sorry I don't have interior shots of the Tokyo store; I was too shy to use my real camera and my iPhone shots turned out blurry. I do have one of the Kyoto store though from two days ago, which is at least twice as big as the Tokyo store:
I don't think there's a park close by there but it's a short subway ride to the Imperial Palace and its vast grounds:
which was where I did my knitting in Kyoto. Do we sense a trend here? I have a couple more knitting-related posts from Japan I plan to write. One is a step-by-step guide for how to find Tokyo yarn stores for the directionally challenged, and the other is about the yarns at Avril and how I ended up spontaneously joining a knitting circle. So stay tuned!
Love,
Meredith
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