Artistic Swatch Organization

I don't know about the rest of you knitters and crocheters out there, but I have the worst time with keeping my swatches in order. They just kind of end up... everywhere. But I have devised an excellent way to keep current swatches in order. You'll need a little wood crate. Mine held fudge and is 8 x 6.25 x 1.5 inches. You can find small wood crates on etsy as well. Here's a good one. You'll also need some paper clips and your swatches. I personally tie on a bit of paper with swatch information onto my swatches, but that is optional.

Start by bending the inside part of the paper clip down. You now have a little hook.

Use the paper clip hooks to hang your swatches onto the crate and voila, you now have a way to organize swatches. And, if you like, you can always hang the crate up on the wall. It's a great way to see what kinds of projects you have on the needles, or are planning for.

Once I'm done with a project, I use an old cigar box to hold all my old swatches.

Now I need to come up with a project that can use up old swatches.

Best Weekend EVER

This past weekend I went up to Davis to visit friends and film The Music Video. The first night Jackie and I went over the music video storyboard, then headed over to a house show. Every band was awesome. I have no pictures because I was busy having fun. But I did pick up CDs from Cat Party (s/t) and The Babs Johnson Gang (Alive At The Press Club). La Corde and Burgers also played. I know La Corde has released some material and I'm a bit bummed I didn't get ahold of any of it, but I busy helping break down some stuff between sets.

Saturday afternoon was spent doing lighting tests. Jackie and I spent hours making sure everything would run smoothly. ie, Seeing how well a guitar would fit in the hallway and testing camera angles.

Light Tests

We actually filmed Saturday evening. I had originally said filming would take an hour or two. I know better than that. I always have to multiply my time estimates by three. But it's easier to convince people to help you when it's "an hour or two". Not six hours. So yes, I suckered everyone into a 6 hour shoot. But we shot the whole video in one night, which is pretty awesome.

 More Light Tests

Now I have some serious editing to do. I really hope the video comes out well. All signs point to yes, but I'm a perfectionist... so I'll probably not be completely satisfied, but that's ok. (What artist is ever completely satisfied with their work anyways? Probably none.)

Even More Light Tests

Here's a couple "behind the scenes" shots from A.J.

I didn't even realize he was taking any pictures. But I'm glad he did. This one is of me explaining to Nat the general premise of the video.

When Penmanship Was Romantic

Along with all the other projects I've been working on, I've been seriously considering getting a dip pen and trying my hand at letter writing. After looking at old family photographs, I realized how beautiful and difficult it was to write. There is a little added romance to writing done with a dip pen.
As I was researching pen nibs, I came across this image on wikipedia.

How fun would it be to write with a nib that is in the shape of a hand or eiffel tower? There is only two things that are really keeping me from this project. 1. I don't know who to write. 2. I don't know what to write. I suppose those are two very large barriers, but in my mind I am already blotting the excess ink off my paper.

Anyone want to be a pen pal? (Be warned, this could be a fleeting fancy.)

Genius, Right?

Does anyone else do many, many things and then feel like they have done absolutely nothing. I seem to be in a constant time warp where I may have done an impossible number of things, but feel like I did them all last week. Things I've done since Saturday: A two day illustration project, massive coordination for the music video, picked up yarn for a prototype, drawn some comics, fixed the armpits of a sweater. 

Speaking of sweater armpits, I have decided to do my Rocky Coast Cardi's arms at the same time. The cables change around a bit as the arm decreases, so it is a little easier to remember what I've done if they are done at the same time. I've also come up with a great system to figure out where I am in the arm. The cables are an 8 row repeat, so I'm using the right number on the counter to mark where in the cable repeats I am. I'm using the left number to let me know how many total repeats there are. So I haven't done 32 rows. I'm on the 2nd row of the cable repeat and I've done 3 total repeats of the cable. Genius, right?

I've also continued working on the Druid mittens. I did come to the conclusion that my original plan of shrinking down the mitten wasn't going to work. At least not to the degree of shrinking that would be needed. I mean, look at that. I could nearly get both my hands into one cuff.

I've gone ahead and taken 18 stitches out of the pattern, which results in the cuff on the right. Much, much better. It may need to be felted a little bit, but not very much. Of course all this extra work to make the pattern fit me has sucked some of the fun out of the knitting. I'm going to look on the bright side though, and note that I have learned to make bobbles while making these mittens, and I think I like it. The bobbles do seem to like to flip to the wrong side of my work, and I'm not sure why, but I've decided not to worry about it too much just yet.

Favoriting Oma

I was reading a bunch of blogs where the bloggers talked about how they have made so many friends while blogging. I started wondering where my blog friends where when it hit me: I am a big fat idiot. I have a bunch of blog friends who I care about and converse with on a fairly regular basis. But the actual friendships have crept up on me. I didn't even realize that I had made friends while blogging. Isn't that dumb? The ah-ha moment came when this package appeared at my door.

I am a big fan of Stansborough and kiwipurler was kind enough to take the time and effort to send me some samples. I felt so loved and appreciated when I opened up that package. I'll be hoarding the skeins until I can come up with a good design for them.

I just wanted to thank everyone who does chat with me! I appreciate all the kind words. And I love reading all your blogs too. I wish I could think of a better way to express my thanks. (Feel free to leave me suggestions.)

On a slightly separate note, the pictures of the Gnarled Oak Cardigan has gotten quite a bit of attention on my blog and ravelry ever since I added the pictures of my Oma wearing it. I wasn't expecting that at all. My favorite comment so far is this one.

Yarn Is The Solution

On my return trip home, Mum and I stopped by Ashland to visit a buddy of mine. I had knit Aja a little something. When I bought Lorna's Laces Zombie BBQ, I knew it had to go to Aja. No question about it. When I handed the knit to her and told her the color name, she laughed and showed me that she was wearing her zombie shirt.

This hood is a prototype to a design idea I have. The prototype's name is My Body's A Zombie For You. A million points if you get the reference without looking on google. 

As promised, I didn't post the picture that made you look like Pacman.

And while we were in Ashland I had to visit the yarn shop. I give The Websters an A+. Everyone was friendly, the selection was great, and the prices were reasonable. I could give it a more thorough review, but I think you should just visit the shop yourself.

I bought a skein of Tosh Light in the Cousteau colorway for a design idea and three skeins of Spindrift in the Ivy colorway as a backup to my Druid mittens. I've encountered some sever gauge difficulty with those mittens, so I panicked and bought the three skeins. I challenge anyone to admit that they haven't thought that buying more yarn was a good solution.

After the yarn shop Mum and I asked Aja about a good lunch spot that was unique to Ashland. We settled on The Black Sheep. Could this day not get any more perfect? Not only was the place named after my favorite fiber-producing animal, but it's a British Pub. I love pub food.

I had the bangers and mash. It was excellent. Everything that we ordered was great! Mum had shepherds pie and Aja had Irish stew. I can't wait to go there again. I think it is my new favorite eatery.

A Favorite Detour

Whenever I go up to visit my grandparents, I usually try to also visit Jacksonville as well. One of my favorite cemeteries is there, a bunch of the walls around the town have old painted advertisements, and there are lots of fun little shops and places to explore. 

Unfortunately the yarn shop closed a few months ago, but my aunt introduced me to some fun new places. The first place we went to is called Jacksonville Barn Co. I predictably found some old suitcases I couldn't live without. The interiors were perfect. And although the bottom one is pretty large, it follows the "has to fit under my bed" rule.

I also saw a cute little book that I couldn't leave behind. I tried to, but it followed me to the register.

We all got hungry after scouring the Jacksonville Barn Co., so we went to our favorite restaurant, the Bella Union. Pictured is the Chocolate Decadence. It's like having a fudgy brownie. Yum! Not pictured (because it was awesome and I ate it so quickly) is the California Street Calamari Sandwich. Mum had one as well, but requested sourdough bread. 

After lunch my aunt took us to a little store I hadn't been to before. Pickety Place is one of the most fun little shops I'd been to in a long time. It was filled with all sorts of old knick knacks, but nothing really junky. And all the things I was interested in were priced well.

My aunt treated me to a little plate that had all the animals from the Chinese Zodiac around the edge. I bought myself a set of scrimshaw salt and pepper shakers. Don't ask me why, but I've been wanting a little scrimshawed something for awhile. I just think it's really neat.

Before we had left, I helped my uncle make a loaf of beer bread. So when we got home, there was a really yummy loaf of bread to be eaten.