my life in stitches

Yarnplay At Home happenings

i've started at Yarnplay At Home group on Ravelry. here's the group description;

For all the knitters who are fans of Yarnplay and Yarnplay At Home and the designs of Lisa Shobhana Mason. Here is the place to discuss patterns, share your ideas with other knitters, show off photos of your completed projects and receive help and tips from fellow knitters and from the designer Lisa Shobhana Mason. Let's play together!

Book signing and workshop

Book signing for Yarnplay At Home  - Saturday, January 19th from 11:30 am – 1 pm at Gauge followed by a workshop;

Yarnplay: Knitting From The Stash
A cushion cover workshop with Lisa Shobhana Mason

Saturday, January 19th, 2008

1:00 – 4:30 pm at Gauge

5406 Parkcrest Dr., Austin, TX 78731
Cost: $40 plus materials

To register, contact Gauge at 512.371.9300

In this workshop you will learn how to create a one-of-a-kind, 14” x 14” cushion cover primarily using the yarn in your stash. Lisa Shobhana Mason, author of Yarnplay and Yarnplay At Home, will teach you how to:

• Work with color.
• Make the best use of the leftover strands and skeins that you have in your stash.
• Use your intuition combined with your personal taste to create a unique project.
• Work loosely from a template rather than strictly following a pattern.

Skill Level: Intermediate

You should know how to cast on, knit, purl, pick up stitches, mattress stitch, and bind off.   

shelter knitting

happy holidays! my xmas season has been quiet. i vacillate between feeling content and fighting the existential dread that always faces me at the start of a new year. i've spent a lot of time de-cluttering and redecorating my living space. that cheers me up immensely. some of the pieces from Yarnplay At Home are fitting in rather nicely with the new decor. stay tuned for photos during the upcoming Yarnplay At Home blog tour. the project in the photo is a cushion cover i'm creating for a workshop that i'm teaching at Gauge on January 19th, entitled Yarnplay: Knitting From The Stash. the photo is rather lackluster, i admit. however, it looks great in person. the tweedy bit is the back of the cushion cover, pretty straightforward with a button band and facing at the top. for that i've used the pattern for the back of the Potluck Cushion Cover in Yarnplay At Home. the front is more free form. it doesn't look like much now. in fact, in didn't look like much for quite a while and i was really, really worried that it just wasn't going to work. now i can see where it's going and i'm really pleased. more photos to come.

it is finally cold here! i've been wearing my sweaters and loving it. today, i am at home knitting, watching shows about art on Ovation TV and making soup, yellow split pea with sweet potatoes. i cook a lot, though lately i guess i've been eating quite a lot of pasta, evidenced by the sudden too tightness of my jeans. ugh. the problem with being skinny is that you don't realize that you've been eating too much of the wrong things until your clothes no longer fit. i've always eaten pretty much whatever i want whenever i want. i guess that's no longer working for me. i'm off the pasta, bread, and ice cream for the foreseeable future.

i can't believe that the television strike has gone on this long. what are you watching while you're knitting? suggestions please...

 

Yarnplay review and giveaway on Sirius satellite radio

this morning i received the following email from a reporter in Canada;

Hi Lisa, I'm a Montreal-based journalist and book reviewer (and hopelessly addicted knitter) and I loved your book "Yarnplay". I'll be reviewing it today on Radio Canada International's "The Link" and because I ended up with two copies (I was too impatient for your publisher to send me a copy and went out and bought one) I'll be sharing the wealth today and giving away a copy to folks who write in. "The Link" is a program meant to connect Canada to the world and the world to Canadians. It runs on the Sirius satellite, but everyone can listen to it on the website or download the podcast (which is free). Simply go to: http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/en/emissions/emission_1952.shtml The page will refresh today at 3:30pm eastern time and then you'll be able to listen to my review. Can you please put the word out on your blog so folks will tune in and listen and write in--you see, I don't get to do knitting titles too often because it's such a niche market. But if a huge number of knitters are listening and find my contribution interesting, perhaps my producers will let me make it a regular segment. Then there will be more books to dicuss (and maybe even for listeners to win!) The email address is thelink@rcinet.ca I'll have instructions for listeners today and then all they have to do is email in with their responses. The contest runs for just under 2 weeks, so they have to get their answers in before Dec 31, 2007. The winner will be announced on Jan 2, 2008. And it's open to everyone no matter where they live. If you miss the program today, you can always look up the archive on the right hand side of the home page and download the podcast. Thank you again for your lovely inspiring book and please help me get the word out. Happy holidays, Geeta

pocketbook slippers, 2nd edition & Best of Books 2007

this is the second, and probably final, batch of pocketbook slippers. the turquoise pair are actually more of a purple. the two colors used in that pair are not colors that i particularly like on their own. however, i think they work very well together. those are definitely mine. the lavender pair are for someone on my gift list.

next up i will be working on a project for a workshop that i will be teaching at Gauge in January. there will also be a book signing for Yarnplay At Home. i'll post the details as they become available.

i don't know about you, but i really love year end Best Of Lists. i'm always on the lookout for must read books, must see films, must watch tv, and must have music. i just can't get enough. over the next couple of weeks i'll be posting some of my 2007 Best Ofs. first up, my favorite books of 2007. mind you, not all of these books were published in 2007, but this is when i read them.

My Favorite Books of 2007

1. The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman - i'm a huge fan of Sandman and Neil Gaiman. i'm only about a dozen or so issues short of the full collection. it was great to re-read them. Vol. 2 is on my wish list for 2008.

2. The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst - this book completely blew me away.

3. Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami - i really love Murakami. this is an older book. i'm taking my time reading them all because i'll be sad when there are no more left.

4. Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje - such a beautiful, multi-layered story.

5. Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him - Danielle Ganek - no heavy thinking involved here. this is a lightweight and amusing tale set in the NYC art world. perfect to take on vacation to read on the plane or on the beach.

6. The Half Brother: A Novel by Lars Saabye Christensen - i found it hard to get into, but ultimately well worth the time. this is an amazing book! if you like a good, long story you should give this a try.

7. The Dud Avocado (New York Review Books Classics) by Elaine Dundy - this is a fun read. in a small way it reminds me of one of my all time favorite books, Manhattan, when I Was Young by Mary Cantwell. they are both great coming of age stories, the former is fiction and the latter, a memoir.

8. Foreign Affairs: A Novel by Alison Lurie - i almost didn't read this book because i was so put off by the first few pages. at first it seemed a bit pedestrian, but due to a lack of good reading material i persevered and found it to be really charming.

9. The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman - i cannot say enough about this delightful book. it touched me and amused me and gave voice to so many mundane things that i've wondered about. any sensitive, observant, and creative person will appreciate this book.

it's looking like a handmade xmas

i rarely give handknit gifts for xmas. one of the reasons is that quick and easy knits like hats and scarves bore me to tears. that and there are usually few people that i like enough to want to knit for. this year there are a handful of cool people in my life that are deserving of hand knits and these pocketbook slippers are really fun to knit! as you can see, i've been playing around with the design - working it in different colors, adding a crocheted edging. these are so fun to knit. these 2 pairs are completed and ready for gifting. unfortunately, i've discovered that the pink pair (knit with peace fleece) is super itchy/scratchy. i'm going to try giving them a bath, but i fear that it may be a hopeless case. ugh. it's a shame because they're really cute. i love the navy ones and i'm tempted to keep them for myself. however, it's practically 80 degrees here now (though in the mornings it's as cold mid 20's - very bizarre)... i've also finished a lavender pair. they are awaiting buttons and trim. i currently have a blue/purple-y pair on needles.

the television strike is just about to interfere with my knitting mojo. what will i do when the tivo is empty? knitting along to music just doesn't cut it for me. i just finished watching the final season of The Sopranos. for a while i started to hate this show. after Adriana was killed off there didn't seem to be a single character with any redeeming qualities and i lost interest in their petty, horrible aspirations. at some point i started watching again and, i have to say, that the final season was pretty amazing. it was gratifying to have Tony fully revealed to be an absolute monster. even though he always did terrible things, in previous seasons the story somehow managed to make you feel sorry for him or made him appear to just be a regular guy and that always bugged me. i loved the downward spiral of the final season and how Tony ended up surrounded by a bunch of ineffectual guys long past their prime.

thank god the new season of The Wire was in the can before the strike began. i've just started watching Season 4 on dvd and wow is it heavy! i have always loved this show, but somehow this season affects me more deeply. perhaps because the players are so young. having grown up in Baltimore, i know just how real these stories are. i'm 3 episodes in and i'm very curious to see where it goes (but no spoilers, please!) i really miss Stringer Bell and the whole Barksdale crew. well, at least there's Omar...