Back to the Fun Part

And that's it, the whole knitted section, thank God. I have paid my dues, and I have proven to myself that I can knit. I can knit while watching CSI. I can knit with 2 strands, and even with 3 strands. Well, actually that last bit is not entirely true. 3 strands is not my strong point, as this nifty photo (yay for my iMac) of the reverse side demonstrates:
And the best part is, after removing the icky circular needle which made the thing look like a hula skirt, amazingly it turns out that it actually fits the DH!!
However, the experience while character-building did not change the fact that I find knitting very, very tiresome. I'm glad it's over, glad to be twirling again and finally done with all that Poking About with Pointy Sticks.

The end is in sight!

Maybe 6 more rows of this infernal knitting and I'll be back in the light: crocheting! Thank heaven. Sorry it looks a bit crumpled, that's because it is a bit crumpled. Well, at the present rate the DH should have this by Xmas 2009.

A field of v's

Will this knitting never end?
Now I know why the Korsnäs girls do these knitted sections in trios. The level of tedium is dangerous for one person alone. On the other hand, I have to admit it's very pretty.

I just joined a great online group called Crochet Partners, and now my mailbox is brimming with crocheters from around the world. I entirely approve of this group: the posting rules are very strict, so all posts are 100% on the topic of crochet. Many thanks to Dee Stanziano for pointing me in the direction of the group!
And while I'm on the topic of thanks, I owe a heap of them to Debolsillo for spending hours teaching me how to Blog. Gracias por todo!

Knitting purgatory

I may have been exaggerating when I said that I don't know how to knit. Now I remember that I do know how to knit, I had an excellent teacher in my mother. It's just that when I'm crocheting, the thought of knitting intimidates me to the point of panic. So I apologize for misleading information.
I had to rip out 4 rows when I realized I was reading the pattern wrong. Not fun.
In Korsnäs, women sit down in groups of three or four to make these sweaters, and they take turns on the rows. (important update 22/07: they do not take turns on the rows! They do them all at the same time, 3 or 4 people knitting the same row! If you don't believe me, see this picture. God I wish I could read Finnish, and learn how this is done!)The most experienced ladies do the complicated crochet rows, the ones with three or more colours. Sounds like a plan to me. Personally I'm considering hiring a Ghost Knitter to take care of this next section for me, which promises to be long and tedious. Can't wait to get to the next crochet section.

Pointy Sticks

Well, knitting is not really very hard, even with 2 colours. It's not that it's difficult, that's not it. It's just, well, not very exciting somehow. Now why is it that I find crochet so compelling and knitting so bland? I find myself grumbling "all this poking about with pointy sticks.." But I think it's not the pointiness of the sticks, rather it's the pokiness of the stitch. In you poke, out you poke, in you poke, etc. like a little machine. Whereas crochet is like ballet: every stitch is a little pirouette, or a big pirouette, or a triple axel, depending. And then you look at the stitches you've made and you see all these delightful structures, twirls and whirls, while in knitting you see this field of v's.
I hope this post is offensive enough to the knitting community. I'd love to hear you all rant and rave the way I have. Which is to say, the 3 or 4 people who read my blog, ie my most beloved sister, cousin, niece, husband, son...
No! There's more!
Allow me to introduce the most rockin' reunion in Barcelona: BARCELONA KNITS! Yesterday I went to my 2nd BK session. At the first one I went to, these very supportive knitters and crocheters encouraged me to start a blog, and here it is, even if it's still only in English. (La verdad es que me veo muy patosa escribiendo en Castellano, i encara més en Català.) Anyhow these folks are a treat, because they're all as yarn-obsessed as myself. When I start talking, they don't sigh and wait for me to get onto a more interesting topic.

When I first moved to Barcelona, like 20 years ago, in my neighborhood there were 6 or 7 little (and I mean Little) yarn shops wedged in among all the other tiny stores, and in each and every one of them you'd find a group of ladies knitting and crocheting and gossiping together. The proprietress of such a shop was invariably a master craftswoman who could take one look at you, measure you, and design your pattern for you on the spot, no matter what stitch or lacy pattern you wanted to try. Like Haute Couture. Patterns were not printed and there were few magazines: she just said, now decrease three stitches here, and it worked. There are not too many of those shops left, they're closing left and right as those incredible women retire, and my generation doesn't have the time or the skill to take their place. But when Debbie Stoller started the Stitch'n'Bitch revolution, I couldn't help thinking of all those little ladies chatting away over their needles in those tiny shops.
I know and have known many wonderful Little Catalan Ladies who do amazing needlework. So I plan to write about them all here, eventually.

It's a Latvian mitten! No, it's a bag.

While we're on the topic of Korsnäs tapestry crochet, (upon which topic we will continue to be forever), this is another FO using Ktc. The "fairisle" pattern is from this page and the design of the bag is mine, which is why it's a bit strange. Never mind, I use it anyways.



And this is the DH's Museum sweater as of last night. One more row and we switch to knitting for the middle section. It's a daunting prospect for us confirmed Crocheters, since we, (I), don't actually know how to knit. However, my brilliant mother, who was a superb needlewoman and Belgian to boot, taught me stranded colourwork holding a strand in either hand, and although I was not very good at it, I figure (that is I hope) it must be hardwired into my genes. We shall see.

Museum Sweater

Now that I've gotten to be such a whiz at this, here's another post, a picture of what I'm working on now. This is the very sweater on the Ostrobothnian Museum's (see link below) textile page! It's also pictured in full on the frontispiece of Marketta Luutonen's amazing book (see link below) so with the help of a magnifying glass I'm lifting the pattern. I wish I could scan the photo and post it here but I rather suspect this would be a violation of copyright laws so instead I suggest everybody run off and buy the book. It's written in Swedish, Finnish and English. (You see, Korsnäs is this small town on the Ostrobothnian coast of Finland, and in Korsnäs they speak Swedish.)
This is for my husband who has no use for troubador socks.
One of these days I will figure out how to take a better picture.
In the meantime, here are some great links for lovers of colourwork:
CIMDU PARAUGI (latvian mittens)
CIMDU RAKSTI (latvian mitten patterns)
RIGA NATO SUMMIT (Thousands of Latvian mittens!!)