perfectly practical

Clearly there is a huge problem with knitting a black sweater - it is simply impossible to photograph. Combine that with our dark house and it's game over for getting a nice shot. I stretched the levels to the limits in Photoshop to try and bring out a detail or two, but this is the best I could do before turning myself Martian green.

This does not however, affect how happy I am with the sweater. My plan last year was to make a top-down raglan with fuschia Cascade 220 after using the green for my first sweater (thanks to a class at Knitomatic). But Jay reminded me that I might be happier with black and he was so right. For all the effort of knitting something this big I should love it to death. So I picked up Sublime Merino DK, which is by far my favourite wool, promptly had yarn shortage anxiety, but in the end had just enough to complete the whole thing. It's soft and springy and I want to wear it everyday (plus it cold-water washes like a dream, and comes out feeling even better). The class taught me a bottom-up version, but I did a top down so I could better control the length. The cuffs, neckband and bottom band are seed stitch and I shaped the body ever so slightly to make sure the sweater clears my waistband.

I'd also like to point out that the last time Jay took a photo of me wearing my knit Sahara, I'm wearing the same pants. Perhaps I need more pants, and not more sweaters?

Pattern: my own
Wool: Sublime Merino DK, 11 balls
Needles: 4.5mm bamboo circs and Pony DPNs

reading challenge #5

Next up, Richard Wright's October. I almost never pick up a hardcover, as though I foolishly think they might take longer to read, but so far in this challenge the hardcovers are winning out.

I'm glad the story in this novel travelled somewhere different from where it started; the topic of cancer striking a family member is still a little too fresh for me. But a seventy-ish man running into a boyhood acquaintance who then asks him to be at his side for his final breath, well, that is a pretty intriguing turn of events. The storytelling is solid, the characters rounded and overall it was a completely satisfying read. The main character, who we get to know as both a 15 year old and as an elderly man, is incredibly self aware. In his own words:

There is a furtive side to me. I enjoy listening to the secrets of others, and over the years people have opened their hearts to me. This trait has made me seem more trustworthy than I really am.

As for my knitting comparison: October is most certainly a toque, a wholeheartedly Canadian garment and a steady, simple knit. You don't have to labour too hard, the time invested is rewarding and most of all, everyone knows how important it is to keep your noggin warm.

test pattern

Distraction from what's important is truly an art. Even though making a quilt isn't a priority right now, I've gone and ordered some fabrics from Reprodepot (this, this and this) and made a cushion to test out my proposed colour scheme. You may laugh, but the cushion is already making me like the red paint more...plus the positive comments left about the red were quite a help too. And it was strangely serendipitous that I found this red fabric on the weekend which is EXACTLY the shade I needed. So the saga may be over, and there is a whole bunch of sewing in my future.

To keep my plate full this week while I'm home by myself I also walked over to Knitomatic and picked up some Fable alpaca on sale in a salmon colour to make the Juliet "cardigan" from Zephyr. I started it last night and so far it's knitting up quickly. Last week I actually finished a full sweater but I was so excited to wear it that of course Sadie smeared cookie on me and now it needs a wash. I'll also have to convince Jay to take a photo or two, which is never his favourite activity.

And now, back to my sewing.

(P.S. The "painting" in the photo above is a bubble gum portrait of Sadie that Jay finished last year. I'm going to hang it in my office at work, but for now it looks nice right there!)

the red saga

It turns out that I am teased for how I say the word "red". For some reason I say it with a Southern drawl and I have no idea why. But maybe it explains why I had to have a red room this year.

It also turns out that having to have a red room and liking the red room are two very different things. I feel like I spent every night of this past week painting - it took three coats and a lot of delivered pizza to get through it. At this point I'm not entirely convinced I like it; it is definitely cozy at night and the colour is quite lovely, but I feel like I've broken up the main floor and I don't know how to tie it together again. Also, I've never explained that a certain painting (that I love) has been the catalyst for much of this change, and while it looks much better on a red wall, it has made everything else in the room look rather frumpy. The room is a mixture of bold choices and very subtle choices and nothing is working yet. So, I'm trying to plan a quilt for the sofa that will bridge the two lands, but my goodness a quilt is a large project. And I have a deadline set with Ragdoll to complete a series of drawings by May 1st (and she, in turn, will finish her novel!), meaning I shouldn't really add a new project to my list. Sigh.

Of course, these are trivial concerns. Life is good, making things is a pleasure, and I have a week away from work to overthink this whole red thing while catching up on being creative. I'll just be sure to avoid anything resembling a paintbrush.

reading challenge #4

A simple truth about my book reviews: besides their brevity, they will all be positive. This is because my reading time is too precious to waste on a book I am not enjoying. Mostly I read before bed, borrowing time from my dreams, closing the book around 1am (which really isn't smart considering when I get up and how packed each day is). And I never have regrets if and when I abandon a novel.

The Tree Tattoo by Karen Rivers is an unusual exception. I would struggle to continue and then find myself giving it one more chance. This actually happened five times in total - and I even had another BC author ready to go - but on the fifth try I stayed with it, and I'm still surprised I got through it.

The prose is very poetic, which I usually love, but in the beginning I was too distracted by it. I imagine it must have been the story that brought me back each time, or how the story might resolve itself. In a nutshell, a 50-something family man and an alarmingly haunted 23 year old have a sexually charged affair. Unique? Yes. Hard to imagine? Yes. Worth the read? Undecided, but there were certainly notable phrases, and striking passages. For instance:

Marriage is so many unasked, unanswered questions, a tidal wave of unsaid words - do they ever crash down? Can people be crushed under that kind of weight?

The characters wrestle with familiar demons but the language doesn't soften the carnage, and this I did appreciate. As for the knitting comparison: The Tree Tatoo is like a pair of socks, in particular a pair I referred to as the "Forever Socks" because they took so long to knit and yet I never gave up on them. Socks are a unique knit anyway, and magical at moments - like when you turn the heel - but in the end you don't wear them often and you have to remind yourself that at least they got finished. Next time I knit socks, perhaps I'll call them The Tree Tatoo socks...that sounds much better.

the view from here

There are only 15 minutes before I take Sadie up to bed, and I'm sitting at the computer eating pizza that was just delivered. Something about the scene beside me - a moment in time and a perfect Sunday night - made me laugh. It must be the mixture of furniture chaos, fort building on the couch and Jay's knees poking out from behind as he watches basketball a little too close to the television.

I finally took the plunge with red paint. It was too much debate and not enough action, so a good friend offered to come play with Sadie while I started the edging. I don't tape and count on a steady hand for edging so it takes me time. I'll roll the first coat once Sadie's in bed and cross my fingers that I only need one more. I am still fighting the decision; ten years of working for HGTV promoting designers like Sarah Richardson has really affected me. We had a perfectly neutral house and the colour flow was good, but suddenly we have a grey kitchen and now a red TV room. I should be completely disowned by the network.

But in the next minute I realize I don't care. I heart red and already the room is warming up. The precious moments spent knitting in here at night will now be colourful and cosy. Design rules, schmesign rules.

And now, it's Sadie's bedtime.

a girl and her paint

If only the rest of the house was as fun to decorate as Sadie's room is. Last weekend I finally got her one wall painted raspberry, and both Sadie and I love it. She hung out with me while I painted each of the three coats (and actually, I could have done a fourth) constantly exclaiming, "it's purple!". Our cat Glen Miller also joined the painting party and it was a complete miracle that raspberry paint didn't get spilled, touched or tracked anywhere. I've always found painting very relaxing, which explains why every wall in our house has been painted two to three times (it happened in our apartment too, and Jay teases me every time I bring up repainting). But gone are the days of throwing on painting clothes and knowing I had hours of quiet contemplation ahead - nope, now I have a cat and a preschooler determined to be part of the experience. Oh well.

Last weekend I also finished this pillow for Sadie's bed. The cat embroidery is from a drawing we did together using different colour crayons so I repeated the effect with thread. I didn't plan the design much, just started pulling fabrics together and balancing out the colours on the ironing board. It was pretty fun and I'm wondering if I can use the same approach to make a quilt for the sofa. I like that it isn't symmetrical - I can't be as colourful in the TV room, but at least I could aim for the same sense of play. I still haven't painted the TV room red; there are squares of "Hadley Red" on each wall (thank you tester pot) but I'm scared about making the plunge. For all my talk about Jay not liking red, it's actually me who is having a problem. But if raspberry makes me smile every time I see it, surely red will do the same? Or maybe I should just stick to sewing. Fabric is much easier to change when you get it wrong.

love = cookies

Love also equals Sadie, my favourite little Valentine. It's been a busy, stressful, snow-pounded week and all I wanted to do tonight was skip yoga class and bake cookies with my girl. Unfortunately, the man in my life got no special Valentine love, but as luck would have it, he is officially anti-holiday. Therefore, he will appreciate a reminder of his wife's love for him on a more average, unexpected day. And anyway, he got to eat these yummy cookies right out of the oven.

Nothing says Happy Valentine's Day like hands covered in chocolate dough. Simply delightful.

reading challenge #3

I didn't want to turn over the last page of Joan Clark's An Audience of Chairs, it was just too good to end.

"The weather was a dark, smudgy grey and the wind blowing off the Firth brought wintery rain and sleet. The flat was cold, and as she lay in bed trying to stay warm, she saw no reason why she should get up. Moranna often mistook self-absorption for independence and was unaware that without her husband she had lost her sense of direction."

There is something about East Coast stories that hook me, and after finding the hardcover of this novel for $4.99 I started reading it right away (knocking two other Canadian books I had been reading into the dustbunnies on my bedroom floor). I fell for Moranna's character immediately, even though she did unforgiveable things. Without judgement, Clark crafts Moranna's character so that you see how she is compelled by her mental illness to act inappropriately. Even in her darkest hour you cannot help but empathize, and you root for her to overcome her own demons when she is finally on her own.

As a mother, I was torn by the loss of her young children and I shared the helplessness of knowing they were out there - somewhere. But Clark gave so many perfect insights, such as the excerpt above, which lifted the blame just enough so that you could see the story unfold without prejudice. I remember being particularly touched by the insight that Moranna couldn't look into the future enough to realize that the dependence her infant and toddler daughters had on her was fleeting, that in a few short years they wouldn't need her to do everything for them. It is an overwhelming time, and I can all too easily imagine how this could unravel your world, especially when mental illness exists just below the surface.

This is a book I will be passing around, and it will have lasting influence on me. The prose is crisp and forgiving, the story touching and profound. I simply can't say enough about it.

The knitting comparison: Definitely this is like the perfect shawl, a garment particularly for women, intricate in its' lace pattern but absolutely practical in its' use. The knitting is methodical and you have to be totally dedicated, but the final product is too beautiful for words. See what I mean?

snow thrift

When it snows, at least there are thrift shops within walking distance. Many times during my maternity leave this saved my sanity, especially in the seven months (yes, seven) before I had a stroller. I learned to love my nieghbourhood quickly - almost everything we need is a short walk away. And there is just something romantic about walking around in the fresh snow, especially when it's still falling and you're wrapped up in scarves and hats wearing big boots. These days, I think it's my favourite time to be alone.

But let me get to the pattern I found. It's so 1970's and unfortunately a little big (although a size 12 back then isn't far off from my measurements now) but I think I can modify it enough to make it work. The square neckline is the best feature and coincedentally this pattern is exactly like a shirt I saw in Banana Republic a month ago, but it was screaming for better fabric. So next up - choosing a fabric, and if it's anything like choosing red paint, I can count on it taking me a few months to decide. A quick look at Superbuzzy has given me a few options already, like this, and this, and this. Though I'm tempted to not act my age and try something more like this.

Of course, I'm still dreaming about linen too, and the more I think of it, a gauzy linen would give the blouse a great contemporary feel. Hmm. Too many choices, never enough strength to decide.