As The Yarn Turns

Knitting Again

I'm finally squeezing in some time for knitting. I think I'm going to have to face the fact that my knitting time is limited. As long as I can get in some knitting time, I'm happy. The front of the Shapely Tee is almost finished. This is taking way longer than it should. Good thing we still have plenty of warm weather ahead.

On the bind offs for the armhole shaping, I used the sloped bind off from the Vogue Knitting book. It avoids that stair step look when you're binding off over several rows. It's really easy. Basically you don't knit the last stitch before you turn your work. Turn your work keeping that stitch on the right needle and then slip the next stitch. You should have two stitches on your right needle. Pass the unworked stitch over the slipped stitch. That's the first bound off stitch. Then bind off the rest of the stitches as needed in your usual way. Here's how the armhole looks. The bind offs are at the underarm.

With any luck at all, I should be starting on the back this weekend. I've also started on my second cotton sock and have been working on my mohair wrap, but I'll save that for another day.

I've also been reading The Artist's Way. If you're not familiar with the book, it's kind of a self-help course on creativity that spans 12 weeks. The book has been out for more than a decade but it still seems to be a very popular book. It's an interesting book. Two key themes throughout the book are daily journal pages and a weekly artist date. There are other exercises that vary from week to week also. I'm only in week two but so far I like the book. I don't think you would need to be an artist to benefit from it either. It's early so I can't say whether it's done anything for my creativity yet.

Speaking of which, I think I'll put my creativity to work on my Shapely Tee.

by Sydney  |

No Knitting, No Computers

Yes, as hard as it is to believe, I did not knit or get on the Internet for four days. So no knitting content today. I was too busy having fun at the SEAM 2005 convention in Huntsville, Alabama. If you haven't been keeping up, SEAM is the SouthEastern Association of Magicians. This was my first time at a magician's convention so I wasn't quite sure what I would think of it. I brought lots of knitting and brought a spindle. Never had a chance to use any of it. I was way to busy to even look at it. Since our hotel had the world's worst wireless internet access, I didn't bother with that either.

The first night Rick and I were in a show with other magicians from the Southeast. We only had one mistake and otherwise everything went well. We also had a quite a few of our neighbors in the audience. The nice thing about a real theater and stage is that it's often hard to see the audience because of the lights. Being on stage doesn't bother me. Seeing people I know in the audience does. This was the first of three shows during the convention. Until that was over, we didn't focus on anything else. We basically spent all day Thursday getting ready for it. Once that was over we were able to see some friends.

From left to right, that is my friend Bob, me and Rick, and my friend Michael in the dealers area. Surprisingly there were no knitting or fiber dealers there. But Bob has some really nice silk scarves. From there everyone seemed to gather in the lobby of the hotel to chat.

That's me way in the back with the light t-shirt on. Friday night there was another show and Rick was pegged to do sound for show. This is probably where I had the most fun. While some of these magicians are well known and have appeared on shows such as "World's Greatest Magic", most travel with just themselves or sometimes a family member. They haul their own props around and put them together. They bring their own music on anything from a mp3 player to a cassette. It can be chaotic on a tiny little backstage with six acts getting ready. Plus these conventions are sponsored by local clubs that have to gather equipment from a variety of sources. Some magicians have lots of stuff. Some only bring a few things. Some people spend the moments before their show going through their acts and checking their props. Others spend their spare time chatting. Since I didn't have a show the last two nights, I just helped out when I was needed and went out to watch the show when I wasn't.

That's me helping Mike Caveney with his act on Saturday. I had a blast and managed to hit a few lectures in between. Sleep was something I was lacking though. Several nights of staying up late and getting up early took their toll on me. By the time we got home yesterday, I could only manage to sit, nap, and vegetate. No knitting yesterday either. I'm starting to feel back to normal though so expect knitting content by my next entry.

by Sydney  |