American Wool Series

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

New Venture

I thought I posted a while ago about a new project I was working on/about to work on. Jessica and I recorded our first podcast and it's finally up here. I think the idea is to record every other week and see how it goes.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

No Covety Goodness

I'm off to work this morning. While I was drying my hair I found my first silver one. I mean silver. I can only hope that they'll all grow in one dense streak so I'll have an awesome Heff thing going down one side. Whee.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Hareton Socks

Hareton Socks

I finished these socks up last Friday after I decided I was done looking at the color. In real life it's a very dark teal and knitting them up on size 0 needles was not fun. They're for the Man's birthday on May 6 and it's the first pair I've knitted up for him. I reinforced the toe and heel so they've got a nice mottled teal and black thing going on. Hareton Socks are free if you go here. I've moved on to my first pair of Monkey socks and trying my hand at knitting both at once on one long circular needle. I also tried out the no-knot cast on method (no slip knot needed) which Jessica was so kind to show to me last week. Lovely.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Music Monday


This is an album for when I'm feeling nostalgic. The Make-Up or Make-Up is a group from the mid-nineties that dissolved in early 2000. They're heavy on bass and drums and this album is a compilation of singles and b-sides from other releases. I suppose they're indie since all four of their albums are released on independent labels but they've got a great gospel/garage/soul feeling that takes me back to a late early adulthood of first tattoos, day trips to San Francisco, late nights, my first solo trip cross-country, and all sorts of liberating trouble. Frontman Svenonius preached against capitalist culture and the vacuous nature of pop music. He's since moved on to play with Ted Leo & the Pharmacists under the name David Canty. It's an interesting album and some of the songs are hit or miss but for the most part wonderfully subversively dancey and catchy.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Welcome to Spring?

It's raining/hailing right now. What the hell? I'm hoping for some executive decision-making on mother nature's part at the moment. Sunny would be nice. Sprinkles would be fine. But this? This needs to stop.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Music Monday

The Man and I got free passes to see the Devil and Daniel Johnston. Hooked. The film is...awesome and lovely and funny and amazing and if you haven't seen it you should do so tout suite. His albums are now being released and are similarly wonderful and much easier to find than the original mail order cassettes. Even if you aren't a music buff or know who Daniel Johnston is the movie is truly great.

Friday, April 11, 2008

First Day

I had my first day at my new job yesterday. My tootsies are sore! Love your LYS? Try memorizing all the dk weight yarn! Worsted? Aran? Lots of stuff to remember but so fun and so much more fulfilling than the last job. Hopefully I can remember it all between now and the next work day. EEE!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Covet! Wednesday












Blue Moon Fiber Arts has some gorgeous new colorways since they've redone their site. I'm a big fan of Typhoon Tina but Purple Rain and Rolling Stone are right up there in covetousness. Is that because of the name or the colorway? I'd say both, I'm still waiting on a Bowie-inspired colorway to rock my socks.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Music Monday

Here's one for the audiophiles. Mission of Burma just re-released three volumes of double lp goodness of their groundbreaking music circa 1981 - 1983 (the year of their break up). Each one comes with a full color booklet and a dvd of a live performance. I couldn't be more excited - this is a band that spurred me on to become the music nerd I am today. Without them I wouldn't have been interested in the underground sound of the late 70's and early 80's. It's high quality stuff and a piece of history to boot. That's when I reached for my revolver is a piece of lyrical and musical genius. Love.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Covet! Wednesday

I've been pretty out of it the last few days. It's my last week of work and I've been training my replacement and dealing with broken hardware and broken software and it's basically been a circus all around. So I missed music Monday again...sorry. I'm still working on the next few installments and trying to puzzle out what albums should go in what order. I've had a bit of time to surf around and found this gorgeous wrap which I am now salivating over and wondering if I could actually afford it and trying to justify the cost (which isn't bad) by thinking about the hours and hours of knitting time it would take to finish. It comes in two colors - Moroccan Days which is a warm mustardy yellow and Arabian Nights which is a pretty dusky purple. The Woolen Rabbit has gorgeous sock yarns and lace yarns as well as project kits and I love their colorways which are slightly reminiscent of Tactile Fiber Arts naturally dyed stuff. Have a looksy and start daydreaming too.