The Ivy Dress is done & A Discussion about Social Yarn Etiquette

This is the story of a Rebel Knitter who saw a 'to die for' dress in a book and who swore to not venture away from the pattern for once. It is also the story of how she ended up relying on her knitting sense instead of digging her heels into the ground in sheer frustration.

Let's start at the very beginning... a very good place to start. The story begins with a fabulous gift from Marilyn of the book sensual knits: luxurious yarns/alluring designs by yahaira ferreira. G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S designs. Yummy, in fact! And, what a coincidence, I just happened to have bought 2000 metres of brown Butterfly DK Cotton (on sale at Romni) which would work great with the ivy dress - designed by Sauniell N. Connally.

You need to start with the ivy waist band. Okay. Totally up for it. Problem is: the chart is frought with errors. I frogged it back about 5 or 6 times until I finally got the brilliant idea to Google "Sensual Knits Errata". Wow. It wasn't just the Ivy Dress that had issues -- I printed off a 7 page pdf of oopsies. Yikes. Do not proceed with ANY pattern in this book before referring to this link > > http://www.pureknits.com/media/Sensual_Knits_Errata.pdf

I stayed focused, completed the waist band and then the bodice. I then cast on for the skirt and realized two things. #1 The lacy ivy strip going vertically down the front would show all sorts of stuff, but mainly my underwear.... um... no .... not good. #2 I look terrible in straight skirts. So there... that's when it happened. That's when I changed my mind. I would have to be the Rebel Knitter that I am. Hence, the finished product has an A-Line and, hey, what's not to love about a little lace hem, no? Well. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. I think I stayed a little faithful (in a sort of, almost, kind of way).

Now on to the very important issue of

SYE (Social Yarn Etiquette)

Okay. I just made that term up. But this is serious. My friend and colleague got on the TTC the other day, and when she got to the office she related the following cautionary tale:

Barb found a seat on the train, sat down, pulled out her crochet project and began to work away. All of a sudden, POKE in her shoulder. Huh? 'Must be my imagination,' she thought. Then again, POKE. Okay. Not the imagination. This was intentional. She turned around to the semi-apologetic (but not really) crafter staring her down to hear the 'what are you working on?' question. Now, just before Barb had gotten her seat, she did note to herself that the woman seated behind her was knitting. Yes, this too has happened to me. I too have sat down and noticed the knitter across the aisle. I have rubbernecked at other people's pattern choices. I too have secretly sized-up and appraised the skills, yarn and needle choices of others. Most times, if I am TTC-knitting, I find that the other knitter and I end up sharing a mutual "yarn-a-holic" smile (similar to the 'V' finger-sign that Corvette drivers used to flash each other in the 70s) and oft times engage in a friendly conversation. But this was not Barb's experience. Nope. No. No. No. No. No. Not the way to go about things, my friends. Let's be nice. We are evolved artistes. You work with yarn. You must liken yourself to Arachne or Athena/Minerva - goddesses of not just spinning, weaving and household crafts, but of wisdom and strength. Okay, so Minerva was also the Goddess of War. But stop spearing your fellow crafters. Even Minerva would say 'I don't think so, lady.' Lucky for the pokey-bioche, not only does Barb look like a Bond Girl, she is REALLY NICE and SUPER PATIENT; especially with knitters lacking the necessary social yarn etiquette that one needs in the big city.

The Next Project: Mother Bear

You may have already heard of it. My next collective project (and I'm going to get you involved in it too!) is The Mother Bear Project. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations by giving the gift of a hand-knit or crocheted bear. Visit the project website: http://www.motherbearproject.org/

In the Fall, I plan to get the kids & parents at the school involved, but in the meanwhile I have gotten quite a few of the Chang School Staff at Ryerson University knitting & crocheting...

Here are some of the bears:

Meet Zoe Bear

And her little brother Evan Bear (aka Soccer Bear)


Bumgy Bear

And the tallest teddy on the block... complete with chinos and business casual blue shirt meet: Tall Thom the Teddy Bear

Mama Mena with her two bambinos Primo & Secondo Bears

Check out Melissa's very dapper J.C. Benjamin

The Delightful Alex by Shashela

This is Martha's Awesome Canadian Bear

Vrenia's oh so hugable Stanley

Sarah's cuddly Baby Bear....

And Barbara's Blingy Olivia Bear

There are number of bears in progress thanks to the brilliant hands of my Chang School Colleagues.
Too cute, no? And every single one of them will be absolutely and completely adored, regardless of flaws.

Pretty irresistible. So, nu? What are you waiting for.... let me know when you want to get started!

But, don't worry Channah & Morgan, I'm still hard at work on the IDF hats, see....

I will be mailing off a bunch soon.

And it should come as no surprise to any, then, that I am nowhere near finished my sweet cotton DK summer dress.... ah - yes... hopefully it will look just as sweet with a turtleneck and tights underneath, because it looks like that's when it will be finished by.....

Double Mitzvah

I am so pleased to tell you all about what has happened with our little school Lorax project. It grew, and it grew, and then it grew some more until it became something much more than it was originally intended to be.

What began as a creative, environmental endeavor turned into a fabulous double mitzvah.

First, some marvelous child and adult knitters and crocheters came together and collectively assembled a magical array of texture, colour and pattern; joyfully displaying their phenomenal creativity.

Then, a school came together and collectively planted a massive grove of trees to honour their principal. Thank you to all who contributed to the recent fundraiser. As a community we more than doubled the reserve. We raised over $1,000 for the JNF!

Janet was speechless when I told her what we had done. I don't know if any of you have ever seen Janet speechless (I certainly hadn't), but she was. When I told her that the quilt was hers, she simply welled up with tears.

I went up to the JNF offices to present them with the monies last week, and they are truly impressed and thankful.

Thank you everyone on a collective job well done.

And on the 22nd day, she rested...

...At Last....

...She is Done...

With five minutes to spare before the beginning of shabbat on the 21st of May 2010, the Lorax Project was completed with bamboo dowel and tabs all measured and in place.

This collective project was born out of our school's eco-minded sensibilities. Using both traditional and alternative environmentally friendly yarns, members of the PPDJDS community have contributed knitted and crocheted pieces of various colours, patterns and textures.

Thank you to Moreh Seth for planting the idea of a school knitting project in my head last spring, and to all our talented fibre artists for their many hours of enthusiastic creativity and labour. Also thank you to Marilyn & Jonothan of Romni for guiding many of the knitters through the aisles to find the ethical yarns for which they were searching. The result is a rich and stunning collection that truly reflects our fabulously eclectic community.


Fibres used: Alpaca Wool, Bamboo, Banana Silk Fibre, Cotton, Hemp, Milk Fibre, Organic Cotton, Pima Cotton, Recycled Cotton, Recycled Silk, Recycled Wool, Sea Cell / Seaweed Fibre, Silk, Soy silk, Sugarcane Fibre, Tea-dyed Cotton, Tencel, Wool.

Fibre Artists: Ali, Debbi, Yafa, Rosanne, Zoe, Cindy, Jennifer, Meredith, Tanya, Liora, Cydel, Micah, Janet, Aviva, Jeremy, Dena, Caren, Shira, Elana, Rona, Jodi & Osnat

Day Three... and counting

When I explain to parents the benefits of teaching children how to knit, I mention that some of the fabulous skills they can learn or build on (almost by accident) are: attention to detail, creative expression, focus, fine motor skill development, math, and yes, even patience.

In this world of instant gratification -- and let us not forget that our children know ONLY a world of this kind.... a world of emails, touch-tone dialing, skype, texting, mobile phones and on-demand-in-flight-entertainment -- and this world of automation -- of remote controlled everything (including self dispensing soap & self flushing toilets) -- for them this is normal... In this world, learning the virtues of patience, long-term planning & perseverance through the art of knitting can be a subversive, fun way to teach these difficult 'old fashioned' foreign concepts.

So, when one of my 'ace' knitters came up to me this afternoon with a "Is it done yet?" I thought he was kidding! No. He was serious.

The plain and simple answer is: NO, J it's not done yet. But I am working on it. For goodness sake, it's only May 3rd. I was casting off L's square not 7 minutes prior to your question, and I arrived home 20 minutes after that to a paper bag stuffed into my mailbox with someone else's endeavor.

Besides 20x20 cm seems to be a highly hypothetical concept these days, it seems.... Rebel's got a serious balancing act playing itself out here...

Memo to self: remind kids to slow down and breathe.... remind myself to drink more coffee & crochet faster....

Here are some more pics of some more of the new squares.....

Lots & Lots of iddy biddy squares (sweet!)

This used to be Jen's white cotton with her permission, I dyed it using tea bags (orange pekoe, in case you are interested) -- btw, it was her idea.

Debbi's fab crochet

Osnat with Jade (awesome!)

Tanya's Jazzy Knit

Hope in English, Hebrew, Japanese, French & Sanskrit (using organic cotton, milk fibre, pima cotton, tencel, sugarcane fibre, seacell, merino wool, alpaca wool, & soysilk)

And there are many more squares.... stay tuned....

So, nu? Where are the squares?

Just to give you a teasy sort of view of how the Lorax Project is starting to shape up, here are some of the squares. Some are pre- some are post- and some are mid-connection... yes, even though it is not quite May 1st, I have started putting this baby together as the pieces come in... otherwise, it would never get finished before the end of the school term.... besides May 1st is not just International Workers' Day, this year it also is Shabbat. (Kind of a conflicting theme going on there, don't you think?)

This gives you a pretty good glimpse of how this is going to get put together. First, I must find 4 squares that actually 'go together'.... visually (colour, balance, theme) as well as spatially...

(they are not all 4"x4" or 8"x8"

... so it is a wee bit of a puzzle fixer upper at times).

Then I block them individually.

Then I crocheting them together a la granny square...

Then they get blocked again.

Then I crochet them into a 'finished' four-some...

Then, if the knitting and crocheting gods are in a laughing,

mocking, na-na-na-boo-boo kind of mood,

I block them yet again

in a sort of holy trinity blocking mikvah kind of way

....yes, yes, I know you are sighing with jealousy,

but, alas, not everyone can have this much fun on a Saturday night....

you just gotta be super lucky and fancy free like me.

But, yes, you too can live and dream like the Rebel Knitter....

make me a square!

Meredith & one other square

recycled wool & silk & banana fibre + one of Jodi's awesome diva crochet stitching

Janet's groovy knit + one flower (hand painted New Zealand wool)

when I pulled this back because it looked like there was a slight conflict in the Arctic & Atlantic waters (hmmm - do you think this could have had something to do with that whole Iceland affair?) Any interruptions during this process received a sharp "shushing" from yours truly: Keep quiet, please, can't you see Mummy's trying to save the world here?

Debbi.
You are right.
I haven't blogged in a while.
I guess, I was holding out for you to start crocheting me a square.
Yay... it worked.
And just because you actually dug deep into the back of your closet to find your yarn & hook, here are some more visuals to inspire you to hook on...

The Mazel Tov Magen David in reverse stocking knit motif.

Four. Four. Four times the love.

"Unless" -- My favorite single word directly from the realm of Seuss' Lorax.

The Tikuun Hamsa: Repair & Protect

Last week someone asked me some excellent questions about the project:

Q: Huh? Why are you doing this?

A: Community spirit, community action & to make right the wrongs of the evil knitter 'The Oncler" (see blog entry of March 14th)

Q: Why not all the same yarn? all the same patterning? uniformity? etc.

A: This project is about pluralism, inclusiveness and the mosaic that makes up our micro & macro communities. It's what I love about my children's school, the city & country in which we are fortunate to live.

Q: Why is it called the Lorax Project?
A: Seriously? OMG, you haven't yet read it? I some how missed out on it as a child & was lucky enough to have children who are Seuss fans. Run, don't walk. Get to a library f-a-s-t!

Lorax Project Update

The squares are starting to really come in now.
I am still not entirely certain how 'big' this baby is going to get.
Will start posting some photos soon.

-Rebel