The Lumpy Sweater

 In breaking news about teen crafters, Kaya is planning to release a teen knitting magazine at Teen Knitting Magazine. The official release date is June 15. The website is still being ironed out, so if you can’t access the website immeaditely, there’s a reason. She’s asking for teen-created patterns and articles.

 I’m personally interested to see if a teen-run magazine will be able to make a good go of it. She’s set up a Ravelry group here and so far many people have volunteered. Proposed columns include a book review column and a what not to knit or crochet feature, which should be fun. I will be writing a column that will feature a teen knitter or crocheter of the month.

 Anyone with advice for Kaya, please drop a line here or on her blog—I’m sure that she would appreciate it!

I seriously need to take up coffee-drinking. Or something.

Remember the crisis? You know, my cardigan front was too short, now it’s too long?

It’s over. All I had to do was compare the back and the front once more and…crisis gone. I had simply mismeasured them. Maybe the fabric wrinkled or something.

This was Thursday, and so I immeaditely cast on the ribbing for the right front, because Something Important was happening. I was attending the knit night at my local yarn store, and I wanted to have something to knit with that looked vaguely important—a sweater!

 Overcome, I stuffed everything into my bag—the sweater back, the completed left front, my set of 3 four needles, the inch of ribbing I had done, an extra skein of silky wool in case I ran out, (and so I could wind it there, instead of by hand) my set of size 7 needles in case I finished the ribbing and wanted to keep knitting, and my special handmade notebook, even though I specifically took along some plain lined paper because my special handmade notebook is nearly full and I didn’t want to waste one precious page on some knitting notes.

 As you can see, I might be slightly more prepared than neccesary.

 I have to admit, I love my yarn store [Market Street Yarn & Crafts, if you're ever visiting West Virginia] but I did feel slightly nervous when I bounced through the front door. The refuge of a good seat left on the stoughy black leather couch beckoned to this nervous teen. By the way, stoughy is a word that I just made up, it is pronounced “stow-fee”, and it is the only sound-word that I could imagine that describes the delicious feeling of sinking into a fat, slick leather couch. It is also the profile name of some Myspace user, but I swear that I made it up on the spot. 

 I lucked out that night—two other teenagers were there, one working on a ribbon yarn stole/shawl for her prom; the other crocheting a scarf of Doctor Who length.

 That last phrase might get me some weird hits, I just realized.

 Anyway, LeAnne, who works there, was also there, which was nice. LeAnne is my first resort when I am flustered and once more unable to settle on the perfect yarn for a project. She also happens to be very obliging about winding my yarn for me, even though I wished that I could save her the trouble. Probably she doesn’t want me to break it, ha. Wise woman.

That’s my attempt at yarn porn. It came out rather nicely, I think, but somehow I think that this picture fits that more, even though it’s much more badly taken.

If you see what I see in this picture, I swear to heaven it was unintentional. If you don’t, my lips are sealed, I refuse to explain.

Anyway, so I knitted my ribbing, LeAnne told us stories (gather ’round children, and you shall hear) and I managed to find a use for the sweater back (to show off) and I generally enjoyed myself. I also ogled some new cotton yarns that came in. I managed to avoid screwing up my ribbing—at least I’m that smart.

 However, I have managed to miscalculate when I should start binding off for the right armhole. I knit a few more rows than I should, so I will have to rip back some. Still, I have a good deal of my right front done, and I am very excited.

 See how it’s longer? I don’t care though—I’m making a sweater!

 But after writing about Doctor Who length, yarn porn and more, I’m beginning to wonder if poor ‘Stoughy’ is going to start getting some very odd hits…

Later

Oh, God, I’m about to go insane. This sweater is insane. I’m going to burn it in a trash barrel. Will explain later.

But a link is all that I can manage. I am worn out from this party!

Winners Announced

Teen crafters—knitters, crocheters, quilters—we’re not that special.

This may sound strange from someone who moderates a rapidly growing Teen group on Ravelry and actively campaigned for sponsorships and prizes for their party—a party celebrating our 300 member.

 But we’re not really that special. However, there are some distinguishing marks of a teen crafter

1. We’re almost always broke. I envy others who have crafty parents. At least they understand the basic crafting (and stashing!) urge.

2. Many of us have pink blogs. Shrug. We also have this in common with Christian moms who have built-in music players that blare out, “How Great Thou Art” and scare the shat out of unsuspecting people (me) who just wanted to read their blog.

3. We deal with older people who think that we can’t craft beyond the basics, parents that don’t care about it, and peers that call us Grandma or Grandpa. Guy teenage knitters have to deal with a complicated mixture of this and insinuations about their sexual identity. No wonder we don’t see many of them.

 4. Rants about knitting in class are often common.

 5. We like shiny stuffs, odd color combinations, and colored needles.

 6. We breath air.

 7. We hate sterotypes spread about us.

On the last point—this is getting tiring. I appreciate efforts from people who try to write patterns or stories for teen crafters. I love the Chicks with Sticks series, and so do a lot of other teenage crafters. But simplistic patterns using eyelash yarn or stupid intarsia figures aren’t cool teen patterns—they’re just in bad taste. And we know that you’re cheaping out.

 So, as a favor to everyone, please, spread the word.

 Steeks and cashmere for my young knitting friend.