Did you know that February is
International Boost Your Self-Esteem Month?


Photo by Bonne Marie Burns ©2002

I can't decide which pair of shoes will give me enough lift to accomplish this. I've always felt I wasn't tall enough - even in the 21st, every woman has an appearance achilles heel !

I'm already 5'7, but would really like to be 6 feet TALL..... TRULY!

February is also American Heart Month, Black History Month, Celebration of Chocolate Month, Berry Fresh in the Sunshine State Month, International Embroidery Month, International Expect Success Month, Library Lovers' Month, National Cherry Month, National Snack Food Month, National Weddings Month, Plant the Seeds of Greatness Month, and Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month

Nuf said .....
Make a Wish.......or like ChicKnits, buy a BigBall Lotto Ticket!

Of course, it comes as no surprise The People's Choice award goes to: the Aqua Ruffled Pullover called "Sweet" from Rowan Mag 26

Runner-up is The Wild West Pullover...

Talk about guilt-free pleasure - now if this stuff ends up in the Marination Chamber, I can blame you guys!!!

And, according to CNN:
"The world's most famous groundhog saw his shadow during the annual ritual here Saturday morning, meaning lousy weather is in store for another six weeks."

So if I giddy-up and finish, I'll be able to wear the stuff for a quite a while!!! My gawd, how I love clothes.

Thanks to over 100 folks who cast a vote.....

Even on one of the most patriotic days of the year, (the other two being the 4th and Thanksgiving), I have achieved

Maximum Cabin Fever

Somehow I just don't feel unified with the rest of my SuperBowl neighbors who are running around getting those last minute refreshments and snacks for the party tray! I'm rifling my brain for a GOOD excuse to give to my football host as well! (Don't wanna gooooo......)

While I've been nervously eating extremely chunky peanut butter on oatmeal cookies (nope, haven't been to the store yet), I tried to calm my nerves by, you guessed it, starting a new project. Very lush plum blend of wool, cashmere, and silk (extreme xmas gift called Cash Iroha).

Sketch by Bonne Marie Burns

We won't even dignify this lapse by calling it Startitis, we'll just call it what it is - FOLLY! This could be a sub-culture of Startitis because you just absolutely ignore EVERYTHING: housecleaning (yup, needs to be done), grocery shopping (oh pulleeze), partying (the SuperBowl is always B-O-R-I-N-G, no?), grooming (OK, I did take a shower and put something called Control Freak on my hair and Chanel Rouge a Levres Hydracarresse in True Red on the lips), but am wearing black velvet drawstring pants and a black hooded polar fleece nightmare.

Oh, and a Black Ribbed Cap because once again there's a draft in this place...

I know by 4pm I'll have thought up a good no-go excuse for the proposed partay and at kickoff I will instead send my extreme female energy in a couple moments of silence across the US to others as lost as I.

And then, of course, return to my knitting...

Want to really Boost Your Self-Esteem?

ChicKnits 2K2 ForReal Resolution #6
Join or Start a Knitting Group

Up until 2K, I was like Rupunzel, sitting in my ivory tower, surrounded by yarn and UFOs. The garments I knit were dull and conventional, straying little from the written patterns I found in magazines or old books. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Then one day in 2K, I got an email from Brenda, a member of a listserv I belonged to called Webgrrls. This listserv was for the advocacy of tech women and had a huge subscription, mainly web folk, geeks and their minion. This email was an invitaiton to meet somewhere and sit around knitting, stichin 'n bitchin.

Cool, I thought, lets geekspeak and network. And I came out of the tower and haven't been back since!

The first project I brought to the group was a big sweatshirt type hoodie I was making out of recycled yarn (a huge sweater that made the rounds in my family, sitting on various closet shelves). I tore it apart (GASP) washed the yarn, and re-knit it into my homey bathrobe/2K2housecoat and the chain was broken.

No more would I be shackled to the instructions letter by letter, ball band or brand! I started combining several strands of yarn to get texture, color or weight. One of my friends brought me to a yarn shop up north where the owner wrote you a custom pattern to fit YOUR frame and I saw how geek knitting really was!!! Mathematics royale, digital even, one stitch by one stitch at a time, building into a complex creation using the most simple of movements and materials.

MORAL: Find a Knitting Group and join it or --- Start your own! Teach one friend to knit and get together and you are a group. Ask at your Local Yarn Shop. Put out the word and you'll be surprised at how many people will want to find you and make something with their hands. Your universe will never be the same!

Since I've been self-banned from Nordstrom's (shoe addiction) and now Best Buy (CD problem), I've fallen prey to aquiring Knitting Patterns. The one caveat is that no $$$ can be involved. So I've become a budget hound about yarn and patterns since it's that old champagne taste on a beer budget thang. Here's some examples in ~~worsted gauge...

a ChicKnits Runway Presentation
*************************

From our generous friends at Berroco

Suzette: A surplice wrap knit blouse with delicate picot edgting and fine full fashioned details.
**HERE**

Tatania: A form fitting ribbed pullover shaped to flatter with vertical and horizontal ribbings.
**HERE**

Paulina: Bias ribs and center cable make this stunning sleeveless top an eyecatcher.
**HERE**

Claire: Simple two row stripes create an easy rolled neck pullover with elbow length sleeves.
**HERE**

Jenna: A spare and sexy little lingerie with Glace lacing detail.
**HERE**

Eleanor: A perfect polo pull, with dressmaker details.
**HERE**

Lola: Ribbed to fit and flatter, trimmed with bands of Chinchilla.**HERE**

June: A tank top to match Joji is shown with our skirt of many colors in SensuWool.
**HERE**

Kimberly: A molten silver raglan sleeved cardigan with chic yarn over full fashioning details.
**HERE**

Olivia: Extra wide ribs in a cropped pullover.
**HERE**

Tessa: The essential wardrobe underpinning, a basic turtleneck, sleek and satiny in Glace.
**HERE**

See the whole collection at the Berroco Pattern Library

There is truly something for everyone here - Enjoy!

*** Oh Valentine ***
Wrap 'em up!

It's not too late to whip out a little scarf for you or your honey...

And it just might make you irresistible!

Or, from Dex's Fashion No-No's:
"I have found that scarves have a tendency to draw attention away from negative spots and allow others to focus on your beautiful smile. In fact, I have found that the shorter the scarf the foxier I look and feel..."

And let's not forget our friends down South...

I just grabbed a big cup of coffee and am going to try and make a Buttonhole Scarf for a Valentine gift. I have a skein of Lion Brand "Thick & Quick" Chenille and some #11 needles. I got the yarn at Pearl Art Supply on the #66 route on Chicago Ave @Franklin St. It is so cool this store started carrying yarn (right now just Lion)- it is one of the biggest suppliers of creative items for all our Art Institute folk. They must be knitting up a storm because they are already running through needles and yarn like there's no tomorrow. I almost got some cool Homespun, but I liked this olivey chenille better because it looks like a fuzzy little catepillar.

My friend told me when knitting chenille, keep the stitches bunched up close together and make sure you're taking up all the slack in your stitches because it's prone to get a little loopy. Just like Me.

Here goes:

The gauge says 2 sts + 4 rows = 1". I want to work in Broken Rib - easy, fast, reversible, no-roll. The ButtonHole will be about 7" up. Then the scarf will split for 2", then re-join and work for another 23" = 32" total.

I want an edge stitch of K the first stitch and the last stitch on RS and WS for neatness...(yes, at ChicKnits, neatness counts!).

So for about a 7" wide scarf, I CO 16 sts, using the yarn from the middle of the skein. I think I'll knit the first (and last 5 rows) of this scarf for a nice border.

So I knit the first 5 rows.

Now the pattern is:
RS: K2, P2, K1, P2, K2, P2, K1, P2, K2
WS: K1, P14, K1

When the scarf meaures seven inches, I'm going to split the scarf down the middle for the ButtonHole. I'm going to try and squeeze this scarf out of one skein, so on the next RS row (and all following RS rows): K2, P2, K1, P2, K1, then find the end of the yarn on the outside of the skein and join it with a knot just below the next stitch leaving a big tail (5") to weave in later. Then I continue on the same row with the newly attatched yarn (being very careful not to twist it up with the yarn coming from the middle of the skein) K1, P2, K1, P2, K2.

So, I'm going to knit both left and right sides at the same time!

Now I turn the scarf so the wrong side is facing me being careful not to twist my yarns.

Right piece WS: K1, P6, K1

Pick up the other yarn and work the Left piece: K1, P6, K1.

After I've worked the ButtonHole for 2" (should be 8 rows), I join the pieces together again on the next RS row, using my yarn from the middle and de-tach the yarn from the outside, leaving another tail to weave in later (I'll also stitch back and forth a couple times to re-enforce the top of the buttonhole.)

Continue in pattern:
RS: K2, P2, K1, P2, K2, P2, K1, P2, K2
WS: K1, P14, K1

When scarf measures 30 1/2", ending with a RS row, knit 4 rows and cast off knitwise on the 5th and last row.

Dag, this is so easy, I think I'll try one out of doubled worsted weight leftovers... Maybe all in garter stitch!!!

(By the way, there is enough yarn here to make it longer - I ended up with about 25 YDS!!! over. Just be sure to add the same number of rows to each end.)

This would be very cool to wear the next time I go to the Hidden Shamrock for the Sunday Irish Jam session. Yesterday, I noticed many folks wearing scarves inside - Dex is right - they look all up and FOXY! Especially this one really tall Irish man who looked a little like the guy on the Practice but much cuter. He had a scarf on with his sweater. (OWw,I have bad Spring Fever a little early - but it's rather Valentinie-ish, no?)

    Love is in the air.
..


Photo by Bonne Marie Burns ©2002

the Krewe of ChicKnits

retires the beads and after a fearless moral inventory promises to stop swearing in traffic, to give up pommes frites, AND to resist adding to her out-of-control lipstick collection for Lent...



While surfing for the history of Ash Wednesday I found this: quiz...

Then if you need graphic inspiration, dust-to-dust your computer!
Free Ash Wednesday Wallpaper

Certain things about living in a big city seem to be the same from coast to coast: traffic jams, pro sports, "the theatre", high rent, low service, and museums. One knows not to grocery shop or go clubbing on Saturdays (unless that's the only thing you want to do) because you'll be waiting in a line for HOURS just to get something to drink. Or think you're going to get that cab on a rainy day without more than just a little cleverness...

Then there's the characters that populate your landscape - people you really don't know but see everyday. The folks you wait and shake with in the winter at the bus stop in front of the coffee shop. The people who are eating breakfast at the tables in front of you that are smiling and pounding their knees because they just caught you primping your hair and wiping the last flecks of toothpaste off the edges of your lips in the shop window. Maybe somedays, you just blow them a kiss for luck.

You jump on the over-crowded #66 just in time to be on time for your job and find yourself so up close and personal with a foxophonic Art School long hair boy you might as well be going on your honeymoon. Or you get shoved by the yuppy-chick CPA barreling into the aisle to get off at the next street. When you ask her to just wait until the bus stops so you don't knock the other 10 people you're standing ON down like a set of bowling pins, she smirks in your face and says, "Have a nice day..." The sarcasm hangs in the air like laughing gas and you and your 10 buddies actually shriek with delight and point her down.

The Ukranian newcomers heading downtown to their cleaning jobs watch you intently when you get into a groove knitting and you suspect that they might think Americans are just too modern to crave the handmade security of a familiar and personal object. I used to wonder why many of the 66s young bloods wear their stocking hats and hoods year-round until I remembered they are still children and not too far away from the dark safety of their binkie and the shadow of their mother standing over them in their bus seat. I saw a 15-year old suck her thumb from the Lakefront to Ashland one day last week and she only stopped when a 3-year old asked HER mother why that big kid was a baby.

The #66 stops one block from the studio, and you, ever verging on lateness, speed walk right past the coffee chuck wagon. The ponytailed owner always says hi, even though you've never bought even one limp danish and his smile lifts you up where you belong. As you turn the last corner, there is its panhandler who has worked this turf for over 5 years, as long as you remember. The first winter, he sees you smoking and you give him a Kool Mild and it becomes the tie that binds. Money never changes hands between you but he nods at you everday even after you quit cigarettes. One day, you ask him if he lives in the parking garage across the street. He says, "No, I take the bus home to my apartment." I'm ashamed of my shock because maybe I think he should be in the garage basement in a corner crib built from cardboard and lined with the rags he wears. He tells me his apartment is in a basement of a house on the West Side.

You're out of breath from running and fumbling with your fare when you get on the 66 after work Tuesday. Someone says "Hi." There he is - his 66 is your 66 and you're both going home after punching the clock, like working people everywhere. You nod and grab one of the only empty seats and pull out your needles and disappear into the upholstery.

When you hear someone softly singing "Happy Birthday" way from the back of the bus, you wonder how in God's heaven he knows. You think his name might be Jimmy.

the little bad muse is back...
And she's chanting: "No Fear, No Fear!!!

I think I might be one of the few people on the planet who does not mind finishing a knitted garment! Everyone I talk to and hear from online HATES IT!

I think this has more to do with not being comfortable sewing and having a lot more fun knitting... I read the other day about a lady who pays another knitter to do her ribbing for her. She really enjoys just plain knitting and finds that d#@* ribbing a PITA. More power to that!

But, once I learned a couple of ways to put my sweater together, I couldn't wait to try it and then of course, WEAR IT!!! This is the only reason actually that I knit. I am a FOOL FOR CLOTHES!!! I love fashion... I even LOVE RUFFLES!

So the faster I can finish something, the faster I can wear this creation and get on that runway funway.

Here's some ideas to get out of the finishing rut:

Mattress Stitch: this is so fast and easy! I only learned last year after years of knitting and it revolutionized my craft. Check out these instructions at Borealis SweaterScapes.

Here's a great tutorial from online goddess Lucy Neatby.

You need RealPlayer for this page's video instructions. Click on the pictures to see the movie. (Save them to your hardrive for later use!)

For a fabulous printed guide to these techniques, I found the "I Hate to Finish Sweaters Guide to Finishing Sweaters" by Janet Szabo to be a lifesaver. She tells you how to get it online HERE. I got it at my LYS.

I read Miss B. Fly's new knitting blog today and have to say right on, le fil­ brouill­ suce le grand!!! If you make a mistake using fuzzy yarn, it is impossible to pick up stitches worth a damn...

I am trying to complete the theoretically simple Xmas gift yarn pullover. I had to extrapolate the Rebecca pattern because the gauge was different but hey, no sweat, right?

When I got to the neck, using GGH Fee, a really pretty long eyelash yarn with big globs of gold tinsel in it (this in itself deserves a seperate What the... because it is something I wouldn't have gotten for myself!), I thought all I had to do was bang out 8 gently decreased rows and bind off. (The original pattern didn't decrease but I wasn't looking forward to the thing roaming around while I was wearing it.)

First, it came out too big. So, I thought I would rip back 3 rows and adjust. Oh, mal faux stupide... The stitches just disappear when you pull on the yarn attatched to the ball. So, I ripped back to the body, which is made of a different, civilized yarn.

It took two more rip-backs, because I thought one version was too wide and then the next one I couldn't even get over my head. What the...

The freakn thing is done now but I must confess I heaved it across the room and it's under the dining room table until further notice.

Now if this ain't stichin 'n bitchin, I don't know what is...

Hey, I've been enjoying everybody's blogging lately with my morning cup(s)of coffee - what a cool way to S'n'B even if we can't invade a coffee house together!

(Click HERE for ChicKnits House Music... takes a few seconds to load.)

with REAL PLAYER : bet ya can't watch just one!

Found some cool knitting videos from the Mother/Daughter team of Caryl and Nancy Nelson who run Common Threads out in Southern California (envy envy envy):

How to Knit Streaming Videos These are so cool because they start playing RIGHT AWAY! (Excuse me for being a web video weinie but I never really got into it because I have a slow phone connection and I usually think something is wrong with my computer when the file is just loading...)

La belle femme Meagan at the incredible Not Martha also has a very cool post about learning to knit - check it out, then visit our favorite:

Stitch Guide who also has videos; these use Window Media Player, and it takes a little time to load but are tres worth it.

The free player link is in the middle of the page down about 5 inches.

Get Windows Media Player HERE

(you might already have these on your system...)

I should've made a Chia Pet...

I dug the offending sweater out from under the dining room table, dusted it off(!) and finally tried it on.

It still s**ks...

So I cut the furry stuff off ONE MORE TIME! It's a good thing it's only 8 rows or I'd be out of yarn by now! Now I have lots of little pieces to do Chia Pet accents on hats! This is what I should've done in the first place. TRUST YOUR PATTERNS (sometimes they're right).

I've decided to do no shaping whatsoever, just like the pattern says, and fake a little seam if I need it at the top if it starts roving around my shoulders too much. Like a little boat neck top I have.

I'm just so scared of accidental cleavage or worse(OMG!!!). Has this ever happened to you - you're out dancing in your tube top and OOPS, it's elasticity lets you down and then you're out! And I do mean out. Long enough to guarantee you'll be dancing the rest of the night if you decide to stay, because once is not enough for the boys. Sort of like watching the Indie 500 in hopes of the ultimate car crash.

When I get to heaven one of my number one questions for the Big Guy is just what was it He did to their brains to make our twins SO MAGNETIC (er, magnificent)?

Stay tuned...

OK, that's better. I'm done laughing now that I've figured out what was wrong with my dream foo-foo sweater. I DID NOT READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. Oh this must be payback for all the times I've stereotyped those boys who won't read maps, because all I had to do was read the pattern and do the math. It said 15cm long not 1.5 inches long. Dang those Rebecca patterns, the tiny print, metric system etc etc etc. OOoofuss. (New swear word, trying to quit swearing...)

So now, it makes sense, because it's long enough to go over the shoulder and is not such a plunging neckline. But I have to go re-skein the bits and pieces. Luckily, I hung them from my Idea Bulletin Board like trophies of some sort and will try and rip them out. This should be fun!

I truly think one of the best things about knitting is that you can usually fix your mistakes. Unlike sewing, where you cut the medium you're working with, yarn can be unwound and reused with little effort. I've noticed I'm averaging about 1 Frog per month according to this Blog. This is not unusual because I am usually tinkering with the pattern or even trying my own design. That always takes a few more tries. But I think the experimentation is worth it...

This pouting Teen Model
for Bernat Yarns went on to marry one of the foxiest guy knitters around...
He says his grandmother taught him as a boy....

Name that Famous Couple
HERE

99.9% are absolutely Correct!!!

Our celebrity guy knitter is none other than
David Duchovny (sigh!) with his lovely wife Tea Leone...

Story is that David talked so much when he was a kid, his grandmother taught him how to knit to SHUT HIM UP! I quess these were the pre-Ritalin chemical free kid days of long ago.

In some British founded countries (in the UK, Australia, New Zealand), children of both genders are taught to knit around 1st grade and instead of time outs or heads down on your desk or corner time, you have to pull out your needles and knit a few rows. Hence our favorite bad boy Russell Crowe knowing how to knit as well.

I can attest to the fact that this WORKS! Now if I could only figure out how to knit in The fabulous rush hour traffic jams of Chicago without having a fender bender!

Worth the Wait...

OOOooh La la - enjoyed a very happening Cafe Absinthe crowd with my own crowd Saturday night. This Wicker Park hot spot served up some of the tastiest prawns and seafood morsels I've ever had! One appetizer was two large scallops covered with a little wilted shredded fennel and one upright blackened chipolte pepper nestled between. The symbolism was not lost on either myself or the Brit waiter who just roared when I did a double take and asked, "Pardone, por moi?"

The new Foo-Foo party pullover blended into the nightlife with a bang! I don't know what it is about that eyelash neckline, but it put me in Vamp Mode and I was more flirtatious than in weeks. Oh yeah - spring can't come soon enough for me now!

Continuing my fearless moral inventory,
I am no longer in denial about

MY STASH . . .

This weekend one of my friends got some new bedroom furniture. I inherited 2 wooden bookcases from her fresh post-college day household. I am sooo lucky - I put them in my office where they sat for a couple of days, right in the middle of the room.

This room is a disaster! It is my graphics design studio/knit workshop and stuff is piled everywhere. It was only when I lost the directions to an important business meeting, that I decided to STOP the INSANITY!!!

I put one bookcase on top of another and started purging the worktable, which was just piled to the nines with you name it it's yours VOLUME. Ah, chaos fornicates in the wee hours and turns into valuable but indistinguishable piles overnight. After a fortnight, you can only imagine the shame, the size, the frightening blob that now is pushing you out of the room so you can't do any work.

In a desperate attempt to keep food on the table, you move into the living room with your tasks and shun any trip to that PLACE BACK THERE. You freely acknowledge that one female in every generation of your family gets that special PackRat DNA and baby it's YOU.

Here's where I cheer for my friend because it took an outside catalyst to bring me to my senses. I decided to get real and put my yarn collection in these empty vessels and move on with my life...

Yes, it looks like a yarn store but I am not ashamed. It's out in the open, free, and now ever in my face. I must now finish my vegetables before I get dessert.

Yeah, right. Any bets on how long this neatness maintains? I give it MAYBE 48hrs.

When I look in the mirror the only one there is me
Every freckle on my face is where it's supposed to be
And I know our creator didn't make no mistakes on me
My feet, my thighs, my lips, my eyes I'm lovin' what I see

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I Learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Arie

Am I less of a lady If I don't wear panty hose?
My Mama says a lady ain't what she wears but what she knows
But, I've drawn a conclusion, it's all and illusion
confusions the name of the game
A misconception, a vast deception
Something's gotta change
Don't be offended this is all my opinion
ain't nothing that I'm sayin law
This is a true confession of a life learned lesson
I was sent here to share wit ya'll
So get in where you fit in go on and shine
Free your mind, nows the time
Put your salt on the shelf
Go head and love yourself
Cuz everything's gonna be all right

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I Learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Arie