March 04, 2010
Stitches West Recap in Three Acts
Act I: Road Trip.
The Road Trip was pretty fab. I discovered Tommy's Hamburgers and chili dogs with pickles, onions, tomato, mustard, ketchup, yummy liquified fake cheesy-cheese, and chili. It was wondrous. Shortly after that Yarn Shop Jenn and I devised our plan for living in the same space over the next 6 days after buckets of chili. It's delightfully juvenile and makes me giggle like I'm 12 years old. I hesitate to type out the idea for fear of what google will bring but it's too good not to be shared. We invented butt kegels. To save the environment. Think about it.
Central California has some of the prettiest hills I've ever laid eyes on.
And the prettiest trees.
We experienced some hi-jinks while towing the uhaul on the back of Yarn Shop Jenn's big ass diesel truck.
1. Women can drive big diesel trucks and back up with uhaul trailers just fine.
2. Mansquitos in shady restrooms reduce said women to shrieking and fancy footwork (much to the delight of the townies).
3. Townies also enjoy Thelma and Louise-esque drives off of roadside curbs with big ass diesel trucks and uhaul trailers.
4. That podunk town will never be the same.
Act II: Oh Shit!
We had eight SHORT hours to assemble and fill our 10x10 booth, which was reduced to 8x8 after the installation of what I'd like ot call "the cubes straight out of Sartre." We had so much overstock (10x10 is a lot bigger in our brains, apparently) that over half of the boxes ended up back in the trailer. Lesson learned.
We also learned that if you make a sale, they will come. This photo was snapped during the Sunday drawing, the only down time the entire weekend. We have big plans for next year, two booths, appropriate levels of stock, and no more torture cubes.
Act III: The Yarn.
These yarns represent my next 5 designs. Stay tuned.
Bonus Act: Boobs
Courtesy of Fiber Fiend. The boobs were later covered with the lovely Corsica. I absolutely love a pattern written to fit curvy women. Bravo.
This concludes my Stitches West Recap. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth!
Posted by Michelle at 09:00 AM | Comments (5)
February 19, 2010
How to Finish What You Start 75% of the time.
Thesis Due Date: September 2006. (Um, whoops).
Here is the patented Fickleknitter 5 point program to finishing what you start. Because I love my readers I'm giving this proprietary information for the low, low price of Free. Which is about what it's worth.
1. Chocolate Cake and lots of it.
2. Iced Tea.
3. Pie if #1 is not an option.
4. Play hour after hour of Super Mario Bros. on the Wii to relax.
5. If all else fails, beer in large quantity.
Magazine pattern due date: March 1st. To finish design on time simply hire a booth at Stitches West which will dominate your time for the last week of February. Inquire about magazine deadline the day before a local fiber festival where you've hired another booth for February 20th. Also give silent thanks for Valentine candy sent home from school. Eat it in secret for energy. Curse when you discover Significant Other ate the last of the chocolate in secret (for energy).
Sample due date: February 20th. Cope by knitting furiously while watching episode after episode of Footballers Wive$ on Youtube.
There you have it. My secrets on finishing things on time. You deserve a break after reading all those words. Please help yourself to items 1 through 5 on the handy numbered list above.
Posted by Michelle at 03:17 PM | Comments (8)
February 08, 2010
Duck, duck...
I'm finally finishing up my thesis. Looking back I can see that this [copious bad language] degree started sucking the joy out of my bones this time last year. I won't bore you with tales of insomnia, eating too many chocolate cakes and other sad sob stories. But there is finally light at the end of this (neverending) tunnel. I've started reading books for fun, started taking pictures, and of course knitting again. Look below for two new hobbies, because there's no better time to start new stuff than the midst of degree finishing.
PS Go check out the latest Knitcircus, for my newest pattern. They've changed formats to digital and it is really done well.
Posted by Michelle at 08:55 AM | Comments (5)
February 01, 2010
Cottage Knitting Fickleknitter Patterns
The age of digital goods has created tension between knitters and designers. It used to be that patterns were written and published anonymously with the goal of selling yarn. In the age of the Internets (thank you Al Gore) Indie pattern writing has shifted into a cottage craft, where the behind the scenes pattern writers have become designers with a public face. I know many designers who spend a lot energy feeling frustrated and time worrying about copying/distribution of their intellectual property in a way that keeps them from earning. But the problem is that all that time and energy spent is taken away from creating art. I don't believe in DRM or other measures to make knitting patterns hard to use. I trust my customers and want them to be good knitters and happy human beings. You won't see DRM on my patterns any time soon. In fact it is my hope to create harmony between knitting designers and knitters. You can't have the former without the latter after all.
I started writing my knitting patterns with the hope of covering the cost of my knitting expenses. After I left the corporate world of cubicle land to become a stay at home mom I discovered I had to make sacrifices, particularly luxuries. Sadly spending $200 on yarn for one sweater (that would only end up covered in spit up) became something done in the past tense like sleeping through the night and eating a quiet meal, the things I did in my previous life as a Dink (Dual Income, No Kids). After the birth of my daughter although I was on call 24 hours a day working harder than I ever have before, I felt guilty because I wasn’t contributing to the household finances that paid for my knitting.
But in reality knitting is good for me and those around me who wish to stay alive and unharmed. Knitting keeps my blood pressure down, my brain active and engaged, and helps me be positive role model for my daughter. My hands aren’t idle. It provides solace in times of great stress and grief except for those times the knitting is responsible for grief, stress, and very bad language. It gives me a break from hard tasks, and produces something that I can give away to those that I love. Even though I can’t be there for the birth of my best friends son, she’ll put those wee baby socks on his wee tiny new born feet and know I am thinking of her and sending all my love one stitch at a time.
I spent a lot of time working on a plan to help make my knitting habit pay for itself. What worked for me was designing patterns for other knitters. But I also spent a lot of time figuring out what I can contribute to help make knitting pay for itself for other hard working moms like me.
And after some research I discovered there are knitters who knit for friends an family who have a great desire for indie produced knitted items (not sure about that? Spend a few minutes visiting etsy.com, any of the cloth diaper boards, or hyenacart). But I can’t fulfill that market since my goal is producing patterns. So who better to take advantage of that need? Other knitters like me, who are on a budget but eager to keep knitting through all crises, poopy diapers, spit up, and beyond.
It's such a simple solution, to allow folks to purchase a cottage license. A cottage license allows the knitter to sell as many knitted items from a single Fickleknitter pattern as they desire to knit, keeping all the money they make. A Fickleknitter lifetime cottage license on one pattern runs $100. It allows you to hand knit items from the pattern to sell. You keep all the profit and I'll happily send those poor knitless souls your way.
So without further ado I'd like to introduce my first Lifetime Cottage License owner, Amber. If you need a pair of Mama Janes (or want to show your support for a hard working Mama) but can't or don't have time to knit, please visit her HyenaCart Shop.
Amber keeps all the money she makes from selling her Mamas, which she promises to use for whatever she wants. I hope she spends it on yarn that makes her happy. I asked her to write a little introduction about who she is and what she does. Please visit her and help support Indie business.
Hi my name is Amber and I’m addicted to knitting! I am a stay at home mama of 3 beautiful kids and soul mate to my wonderful husband. I have been knitting for a little over a year and I pretty much do it every day! I started knitting because I cloth diaper. I wanted to be able to put beautiful hand knit longies on my son, but I couldn’t afford the custom slot price tag so I decided to learn! I love it! I had compliments on my knitting so I decided to sell custom spots and that soon turned into a Hyena Cart store. I am currently working on getting licensed to sell products made from The Fickle Knitter’s beautiful Mama Janes and Baby Janes pattern. I can’t wait to start on this new adventure. My other hobbies include sewing, scrapbooking, and blogging. I would rather knit though. I am semi-crunchy, although I do some things like cloth diaper and sew and knit a lot of our clothes I still don’t do A LOT of crunchy things. I would like to dread my hair soon. I recently taught my 9 yr old daughter to knit and it’s fun for us to do that together. My husband is my swift and my 2 yr old son always picks up my ball of yarn when it falls to the ground, he soooo thinks he is helping me! I love my life and my family and I wouldn’t change it for the world! This is me! Welcome.
Posted by Michelle at 11:07 AM | Comments (11)
January 30, 2010
Donating a portion of Triangulum Pattern sales to Doctors without Borders
I made a donation to Doctors Without Borders on behalf of my family immediately after the Haiti earthquake, but I’d like to do more.
So I’ll be donating 50% of pattern sales from the month of January for my Rav Featured pattern Triangulum to Doctors without Borders on Feb. 1st..
There are a huge number of Ravelry Designers who are donating a portion of pattern sales as well. To find them do a search on ravelry with the search term "haiti."
Thank you!
Posted by Michelle at 07:41 AM | Comments (2)
January 22, 2010
First day of Preschool
Sending your first born to school is like sending your heart out into the world. But Maya's been eagerly asking about Preschool every day since I asked her if she would like to go. I've been fretting about her being in the big bad world without me but it's time. Time for her to go into the care of a wonderful school where she can explore the world, make friends, learn how to stand in line, share, and for God's sake learn that kids her age USE THE POTTY.
I admit I moped a little when I got back. But then I got busy.
In less than 3 hours I've accomplished more than I usually do in a week.
So far I've:
Polished off a piece of chocolate cake the size of my head.
Gone through a month's worth of mail.
Paid Bills.
Done 2 weeks worth of Laundry and for the first time in 3 years PUT IT ALL AWAY.
Cleaned (sort of).
Took out the trash.
Finished knitting a sweater.
Gone to the Post Office.
I'm starting to think this preschool gig will be good for the Fickle Family, assuming California isn't washed away by all this rain.
Posted by Michelle at 12:16 PM | Comments (17)
January 13, 2010
Physics Masters Thesis Defended!
I am a Master now. (I will let you infer any words you like after Master). My final draft has been submitted to my committee and my defense went off like a charm yesterday morning. With some luck all three people will sign off on this copy and I can go on to be properly punished sanctioned by the thesis standards office.
Thank you to everyone in my life who has supported me during my journey, but especially to my husband Mike. Love to you all!
Posted by Michelle at 07:54 AM | Comments (18)
January 07, 2010
Less than one week until my Thesis Defense
And morale and motivation are low.
I'm trying to cheer myself up with fabulous yarn. It works but only when I carry the yarn around in my arms like a yarn baby. (Which makes it awfully hard to type).
My Sister made me this awesome Swashbuckling Ninja Sock Monster who came to my rescue with a Starbucks gift card. It did lift my spirits in between flurries of revision requests arriving in my mailbox. And revision requests to those revision requests. I have a feeling a recursive algorithm could be written on my thesis revisions alone.
In a last ditch attempt at lifting myself up by my bootstraps I employed shiny new needles. But I know it's a lost cause though because even cookies aren't working. Send reinforcements soon.
Posted by Michelle at 03:35 PM | Comments (17)
December 31, 2009
Fickleknitter's 2009 in 60 photos
1. summer skirt, 2. Twinkle, Twinkle Little, 3. 365_6, 4. 365_12 Handmade, 5. rav_ad_august, 6. Mermaid Brew, 7. tut pic, 8. new skirt 365_23, 9. Toddler Tats, 10. 365_24 I heart tin hats --or-- this is what 2 degrees in physics will buy you, 11. briny 2, 12. knitting notions hair, 13. Imp, 14. reusable Paper Towel Zitron Polo, 15. 365_69 To be Burninated, 16. 365_83 New Shawl, 17. My New Studio, 18. halloween bat ornament, 19. 4 0unces kraemer, 20. sock weight scraps, 21. brown sheep 1, 22. JJs Quilt, 23. Hand Sewn Christmas Dress, 24. Knitting Project Bag by Michelle Miller, 25. New Hat Design, 26. weddingshawl1.1, 27. Hand spun, 28. Triangulum_winter_dressform, 29. cotton, 30. Debi's quilt
1. I can quit anytime I want to, 2. specialsnowflake, 3. apollo_yoke_closeup_white_balanced, 4. knitcircusIssue5Winter2009, 5. pivot_fence, 6. new_d40_pic, 7. handspun_hat, 8. goody_natural_light, 9. Wavelength photo shoot, 10. interweave_rejection, 11. sweet_grass_bosworth_spindle_roving, 12. sheepish_ready_to_ply, 13. my little cylon, 14. mama_janes_size_11, 15. phat_fiber_stitch_markers, 16. oregon_trail_sourdough, 17. beth_braille_scarf, 18. Pivot1S copy, 19. beesybee_yarn, 20. funky_carolina_ready_to_knit, 21. helloyarns_8ozblues_oranges_doubleDrive, 22. 200y_Leafy_seadragon, 23. handspun_scarves_storyboard, 24. funky_carolina-cowl_2, 25. helloyarn_finn_Buckland, 26. sheepish_creations_romney_auroroa, 27. humble hand knit washcloth, 28. 13 Days, 29. Joanne_washcloth, 30. flower girl dress from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross
Posted by Michelle at 06:34 PM | Comments (6)
December 23, 2009
Turn the Tub Around
Lately I've been running around the State of Southern California like a chicken missing it's tail feather. I've covered the length and breadth of my college campus uphill in the snow, barefoot both ways while pushing Maya in her stroller in order to procure the proper signatures and pound of flesh to gain permission to orally defend my thesis. That sounds like a disease doesn't it? "I had to see my primary care physician after I had a bad bout of orally defending my thesis." If that's the disease I'm loathe to hear the cure.
Last night I discovered a new channel during an extended bout of (ZOMG Thesis Defense is imminent) Insomnia. There is a new channel on tv called "Dance" which plays one item over and over ad nauseum. It's reminiscent of a Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire dance number but with fabulous Megan Mullally singing Turn the Beat Tub Around with...a tub of butter. I wish I could attribute this discovery to Sartre/Thesis Anxiety inspired dreaming instead of cruel reality but when I checked this morning the Megan was still doing the happy hoedown with glorified glob of shortening. I can't believe it's not Ginger Rogers!
Clearly my thesis back up plan should involve some fancy footwork and a tub or two.
Posted by Michelle at 07:00 AM | Comments (5)
December 20, 2009
2009 in three pictures
If I had to pick three things that represent my 2009 it would be finishing my thesis, getting my spinning wheel, and having my designs published for the first time. It's been a busy year!
Posted by Michelle at 09:55 AM | Comments (5)
My Little Christmas Elf is 3 years old
As I'm typing this Maya is trying to do handstands on the couch and is talking about eyebrows. Such a change from her previous two birthdays.
0 years old:
1 year old:
2 years old:
This year:
Each year gets better and better. Happy Birthday Baby! Love, Mama
Posted by Michelle at 02:21 PM | Comments (11)
December 09, 2009
Fickleknitter Secrets (Finally) Revealed!
I've spent the last two months designing and knitting this shawl for Wemmy's (That's Wen, of the Emmy Nominated Variety) wedding shawl. Each row was so different I had to knit with the computer physically on my lap and the row highlighted in yellow in excel. I did occasionally take the shawl out of the house to knit while using a magnet board to mark my place but magnet boards for knitting don't have hulu. And Hulu has become a great friend and confidant. And by "Hulu" I mean every episode of "Cougar Town." Don't judge me.
Wemmy's shawl design was inspired by the photo above. I really love the swirls and was really interested in the use of light and dark spaces in the original photos.
I also finished and submitted the final draft of my Thesis to my committee members. I'll be defending it and finally getting the weight of the world off my shoulders sometime in the next month. I wish this boring photo could really express the level of crazy that finishing up my masters degree has caused me over the past few years. But sadly it looks just like any old pile of paper. I expected an Angelic Chorus to open up from the heavens during the final moments as I turned the damn thing in. Instead I got buckets of rain and had to fight tooth and nail for campus parking. That must be that irony thing I always hear so much about.
My last blog entry about Lace Shawl Construction was written this past August right before Sock Summit. I submitted it and a pattern for the Winter Issue of Knitty but both were rejected. Although I'm disappointed I didn't make it into knitty I hope someone finds the information enlightening or at the very least not boring and potentially helpful. I'm considering bundling all 5 shawls together with the article over the next few months
.
These were the best self portrait pattern photos I've taken to date. I took them this summer at the Korean Friendship Bell. There are a few more shots in my ravelry notebook entry for the shawl. It really is a whole new level of whacky to pull out a tripod, a self timer and some knitting in public places, especially when it's 90 degrees outside in August.
Triangulum is a simple knit, and works really well with a nice handpainted yarn. I knit a second version out of my own handspun using some Phat Fiber samples. I'll try to get some photos up in between drying my knitty denial tears with marshmallows, bad language and iced tea.
Isn't Heidi a beautiful model? In between being Super Mama and my knitting/spinning idol she took the time to take these gorgeous photos for Slouchee (which is currently being test knit and will be ready for purchase soon.)
Posted by Michelle at 02:41 PM | Comments (9)
December 07, 2009
Knitted Lace Triangle Construction by Michelle Miller
When I started designing knitwear one of the first things that caught my interest was the construction of triangular lace shawls. I’ve had more than my share of advanced mathematics and physics classes through the years. The accumulation of which have given me the curiosity and desire to explore something that seems so simple and geometrical, but like most knitting is quite complex. I started by knitting triangles in as many different ways as I could as a worthy distraction from the drudgery of writing my Master’s Thesis. All triangular examples have one thing in common, each is knit flat with a plain purl or stockinette row between working rows. We will look at Traditional, Side to Side, Long Edge to Point and Point to Long Edge Construction. Each shawl is started from a different part of the triangle and each calls for different ways of increasing and decreasing to achieve our goal, an object knitted in the shape of a triangle.
Figure 1 Starting points for knitting triangular shawls.
The four examples are Traditional, Side to Side, Point to Long Edge and Long Edge to Point. The Traditional Lace Shawl has a few stitches cast on at the center of the triangle and worked outward toward the edge. The Side to Side Shawl has a few cast on stitches and with increasing along one side increases to the center point and then complimentary decreasing to taper back to the other side. The Point requires casting on a few stitches and increasing regularly on each side until the desired width of the long edge is reached. The Long Edge is the only method that requires casting on a large number of stitches and decreasing down to a point.
Table 1 Some Strengths of each Construction. This is not a comprehensive list and is only limited by your imagination.
Symbols
I created simple drawings to illustrate the basic points that make up the formation of each shawl. The drawings contain a green arrow that represents increasing stitches, a red arrow for decreasing stitches, a blue arrow that indicates the direction from cast on to the bound off edge, the black arrows show the direction of flat knitting, and the dotted blue line shows the location of the shaping in the shawl. Please note you have control over what type of increasing and decreasing suits your design best. The examples shown have either decorative yarn- overs or an invisible backwards loop depending on aesthetics. The decreases may be SSK/K2Tog pairs, K2Togs or whichever decrease appeals to you most. These decisions help shape your design and make it unique.
Figure 2 Symbol Key
Traditional Construction
The first method Traditional Construction is used widely. You cast on a few stitches, increasing along both edges and on either side of the center stitch. This method builds outward into two triangles. It’s a great way to use as much of your yarn as possible while setting some aside for a knit on edging. The first few rows of pattern typically go something like this:
Purl all even numbered rows.
Cast on 5 stitches.
Row 1: k5
Row 3: k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1 (9 sts)
Row 5: k1, yo, k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, yo, k1 (13 sts)
Row 7: k1, yo, k5 yo, k1, yo, k5, yo, k1 (17 sts)
Row 9: k1, yo, k7, yo, k1, yo, k7, yo, k1 (21sts)
Row 11: k1, yo, k9, yo, k1, yo, k9, yo, k1 (25 sts)
At which point you have knit enough stitches to insert a lace motif. Be sure to maintain increasing in the middle and along both sides every other row to keep the triangle shape. You have three choices for the edging, to incorporate a new motif in the same direction as the first, continue with the original motif, or bind off all stitches and knit on an edging as seen in Figure 3.
Figure 3 Traditional Construction with knit on edging.
Figure 4 Side to Side Construction
Side to Side Construction
Side to Side Construction is a beautiful way to showcase hand-painted yarns, yarns with long color repeats, or handspun. The shawl is knit by increasing every other row on one side until the center point is reached and is the start of the decrease rows. The decreasing is worked in the same manner as established before, every other row on the same side as the increases. Be sure to choose increase/decrease pairs that will look good together. For example Figure 4 uses the backwards loop Make 1 (m1) increasing and K2Tog for decreasing to blend in with the surrounding knitting. If you choose a lacey increase like a yarn-over the corresponding decrease should incorporate a yarn-over as well, like a yo, k3tog pair. The cast on for Side to Side is simple and each row is knit to prevent curling.
Cast on 2 stitches
Row 1: k 2
Row 2: k1, m1, k1 (3 sts)
Row 3: k3
Row 5: k2, m1, k1 (4 sts)
Row 6: k4
Row 7: k3, m1, k1 (5 sts)
Row 8: k5
Row 9: k4, m1, k1 (6 sts)
Row 10: k6
You may continue on in this fashion increasing on one side until you have used half of your yarn, are happy with the length from long edge to point, or would like to add a motif. After you’ve reached the center (or in other words, the end of your increases) begin decreasing by knitting to the last 3 stitches in the pattern you’ve established, k2tog, k1. Work plain rows in between the decrease rows as established above. Make certain the decreases occur on the same side of your work as the increases or there’ll be trouble of an unspeakable sort. One note about this method the ratio of long edge length to depth from long edge to point is different than in the Traditional Construction. The long edge length is longer and the depth from the long edge to the point is shallower. This technique creates a shawl that rests beautifully on the shoulders, works well with the ends tied and looks like a shawlette from the back.
Figure 5 Point to Long Edge Construction
Point to Long Edge Construction
Point to Long Edge is a good way to use every last possible inch of your favorite yarn. The increases are worked on both sides every other row and the simple shaping is great for adding motifs. Another option is knitting plain stockinette to show the character of yarn to its best advantage with a simple motif included in the rows right before the bind off as seen in Figure 5. The finished shape is a lovely an equilateral triangle and looks great tied bandana style around the neck. The cast on and shaping for the Point to Long Edge is shockingly simple.
Cast on 3 Stitches
Row 1: k1, m1, k1, m1, k1 (5 sts)
Row 2: purl all stitches
Row 3: k1, m1, k3, m1, k1 (7 sts)
Row 4: purl all stitches
Row 5: k1, m1, k5, m1, k1 (9 sts)
From this point forward continue the increases on each side and knit plain or patterned according to your whim. When you’re nearly out of yarn or happy with the length from point to long edge bind off all stitches.
Figure 6 Long Edge to Point Construction
Long Edge to Point Construction
Typically Long Edge to Point Construction is worked by casting on a large number of stitches and then decreasing evenly on both the right and left edges down to the point. The decrease rows are worked every other row with a plain stockinette or purl row between working rows. Determine the number of stitches cast on by choosing a motif and finding a number that is a multiple. Think about what you want to happen at the edges of your work as the edge motifs will get absorbed into the decreases. Paired decreases like SSK/K2tog will give the finished edges symmetry. The cast on should be based on the following:
Cast on 300 stitches
Row 1: purl all stitches
Row 2: k1, ssk, knit to last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1
Row 3: purl all stitches
Row 2: k1, ssk, knit to last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1
Where you continue decreasing as established until a handful of stitches remain at which becomes the bind off point. This method allows creativity. You can create regular, repeating motifs, blocks of horizontal stripes by changing yarns at the end of every 10th row, or simply knit plain to indulge the yarn.
Figure 7 Variation on Long Edge to Point Construction
Long Edge to Point Variation
Eventually you may start to wonder what will happen if you vary from the Construction methods mentioned above. I created the shawl in Figure 7 by following the method for Long Edge to Point Construction except instead of decreasing one stitch on the left and right sides, I decreased by two stitches on the same side every other row. The results lead to an obtuse triangle which drapes beautifully over the shoulders with an extra long edge for tying bandana or wearing it in the style of a shawlette.
I hope the visual representations I’ve presented here will spark your creativity for what can be. You are only limited by your imagination. Live fearlessly, design capriciously and knit endlessly.
Posted by Michelle at 07:28 PM | Comments (8)
