riotthill's knitting journal

Great Plans Run Amok

2011-12-17T17:06:00.000-05:00

Great plans run amok, as they say. I had hoped to have my lovely blue cardigan project done by now, but it is still sitting in its bag, so many skeins of yarn unknitted.

And now it's the Christmas season. Just the two of us, so there will not be much excitement, some stocking stuffers, toys for the cats, a pretty tree and colourful ornaments draped around. We have a Santa who jingles who will decorate the wall, some cards to string and...

Not much knitting to be found in that previous paragraph, is there? On the other hand, I see all kinds of spaces which I can fill with time to knit as the days draw in to their shortest and our outdoor projects sleep through the cold white days of winter.

Watched a movie last night, The Polar Express, beautifully done animation and wonderful voices by Tom Hanks. It captures the innocence of children and — pardon my rose coloured glasses — earlier days. A modern answer to Virginia's dilemma of so long ago. Those of us growing up in post war North America can certainly identify with the young hero's transition to adulthood, but as with all happy-ending stories, he discovers a way to hold on to the magic.

Do you hear any bells ringing? I do, as I sit down to knit and meditate on the likes of magic and seasonal celebrations and gratitude for all the wealth that surrounds me.

A few good knitting books

2011-09-19T18:04:00.000-04:00

This is the slow part of knitting. I'm sure you don't want to see a picture every few days in my knitting journal of row upon row of stocking stitch as I progress on the back of my blue cardigan sweater. Today, instead, I thought I would talk about a few good knitting books.

As mentioned in my first blog, I'm using a basic cardigan pattern from one of Patons Back to Basics series, using a chunky wool.

You can see a picture of the covers of all three books in the series, each book detailing patterns for a different weight of yarn. The book on top of the group is number III, my choice for this project 1.

You can spend a fortune on patterns and books, all beautifully illustrated, but really all you need is severally carefully selected books such as these, plus your imagination. I have a binder to collect articles, instructions and pictures of styles that appeal to me. With the basics to help design your pattern, you can start adding colour, stitches, different cuff and rib choices, adjust for length, make it over-sized...

You get the picture, or rather... the pattern.

More Basics

Over the years I've collected hundreds of patterns, stitches, ideas, but there are several other books in my knitting arsenal that I refer to over and over again.

The picture at right shows the cover of three favourites, Knitting By Design (Mary Anne Erickson), Big Book of Knitting (Katharina Buss), and mon tricot's Knitting Dictionary, 1030 Stitches, Patterns and Knitting Crochet**.

The mon tricot book is very old, bought back in my salad days at university, but it has been an endless source of stitch and colour variations over the years.

Knitting by Design gets into the knitty-gritty of design, teaching you how to make accurate gauge (or tension) swatches, measure correctly, add ease to your creation and even calculate how many skeins to buy.

Big Book of Knitting is a great reference, rounding out my collection of how-to's and directions snippets, for example, several ways to work knitted or crocheted button holes, or cast on and off, and various ways to work seams or weave edges together.

All the books above are full of diagrams, sketches and of course gorgeous pictures. After reading through any of them, if you're like me, you will drop whatever plans you've made and start knitting up a storm.

** I could not find a resource for my mon tricot Dictionary reference, but these sites, here and here give you a starting point if you want to find out more about this French knitting magazine.

Every Inch, Project 1

2011-09-14T20:57:00.001-04:00

At five rows per inch this knits quickly.

Blue Cardigan, Project 1

2011-09-13T17:52:00.001-04:00

This blue cardigan is my first project entry for my new online knitting journal, so let's get started.
I have been working on the cardigan for several days. The photo is of the back.

Back to Basics
I have chosen a basic cardigan pattern, V-neck drop shoulder, from a Patons pattern book using a chunky weight yarn, which knits up quickly.

I plan to wear this sweater regularly, so the yarn is an acrylic, Softee Chunky by Bernat. My plans for this project:

easy care, machine wash and dry
quick knit
simple fashion that doesn't date itself (why spend hours on a project that will look like last year's fashion statement next season?)

Variations

tubular cast on (more on that on a later page) 110 sts (pattern calls for 105 sts, increasing to 111 sts on the last rib row )
knit the first stitch of each row for neater sides — so much easier to sew together at project's end
yarn substitute: any chunky yarn will do. The important thing is to match your gauge (tension) to the pattern's requirements. As mentioned above, I've chosen an acrylic from Bernat, rather than the shetland wool called for in the original. (Tip, if making pockets, use them as your gauge sample)

The Photograph
I took the above picture with my cell camera on the ledge of our back picture window looking out over the forest. Already you can see some falling leaves, a sure indication of fall, the season to return to knitting and warmer clothing.

A Note on the Pattern
Sadly, the book, called Back to Basics III does not appear to be available any more from Patons' site, but you may be able to purchase it here. (I have no connections with Bernat, Patons or the shopping resource)

If you can find the Back to Basics series, I recommend you buy them. There are three separate books, each reflecting different weight yarns; sport, worsted and chunky. Sizes range from small child to large adult male. Styles include pullovers, cardigans and vests with loads of variations in neck, arm shape and finishes. If you have this kind of core reference patterns, you can design just about any style, size, variation your imagination can knit up.

Knitting

2011-09-13T12:38:00.000-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

I have several blogs dating back to 2008 and each one has been generalized rather than devoted to a single topic. This is changing, as of today.

For example, this blog at riotthill.blogspot.com will be devoted to knitting, an activity I've been passionate about since childhood.

My hope is to include some tips and how-tos I've learned over the years, plus an online journal of each project as I work on it. I will post separately to start a blog journal on my current project, which is a simple oversized cardigan for everyday wear.

I've noticed that when building a site on blogger, I can include static pages which are links to other sites, which I will do, but here is a list of my other sites and the subjects which will be part of each:
knitting

http://riotthill.blogspot.com/

writing
all things writing and reading, including excerpts, comments on other similar blogs, techniques I'm learning and the occasional review of books

general
commentary on my story and worldview, and my interpretation of current events, past and present (tumblr is short and sweet, my wordpress site, of course allows for more long-winded commentary)

Whew — doesn't that seem like a lot? It is, but this way, I'm hoping I can utilize each blog in a more productive way. I won't change the entries already on each site, but graduate toward the topics of interest each is now devoted to.

Hope you like the changes I'm making.

"Frankenjustice" for Who?

2011-09-09T08:33:00.001-04:00

"[Stephen] Harper’s Conservatives plan to table an omnibus crime bill that contains some very bad legislation. Three of the more disturbing items lumped in with the omnibus Crime Bill are collectively known as the “Lawful Access” legislation:
Improving Access to Investigative Tools for Serious Crimes Act (C-50)
Investigative Powers for the 21st Century Act (C-51)
Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act (C-52)

eBook Covers 2011

2011-07-15T14:30:00.000-04:00

Book Cover Design

2011-07-10T12:40:00.000-04:00

Here is my latest ebook cover design, for Warren Riley's upcoming Smashwords publication.

More Turmoil? More Reads? More Slush?

2011-07-08T20:47:00.000-04:00

: Image via Wikipedia

The discussion goes on regarding the turmoil of traditional publishing, self-publishing, e-books and POD. Does it mean more choice for the reader? The writer? How are book stores handling the stormy climes? Will the big publishers fail?

Who's job is it to decide what, from the proverbial slush pile, is good enough to publish, and what isn't?
Who decides how long a book should stay in print?
Who gets which cut of the profit from sales?
And, who sets prices for sales -- stockholders, publishers, the writer, the reader?

The following blogs have some interesting takes on the turmoil of the fast-changing world of books:

e-Book Update (riotthill.blogspot.com)
There, but for fortune, go you or I. (madgeniusclub.com)

Does your Story Show, or Tell its Descriptions

2011-07-05T16:24:00.000-04:00

: http://www.1920s-fashions.co.uk/reddress.htm

How do you include descriptive passages in your story without boring your readers not just to tears or hair pulling, but to abandon your work altogether?

In the past, writers such as Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Leon Tolstoy, or earlier the Bronte sisters, even JRR Tolkein more lately, used copious description, sometimes almost as inventories of characters' appearances, settings, weather, animals, inanimate objects.

But readers way back when had more time and different expectations; they travelled less, there was no such thing as television or internet to compete. These early readers wanted entertainment to be sure, but also a travelogue, an education, wisdom and a broader experience with different personalities, relationships, adventures as part of their reading experience. And, they were willing to read slowly and extensively to gather that experience.

We modern readers are different

'Show, don't tell', is better stated as 'observe and report', as Ollin Morales describes in this blog.

In the first chapter of his book, The Art & Craft of Novel Writing, Oakley Hall suggests 'reporting' rather than 'rendering' or 'typing'.

Involve the POV character in the description, try action verbs to make the details work for their place in the story, or use metaphor.

Examples of description:

Ella confided to me years ago red was her best colour, and proved it now with her dress.
Ella's red dress was a rainbow of colours as she neared, orange where the sun dappled, lilac to purple where folds gathered and flowed, yet black where they disappeared into shadow.
Ella's dress was a candy apple.

Description is necessary in any story, but use it sparingly or not at all. Now doesn't that sound like a contradiction? Not really. Short stories have less room for details, long stories, novels, series have the luxury of much greater detail.

Description can be coaxed out to show a character detail — the colour red has many connotations; it's sexy, bold, confident, exhibitionist, for example, hinting at Ella's character. The first description also shows us something of the POV character and his/her relationship with Ella. The reader will anticipate reading more about their relationship. Description can bring forth a tiny flashback — the POV character has known Ella for years. Is this good? Bad? Have they been competitors, lovers, divorced.... you get the idea, and the reader is intrigued.

Action verbs, dappled, disappeared, and vibrant nouns, orange, purple, shadow, rainbow, for example, add breath and spark to a boring description. In other words, red is more than red in the POV character's impression.

A metaphor relates directly to the reader's experience, asking him/her to taste the candy apple, to remember the aroma of caramel heating on the stove, to re-live a happy early hallowe'en, for example.

As to the contradictory part of my statement above, eliminate description altogether if it doesn't work the story forward in some way, expanding character or setting, as a theme element or perhaps foreshadowing a later scene. As Anton Chekhov suggests, the idle gun in the first act should be smoking by the third.

More importantly, the greater the attention you draw to that gun, or the red dress above, through description, the more dramatic its role must be as the story unfolds.

** image source: http://www.1920s-fashions.co.uk/reddress.htm

** published simultaneously at my web site (riotthill.com)

e-Book Update

2011-07-05T16:16:00.000-04:00

: Image via Wikipedia

There has been a great deal of discussion, blogs, news reports about digital publishing and e-book appliances, plus the books to fill them. In fact, it seems to me over the past 2 -- 3 months, information and availability has exploded. The traditional publishing world is in turmoil -- one day you read a good news report, the next something all doom and gloom.

What's my take?

For personal use, I've decided to convert my favourite fiction books to digital, and will only purchase new fiction as e-books. Reference and non-fiction is better, I think to see and touch and read in the old fashioned way. Mr. Gutenberg would approve, I think.
For publishing; the digital process has been a boon and a great encouragement for me. I now have a couple of short stories published through Smashwords, which you can read for free, either online, or downloaded to your favourite e-book format. I have an application intoCISS so that I can now obtain ISBN's for my publications, and a renewed sense of ambition to work on a re-vamped story.
If you want to visit a few sites that discuss the e-book revolution, digital publishing, the traditional route or just expand your reading horizons, here's a few sites I read regularly:

I think the digital revolution has also impacted the type and way stories are written. For example, flash fiction is popular, short stories are enjoying a resurgence in popularity, and even long fiction -- novels -- are becoming shortened, and/or serialized.
Hopefully, globalization of digital books, auto-translators and online book shopping will impact literacy throughout the world, as well as open up new horizons for both readers and authors alike.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Bookish Websites (thereadingdate.com)
Digital publishing: book as artifact; author as ringleader (erikhansen.com)
J.K. Rowling's Next Chapter: A Transfiguration Spell on the Publishing Industry (readwriteweb.com)
The Easiest, Cheapest, Fastest Way to Self-Publish Your Book (pbs.org)

** published simultaneously at my web site (riotthill.com)

excerpt from Ca'ancartti

2011-06-17T18:08:00.000-04:00

Excerpt: a link to an excerpt I have published at my site, a short scene where characters Shell and Anders find themselves in the ak'asha as a result of Anders' efforts to capture a dragon.
This is a fantasy work in progress.

** image thanks to Darnok

Maryam Namazie: The Islamic Inquisition

2011-06-07T13:13:00.001-04:00

Image by Peter Curbishley via Flickr

Maryam Namazie: The Islamic Inquisition

Very thought provoking: this is the text for a keynote speech given in Dublin at the World Atheist Conference over this past weekend.

RIP Paul, Dec 1952 - Feb 2010

2011-02-09T17:14:00.000-05:00

My brother Paul

December 4, 1952 -- February 9, 2010

I miss you and think about you all the time. Life is too short, isn't it? The memories last a lifetime, but even that seems not quite enough when you aren't here.

← Beside a photo of you in happier times. Do you remember the day it was taken? Do you still remember watermelon, swimming in Lake Kashagawigamog, skating on Little Lake?

You've become our guardian angel, to me, Anne-Marie, Paulie, all those you loved and loved you. Don't forget us.

Love, Wendy

MOVED TO RIOTTHILL

2011-01-29T20:22:00.002-05:00

OOPs.....
I've moved my blog to

http://riotthill.com/

You can see all my posts there, including some ancient ones from Blogger...

THANKS FOR VISITING

riotthill's knitting journal

Great Plans Run Amok

Related articles

A few good knitting books

Every Inch, Project 1

Blue Cardigan, Project 1

Knitting

"Frankenjustice" for Who?

eBook Covers 2011

Book Cover Design

More Turmoil? More Reads? More Slush?

Does your Story Show, or Tell its Descriptions

We modern readers are different

Examples of description:

e-Book Update

What's my take?

Related articles

excerpt from Ca'ancartti

Related articles

Maryam Namazie: The Islamic Inquisition

RIP Paul, Dec 1952 - Feb 2010

MOVED TO RIOTTHILL