Alternative Knitting

A l t e r n a t i v e K n i t t i n g what's this about? alternative knitting blog journal knitting in public commentary philosophy yarns triumphs freedom inspirations socks patterns yarnstash NLP misuse exposed ATPNI discorde initiative guerilla knitting wools chat books yakyakyak knitting deities psycho-neuro-immunology knitting activism cats underground knitting triumphs intelligent knitters pni politics stress yarns triumphs blog journal creativity expansion the big picture more yarns

Yes! Here's my button

Knitting Bookstore
to browse and drool

Anne's
s*t*a*s*h!
(blush)

52 or 79 things I have discovered about me, life and knitting. Or fewer. Or more. Currently 74

What Anne does for a living

Work on needles

New for 2006

Lace scarf / shawl
In yarn left over from the beaded hemp top. Wavy shale pattern. Maybe this will become the shawl I promised myself last year.

Amethyst cashcotton sweater

Anne's finished projects 2006
None yet :)

2005 2004 2003 2002

Online yarn stores and resources

Knitty
Threadbear
Ozeyarn
Martina for sock yarn
Kangaroo
House of Hemp
Ford Barton
Laughing Hens
Hip Knits

SECRET

Well, nothing really. Can't even tantalize myself.

Bodywork and other training
I've done a shed-load of training in the last few years, some in new areas, some pretty advanced. I recommend these training establishments for outstanding integrity, professionalism and allround excellence:

John F Barnes
Myofascial Release

Upledger Institute Craniosacral Therapy

Jing Advanced Massage
(I also teach with these guys)

Pilates Training Solutions

January 25th

Team Wales
Have joined Team Wales for the Knitting Olympics. Got swept away with the fever of it all. My Welsh proclivities are slender, but I'm hanging on to what I've got for dear life, at least for the duration of the Olympics. See here, there's also a very good flag, nay button:

January 24th

So far so interesting
Here's the progress with those greens. I decided to go 'swirly' as in Unexpected Knitting, and am going to piece them together further down the line. In the meantime, this is so much fun!

January 23rd

Just in case you missed this wonderful comment
I've copied it here :)

"Dear [fill in the blank]

You are our favorite reader. We're counting on you to share all those subversive little ideas running around your head. Submit in defiance of the norm and celebration of the odd. Submit challenging tutorials, foolish questions, and unthinkable items. Be offensive, intelligent, esoteric. The final call is ours, and we do not pander to children, evangelical fundamentalists of any flavor, or idiots. The voices in your head can submit, too. Provided they can type.

Thank you so much, [fill in the blank]. Again, you are our favorite (just don't tell the others)

The High Priestess of Shameless Promotion
sarabeth@theanticraft.com
http://theanticraft.com/submit.htm "

I love these women :)

Now, what have those voices been telling me recently...

January 20th

Greens abound
Gold greens, sage greens, grass-in-sunlight greens, warm greens. Cotton, silk, alpaca, wool, mohair. I have 20 different shades, tones and textures that will all knit to 20 - 22sts per 10cm / 4". At least 100g in each. 1000g in one of the alpacas, 500g in the other, so these will be good for a unifying yarn. What to do with them? I yearn for something large and wrappy, maybe a kimono-type jacket, a real-life wrap, a longer wrap with splits for shoulders...

How about patterning? How about Kaffe Fassett style with a stripy background and lizards in gold intarsia. Or plant-life instead of lizard life. Or both. I do like lizards and their shapes lend themselves to all sorts of bendy delights.

I also found a pici of the lime green cashcotton sweater I finished recently. Here it is:

Kitten pics
Phoebe and Cleo on my massage table, having first scrunched up some couch roll. They are not supposed to be in the clinic, but someone left the door open. Or they swung on the latch - as you do, when you're not allowed into a room.

Here Phoebe is pinning Cleo down to give her a bath. This usually ends in a series of scraps, interspersed with more baths. They then head off to the kitchen for chopped chicken or minced moo before skipping out to play with mice.

January 15th

iThe AntiCraft!
I found iThe AntiCraft! and knew it was for me.

January 14th

Totally domestic, man!
Took Toria DD back to Manchester University today. The trip usually takes 5 - 6 hours depending on traffic if I am driving, about an hour longer if Mike is driving. I usually drive up, Mike drives back, as he is more motivated to get back home :) We set off and in true Toria style, realised we had left the laptop behind, so had to go back for it. Not too much time wasted, and a good thing we found out then. You know the scenario, you have left the immediate bounds of the homestead, you are about ten minutes underway, and you start checking that you have actually packed everything... usually it's passports or tickets that have been left on the kitchen table.

Got a good 45 minutes underway, onto the motorway, and the engine cut out. Just died. So we stopped on the hard shoulder, tried to restart forlornly, and phoned the AA (Automobile Association, not Alcoholics Anonymous!). They were totally superb and their knight in shining armour turned up 15 minutes later. The chap opened the bonnet, and - yes! - one of the HT leads had come away from the distributer cap. He reattached and tied the leads with what looked like plant ties, and we were off again. The whole journey up took us 5.5 hours there, including both the missing laptop and the AA events (and rather longer to get back, but we arrived). Toz is now happily ensconced and only forgot her exam timetable which I copied for her and mailed when we got back home. She is a slightly scatty academic person. I used to be like that when I was younger. Now I make lists.

I managed to knit about six inches of my amethyst cashcotton funnel neck sweater on the way back, until I ran out of yarn.

Chris' birthday
It was Chris' (DS1) birthday today, his 23rd, and I got him some very swish Eskboots, upmarket wellies (muck boots) for tramping around in the woods. He is one of the few people I know who owns an offroad vehicle and actually uses it offroad. Dad got him some rather odd-looking extra-long pliers with bent noses. The games mechanics play! Given the lack of sox last year, I may make him some welly-socks as a birthday afterthought, particularly as he has expressed an interest in 'tiger yarn'.

January 12th

What happened in 2005?
I've noticed that I did this for 2004, so I'll have a shot at 2005. I am guaranteed to omit really imortant things that have slipped my mind for the moment, here goes:

Training:
Did some more applied transformational psycho-neuro-immunology (ATPNI) training, but parted company with the organisation when the hype didn't live up to the delivery. Er... that should read, when the delivery didn't measure up to the hype. Trauma ensued.

Upledger SER (Somato Emotional Release) I. Very good technical and experiential course, combining bodywork with a psychotherapy approach, run and taught professionally and reliably, no hype, no resident 'genius' (but exceedingly good practitioners), no control-freakery, professional, worth the money and time. I'll be doing SER II this year.

John F Barnes myofascial release training in the US. This was a blast. I learned loads - no really new techniques, or even new paradigms, but the experience of being in a wild training seminar for 9 days with 140 others in a room far too small for 140, only 7 tutors between the lot of us, everyone unwinding like there was no tomorrow... I loved it! I have to add, there was a syllabus, we did complete it, there was excellent teaching, it was clear, intelligent and effective. Just a little wild. And John F Barnes is not trying to market himself as a 'genius'. I shall be hopping over for more in August 2006.

Hurricanes:
We knew about the destructive force of hurricanes, we didn't know about an administration's priorities when faced with disaster for its poor. But there it all was in glorious techni-colour on our screens.

Kidnews
Tozzie off to Manchester University, James moved to Hove with friends to pursue chefing, Chris graduated from Sussex with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. We are enjoying peace and space at home - and then they all visit again! Sheer bliss either way :)

January 8th
What herb are you?

Another silly quiz, but I am honoured to be associated with this herb.

YOU ARE CATNIP

What herb are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

January 2nd
Knitting tally for 2005

Happy New Year to all readers! Since this is ostensibly a knitting blog, here's the knitting tally for 2005. Firstly... no socks. What? Absolutely no socks. Weird. Secondly, plenty of sweaters for me. Yes, just as weird as not having turned any heels, and more desirable to wear than socks even. I haven't used any set patterns for these, just a selection of styles from 1000 Sweaters, and a generic pattern for top-down raglans which I developed from re-reading 'The Ultimate T'.

Last to be finished, the lime green cashcotton sweater, for which I have just discovered I have no pici, but I wear almost all the time. These are two more of my faves for this year.

Finished at last, having been on the needles for a couple of years, the Beaded Hemp Top

Just before that, the Toffee Mohair Raglan. This I wear when I'm not wearing the green caschcotton sweater. When I was in the US earlier on this year, I received compliments on it every half hour, and began to wonder if others were spotting something I hadn't noticed... most unsettling. It is most gloriously soft.

Before that I finished a shortish sleeved raglan top in chinese Heng Li wool. It's a bit odd and I haven't worn it much. There have also been a few baby items and a couple of scarves (for me). Nothing for Mike, and nothing for the boys or Toz. Most unusual. Altogether 9 or 10 items this year, so not as many as in previous years, but more large projects. I'm happy with that.

New Year's Knitting Resolutions?
If you have been with me for any length of time (i.e. since 'Escaped 2003'), you will know that I don't do resolutions. It doesn't harm though, to have an idle (operative word?) look at the knitting possibilities for 2006. To begin with, I'm shocked there have been no socks. So it's highly likely that socks will feature this year. I am, however, fairly chuffed that I have been able to make sweaters for myself, this having been something I have had difficulty in accomplishing in the past. So I shall continue with this, beginning with a good run on the amethyst cashcotton sweater of which I have just finished the front. (My hopes for the Christmas vac were shortlived on the completion front here).

There may even be mileage in trying out one very complex project this year and lots of little ones to relieve the tension. I fancy having a go at a cellular automaton sweater or jacket from Debbie New's Unexpected Knitting, using some startling yarn combinations from my stash and designing the shape myself. Some straightforward socks on the go at the same time could save my sanity. I've dallied with the idea of another Kaffe Fassett creation... and am still dallying. Or a really complex fairisle? They are so hypnotic to work. Or maybe a gansey (in softer wool than true 5 ply gansey wool), or even a gansey incorporating some cellular automaton patterns in relief. Hmmm. Or there are those dinkey little modular thingies, which I have swatched extensively this year to no avail as far as actual production is concerned, but I still fancy something using the technique.

Not so long ago, I was wanting a shawl. I have the hemp yarn, wide, wide scarf on the needles, so that may well slake my thirst for shawls. Or it may not. How do I know where the knitting whims are going to take me this year?

Wishing you all many new and exciting knitting projects in 2006, with not a little daring and plenty of perseverance.