Did I show you the latest pair of socks?

The Art of the Fugue as a Duet

Now that the weather is mostly cold, I wear a number of the things that I have knit - socks, shawls, hats, cowls, fingerless mitts, sweaters, etc. I don't make a big deal about it, if someone comments on something that I am wearing or asks if I have made any particular item, I am happy to answer them and share what I have made. But I am not going to call attention to my handknitted items nor am I going to insist that people look at my latest projects.

This last pair of socks that I just finished? That is different. Even before I finished them, I was showing them to anyone who would stand still for a minute to take a look.  [Go ahead, take a look at the project page for them, here.]

They are the most complicated pair of socks that I have ever made, The Art of the Fugue by Caoua Coffee. The pattern is cuff-down and I am most comfortable toe up. The texture of the socks comes from many twisted stitches with directions that talk about dropping two stitches at a time off the needles and then knitting them in a different order, in essence knitting cables without a cable needle. For whatever reason, I decided to knit them simultaneously using the Magic Loop technique, so I had both socks going at the same time on one long circular needle.

I am very proud of them.

Did I show you the latest pair of socks that I just finished?

Please, No Penguin Jumpers or Tree Leaves

Penguin by Tom Watt
this is not the type of penguin
 that needs a jumper.
in fact no jumpers 
are needed right now.
please do not start knitting 
the bird a sweater.

Things on the internet seem to live forever and cycle through every now and then. We all have well-meaning friends and relatives sending us jokes and warnings that are like the cat in the song "The Cat Came Back". We see them again and again and again.

One famous example of this is the request for sweaters for penguins in New Zealand, which is the perfect combination of cute and and helping out. In 2000, a request was put out for jumpers to help penguins that had been covered in oil. These sweaters keep the birds warm and prevent them from ingesting the oil on their feathers. Certain sizes and patterns and materials for the sweaters were requested. Then a flood of penguin sweaters ensued.  People hoping to help spread the information far & wide. I can only imagine what was sent and would hazard a guess that a significant percentage of items were not the correct size or the correct materials or even penguin jumpers. The number of people saying "wait, stop, we don't need any more sweaters" couldn't keep up with the production of cute little penguin jumpers of all sorts. 

Of course every now and then the request resurfaces, sometimes when there is actual need, and sometimes when someone sees the old story, and the flow of cute little penguin sweaters begins again. 

This morning I made the following tweet. 

It isn't every day someone asks for knit leaves for a tree to promote peace. greenprophet.com/2013/02/knit-p…
— Batsheva Appel (@stick2myknittin) February 11, 2013

I try to read the things that I tweet, so I saw that the post was recent. What I didn't do was a little more investigation.

According to the post that I read:

TikkunTree Project, which began in 2007,  was inspired by the destruction of olive groves during the continued Israeli occupation and settlement of Palestinian territories. The organizers say that, until its eventual exhibition, the TikkunTree is intended to serve as a vehicle for conversation about peace as it travels to knitting circles and community groups, making intermittent public appearances as it grows.

But here's the problem. I can't find any mention of the TikkunTree being on tour or anything happening since 2009.

I was already conflicted about the project. Yes, I love fiber arts. Yes, I am for peace. But I wasn't certain how the project was going to advance peace or bring people together.  It was when I went to look into the TikkunTree Project further that I found out that nothing has really happened in a few years. 

And I regretted my tweet. And felt like I had asked for some penguin jumpers in different sizes, when there is really no current project looking for penguin jumpers. Please do not begin knitting sweaters for penguins. Please.

They both said "Yes!"

I recently wrote about making gifts for people and realizing that I didn't know in either case if the gift was wanted, or more importantly, whether or not it would even fit.

They both said "Yes!"

Two years ago I knit a scarf [Irish Hiking Scarf by Adrian Bizilia] in beautiful Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Marron Oscuro for the guy who cuts my hair. He loved it and proved himself knit-worthy by spending the next ten minutes running around the salon showing it to everyone. 

When I asked him if I could knit him something this year as a gift, he said "Yes!"

It turns out I was right, he isn't interested in a hat unless the weather is minus 10 degrees, because of hat hair. When I suggested finger-less mitts, he lit up. He has been looking for a pair and hasn't found any that fit well. I just happened to have a tape measure handy, so I took his hand measurements and I have been knitting finger-less mitts for him using the pattern arden by mikka. I am shortening the mitts at his request and will be mirroring the cables, including the oddly crossed cable in the first mitt. It is now a design feature.
All going well I will be able to give him the newly made mitts the next time I see him.

"Yes!"