HARLEQUIN AFGHAN…or….relationship advice.

"Come on, here's the camera, take a few shots before you leave!"

Blocked & positioned on matching rattan furniture.

And it's off the hook, assembled, complete. The Harlequin Afghan, finished.  I blogged about this piece just days ago, and before that, a few other times.

What to say, now?  Perhaps an homage to the sort of playing with cameras that we enjoy…or at least I enjoy, with the indulgence of my family members.  Peter is responsible for this collection of KSN photos in the back yard, modeling the afghan as wrap/cape.

blocked, ready for use.

 Every once in a while I start to wonder if we ham it up for the camera a little too much. After all, some of us are not getting any younger.  Then again, it's terrific fun, especially for the self-absorbed.  I'd also dare any of you, LFs, to do the same.  Why not?  In this instance, I'm rustling up the attention of my long-suffering spouse.  One of the remedies to long term relationship blues is to simply ask for attention.  It's so easy for us to focus lots of energy on self, on kids, pets, work, house, and forget about each other.  So, on a Friday morning when I ask my spouse to take a few extra minutes to shoot these photos, I'm asking for attention, interaction, a laugh or too, and, thanks to the technology, a memory.

"This is going to look fabulous. I can wear it wherever I wish!"

 Somebody warned, in an earlier post, that this afghan is too gorgeous to not convert to a wearable item.  Now that it's finished, I sort of agree.  It's main purpose will be to adorn my mid-century rattan couch, but whenever the fancy hits, I think I'll break out the "Harlequin Cape". why not?  One hundred percent worsted wool, it's soft, not too scratchy, and warm.  I'm fond of the colors. Chartreuse, coral, black, grey, white. Great midcentury colors, still classic today.  I'm wild about the juxtaposition of classic vintage detail with modernity.  In this case, the whole set-up looks hopelessly modern.  The Harlequin Afghan time traveled to today and got stuck in a selfie-shoot and an outdoor affair.

"Go ahead. Just try to tell me what I can and can not wear!"

And so we have it.  I can't help but try to synch the piece up with a pop song, and for some reason Hall and Oates comes to mind, again and again.  If you see the cape around town, you'll know who it is.  You'll also know what it is.  And if you see me running/riding/sitting with this cape wrapped around my shoulders, you might even hum a few lines from a Hall & Oates song:

"It's up to me, what will be…"

"She's gone." 

"What went wrong?"

"Face ain't looking any younger, now I can see, love taking her toll on me…"

And to quote the photographer: "I like seeing you argue with the camera!" There is usually a fair amount of arguing, but not without it's fun. Next installment of yarn madness, nobody knows.  But there is a small chance that it will be painstaking, unique, and possess bit of whimsy. 

In which an eternal project nears completion…or… I'm gonna make an afghan, "Just Because" I can.

 

Can you say 1950's?

 I'm obsessed with a lot of things, and vintage afghans are right  up there with jigsaw, crossword puzzles, and needlepoint. It takes a yarn goddess special personality to move up from the smaller items that might adorn oneself in the outside world to making giant pieces that take forever to complete.  A few of the afghans I've finished have the added status of mind-numbing details.  My current afghan project entails the crochet construction of one hundred-eleven small-ish diamonds,  sewn together, painstakingly, by hand (naturally).

This afghan is exciting, also, because it is one of the patterns in an old book that was part of my mom's collection, ca. 1956, called Modern and Traditional Afghans to Knit or Crochet.

Mom kept everything in mint condition.

So it's been a long time coming. In fact, I think I've blogged about this very project (in another lifetime?) at least twice.  Now that it's almost the moment of truth, I don't know if I love or hate it.  I certainly love the inspiration from which I embarked on the project.  Nothing like planning and purchasing and starting out on an endeavor, with nothing but possibility ahead, and about twelve skeins of wool washable yarn.

Early days, meticulous blocking.

An old blog post,  Spring 2103

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way I came to believe that I didn't have that *special stuff* required of the fifties housewife or whomever was expected to make these monster blankets. Much to my disgust, I realized that many of my diamonds were inconsistent in shape and size. 

early assemblage and blog-bliss

 Blocking (deep steam pressing) takes care of this problem to a certain extent, but, truth be told,  I can be a little devil-may-care in my approach to projects, so…Not. Perfect.….Which means, not a terrible thing in many projects (pie, for example) but for a piece that requires over a hundred perfectly symmetrical parallelograms sewn together with all seams equal, there erupts a problem.

But I persevere, and insist that this afghan will be worthy of the party that is our house-full-of-lap-throws.  The four of us often sit around, and whomever grabs afghan first is cozy and ready for whatever it is our family is up to (conversing, reading, drinking wine,  coffee, tea, dessert or sleep).  What I really love is having a project to work on (okay, many projects) so I'm never thinking or feeling that the things I do I do because I'm being *forced* to do them.

 Projects are so compelling to me simply because I don't really have a reason.  I just do.  There's no income, there's no *should* , there's no status.  All I have is the human desire to make something, and do something.  Call me entitled.  Sure.  But also, call myself Unencumbered.  This is the idea.  Amidst all of the shoulds, the worries, the what-ifs and the what I forgot to take care of,  insert the devil-may-care, "Just Because."  I'm gonna make an afghan, "Just Because" I can.  "Just Because I want to."  Or, finally, "Just Because I really really really wish that we all had to or wanted to make things for ourselves, because, of course, making things takes time, and this is what we've been doing since the beginning, and it's only in the very recent past that we've forgotten all this, and not needed to make things that take time for ourselves and for our survival and for our family."

Unencumbered...At Last.

A metal lawn chair, a skein of high quality crochet thread, a vast sky, and a familiar vista, from which to observe the shifting tides of season and day and moment.  I'm so lucky to have a place to return to every year.  It never gets old.

I've been working this skirt since early summer.  It's a lot easier than some of the endeavors I've approached lately, and of course, it's another Doris Chan.  I simply can't get enough of her brilliant designs.  Found in this Spring's edition of Interweave Crochet, called the Zuma Skirt.

Another evening I caught a slightly different view of the meadow and barn.  On this occasion, I had no camera, planning to sit and yarn quietly, but the sky shocked me it was so gorgeous so I ran back to the house to grab a camera.  The late afternoon sky makes every little bit of everything worth it.

And at last, the beginnings of working a shrug with my gorgeous yarn fromToronto's Lettuce Knit yarn store.  This sea silk is hand spun, dyed, and simply amazing to touch and gaze upon.  My most special yarn treat of the season.

What's the point of being a gal on the go without a tidy little suitcase to carry objects of our passion?  This cutie-pie, the Travel Smart, has been a loyal companion for me.

With the assistance of Ashby's photographic eye, a moment, a mood captured.  Part of being unencumbered means taking the vibe back to the chaos and noise of everyday life.  So, here's my attempt to mark time, mark my own mood, and experience an unclenched jaw and deep filled lung breaths.

And, of course, waiting for us next time.  An even greater reason to return.  The Ravensburger Jigsaw puzzle 2000 awaits.  We've got the sky done, and a bit more.  I'm eager for the luscious obsession of puzzling with a giant mug of coffee at my side.  Put a fork in me. I'm done.

When you finish the sky first, you know it's a hard puzzle.

Where Unencumbered Meets Obsessive.

Yes, friends, it's that time of year again!  You might think, swim? Bike? Run?  Oh, no, on the contrary, it's time to crochet some hot-rockin' wear.  It's warm, we're sitting in a lounge chair, and hell if we're going to dither all our time away with a magazine or even our smartphone.  Girl, it's time to finish those projects that have been sitting around all through the nasty season.  And when I say nasty, that word has so many delicious implications I can't begin to tell.  First, a moment to acknowledge the completion of the hot-pink cover-up.  Started this thing as a tank top, last summer, even as a potential gift for training buddy, Jilly.  When Jilly announced that she hates pink, what was I to do?  Immediately begin shaping as a full-length rrrrarrrfest for summer 2013.  And here we go:
I can't say I loved working on this thing. 

OK, I'll say it: "rrrrrooooaaaarrrrr!!!!"

the lovely fisherman knot that weaves the whole object together got tiresome, and I had some difficulty with sizing ( I figured it would be hanging off of me and I'd be stuck with a sack.   When I finally shrank the dimensions, my method was haphazard at best. What can I say? Sometimes the idea is more important to me than the execution).  Finished this bad boy ON my forty-sixth birthday.  Hell, if this dress don't say Cougar, nothing else will.  I'm in the game for good and that's where I'll leave it.  Woman, Hook, Italian 100% Cotton Yarn (mille fille) and I'm ready for whatever.  Next Installment, Ashby wants one for herself, and naturally I have a bit of this delicious yarn leftover.  But of course!  It may take another year, but most likely ready for Door County--love shaking up some protestant sensibilities up north, and this is the game that'll do. 

And on to my Ode To Crochet Goddesses!  Doris Chan, as has been mentioned multiple times on this very blog-site, has created yet another feast for the hook and eye.  She calls this the Rockin-Red Dress, from Interweave Crochet, but it's actually an ode to Leiutenant Uhura's Dress in Star Trek. 

Peter Nolan loves Uhura, and so what would I do but re-create this fab streamlined one-piece dress?  We're far from completion, but when I ordered the yarn, months ago, I knew I had my work cut out for me.  This, as we say in the trade, is a design meritting serious, or complete concentration.  Not for the faint of heart, or for anyone who is even thinking about multi-tasking.  Started work on reading the pattern a few times in the deep dark months, but there was no respite from the insanity.  Now, with a few days on the pristine, still, Oregon Coast, I am able to read, study, puzzle, ravel, and unravel.  My heart is a-flutter. We are actually making progress:


A swatch. Standard quiver pattern.  This took months, alone.

As I muddle through the pattern, my brain loosens up, ever so much.  Deciphering a Doris Chan pattern feels like a complicated math or programming problem.  Of course this implies that I think that Doris Chan is about the most bad-ass programmer on the planet.  Yup.  She's one smart cookie and her work is so incredibly beautiful.  

Day four in Oregon.  Yes, this is 10 full rows of the pattern and it's my yoke/neckline!!!!

Here we are poolside.  I'm finally breathing the satisfaction of knowing that we're not going to be ripping out the first four rows for ever more, in fact, there is hope.  This deadly soy-silk variegated yarn is going to be put to good use and Uhura's dress will live on, further into history. 

Unencumbered Meets Obsessive.

And then there is this. Woman, hook, yarn, sun, poolside. Need I say more? Unencumberd on steroids.  Pump me up with some free time and some fresh air, detox after a long run with my seventy year old companion, throw some blue water, chlorine and poolside chat into the mix?  Golden.  Now why was I slamming the Kava Tea last week??  Who cares.  Unencumbered Meets Obsessive.  This is where fulfillment lives.  Go out there and find it for yourself, because lord knows nobody's gonna let you feel this good on your own.

Dear ATT

Midcentury gem: rare in Oak Park but not extinct.

Dear AT&T, 
Thank you for providing me and my family with mediocre dsl connection.  My constant drops in internet connection have prevented me from fully indulging in my obsession with Pinterest and other online activities.  When the connection slows down, it gives me an opportunity to walk away from the computer and do something else...like eat breakfast.  Today, in particular, I'm grateful that you are visiting my alley to inspect the wiring and connection to my home.  Because our date will occur sometime between 8AM and 8PM, it gives me ample excuse to sit in my pajamas for the entire day, surfing the web and pinning images, so I can accurately log the multiple occasions that internet service is interrupted.  If it weren't for you, AT&T, I might have dragged myself out of bed this morning and gone for a bike ride, or at least a run sometime before 12 noon.  But with your loving support,  I'm sitting here with a cup of hot coffee and bowl of ten grain cereal.  Oh well, let's hope we can resolve this issue, or I'll never leave this desk.


With Warmth,
Karen


ps: in case you're wondering, AT&T, why I've attached a photo of the above home, (which is not my home, as you probably already know), it's because I wonder, deep in the recesses of my mind, whether everyone in our fine village suffers such angst at the hands of the telecom giant, (you), dear friend.  Is it possible that each of us, in our own way, is experience sub-par experience, be it with our home telephone service, our internet, or even our cellular service?  This home, one of my favorite midcentury houses in Oak Park, looks so pristine and complete. It's hard to imagine that it's inhabitants suffer such inconveniences also.  Usually, when my computer sputters or I hear static on the line on my telephone, I assume it's some blunder of mine, or my family's...but really, what if these folks are suffering too? After all, they have a vintage portal-front door, painted to perfection, a bleached coral. Don't they deserve the great service as promised?  Well?