Posts tagged ‘Yarn Harlot’

For those who know my little head, I am consistently changing my mind when the scenario calls for it. I tell folks that I am adapting to my surroundings by instinct. Others say that I am just being a woman. No matter what the topic, I do come back to the beginning, just like Inigo did in The Princess Bride. With the 2010 Winter Olympics kicking off tomorrow at Vancouver, Canada, it is only fitting that I do not one, not two, but THREE projects in the Knitting Olympics to ease my ever-moving thoughts. Yes I know that there are only two sports in which two events must be tackled. However I just could not choose one without impartially whining for the others. I humbly present a triathlon of Fair Isle, Cable, and Lace:

• Adrian Bizilia‘s Fiddlehead Mittens in Cascade 220 and Neighborhood Studio Mohair
• Mari Muinonen‘s Sylvi in Briggs & Little Atlantic
• Vickie Howell‘s Pash-Greena in Juniper Moon Farm Cormo Worsted

So I am a little crazy. But I have figured out a couple of things:
One is that the knitting will go faster when my mind is going from piece to piece instead of the entire project at the same time. The other is when I thought only professionals in the knitting world could try such a feat, I then realized that I have become what I have dreamed about! To make the whole scenario even more fun, I get to blog about these crazy challenges.

My schedule will go as follows:
Simultaneously cast on and knit the Sylvi sleeves during opening ceremonies. As soon as the sleeves are done, the first Fiddlehead Mitten is cast on and knit. After the mitten is finished without its lining, the Pash-Greena will be cast on and two skeins will be used out of the allotted five. The rotation goes back to Sylvi…

Of course all of this scheduling is subject to change, especially if I decide to drive up to New England tomorrow. (I am still on the fence about that, but I dislike the idea of being alone for Valentine’s Day.)

If anyone can wish this crazy bunny luck, I will need it! (Or at least lots of wine, beer, and aspirin for the pain in my wrists…) =:8

Recently Chris Brogan tweeted that leaders in social media should be inspired to act as if in a team sport. I had to laugh while reading those words, and did so heartily. I know of many examples of where knitters easily demonstrated what it is like to be a team player. How do these events happen? I will hoppily explain.

During the weekend I was in PodCamp Boston 4, the first annual Sock Summit was held in Portland, OR. This conference of knitters brought together many of the fibery rockstars from around the world. For months the lists of names in attendance were gossiped and discussed. Though the server hosting the classes database crashed after 5 minutes from 50,000 people trying to register for the 3,500 available slots, I managed to buying 2 tickets for the opening night’s festivities and a class with an alternative time slot. (For some reason, the webhosting sites NEVER believe that knitters can crash a server no matter how much they are warned.) What is astounding is that 99% of the communication was done via the social network of Ravelry, blogging, and emails. In Ravelry’s Sock Summit forum, questions were answered about traveling, lodging, restaurants, who was attending, who was teaching, and who was vending. Manufacturers made special editions of their products just for that event and posted the details online. There was a contest between hand-dyers on which yarn should be chosen as the official Sock Summit one, and all members of Ravelry were encouraged to vote. The worldwide scores of folks flying in from Germany, the UK, Australia, and other countries amazed many. Yet the common bond between these people was the same: all were interested in sock knitting and all were active in social media.

One of the ladies who co-founded the concept of Sock Summit did a similar event back in the 2005 Winter Olympics. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka the “Yarn Harlot” of Toronto, issued a challenge on her blog. She was going to cast on a brand new project on her needles when the Olympic torch was lit to commence the Games, and she was going to finish it by the time the torch was extinguished. When the words were live for all to see, she had an immediate worldwide response of others joining her challenge. The crazy numbers that I remember during the event: there were about 4000 athletes competing in the Olympics versus the 7300 folks competing in the knitting Olympics.

Now for my last example, I was at the Stitches East convention in Hartford this past September. The booth I was running was to encourage knitters to participate on the “Bigsock” project. This project is the running attempt to break the current Guinness Book of World Record’s largest hand-knitted sock. To promote the last minute appearance of the booth, I used whatever tools that seemed to target the main audience I wanted to connect: Ravelry, Twitter, and Facebook. Yes, I could have used both the blogs of Bigsock and mine, but I knew that time was of the essence. I quickly posted threads in various groups on Ravelry that would see the information, updated them with posts so as to nudge them back to the front when necessary, and involved Jenny (aka “DivineBird“), a known local fiberista, work with me in the booth. The results paid off. The folks who read my threads spread the word, and along with the members of Jenny’s spinning/knitting ensemble, all arrived to do their fair share on the sock. Together by using social media tools, we accomplished over 38 rounds knitted during that one weekend! A quick visual on the amount of what 38 rounds equals: each round is 1500 stitches which means 57,000 stitches were done in those 3 days.

These examples are only a smidgeon of what knitters have done together by way of social media. Who’d a thought that folks with pointy sticks could do so much? =:8

I’m not through with knitting Clapotis
Or yarn clubs I’ll never get in
It’s like the toe of the sock
That I’m never gonna graft
This life has turned out like the way I want it to be
(Tell me what you want)

I’d like a fixed up house in a ‘Ronto hood
And a bathroom I can bathe myself in
A king size tub big enough for the cat plus me
(Yeah, so what you need?)

I’ll have a wonder publisher that’s ever so patient
And a number of editors on standby near
Gonna Kinnear a star from just a couple of feet
(Been there, done that)

I want a big project bag full of cool colorways
My own marquee on the Calvin Theater
Sitting between Kathy and Steve Elkin is perfect for me
(So how you gonna do it?)

I’m gonna trade this life
For fortune and fame
I’d even curl my hair
And change my name…

Cuz we all just wanna be with The Harlot
Speak in numerous theaters and halls
The yarns come easy and the groupies come to see
We’ll all stay skinny cuz we won’t eat meat.

And we’ll hang out in The Coolest Store
In the VIP with designer stars
Every first sock knitter’s gonna wind up there
And a stalking bunny with her dark black hair.

Well, hey hey I love to see my rockstar
Hey hey I love to see my rockstar.

I want to enter like Elvis with all the panties
Hire a tall body guard that keeps out groupies
Sign a bunch of autographs so I can eat my meals in peace.

I’m gonna dress myself with comfy fashion
Get a front door key to the Lettuce Knit mansion
Gonna marry a man that loves to brag about my books for me

I’m gonna trade this life
For fortune and fame
I’d even curl my hair
And change my name…

Cuz we all just wanna be with The Harlot
Visit numerous cities and towns
The yarns come easy and the groupies come to see
We’ll all stay skinny cuz we won’t eat meat.

And we’ll all stock up in the WEBS showroom
Like the way Jennifer and Maaike did.
The WEBS staff will get you anything with a big smile
Everybunny’s got a sock yarnie on speed dial
Well, hey hey I love to see my Rockstar
Hey hey I love to see my Rockstar.

I’m gonna knit those socks
that bug the major toe-uppers
Gonna use my needles
made of cold steel metal
Get internet readers commenting up my blog
Review my speech every night so I don’t ever get it wrong

I’m gonna trade this life
For fortune and fame
I’d even curl my hair
And change my name…

Cuz we all just wanna be with The Harlot
Stay in numerous hotel rooms and suites
The yarns come easy and the groupies come to see
We’ll all stay skinny cuz we won’t eat meat.

And we’ll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the designer stars
Every first sock knitter’s gonna wind up there
And a stalking bunny with her dark black hair.

Well, hey hey I love to see my Rockstar
Hey hey I love to see my Rockstar. =:8