Bookbinding Jam Session
For anyone who thought hand bookbinding might be a little tedious (via Ed):
This is pretty typical of my own experience, actually. Those If’n Books + Marks folks really know how to do the job right.
Updates from November, 2006 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Brian Sawyer
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Brian Sawyer
Meet Me at the Bizarre
On Saturday, December 16, Kristina and I will be hosting the CRAFT table at the Bazaar Bizarre in Boston. Stop on by to get a peek at the magazine, see a few of my handbound books (and, possibly, some knitting), check out some of Kristina’s needlepoint projects that have been or will be featured in the magazine, or just to say “hi.”-
Liz (the crazed weasel)
well, hello there. found your link from Julie’s blog.
Wish I’d been able to get to Bizarre, but at least have Craft, will travel.
And I’m a little weirded out that you’re linked to Frank Winters’ blog, as my dh used to work with him… truly, a very tiny planet we inhabit.
Happy stuff, to you and yours.
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Barb, and 
Brian Sawyer
Scenester Scarf-Hat Build Log
Over at the Craft blog today, I briefly reviewed Speed Knitting by Kris Percival, to coincide with the free download of the “Scenester Scarf-Hat” pattern from that book. Here are my build notes for that project, with some advice and things to look out for along the way.
Gather Your Materials
Here’s what you’ll need for the pattern:
- 200 grams of “fluffy, bulky yarn”
- Though this description is a little vague, my experience is that the yarn you use in this project can’t be fluffy or bulky enough. Though I’ll admit I’m a fairly tight knitter, I used Wool-Ease “Thick & Quick,” which the label describes as “super bulky weight,” and my gauge didn’t quite measure up (see next section). My advice is to as big as you can.
- Size 15 needles
- Though the pattern calls specifically for circular needles, they’re really not necessary for this project. Because you won’t work anything in the round, straight needles would work just fine. Since I prefer circulars anyway and didn’t have any size 15s in any style, I went ahead and bought the circulars, as directed, in the 29″ length.
- 4 stitch markers
- You actually do need these, unless you’re really good at counting, have a memory like a steel trap, and not easily distracted. If you’re buying them new, get them as big as you can. The largest size markers in my pack were annoyingly snug on the size 15 monster needles. (You could also use pretty much anything that will fit conveniently around a knitting needle as a stitch marker. If this is your first project and you’re not sure if you’re going to stick with this knitting thing, real knitting markers might not be worth the investment.)
- A few standard-issue pieces in any knitting kit
- You’ll need each of the tape measure, scissors, yarn needle, and stitch holder at least once.
Okay, got everything together? Let’s get knitting.
Check Your Gauge
Because I’m impatient and don’t like dawdling when I’ve got an exciting project to try, I used to never bother checking my gauge. But, as any knitter does, when I started to knit more complex and lengthy projects, such as sweaters, I realized the importance of making sure I was starting out on the right track. If your gauge doesn’t match what the pattern designer is expecting, you’re bound to have a mismatched mess of a finished project.
Like most patterns, this one has the gauge right there on the first page, but somehow I didn’t notice it (guess I was moving too quickly). Since the condensed steps seemed to suggest a preference for just the essentials, I assumed no gauge was included and just started knitting (this is supposed to be speed knitting, after all). After trotting along quickly, I’d just about finished the first half of the scarf before realizing the pattern did include the gauge and that I wasn’t hitting it.
So, before you begin, check the gauge (~1.5 stitches per inch) and the “Finished Dimensions” guidelines in the sidebar on the second page of the pattern (page 26 in the printed book). You’ll see that your scarf should be about 6.5″ wide. Mine was closer to 4″, but I was cruising and on a deadline, so I didn’t look back.
Anyway, I’m told skinny scarves are in. But if a wider scarf is important to you and you too come up short, you might need to add a few stitches to get the desired size.
Step 01
The pattern says to cast on 10 stitches, but as I mentioned in the previous section, you might want to go with a few more if you’re concerned about your scarf being too thin.
See my little How to Cast On post if you need a refresher. (Casting on is also covered in the book’s reference material, on page 108). I’d intended to include that tutorial here, but then I figured it wouldn’t really be essential for most people.
Once you’re done casting on, here’s what your 10 stitches should look like:
Steps 02-03
Now, it’s time to start knitting up the piece. Don’t be thrown off by the term “reverse stockinette stitch.” It basically just means that the purl side is the “right” side and the knit side is the “wrong” side. But when you’re knitting your first row, this doesn’t really make much of a practical difference.
So, just start knitting in stockinette (knit one row, purl one row) until you get to six inches. After ending with a purl row on the “right” side, you’re going to just start purling on the next row, which will be on the “wrong” side (i.e., back to stockinette stitch, dropping the reverse). You can also safely ignore the instruction to mark the last row as folding point. Trust me, the fold line will be obvious.
Sorry if my clarification is just as potentially confusing as the pattern. All you really need to know is to do stockinette stitch. When you purl two consecutive rows, the side you want to show to the world will reverse. After the pocket is folded up, the stitches will be consistent if you keep on stockinetting from the fold.
Steps 04-05
From here on out to the end of the scarf, you’ll be “slipping” the first stitch on each row, which just means inserting the needle into the stitch as if to knit and then sliding it off without actually knitting it. As far as I can tell, this touch just gives a nice selvage to the piece.
Steps 06-08
“Knitting two together” is perhaps the easiest way to decrease (just as it sounds, put the needle through two stitches, the leftmost one first, and knit them as if they were a single stitch). You’ll do it twice on this row, once at each end, to bring your stitch count down to 8 (if you started with 10, as per the instructions).
It’s customary to do increases or decreases on a right-side row, so the next row is a purl row and step 08 asks you to decrease one more time, before continuing to the end of this side of the scarf.
Steps 09-10
Here’s where that stitch holder comes in handy, to tuck this side of the scarf away until we’re ready for it again. Leaving the yarn attached, as instructed, would make fine sense if you were indeed using four skeins of yarn, but I was using two huge skeins and didn’t want to start over with a new one on the other side. So, I cut the yarn here, which didn’t seem to be much of a problem.
Then, do the other side just as you did the first. Before joining the two sides of the scarf, you’ll need to add two stitches to the end of the row on the second side. The easiest way to do this is with a mid-row cast-on (really, just twisting yarn to loop around the needle).
When I joined the sides together, I just kept knitting with the yarn from the second side of the scarf, rather than picking up the yarn that should have been attached to the first side. Didn’t seem to make a difference when I weaved in my ends later (step 21).
Step 11
This row just sets up your markers, which tell you when to increase or decrease in the steps that follow for shaping the hood.
Though the second and third markers were necessary for that purpose, I didn’t find the first and fourth very helpful at all. If you can remember to make sure to knit the first two and last two stitches of every row (and the pattern reminds you to do this with every step anyway), regardless of whether you’re on the right or wrong side, you can safely ignore these markers and just substitute “first” for “second” and “second” for “third” in the rest of the pattern, which is what I did. If you’re concerned about forgetting to do this, go ahead and keep those markers. Otherwise, you’ll mess up that nice edge for your hood.
Steps 12-19
These increase and decrease rows are pretty standard fare, but I’m going to reiterate my warning about gauge here. If your gauge was coming up short when you started and you didn’t do anything to fix it, realize that your length will be off too, not just your width.
This didn’t make much difference for the scarf, because the instructions had you knit to a specific length anyway, but the instructions for the hood assume your gauge is correct and base when (and how many) to do your increases based on that gauge.
Because my gauge was off, I ended up with a hood that was a skoche narrower than I would have liked, and I had to knit more rows than the pattern called for just to get to an appropriate length (which also meant that the increases and decreases weren’t in the ideal spots for shaping).
Don’t make the same mistake I did. But if you do, space out your increases and decreases a bit further apart.
Step 20
The instructions behind this two-word step (“Bind off”) are covered on page 112, in the reference material. This is another one of those basic knitting techniques I used to always have to look up for every project, mainly because you only do it once to a few times per project. Don’t be too shy or embarrassed to look it up.
Step 21
Making seams is also covered well in the reference material (pages 120-121), but I must admit that, until I actually bound off the piece, this instruction had me scratching my head a bit. The pockets were pretty self-explanatory, but I thought “seam hood” could have used an illustration, perhaps like the one on the right.
Basically, to finish the hood, you need to fold the edge over itself (left bound-off edge touching right bound-off edge) and stitch a seam back to the spot they call the fontanelle in babies (don’t know if it has a name in adults). Doing this makes it look much more like a hood and much less like a napkin placed on the top of your head, so I’m glad I eventually figured it out (you astute knitters probably picked this up without having to be told, but I’m nothing if not thorough and self-effacing).
Blocking
Even if you followed your gauge and are happy with the width of your scarf and hood, you still might want to block the piece (blocking is covered on page 124 of the book). With such a narrow piece, the unavoidable edge curl of stockinette stitch is very noticeable. Blocking won’t get rid of it completely, but it will help minimize it a bit.
All Done
And that’s it! I hope this overly long post about my experience with this pattern has been helpful. If you have any questions, please go ahead and ask, and I’ll do my best to answer them. And if you knit your own Scenester Scarf-Hat, please let me know, and send pictures!
Sari, 
Katherine and 5 others are discussing. -
Beth
Thanks for the tips! I want to try this pattern too but I’m using a thinner yarn and smaller needles so it’s good to see more pictures.
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allelejean
I just finished this pattern and I really found it left a bit out. I really could have used a row gauge or length measurement on the hood.
One tip I have is that instead of binding off and seaming, I used a kitchener stitch to graft the hood together.
I really love how mine turned out. I used 2 strands of yarn- Knitpicks Sierra and Knitpicks Suri Dream. It’s just so cozy!
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nicole
thanks so much for explaining this pattern. i couldn’t remember where it came from and then i was so confused by some of the pattern instructions–thanks for the pictures!
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Nancy Stender
Thanks for the illuminating instructions. I knitted this with Rowan Big Wool and size 15 needles. The original pattern, by Percival, I thought was very poorly written (just because something is supposed to be quick to knit doesn’t mean you have to skimp on essential directions). I, too, was extremely puzzled by where to sew it together, and how, and was frustrated by a lack of instructional detail and diagrams. When I finally seamed it together, even though I basically hit the guage markers, I was unhappy with how skimpy the hood looked, so I picked up stitches all along the hood and knitted about 6 rows of garter stitch. I definitely improved the look of the piece and caused the hood to look more curved and “hoody-like.” I am also planning on lining the hood and backs of the scarf pieces with polar fleece in a complimentary color.
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Helpful Hannah
Instead of buying knitting markers, on any size needle you can use a little tied circle of contrasting yarn to slip on and off during the rows you are knitting (just as you do a metal or plastic marker piece). The yarn can always be just the right size!
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Katherine
I’m fairly new to knitting and although I was super excited when I found this pattern (I have the book), I started it…and have been a little lost. I had my grandma sit down and look at the pattern and she showed me how to slip stitches and mark (she suggested I tie a different color yarn around the last stitch because I don’t have markers). Annnnnyway, I came online looking for help, and found the most helpful thing I could stumble across. Thank you!
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tata
I’m still a novice and was thrilled when I found this pattern. I whipped it out in 2 days (pretty quick for a mama of a toddler!), but got hung up on the instructions for the hood. I agree with Nancy (comment #4) that the directions were skimped. I had to improvise because, like you, I overlooked gauge (I got 2 stitches per inch and 3 stitches per row).
I must say that I am pretty disappointed in this project. The narrow stockinette scarf is still too curly for my taste and the hood is awkward. I may try to do it again, improvising even more on the pattern to better suit both my taste and my anatomy!
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Sari
This was really great…I am going to download this pattern and follow along with your blog…I am so bad with winter clothes and I can walk out without a coat on…so this little hat/scarf/mitts would be great for me.
Thank you
Brian Sawyer
How to Cast On
There are some things I constantly find myself going back to my knitting books for a refresher on, and casting on is one of them. I’ve built it into my muscle memory now, but for years I’d need to consult some reference or another to remind me how to start every new project.
If you’re anything like me, you can use a reminder on occasion about even some of the most basic knitting techniques. If so, I hope you find this little tutorial helpful. It also might be useful for any beginners out there who are trying to tease out the meat from the illustrations in knitting books that often don’t speak very well from themselves.
There are, of course, many different ways to cast on, but once I learned this one, I never bothered to learn another. Anyway, here’s how I do it:
- To begin the slipknot that will become the first cast-on stitch, make a loop with the yarn, leaving about an inch of tail for each stitch you plan to cast on (in this example, we’ll use 10+ inches for 10 stitches) and a few extra inches, just to be safe.
- Loop a section of the tail and pull it through your first loop. The slipknot formed by second loop will be your first stitch, while the first loop will provide the tension.
- Insert the needle through the slipknot and pull it tight. You’ve cast on your first stitch.
- Hold the needle in your right hand, with the knot of the first stitch facing away from you. Loop the tail around your left thumb (as shown here), and insert your needle into the front of the loop.
- Wrap the skein-side yarn around the tip of your needle, just as you do when knitting.
- Fold the loop in your left hand over the tip of the needle and pull taut. You’ve just cast on your second stitch and are ready to do the rest just like this one.
Once you’re done casting on, here’s what your 10 stitches should look like:
And that’s basically it. Works every time.
Rob, 
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Céline
Hi,
I’ve tried this particular type of cast on I don’t know how many times, trying to follow different indications in different books, and I still don’t get it. I must be a bit dense that way. But I’ll give it another try with yours. Maybe the fact that the yarn is green will help!
Thanks!
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Brian Sawyer
Don’t sweat it. It’s really hard to learn even basic techniques from a book. I had this particular lesson in person more than once and still found myself fumbling through numerous books to remember how to do it later.
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Rob
another place to look if a particular technique isn’t “clicking” for you is knittinghelp.com — Amy has videos showing most common stitches, and she shows almost all of them in both english and continental style:
http://knittinghelp.com/knitting/basic_techniques/index.php
long-tail is the one i use (“the slingshot one”).
Brian Sawyer
DIY DPNs
Though I guess the basic idea behind DIY knitting needles has been around for some time, I first learned about it from Danese Cooper at last year’s FOO Camp. In short, you take wooden dowels, sharpen the working ends with a pencil sharpener, sand down the points a bit, and hot glue buttons to the base. You wind up with some useful and not unattractive knitting needles that serve as a great conversation piece for any knitting circle or get-together.
I’d planned to work up a whole how-to on this, but the process is pretty straightforward and has already been covered elsewhere, notably in this great tutorial.
But there is something I’ve seen less coverage of that might be worth adding here (though I’m by no means claiming it as original), and that’s how easy it is to use skewers for the same purpose. Since they’re so thin, you’re of course limited in the size of knitting needle you’re going for, but they’re perfect for those pesky double-pointed needles (DPNs) I always seem to need only once, in some odd size I don’t have, for just a simple cuff or something on a much larger project.
Just get yourself some wooden skewers (you can even find some nice bamboo ones, which will make them even closer to my personal favorite style of needles) and follow the instructions in the tutorial I linked to earlier in this post, sharpening both ends instead of applying something like clay or a button to the base (since DPNs are, of course, double-pointed).
You might need to experiment with a variety of skewer styles, especially if you’re looking for a particular size, but skewers are so inexpensive (especially compared with the mind-boggling price of nice bamboo DPNs) you can afford to buy a bunch and mess around. This is something else I haven’t seen much discussion of with DIY knitting needles: size. Some arbitrary size is great if you’re just learning to knit and any old sticks will do, but you need to be a little more deliberate if you’re making something to work with a pattern; your gauge will obviously be blown with a guess at needle size.
So, get yourself a needle size and knitting gauge checker and size those skewers up. As you see, I’ve got the materials for a nice set of size 3s:
Make yourself needles in as many different sizes as you can find skewers for and keep them on hand for those odd projects that don’t warrant investing in the real thing. These DIY DPNs are a perfectly workable alternative, as you can see with these finished size 3s working up a sock I just might never finish (for reasons that have nothing to do with the needles):
UPDATE
Over at Craftzine.com, Natalie passes on Laurie’s handy dowel-to-knitting-needle size conversion guide:
Approximate dowel sizes are:
5/16″ = about a size 11
1/4″ = about a size 10
7/32″ = about a size 9
3/16″ = about a size 7
1/8″ = about a size 4above a 5/16″ won’t fit in most pencil sharpeners.
She also points to a great roundup of other DIY knitting needle tutorials, including circulars. Nice!
Marcie and 3 others are discussing. -
dangerousangel
Good idea! They should be just right to cut short for glove fingers. I’m going to try it. I like lace knitting and have taken and ground down bicycle spokes to make needles in about the #1 size range. They work great, if you have the patience to work that small!
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oldladypenpal
Nice!
Every time we eat at one of those fancy sandwich shops, my kids hand me the mega toothpicks the shop uses. “Mama, you can knit with these!” And I swear one of these days I will!Are there any options for coloring these that won’t create a potential hazard for the yarn?
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Brian Sawyer
Are there any options for coloring these that won’t create a potential hazard for the yarn?
Hmmm… I honestly don’t know. I’ve been doing these mainly for function and haven’t gotten into too many frills. Anyone else know ways to dye wood that won’t rub off on yarn?
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salt
I made myself some dpns from dowels when I couldn’t find the right size commercially. Because the wood seemed excessively grabby even after sanding, I coated them with a couple coats of acrylic sealer (like varnish only thinner, clearer, water soluble). I sanded (320 grit) between coats, except for the last coat, and ended up with a nice smooth but not too slow finish. And that sealed the band of acrylic paint I put around the middle for visual identification of the set. Those needles have been used twice now without any loss of that paint.
So I’m thinking that if you want to color the wood, working a thinned acrylic paint into it before sealing might work. Or a good water-soluble dye. And then at least a couple coats of sealer, which I think is the key: anything else, oil- or water-based, is going to be lifted out of the wood again by being handled as you knit.
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Brian Sawyer
Great advice and beautiful needles, salt! Thanks for adding to this post with your experience and expertise.
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oldladypenpal
Thanks, Salt! Thanks, Brian!
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Marcie
Ive noticed that when I try to make the smaller sizes (i.e.7s or smaller) they break really easily, one broke while I was sanding. I got the dowels from michaels, any suggestions on buying some that dont break so easily or is this only a good idea for larger sizes or am I just a rough knitter :0)
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Brian Sawyer
Marcie: that’s an interesting point, and I must admit that I haven’t used my DIY needles enough or tested them hard enough to get them to break, though that makes a lot of sense. Wish I had some suggestions for alternatives, beyond actual knitting needles.
Brian Sawyer
The Last Knit
When knitting becomes an obsession:
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Barb Sawyer
Obsession is the right adjective… watch out for those scissors….. There may be more knitters out there in need of an intervention. Thanks for sharing.
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Brian Sawyer
Actually, obsession is a noun, but I get your point.
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Barb Sawyer
Yup. Actually, I wrote “talk about obsessive behavior,” and continued with a paragraph that was way too long. Cut it out and took a different and abbreviated route. Should have proofed it… Especially before sending it to an editor. Oops. That is not a complete sentence. And so it goes….
Brian Sawyer
Real Men Knit
There’s a new DVD out that asks and answers the rhetorical question:
If men can cook, garden and change diapers – why can’t they knit?
Real Men Knit might change your views on this ancient craft invented by men and will introduce you to a wide range of guys who knit – and are proud of it.
It’s hard to believe it was men that started the knitting craze! Real Men Knit will take you from the past to present, sharing lots of stories of “real” men across North America, who are proud to say they knit.
In addition to a 32-minute documentary, the video also includes a 20-minute knitting lesson (a knitted cap) and two 20-minute interviews with “famous” and “legendary” male knitwear designers.
Check out a brief preview here:
I’m a bit concerned that the tack taken tries too hard to “take back the knit” (my phrase, not theirs), claiming that knitting is actually a domain that rightly belongs to men (and even if it’s true that men invented knitting, it’s clearly women who have “started the knitting craze”), rather than just show that men are equally capable of knitting. I’d like to see more balance. I think the phrase “real men knit” is great, but if the content is really “knitting is really for men,” I think that’s as upsetting as it is foolish.
All that said, the DVD should be fun, even just for seeing young boys, grandfathers, and football players* all talking about knitting.
- Though the football fanatic in the preview clip protests too much. I really don’t want to be grouped with men who need to say things like, “I can still raise hell and shout at the screen during a Packers game and knit at the same time.” What kind of message is that? Real men knit, but real men also don’t need to overcompensate and prove that they’re “real men” by acting like juvenile boors.
Melissa, 
Blue Broctor and 9 others are discussing. -
bezzie
Interesting. I had read about this DVD in a different blog. I didn’t realize that it had a reclaimation spin on it.
One might argue that the divide is further perpetuated by the very notion of having to declare that “real men knit.” Any time you highlight the differences in a group of any interest/type, a divide is illustrated and brought to light.
But on the other hand, if you ignore the divide–does it go away and equality is attained? I don’t think that’s true either.
Quite a confuzzlement.
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Brian Sawyer
Good points, bezzie. The way I see it, “real men knit” doesn’t need to be a polarizing phrase. Of course, it could be used, as you say, to highlight gender differences, but it could also highlight similarities by simply meaning “real men knit too,” which is another way of saying, “knitting: it’s not just for ladies.”
I think it would be disingenuous to ignore the divide between genders, which is why I’m happy to see a spin that focuses on the positive aspects of the less-likely gender taking on a particular activity assumed to be dominated by the other. I just don’t want to see this recognition of societal differences used as an argument for further cementing gender roles. Men knitting could be a perfect way to show that “we all can be part of this,” rather than, “this is really ours.”
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Tallulah
No one knows who “invented” knitting, man or woman. Historians aren’t even perfectly clear on how old it is. What a bunch of rubbish in that little synopsis (not yours).
What is known is that during the middle ages, men knitted in guilds, and the craft was controlled by men, i’m sure for economic reasons. Men have certainly had a hand in developing the craft as well as women, but the invention of knitting is lost in time somewhere. There are very few samples of early knitting – but enough to know that it’s older than our records of it…
Too bad they couldn’t explore the history that they do have, without misinforming people.
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Jim
Excuse me… But who says men can’t knit. I learned as a child and have been knitting for years as an adult. “Real men” need to get over themselves.
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lisa
I agree with Jim
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Brian Sawyer
Excuse me… But who says men can’t knit. I learned as a child and have been knitting for years as an adult. “Real men” need to get over themselves.
Hmm. I (as a man who has knitted for years) obviously agree with Jim and Lisa, and I hope that was evident in my post. (Perhaps the “excuse me” wasn’t directed at me?)
Say what you will about the shock value or approach of the DVD, but you’ll certainly have to understand where it’s coming from. Don’t tell me this is the first time you’ve heard someone say that knitting was seen as a women’s hobby?
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Barb
This exchange is really interesting to a person of my age (fifties). In the 80′s there was a book called Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche. It humorously poked fun at the masculine stereotype of the “manly man” who ate only meat and potatoes, not “chef’s food.” Of course eating quiche does not make a man effeminate… nor does knitting.
The men who wrote the book Real Men Knit are of an age to remember that book, and I suspect their choice of this title was a reference to that book, its humor, and its premise (behind the tongue-in-cheek humor) that one should do as one pleases and not let stereotypes dictate your behavior.
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Barb
Must amend my response. My thought that Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably (of an age…) compiled the dvd is wrong. They are featured on the dvd. I don’t know the age of those who compiled it.
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Wendy
Right on Barb! That’s exactly what we had in mind when we decided on that title. (I am “of an age” too!) That and the fact that being ‘real’ means you’re being honest which means you’re ok about doing what you want to do without worrying about what others think.
The men in the video who knit are are very ‘real’ and I hope they will help inspire other men to have the courage to follow their convictions.
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Brian Sawyer
Wendy, thanks for stopping by to give what I must assume to be an “official” word from the creators of the video (based on the URL you used in your signature).
If you’d like to send me a copy of the DVD, I’d be happy to give it a more informed review here.
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David not Dave
Sadly, men are so homophobic that we do need someone to tell us that it is okay to like violent sports and knit. I personally, don’t give a damn about sports, but we when I first wanted to get into knitting, I needed proof that “real men” do knit. If it was only done by women and homosexual males, I would be having second thoughts. Yeah, I agree. That is a damn shame. When a pal and I went to Hobby Lobby and asked a sales lady for help, I couldn’t help to think that this lady thought we were a couple. My friend even asked her how many straight men knitted.
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Brian Sawyer
When I’m shopping for knitting supplies, I’m often either implicitly or explicitly confused for a) a clueless husband, shopping for his wife or other female relative or friend, or b) gay.
The first misconception bothers me, but the second doesn’t. While I’m frustrated that knitting is seen as “women’s work” (and for that, I’m just as offended on a general level as I am on a personal one), I don’t really care what people think about my sexuality. That is, I’ll go the extra mile to prove I can actually knit, but I won’t do the same to prove I’m straight.
Jess
Brian Sawyer, the world needs more straight males like you – who just rest in their own personality and don´t think about what the heteronormative society thinks…
Greetings from a happy GAY (of course) knitting male…
Blue Broctor
I’m a real man and I just learned to knit as a way to de-stress.
Melissa
So funny… Brian I have to add another letter of the alphabet to your list – C. for the husband buying yarn for a sweater which will be made for him by his female partner. Apparently it is easier for my partner to spend time there, than me. I consider myself a serious knitter, but have no interest in knitting shop culture.
Brian Sawyer
Handcrafted Cards from The Marathon Mama
Not too long ago, I posted a request for support of Kristina’s running of the Boston Marathon as part of Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge. In the short time she’s been fundraising, she’s been grateful for the tremendous show of support she’s already received, but she still has a way to go before she reaches her goal.
So, she’s resorting to craft to help shake the tree:
I’ve finally found a way to merge my sedentary and physical pursuits: crafts and running. To boost my fundraising and nudge up the reading on my DFMC thermometer (see my Dana Farber online donation page), I am now selling handcrafted notecards.
Check out her post for more details about the cards and how to order them, and stick around to browse her archives. She’s been an incredibly diligent blogger, with informative and humorous posts almost daily. Whether you want to learn what the hell a fartlek is, some important breast cancer facts, what’s on her iPod’s running playlist, or even why she runs at all, you’ll find a lot to pore over there already.
And, if she stays as regimented in her blogging as she is in her training, you should see much more to come between now and April.
Brian Jepson 4:59 pm on November 28, 2006 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Awesome! RI++
Barb 7:42 am on November 29, 2006 Permalink | Log in to Reply
How exciting! Guess you can’t do this while Henry is napping! :-0