Fiber Raven Soiree

Inspired Again

I had a chance yesterday to peruse a friend's copy of Unexpected Knitting, by Debbie New. I had been curious about the book ever since BlogDogBlog's Lisa raved about it. Debbie New is amazing! Her imaginative interpretations and forays into experimentation have produced works of art and practicality alike. My favorite thing, and one I may try to do some day, is the knitted portrait of her grandmother. She took a black and white picture, blew it up, superimposed a square graph on it, and then chose varying shades of yarn, matching up the darks with the dark spots in the photo, etc. The finished quilt is absolutely huge, and at first I didn't realize it was a quilt (or afghan). I thought it was a poster of a blown up picture. The most amazing thing is that some elements that weren't even rendered in the knitting, such as the rims of her wire-rimmed eyeglasses, showed up perfectly.

Would I knit anything in this book? Well, maybe the teacups, and the afghan. But mostly, this is a source of inspiration and an example of what you might do if you dared. Debbie New is a thinking woman who obviously puts her knowledge of science to work in knitting. Excellent, excellent, excellent. She may be the one person who pushes me over the edge of relating knitting to music. Even if it never works out, the exercise will surely expand the mind!

In between trying to convince Harvey that he *is* a dog and he *does* want to go outside and various other distractions, I managed to finish most of the front of Charlotte. I am uncharacteristically tickled by the yoke. It is so simple, but so fetching and shapely.

The Park authorities were out early yesterday, chopping up the trees that had fallen and clearing the paths. We are fortunate to have a great city commitment to our parks and nature areas. I just wonder who gets the firewood!!

the Lady Prudence Fiddletwist has an amazing picture of her Poetry in Stitches cover sweater on Pink Tea, and Judy Alexander shows a picture of her Sanquhar gloves, practically perfect in every way. Check them out!