I have no clue what has brought on a new trend (if there is one). I just know that I've always known how to crochet, not knit. I decided recently to learn to knit, and have fallen in love I can't remember for the life of me where I got the impetus to learn though.pberinstein wrote:Never heard of SnB Nation till you mentioned it, but after Googling it, I see it's extremely popular. (This is Stitch and Bitch Nation, for the unfamiliar, which I was.) How's the book?
I can't believe knitting has become so popular again. I've been doing it for decades, and all of a sudden I'm noticing it's huge. What's brought all this on, I wonder.
Knitting! (and other needle arts...)
well, i think knitting grew in popularity BECAUSE of debbie stoller's stitch and bitch book. there were trends growing before then but she sort of maximized the growth. i think it's fantastic! my mom knits but i never learned how until i had moved hours from her. i have a background in costume design and knitting comes naturally to me because i understand the fundamentals of construction and fit. i LOVE it because it's social and transportable. i created the memphis stitch n bitch, which consists of women of all ages and a few college aged men. this was fantastic for me because i had just moved to town with my husband (he's in dental school) and had no friends. we knit over coffee and talk about everything. i think needle arts has seen a revolution also because of the internet. as more and more people connect, creativity spreads like wildfire. i feel like today's online communities, even just message boards, are our new quilting circles.
I think you're right in that respect. I'm so glad that I had the internet as a resource when I had/have questions. Plus, the availability of free patterns is awesome. Even better are some of the companies that sell stuff online...yarn, patterns, materials. While I do have a yarn shop about 20-30 minutes away, sometimes it's nice to just know what you want and get exactly that.lynsey wrote:i think needle arts has seen a revolution also because of the internet. as more and more people connect, creativity spreads like wildfire. i feel like today's online communities, even just message boards, are our new quilting circles.
With that said, with my new knitting obsession, I really need to go back to that yarn shop really soon. The last time I went I had very very little interest in the yarn, as I was going for embroidery threads.
Lynsey, why don't you just sign up for an account? :p It'll make things easier for you, eh?
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I like to think it was from us.kri wrote: I have no clue what has brought on a new trend (if there is one). I just know that I've always known how to crochet, not knit. I decided recently to learn to knit, and have fallen in love I can't remember for the life of me where I got the impetus to learn though.
Paula B
The Writing Show, where writing is always the story
http://www.writingshow.com
The Writing Show, where writing is always the story
http://www.writingshow.com
You know, it's funny, it was there and growing before 9/11, but in NY I really REALLY saw the explosion (forgive the metaphor) of knitting in the year after the attacks.
I also sense that as we build a more and more distant and technological world for ourselves, more and more of us are drawn to the hand-made arts. Just reading all the knitting blogs makes me think there's some connection...some need to be tactile after tapping keys all day.
Funny how the techie geeks seem to be such avid knitters (myself included). I never would have predicted such.
; )
Heather
You can see how 9/11 affected me and my high school students at
www.geocities.com/HSLAPS_WTC.html
www.geocities.com/Knitting_for_Charity.html
I also sense that as we build a more and more distant and technological world for ourselves, more and more of us are drawn to the hand-made arts. Just reading all the knitting blogs makes me think there's some connection...some need to be tactile after tapping keys all day.
Funny how the techie geeks seem to be such avid knitters (myself included). I never would have predicted such.
; )
Heather
You can see how 9/11 affected me and my high school students at
www.geocities.com/HSLAPS_WTC.html
www.geocities.com/Knitting_for_Charity.html
Heather in NY
MamaOKnits.com
CraftLit.com
MamaOKnits.com
CraftLit.com
i think this is because we think in patterns! linguists (like my brother--who is a german linguist), programmers, musicians, etc all succeed at knitting. i'm a techie WITHOUT a blog (i know. boo.) but find that knitting is obsessive after a long day of fake techie work.Heather wrote:Funny how the techie geeks seem to be such avid knitters (myself included). I never would have predicted such.
"well greta, i think she's divine"
I think you're on to something. A Programmer/knitter friend of mine can read a pattern the way she reads lines of code and will say "that row is written wrong."
: D
She's an AWESOME knitter!
: D
She's an AWESOME knitter!
Heather in NY
MamaOKnits.com
CraftLit.com
MamaOKnits.com
CraftLit.com
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Here's an idea that may be too bizarre to contemplate. I wonder if you could take some elegant code and turn it into a knitting pattern of some kind.
Paula B
The Writing Show, where writing is always the story
http://www.writingshow.com
The Writing Show, where writing is always the story
http://www.writingshow.com
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Hehe... my husband and i have been talking for awhile about writing patterns based on things like Pi and the Fibonacci sequence ... but we gave it up when we found patterns already out there using the idea...pberinstein wrote:Here's an idea that may be too bizarre to contemplate. I wonder if you could take some elegant code and turn it into a knitting pattern of some kind.
we've also talked about doing patterns based on binary code too... but nothing has really come from these musings =)
~ Betsie
Multiple projects lead to multiple successes!
Multiple projects lead to multiple successes!
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You found such patterns, Betsie? Where? What did they look like?
Paula B
The Writing Show, where writing is always the story
http://www.writingshow.com
The Writing Show, where writing is always the story
http://www.writingshow.com
Not so bizarre,pberinstein wrote:Here's an idea that may be too bizarre to contemplate. I wonder if you could take some elegant code and turn it into a knitting pattern of some kind.
the original idea of a computer came to Charles Babbage together with Lady Ada Lovelace from automating loom machines.
The idea first came to Joseph-Marie Jacquard who essentially understood that weaving instructions are machine code. (Ever heard of Jacquard sweaters?)
A good reference:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0192805770/026-0993084-4305268
That same environment is from which the punch cards came from, the first pucnh cards were for loom machines.
Here's Jacquard's example of looms using punch cards in the Smithsonian.:
Last edited by raouf on February 27th, 2006, 6:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Here are some pattern based on Fibonacci sequence:Hehe... my husband and i have been talking for awhile about writing patterns based on things like Pi and the Fibonacci sequence ... but we gave it up when we found patterns already out there using the idea...
we've also talked about doing patterns based on binary code too... but nothing has really come from these musings =)
http://www.fuzzygalore.biz/articles/fibonacci_seq.shtml
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004347.html
If you like that kind of stuff then you might want to try a Moebius scarf.
http://www.cobweb.net/~knitting/moebius.html
Moebius strips are two-dimensional one-sided surfaces.
moebius scarf?!?! heehee i've made moebius strips before out of paper but never a scarf
(\_/)
(O.o)
(><) Put bunny on your signature so he will then rule the world!!! -- Pensk here!
(O.o)
(><) Put bunny on your signature so he will then rule the world!!! -- Pensk here!
i like to here myself talkpensk wrote:moebius scarf?!?! heehee i've made moebius strips before out of paper
(\_/)
(O.o)
(><) Put bunny on your signature so he will then rule the world!!! -- Pensk here!
(O.o)
(><) Put bunny on your signature so he will then rule the world!!! -- Pensk here!
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So, the Happy Hooker arrived from amazon.com yesterday (see this thread: http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1570 ).... I should have known better than to order it...
it's incredibly amusing, but there really aren't any projects in it that I would consider making... ok, maybe one or two... it has really great instructions for learning crochet (but I really don't need them at this point in my life)... and most of the projects are designed for skinny people... the sock monkey baby blanket is cute though.
so, I guess I'm going to send it back.
it's incredibly amusing, but there really aren't any projects in it that I would consider making... ok, maybe one or two... it has really great instructions for learning crochet (but I really don't need them at this point in my life)... and most of the projects are designed for skinny people... the sock monkey baby blanket is cute though.
so, I guess I'm going to send it back.
~ Betsie
Multiple projects lead to multiple successes!
Multiple projects lead to multiple successes!