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Posts Tagged ‘Crochet’

Results of the 4KCBW Craft Blogger Survey – Part 1

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Knitting, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 23, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

A few weeks ago I invited my readers to participate in a craft blogger survey.  The survey was designed to evaluate the experiences of craft bloggers who participated in the fourth annual Knit Crochet Blog Week, hosted by Eskimimmakes blog. The survey included 10 questions:

  • 5 questions asking about self-efficacy/confidence
  • 5 questions asking about perceived gains from participation in blog week

I make no particular claims on the scientific validity of the scales I used. I threw them together in just a few minutes, without much of the testing and review that normally goes into surveys. In fact, a test of internal consistency showed that the self-efficacy scale had a pretty poor level of reliability (0.517). The perceived gains scale, by contrast, had a good reliability score (0.816).  Oh well. The data are still interesting.

This first post will focus on the results of the Self-Efficacy survey. The next post will present the results of the Perceived Gains survey.

Results

Self-Efficacy

Confidence 1

It looks like my fellow craft bloggers are pretty confident using cameras to upload blog content. Nearly 90% of people who responded agreed with the statement. Only about 2% of people who responded indicated slight disagreement.  I’m not surprised. Half the fun of craft blogging is sharing images of what I’ve created. I’m sure others feel that way too and cultivate those skills.

Confidence 2

Results were much more mixed on the subject of shooting and using video on craft blogs. Only about one-third of people who responded indicated “agree” or “slightly agree” on this item. The vast majority are neutral of indicated “disagree” or “slightly disagree.”

Shooting video certainly takes more effort than shooting photos. And fewer people have experience or practice doing it.  I just shot my first crafting video a couple of weeks ago. I had to redo it four or five times, and I wasn’t even trying to achieve something of high quality.

And then, of course, there’s the issue of preoccupations and anxiety. I bet there are a lot of other craft bloggers out there who are a bit afraid of video. I was convinced my voice would sound weird or my fingers would look hag-like.  It’s going to be a long time before I can convince myself to put my face in front of a camera. I’m not ready.

In addition, I think there are fewer useful opportunities to apply video in craft blogging. It comes in handy when demonstrating a crafting technique but I , for one, am not all that interested in watching someone fumble around while sitting on their couch, showing off their latest afghan.  That’s what photos are for.

Confidence 3

I’m sort of surprised by these results. I expected a lower level of self-efficacy with regard to specialized equipment. When people say they feel confident, I wonder what type of equipment they are comfortable with? The question is a bit complex. Since Survey Monkey only lets you ask 10 questions on the free version of their software, I had to compress about 5 questions into one big question. Grrr.

Software: I bet lots of people know how to use iPhoto or similar programs to improve the look of their photos.

Lighting, etc…: I’ve been known to open the blinds or turn on a lamp when taking photos, but I’ve never used a reflector or other fancy stuff.  I am very curious to know what other people do.

Confidence 4

It looks like people are extremely confident publishing blog posts and commenting on other people’s blogs. Not all that surprising given that this was a survey of bloggers participating in a blog carnival.

Confidence 5

I’m not surprised by these results either. People seem  pretty confident in using their chosen blogging platforms. I would  be interested to dig into this question further. Are people confident in using the basic tools? What about more advanced features? I know there are lots of WordPress capabilities that I’ve never touched.

So that’s it for now. I welcome your comments and thoughts on this first set of results. More to come soon.

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Knit Me Up, Scotty! Star Trek Inspired Knits

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Movies, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 17, 2013 | 19 Comments »

The new Star Trek movie opens today. It has gotten middling reviews, but I’ll probably see it on the big screen anyway. After all, it features Benedict Cumberbatch (a.k.a. Sherlock) as the villain.

I’m no Star Trek fan girl, but I’m a big fan of the knitted items its fans come up with. I appreciate the love, effort and attention to detail that the fans are willing to invest. Really, it’s no different from the Jane Austen themed knitwear craze.

Here are a few of my favorite Star Trek themed patterns.

Criteria for selection: The pattern has to wow me in some way without creeping me out (I’m, talking to you, enormous-head-of -Captain Kirk hook rug and Zachary Quinto/Spock fan-sweater ).

Trek Girl Dress

This pattern not only evokes the sexy style of women on the original series, it also looks wearable. The skirt is a bit short, but it would probably be OK over leggings. It’s the perfect example of Trekwear that’s not just for conventions. I’m a little worried about that rolled hem though: it seems to want to continue to travel upward. Is that just my imagination?

by Toni Carr, as seen on Ravelry and in Knits for Nerds

Spock Mittens

Such a clever idea. I wonder if it affords any added manual dexterity, useful when you need to work outside in the winter. Again, this is not a sock-you-in-the-face-with-my-geekiness project. It’s subtle.

Spock mittens by Amy Molnar, as seen on Ravelry

Borg Fingerless Gloves

At first glance, these look like innocent cabled mitts, but there’s something much more sinister at work. Here’s how the author describes them:

These intricate cabled gloves are inspired by everyone’s favorite villainous collective, the Borg. The travelling cables reminded me of Seven of Nine and the Borg Queen’s bodacious Borg implants – nanotubes everywhere! Make a pair for yourself or the favorite Trekkie in your life, and remember: We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

Borg Fingerless Gloves by Sam, as seen on Ravelry and in Tea and Trilithium’s Ravelry Shop

Junior Crew Member Onesie

It is a truth universally acknowledged that children can get away with wearing tutus, capes, and Freddie masks year round, not just at Halloween. And babies get even more leeway. I’m very tempted to knit one of these next time a friend decides to spawn.

Star Trek Junior by Sara Swärd, as seen on Ravelry

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Hand Spun Yarn: Most of the Time, I Slap It

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Knitting, Spinning, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 30, 2013 | 4 Comments »

Suzy Sells Sea Shells recently blogged about the recent craze in thwacking hand spun yarns after they’ve been washed.

Now the trend is thwacking yarns. It is all over the place. Do you thwack? Why aren’t you thwacking? You aren’t finished unless you’ve washed and thwacked!

This thwacking concept reminded me irresistibly of this scene from Some Like It Hot. Fast forward to the following time mark: 1:24.

Most of the time, I slap it!

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4KCBWDAY5: You’re Invited to Participate in a Craft Blogger Survey

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Competition, Knitting, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 26, 2013 | 24 Comments »

I’m participating in the fourth annual Knit Crochet Blog Week, hosted by Eskimimimakes blog.

houses

Today is day five and the topic we’ve been assigned to blog about is: Something Different. The idea is to blog in a way that is different from how I normally blog.

I ordinarily blog in a very memoir-ish, sharing-my-projects style, so today I’m going to branch out and try something very different: blogariffic research.  

I’m calling all you bees, manatees, monkeys and peacocks to participate. Mixed breeds (such as the bee-cocks and monkatees) are welcome too. Also, that one lady who self-identified with house of mule–I especially want you to participate. 

Image from kmonadollaraday.wordpress.com

Join me in a bit of fun, informal research.

This 4KCBW event has been wonderful opportunity to stretch and try new things.

This week, I tried blogging techniques outside my comfort zone that I was uncomfortable with, and the results have mostly been very positive. Before this week, I’d never made an infographic —but and look at me now!  No fear!

Sometimes it takes a drastic move, or the arrival of a magical blue box, to get you out of a rut. Image from http://www.moodychick.co.uk

I’ve created a 4KCBW- themed survey.

The purpose of the survey is to evaluate your experiences as a craft blogger and your specific experience participating in Knit Crochet Blog Week.

  • How confident do you feel in the various skills required of a craft blogger?
  • What do you feel you’ve gained from participating in blog week?

Take the survey  (only 10 questions) and see your results, along with the results of other participants.

survey

Take the survey

At the end, I’ll do a little statistical analysis with the results, which I’ll post here

Thanks in advance for taking part. I look forward to playing with numbers and telling you all about it.

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4KCBWDAY4: Color Review – A Statistical Moment of Truth

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Competition, Knitting, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2013 | 10 Comments »

I’m participating in the fourth annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, hosted by Eskimimimakes blog.

houses

Today is day four and the assigned topic is Color Review. The task is to discuss my favorite colors used in my crafting. What do I have in my stash? What do I actually knit with? Is there any significant relationship between these two sets of data?

Here’s a peak into my stash (partial, I assure you):

my yarn 1

And here’s a  look at some of the projects I’ve made:

projects 1

A quick glance tells you there’s a pop of yellow in each collection, some red, a bit of pink, and a healthy dose of green. But it’s hard to tell if there’s any significant relationship between the two collections.

Statistics to the rescue.

Here’s a bar graph showing the distribution of colors in my yarn stash:

yarnAnd here’s a bar graph showing the distribution of colors in my projects on Ravelry:

my projectsDo these graphs look similar? Hardly. There are a few colors that seem well represented in both groups: red, green and gray. But the rest looks like a muddle, doesn’t it?

Now, this is where I could get all weasley and say: “There’s a little overlap, isn’t there? I mean, green here, green there; yellow here, yellow there. And look at how gorgeous those yarns colors are. Surely there’s some justification for the differences based on beauty alone!”

“I’m not here to talk about beauty or to justify your wild spending habits,” growls statistics, menacingly. “I’m here to answer a simple question: Is there any relationship between the yarn colors you buy and the projects you knit?”

Comparing the distributions: A comparison of the distributions of  these two variables (yarn colors and project colors) shows the distributions are significantly different  (significance 0.020, p = 0.05). What this means is that the pattern of colors amongst my yarn collection and the pattern of colors amongst my projects is not the same.

Conclusion: Color Review FAIL

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4KCBWDAY3 – Monkeys, They’re Just Like Knitters (Infographic)

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Competition, Knitting, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 24, 2013 | 31 Comments »

This week, I’m participating in the fourth annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, hosted by EskimimiMakes blog.

Today is day 3 and the topic we’ve been assigned is: Infographic. The task is to create my own infographic to convey “any element of my craft(s).”

I chose “Monkey” as my “house” in the Monday post. Today, I’m still stuck on the topic of monkeys. Monkeys and knitting. So I cobbled together the attached infographic.  Enjoy!

infographic

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4KCBWDAY2 – Shakespeare is full of two things: knitting and monkeys

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Knitting, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2013 | 17 Comments »

I’m taking part in the fourth annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, hosted by Eskimimimakes blog.

Today is day two and the topic of the day is: Mascot project. The task is to choose a project that embodies the approach and values of my chosen house (Monkey).

I think the intent was for this to be a knitting or crochet project …but all I could think about was monkeys. And then I thought of monkeys knitting. And then I thought of monkeys typing Shakespeare. And then I thought of a wonderful question: I wonder how many instances of the words “monkey” and “knitting” occur in Shakespeare?

Monkey: There are 214 separate references to monkeys in Shakespeare. Some of my favorites include:

Now, God help thee, poor monkey. ~Lady Macduff, Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 2

One of them showed me a ring that he had of your daughter for a monkey.

Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tubal: it was my turquoise; I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor: I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys. ~ Tubal and Shylock, The Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Scene 2

Say ‘a day,’ without the ‘ever.’ No, no, Orlando; men are April when they woo, December when they wed: maids are May when they are maids, but sky changes when they are wives. I will be more jealous of thee than a Barbary cock-pigeon over his hen, more clamorous than a parrot against rain, more new-fangled than an ape, more giddy in my desires than a monkey: I will weep for nothing, like Diana in the fountain, and I will do that when you are disposed to be merry; I will laugh like a hyen, and that when thou art inclined to sleep. ~ Rosalind, As You Like It, Act 4, Scene 1

Note: I just discovered that today is Talk Like Shakespeare Day. What a fun coincidence.

Knit or Knitting: There are 457 separate references in Shakespeare. Some of my favorites are:

No, girl, I’ll knit it up in silken strings, with twenty odd-conceited true-love knots. ~Julia, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, Scene 7

O, take the sense, sweet, of my innocence! Love takes the meaning of love’s conference. I mean, that my heart unto yours is knit, so that but one heart we can make of it. ~ Lysander, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 2 Scene 2

Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep,’ the innocent sleep,
Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care, The death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,  Chief nourisher in life’s feast.   ~ Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 2

How many references are there to both monkeys AND knitting? Sadly, none.

Michael Dumontier & Neil Farber, Inc. Untitled, (monkey knitting), 2009 Image from: http://www.richardhellergallery.com

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4KCBWDAY1 – I’ve been bitten by an exotic fiber-eating bug, and it’s sitting on a monkey

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Knitting, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 22, 2013 | 25 Comments »

I’m participating in the fourth annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, hosted by Eskimimi of Eskimimimakes blog.

Day 1: The first blog topic of the week is The House Cup, a la Harry Potter. The task: choose a “house” from the list provided and blog about the way in which that house represents your crafting outlook/style.

It didn’t take me long to pick my house. Monkey all the way. I love a challenging project. I get antsy if I don’t have at something on my needles that is teaching me something new.

I haven’t always been a Monkey. The first twenty years of my knitting life were spent squarely in the House of Manatee. I enjoyed knitting comfort projects above all else and did not feel adventure was necessary to my knitting life. The things I already knew were more than sufficient. Knitting was about safety and warmth and homey-gifting. I remember learning to knit simple stockinette hats on straight needles when I was about 20. I knitted one, then two, then dozens. I gave them to everybody I knew. I gave them to people I barely knew. Before I knew it, all the hat-wearers in my life were hatted and I had run out of “victims.”

It was the combined influence of Ravelry and my Mother’s gentle urging that convinced me to poke my nose outside by comfort zone. Mom helped me choose my first lace pattern. It was a simple Jared Flood autumn leaf pattern, but to me it was a taste of the exotic. And exotic started to be a craving.

My Autumn Leaves shawl.

Less than two years later, I’m knitting complicated Romi Hill lace patterns and I’m as happy as can be. I finished Fiori Di Sole one week ago. Just one week. The shawl had barely left my needles when my fingers began to itch for a new challenge. 24 hours later, I had cast on another Romi Hill lace shawl.

Finished just in time for my wedding.

Next up. I’m a glutton for punishment. Heavenly, by Romi Hill, as seen on Ravelry.

It’s a sickness, it must be. An addiction. To the adventure, to the thrill.

One thing I love about this whole things is that I can pick my own patterns and challenge myself as much or as little as I want and there’s no one to judge me. In what other part of my life do the results of my efforts truly matter to no one but me? And how many of those are as fulfilling as knitting? I can’t think of any.

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Wedding Shawl Finished

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Knitting, Wedding, Weddings, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 18, 2013 | 30 Comments »

After almost four months, the wedding shawl is done. Finished. Finito.

I want to thank you all for helping me to choose the right pattern. I started with such a long list of choices, including:

  • Glasgow Rose, which I still fantasize about. It’s so romantic. And my middle name is “Rose.” I am going to knit this shawl some day, by hook or by crook. 
  • Farandole. This shawl got an enormous number of passionate votes. And I can see why. The peacock feather pattern is so elegant. And I imagine this would be a very versatile shawl, perfect to pair with all sorts of outfits, not just a wedding gown.
  • Mariposa. I was very nearly persuaded to knit this shawl based on a comment from DanceTog of Dance Tog Blog:

First of all congratulations and I think you’re completely right to go with that gorgeous dress.. The two shawls that do it for me ar Fiore di Sole and Mariposa. I’m not a knitter but they both look modern to me and the designs seem to be friendly, celebrant and expansive. Mariposa is what I think bridal wear should be about – the design is sexy and sensual without being overt, the leaf aspects of the design are wholesome and the central spine is oh so cool. And subtly sensual (that word again). Fiore di Sole is angelic and floaty, but to my eye slightly more conventional. It’s really elegant and the repeating pattern without the spine design makes it slightly more demure. I’m looking forward to seeing what you decide!

You almost had me at “central spine.” *sexy shiver*

In the end, I chose Fiori Di Sole, which was my first love. It was the first shawl I ran across that just screamed, “Knit me.”

Well…this shawl is probably too elegant to do anything so crass as to scream. But it probably makes eyes at people and passes notes. And it probably doesn’t wait for a mutual acquaintance to introduce it to a stranger.  Saucy little shawl

This section of little flowers along the border of the shawl gave me a lot of trouble. This is the section of the shawl I was compelled to rip out and re-knit five times.  In the process, I learned quite a bit about reading lace patterns; in particular, the importance of counting the stitch requirements both before and after a row has been completed. This can tell you so much. What was confusing me was the ways in which a  particular section might start out with 15 stitches, but the pattern in that section only required the use of 14 of them. This drove me nuts, until I realized that I was supposed to be using those extra stitches in subsequent sections in the shawl and that ALL OF MY MARKERS WOULD NEED TO BE SHIFTED ONE STITCH TO ACCOMMODATE. Moreover, I learned that THIS IS OK.

It doesn’t help, of course, if in addition to not understanding marker hop-scotch, you are also off in your stitch count in  a particular section due to an error.

Ok, error-s.

Oooh, that was annoying.

Once the last stitch of lace had been knit, my next challenge was to learn how to crochet the edging.  This was me, learning how to crochet from square one.

I got fairly comfortable with crochet chains and such by the time I got to the end of the shawl. And all in all, I think I invested far too much angst into the process. Crochet isn’t so hard. Especially what I was doing. Youtube is my friend.

Then, when the shawl was on the blocking boards I discovered a mistake. An itty bitty mistake, with the potential to become a planet-swallowing black hole of a mistake. A couple of loose stitches that had started to ladder.

Can you see those four little pins. Those were all that were keeping this shawl from becoming a disastrous mess, and then becoming a felted cat toy.

I pinned them ruthlessly into place. And then I did what I had not resorted to in all the trials of shawl knitting and ripping. I sent up the Bat Signal.

I bet you didn’t know Batman is a knitter. 

Well anyway, Batman swooped over at 2 p.m. Wordlessly, I led him upstairs to the craft room to survey the devastation. He pulled a crochet hook and a bit of scrap yarn out of his bat belt (he keeps everything in there) and set to work. With surgical precision, he made repairs to the savaged yellow leaf, laid out so pitifully on the blocking boards. It took only seconds. When he was done, he stood  and turned to me, beaded cape swinging.

“I think I can leave the sewing-up to you, ma’am.”

Then, between one heartbeat and the next, he was gone.

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Still Flying Yarn Collection

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Knitting, TV, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 19, 2012 | 2 Comments »

Reblogged from knitcircus:

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Joss Whedon's a genius, and after we worked our way through all of the Buffy and Angel episodes, Mike and I decided to give this Firefly series a try. At first, I thought, "Okay, it's Han Solo with a new crew," but after one episode, the complex characters hooked me for good.

Recently, I re-watched the show's 14 episodes all again, and found myself loving the bright, western-style landscapes contrasted with the ship's beat-up interior all against "the black," or deep space.

Read more… 160 more words

I love Knitcircus' inspiration for this new yarn collection. Firefly. One of my favorite shows EVER! I have some colorways I'd love to add to this list:
  • Cunning (something in the colors of Jayne's notorious hat)
  • Companion (a rich warm red or pink, with bits of metallic gold)
  • Two by two, hands of blue (obvious)
  • Shindig (something pink and girly)
  • Saffron (how convenient that her name would lend itself to a yarn color)
What else can you think of?  

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