Guumon at FOE in Northampton, MA, through June 7!

If you've been following this blog for a while, you might remember my first custom Guumon, a collaboration with my friend Brian Mahony. Brian (who lives right across the street from me; isn't that awesome?) currently has a big shown at FOE in Northampton, MA, and, while I was in DC during the opening, Chris and I took a roadtrip there yesterday.


I have a new custom piece in the show, which combines a traditional Scandinavian geometric motif with some freeform crochet.


It was an honor to be in the company of a lot of famous artists, including the likes of OsirisOrion and blobpus (who did the paint job below):


Check out my first custom Guu in the top row!


If you live in the Northampton area, or are planning a trip to WEBS in the next two weeks, stop by. Even if you miss the Guus, stop by the gallery; I love places like this where, if you love the art enough, you can actually afford to buy some of it.

She's Electric: The Retina Scalder Goes Live!

It's knitty surprise time once again, and in the spirit of spring and color theory, here it is:


This is the result of a challenge posed by knitty and Lorna's Laces yarns: I was tasked with "doing my thing" with some highly variegated, super bright yarn, full of different contrasts. If it is not yet clear, my "thing" is creating garments. Sure, it's easy enough to make a variegated hat, or shawl, but what about a sweater? For an adult?

Lorna's Laces chose the colors. They pulled no punches. The yarn arrived, scalding my retinas when I ripped open the packaging ("Retina Scalder" was the project's name while it was in progress). However, driving home from work a few weeks ago, the Oasis song "She's Electric" came on the radio. Which made me think.

I like that song.

It's a great name for this sweater.

I'm particularly pleased with that back detail.

Because really, once the yarn is knit up and on a person, it's not scalding at all. It's stunning. This cardigan is a compliment magnet. And look, no pooling!


It's just as bright as Oranje, but it's knit in one piece from the top down, with a slipped stitch waistband pattern that only uses one color at a time. Color knows no difficulty level.

P.S. For those of you have watched recent seasons of America's Next Top Model, NOT THAT I RECOMMEND IT, my sister (who took these photos) told me to "Smize". Can you tell? I was smizing in that first shot!

Team Weaver: Recent Activity

Lil' sis Beth curated a show at the RISD student gallery called The Body. It included some really cool embroidery.

Team Captain Mom wrote an eloquent tribute to my grandma that was featured in the Grand Rapids Press (scroll down... you'll even see a photo of her with one of her students).

The Dud, well, he's got 14 more days as a high school math teacher before retirement. Go Dud!


However, did you know that, while widely considered the most rational, level-headed member of Team Weaver, he's a driving force behind boxes filled with random notes written on free stationary from a wide spectrum of organizations, envelopes covered with stickers from same organizations?


Note the purple Buzz Lightyear valentine that's been repurposed as an anniversary card. Yep.

And... I'm in the middle of a copyeditpocalypse. Ann gots to get paid!

Color Theory in Action: Fibre Space in DC

After extensive preparation on my living room floor (if this looks like fun, you can get a set of Color Aid cards for yourself here)...


... it was time to teach! Last night I returned from Fibre Space in Alexandria, Virginia, right outside Washington, D.C. If you think the website looks awesome, the store itself is a hundred times as awesome. Danielle, the owner, stocks yarns and books from the latest, most cutting-edge indie dyers and designers, along with all the classics and everything you'd expect from a full-service yarn store.

There's also a room for classes and workshops, with a huge chalkboard. I taught Color Theory for Knitters and an Albers Cowl workshop. Both were filled with creative, engaged students, full of energy. Here are a few of the color theory samples; I should have taken some photos when the table was COVERED with Color Aid cards and their corresponding yarns. Chaos!


Check out this AMAZING swatch that came out of Color Theory class!

And now I give in to my exhaustion and take a nap.

No more fake spring!

REAL spring is here!

Somehow several weeks in April just... "got away from me" is the right phrase, I suppose. Thinking about this time, I wonder what I was doing. I remember feeling very busy and generally not great, but don't recall what I accomplished. Even attempting to create a mental "bullet list" is difficult, probably due to the not feeling great mentioned above.

So, as an aid to my recall, I'll be posting small updates this week of things that I have done/have happened to me over the past few weeks. Here's one: I got a new pattern published in the most recent issue of Yarn Forward, or, rather, Knit, The Magazine Formerly Known As Yarn Forward (or just "The Magazine" for short, perhaps), which does not appear to have a website yet.

It's an elusive publication.

Here's a photo of a little guy wearing it (he looks like he's ready to cry or has just stopped crying):


I called it the Albers Baby because I did some intarsia on the back. I've been thinking about new ways to create geometry and play with color, and a small project seemed like the right place to use some intarsia. It's VERY easy intarsia because it's all straight lines. I was able to knit most of this on various Greyhound buses.

It's all garter stitch and it's knit in one piece. Cool, right? The sizes are 6 months to 24 months. If you can't find a Knit magazine, the pattern will be available as an individual download from my website and Ravelry with additional sizes (I'm thinking up to age 4) in a few months.

What else have I done? Updates to come.