Knitta Little, Lova Little

New Iberia is a great little town and I love it. One of my favorite authors is James Lee Burke. His series character Dave Robicheaux is from New Iberia. My brother moved back there when he got out of medical school. So I still have ties with New Iberia, but Houston is my hometown.

One of the things I’m proud about my hometown is being the birth place of Knitta, Please. [Click on the birds to navigate her site.] Magda Sayeg began Knitta, Please in 2005. She is now based in Austin, Texas but Houston is where it all began. Pure Romance by Evelyn reminded me of Knitta, Please when she said she would use the Backyard Garden kit to do some yarnfitti. Evelyn stated she didn’t like the term yarnbombing because she doesn’t like the word bomb. So she has combined the word yarn with graffiti. I can picture these lovely flowers, vines and bugs strewn everywhere instead of spray paint. This must be much greener for the environment: no aerosols released; no paint needing to be sandblasted away; and after all knitting is one of the most recyclable art forms around. Wouldn’t tagging be the perfect way to celebrate Earth Day. Wish I had thought of this before last Thursday. Wouldn’t it be nice to not just celebrate Earth Day with planting something new but also to cover up some of the “concrete jungles” we have created in an environmentally friendly manner. Perhaps Earth Day 2011 [April 22, 2011] should be celebrated with some environmentally friendly tagging.

Magda has tagged an organ grinder in Mexico City as well as a whole bus.

If you like, check out some of the press releases:

On my Needles:
The Yvette Beret and Mitts. Please check out the discussion in the Entrelac KAL and join us if
you like.

On my iPod: As always: At Knit's End by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off, Mason Dixon, Knitting Outside the Lines by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne, The Secret Language of Knitters by Mary Beth Temple. As well as the following videos: Drafting: the Long and the Short of It and Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont, Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann and several Podcasts. I typically listen to several different Podcasts: Electric Sheep; Fiber Beat (sometimes this will include a video podcast); Fiddle Knits (please see Erica Jackofsky’s IDP patterns here on KP); It’s Purl, Man; Knitmoregirls; Let’s Knit2gether (a video podcast); The Savvy Girls; and Sticks & String. The mystery books that have been on my iPod: Nightlife by Thomas Perry, Not a Girl Detective: A Cece Caruso Mystery by Susan Kandel, The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart, Silent Thunder by Iris and Roy Johansen.

Knitting Tip of the Week: Russian Join. Last week I mentioned spit splicing. But that only will work with animal fibers and then not all of them. It has to be fibers that are feltable and have not been treated to prevent felting. Often we are told it is best to join a new ball of yarn when we are at the beginning of a row. But what happens when you are knitting in the round or you miscalculated and you are 6" from the end of a row that is 30 something inches long? Obviously you want to use a join that is as inconspicuous as possible, but you are using a plant fiber or a superwash wool. Well, the Russian join is a possibility. Click here for a tutorial. Or click on the video below:

What books am I reading?: I have The Knitter's Book of Wool and The Knitter’s Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes will be on my nightstand for awhile.

Words of the Week. Seriously! I am having so much fun with words.

1.Yarnfitti a/k/a yarn bombing a/k/a tagging: There are groups all over the word doing yarnfitti or yarn bombing. Many of you know the term tagging from graffiti art. If you have been tagged you have had your property covered with graffiti. Thanks, Pure Romance by Evelyn.

2. Juxtaposition: the act or an instance of placing two or more objects in a close spatial or ideal relationship. This is how Madga Sayeg describes her knitting being placed among our urban environment.