Let the Good Times Roll

July 7, 2006 By

Are you ready for my fabulous fantastic idea? Guaranteed to bring you hours and hours of crazy goodness?

Allow me to introduce…

The Chance Log Cabin. Version #1.

I was going to wait until I was a bit farther along, but I tossed and turned all night last night thinking about it so I have to get it out. I’ve been sitting on it for a couple of weeks now and it’s just turning my brain to mush. Thank god for a little project called Spin Out because otherwise I would’ve gone absolutely batty waiting for my new yarn.

The Inspiration!

The inspiration for this project comes from two very distinct sources. First of all, the colors are directly inspired by this fanfabgeous (I’m forced to make up my own superlatives these days!) quilt from Gee’s Bend. I just love the colors in it – red, pink, white, black and brown. I had orginally planned on trying to copy the quilt but when the other idea sprang to mind – well, I knew these were the colors I would use.

Okay. Deep breath. So the other day I wrote this post about how to build a log cabin. I was kind of being tongue-in-cheek with the whole X=the limits of your imagination and I was also being completely serious. I don’t want people to be constrained with patterns in this great log cabin experiment. I want people to think outside the square, so to speak. And then I was thinking, hell, why don’t we just take away all of the freedom in it and let some random number generator pick X. And then I thought FUCK! WHY DON’T WE LET SOME RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR PICK X?!?!?! FREAKING GENIUS!

So that’s just what I’m doing. And the best part? You can do it too. AND EVERY SINGLE PROJECT WILL BE DIFFERENT.

The Technique!

Here’s how I’m doing mine. I chose five colors of yarn. I then chose the ORDER of the yarn, ie, which color I would use first, second, third, fourth, fifth – I’m sticking with this sequence. Then I went to the RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR. The link takes you to the one I like to use but there are probably a million others out there. Choose which one you like best. (You could also use dice to get a random number. It’s pretty much the same thing.) I asked the RNG to pick ONE number between ONE AND TWENTY. Let’s say it picked 10. This is the NUMBER OF STITCHES I cast on for my first log cabin “strip.” (I put strip in quotes because who knows what shape it will actually come out to be.)

I cast on ten stitches with the yarn I decide is A in the order. Then I go to the RNG and ask it to choose another number between 1 and 20. Let’s say it picks 13. I then proceed to knit 13 GARTER STITCH RIDGES – which is actually 26 rows. I bind off all stitches except for the last, turn the work CLOCKWISE, change yarns to color B and pick up the stitches along the edge of strip 1. Then back to the RNG I go and have it choose another number between 1 and 20. Let’s say it picks 5. I then proceed to knit 5 garter stitch ridges. Then I bind off all but the last stitch, turn the work clockwise, change yarns to color C and pick up the stitches along the next ridge. Go back to the RNG and have it pick a number between 1 and 20. Say it picks 5 again (because that can totally happen when things are random) and proceed to knit 5 garter stitch ridges. Keep going, having the RNG pick the number for the next log cabin strip and changing yarns until you’ve used all five yarns you’ve selected (or how ever many yarns/colors you’ve chosen.) Then start the color/yarn sequence all over again. Knit the blanket, picking up for new strips and getting random numbers until you decide it’s big enough.

Before I sat down to knit, I chose numbers for two rounds of color – so 10 numbers. I figured that would keep me busy until I needed to pick the next ten numbers. The whole blanket is COMPLETELY RANDOM! I have NO CONTROL over what happens next. When I was telling my dear friend Ann about it she said “You’re totally going to hate the numbers that come up.” And I said, TRUE, but the whole idea is that the PROJECT IS OUT OF MY HANDS. If I’m going to do this I have to surrender my fate to the number machine and DO WHAT IT TELLS ME! Talk about an exercise in letting go! I have to say, I haven’t liked a bunch of the numbers that have come up already, but that isn’t stopping me from following the course of THIS PARTICULAR BLANKET. Besides, the next one will be totally DIFFERENT.

My plan is to knit until I run out of yarn. I have one skein of each color – so five skeins, but that’s 1750 yds total. Of course, the colors will not be used evenly, but I’m hoping for a decent sized piece. I see these log cabins as pieces of art – not necessarily as functional pieces, so however it comes out – well – that’s what the fates decree!

The inevitable question. The yarn. I’m using Socks That Rock in Heavyweight – The pink is Cotton Candy, the red is Lover’s Leap, the black is Black Onyx, the white is Rock Salt and the brown is Earth. Call or email Blue Moon Fiber Arts for availability.

Are you as excited as I am about this?! Oh my god it’s killing me it’s so good! 😉

In case you’re wondering, I haven’t given up on the Palette Blanket – I’m actually making good progress on the FIRST square:

I’ve got the one organgish color started, then another redder orange, then red, then pink to go and the central square is finished. This is a really ambitious piece – and this is only the first element. This one has taken and will take a lot of careful planning, so it’s really nice to have the Chance Log Cabin to go along with it – no thought there!

Thanks for indulging my crazy crazy passions! I hope you enjoy them!
L, C

Filed Under: Chance v.1, Log Cabin, Palette

How To Build A Log Cabin.

June 29, 2006 By

Using the Long Tail Cast-On, cast on X number of stitches. Knit X number of rows then bind off all stitches except for the last one. Turn work counter- clockwise and continuing with the same yarn or starting with another, pick up X number of stitches across the entire edge. Knit X number of rows then bind off all stitches except for the last one. Turn work counter- clockwise and continuing with the same yarn or starting with another, pick up X number of stitches across the entire edge. Knit X number of rows then bind off all stitches except for the last one. Turn work counter- clockwise and continuing with the same yarn or starting with another, pick up X number of stitches across the entire edge. Rinse and repeat. Edited because I’m an idiot! Thanks Larissa!

X = whatever number your imagination can withstand.

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Filed Under: Log Cabin, Palette

The Palette Log Cabin

June 28, 2006 By

I think every artist who succeeds (in their own terms) has some ability to keep moving forward in the face of constant obstacles…emotional, mental, financial, physcial…and that is what sets them apart from those who always talk about trying or starting but never get beyond the talking stage. I WANTED TO MOVE FORWARD, AND I WANTED TO FIND A WAY TO WORK MORE ABSTRACTLY.

From Nancy Crow, by Nancy Crow. (Sketchbook notes, p. 54)

I’ve started on my next Log Cabin piece. I’m calling it Palette. I’ve been thinking and thinking and thinking about this new project. To the point where my brain is going to explode. I was going to wait for some new yarn but the need to get started was too strong so I decided against it and I’m going to use all of the yarns in this picture plus one extra (it’s kind of orangey):

I just bought two new books: Debbie New’s Unexpected Knitting and Nancy Crow’s Nancy Crow. I’ve only really briefly looked through the New but I think it will be a great resource once I can get past the chemistry textbook feel. It’s a nice resource for knitting different shapes.

And then there’s the Crow. I was sitting in my car the other day waiting for my guru Kay when she ran out and threw Nancy Crow’s book at me and told me it would “blow my fucking mind” then she left. When Kay returned to the car, my brains were indeed splattered all over my brand new car. I was caught between tears of joy and tears of Damn that Kay!!! Nancy Crow is my new hero. And not just because she takes color and shape and line and does miraculous things with FABRIC – the way a different kind of artist works with paints or ink or whatever medium. It’s because she GETS IT! The book is filled with her sketchbook notes and thought and ideas and OBSESSIONS! “As I moved on with the new series I became consumed by it. Ideas flooded my brain, overwhelming me with possibilities, pushing me to make quilt after quilt.” (Nancy Crow, p. 87) THAT’S EXACTLY HOW I FEEL! A couple of weekends ago I myself was absolutely consumed by this new piece. I was sitting at the computer making squares in Photoshop, filling them in with color. Then I was sketching things out on scraps of paper. Then I was telling anyone who would listen about what I wanted to do. I couldn’t get it out of my brain fast enough! The creativity was PHYSICAL. I used to get this way with my writing, but I haven’t felt it in a long long time and here it is! Still being creative, but in a new way. It’s fabulous and frustrating and wonderful and scary all at the same time.

No fears. I’m not abandoning my knitting for fabric. Although I’ll never say never because it always comes back to bite you on the ass. You see, the thing I love best about studying the art in Nancy Crow’s book or The Gee’s Bend Quilts is that I CAN SEE THEM KNITTED! I think garter stitch and log cabin construction are the perfect compliment to quilts. The binding off and picking up of stitches – which makes seams – mimics the stitching in quilts. And I’m lucky enough to have an amazing color artist in Tina Newton, from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, as inspiration for my “fabrics.” So I’ve got my canvas and I’ve got my paints and I am raring to go.

I so feel my limitations – I’m not a very adventurous knitter skill wise. I don’t feel like I have the chops to just throw a short row in here or bind off there and pick up here or decrease or increase. Right now the most important thing for me is color and execution. Hopefully I will be able to branch out in my forms. I need to take more chances with my work. What’s the worst thing that can happen? It doesn’t work out? So I rip it. The real problem is that I’m so so impatient. I want it done NOW. I don’t sit and tinker ever. I need a goal to work toward. I need to start tinkering.

I will be starting the Log Cabin Knits blog sometime soon – it’ll probably be after July 1st though because I’m trying to learn to be kinder to myself and not expect myself to be able to do everything at once and I’m also learning to say no. So I’ll have the site up when it’s ready, whenever that will be. Soon though. I envision something akin to Whip Up, which I really like. A beautiful place to share ideas and inspirations and techniques – a working collective of sorts. I would encourage all who would like to join to start up their log cabins. Don’t wait on me. There will be no rules or patterns or anything – just creativity! I’m envisioning Show and Tell Fridays where we all show our squares or blankets or progress or inspirations, but that’s the only special thing I’ve come up with so far. This isn’t a typical knit along at all. I aspire it to be something that grows and expands with our knowledge and skills and really the only limits I see are our ideas. There will be no deadlines. No real goals except what we ourselves can accomplish.

I’m very, very excited about all of it. Thank you.

The yarn I’m using for my project is Socks That Rock in Heavyweight from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Please see the extended entry for yarn colors and purchase information.

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Filed Under: Log Cabin, Palette