I’m declaring a moratorium on miters. I will not be blogging about mitres until they are FINISHED! I will try to blog though. Sort of like practice for when there are no more miters to blog about. It will be sad, won’t it? I will miss them.
Yeah. Yeah. I remember I used to blog about socks. But does anyone remember the two sweaters I whipped up this Winter? Huh? Sometimes I feel like a one man band with these obsessions. No matter what I knit, I will always be known for the Jaywalker thing. Just yesterday I was reading someone’s site and they were talking about me and Jaywalkers. The knitalong ended over a year ago. I’ve knit a lot of stuff in that year. And maybe only one pair of socks were Jaywalkers.
Not that I’m complaining, really. The Jaywalker sock pattern is a GREAT pattern and I’ve actually been thinking about it a lot lately. It may be time to knit it again. When I really think about it, this miter obsession is very very close to the Jaywalker obsession. At the heart of all of it is COLOR. The Jaywalker thing wasn’t really about the sock pattern (it became like stockinette to me) – it was about how the colors of STR worked with the pattern. It was an exploration of the colors of Socks That Rock and Tina’s true genius. The Jaywalker pattern just happened to be a great way to manifest that color. I’ve never made a pair of Jaywalkers in anything other than STR.
Maybe I’m just obsessed with COLOR. If you ask me, in a world where there are so many awful things I could be obsessed about, color might be the best choice.
Thanks for all the contest entries and for all the lovely things you’ve said about my miters. I really appreciate it.
Oh, I will miss seeing the last miters! It’s okay, I guess :), but I want lots of pictures when you are done. That blanket is/will be astonishing!
Color is definitely one of the best things you could possibly be obsessed with. I mean, what is it but beauty and aesthetics?
And, to be fair to yourself, I was just looking at your Arianne last night. I was interesting in knowing more about the process and your blog was the first one I thought of. So there. :p You’re not just a Jaywalker/miter machine.
you could knit mini throw pillows (Each the size of four miters put together) to go along with your blanket if you really don’t want to be done with miters 🙂 they’re beautiful!
Yes, yes. The Central Park Hoodie (which i have yet to finish) and lovely Arianne. We remember, we remember! 😉
Oooh,and you knit the Central Park Hoodie. See, we remember. And you wrote tutorials for a long tail cast on for ribbing and for fixing a mis-crossed cable. I know you’ll have plenty to blog about when the miters are done!
I understand obsession with color…. I really do.
There are certainly worse things to be obsessed with than color.
I actually have a question about the miters. The thought of blocking that many things makes me go weak in the knees. How are you handling that? Do you just have consistent tension and they all come out exactly the same size?
Oh I am sad to hear that there will be no more miter talk. 🙁 I so love to watch the colors that you pick come together. I will be excited to see the end products.
I too, will be sad to miss the last mitres (yep, I’m Canadian :)). I think The Affair Of The Mitre (The Mitre Supremacy? 1000 Years of Mitretude?) will go down in knitblog history – there’s nothing wrong with being memorable!
And how is Kate these days?
Given all the things you might have fixated on, the Two Topics That Must Not Be Named come immediately to mind, color is an excellent choice.
Do you know that I have never bought STR (I came very close to it the other day, but I’m holding out for a colorway that has the same effect on me as Scharffen Berger, or Brad Pitt), and I’ve never knit a Jaywalker? Although I have a pattern in mind that might turn out to be close.
Color is an excellent obsession, and I definatly enjoy seeing the lovely combinations you put together. Don’t stress over the blog. I wasn’t bored yet.
Oooh, Oooh, Throw pillows! Yes, YEs, YES! You MUST knit a couple of throw pillows for the miter blanket. Oooh, just think of it. . . . . .
BTW, I don’t think that I could ever enjoy anyone else being as obsessed about color as you. You have such a fabulous eye for it and bring it through so well in your photography. I feel blessed and calmed when I visit your blog and see all the beautiful pictures.
I look forward to it everyday. Even if it’s just the picture on the top of the blog. It’s a little mental break for me.
thank so much for all the joy and color that you bring to my days!
I remember your amazing Central Park Hoodie and how you fixed that crossed cable, girl! 🙂
Have fun with your contest and finishing your miters. I’d love to see your KH sweater.
Honestly, the only time I remember the socks are when they show up in the top photo.
I will miss the mitres, too, but I am also looking forward to seeing your finished KH sweater!
Also, if you ever decide to do up a set of notecards, each card featuring one square, I would be the first in line to buy them. I’m thinking limited edition, mitre commemorative notecards
I will miss the mitres, too, but I am also looking forward to seeing your finished KH sweater!
Also, if you ever decide to do up a set of notecards, each card featuring one square, I would be the first in line to buy them. I’m thinking limited edition, mitre commemorative notecards.
Oh I remember other material – I started reading because of your CPH posts – I just directed a friend here because of her own miscrossed cable debacle, telling her she could fix it if only she believes….
I’ll miss the miters!
I don’t know if it makes you feel any better, but I will miss your miter posts. I look forward to coming here and seeing your photos of all of those amazing colors.
C- I like how you’ve incorporated your photographs into your knits (love your photographs btw). Using the pictures combined with photoshop seems like a cool way to incorporate some memories into a wearable object or to create a memory blanket thats not cheesy or overtly obvious :-).
It would be fun to see each miter laid out next to the photograph that inspired it (it would make a cute lil booklet), or to see all the photos you based the pattern off laid out in the same order as the finished object, but that would probably be a lot of work/photos.
For me, you are always the Cara who made a gorgeous black Diamond Fantasy Shawl … which made me long for a black lace for myself! I can still remember the pictures of your wearing the shawl (in a black dress) on the street … beautiful!
So, I am sure you’ll find that you are a lot of other things to many people after reading today’s comments. 🙂
Actually, with all the miters I’d forgotten about the Jaywalker thing. I remember Ariann – your incarnation of that sweater was the first one I saw that made me consider that pattern at all. I really liked it.
See people do remember your sweaters. KH will be memorable, too. Can’t wait to see you bring her back out into the spot light.
Of course, I do remember Ariann and how happy you looked in the modeling shots! You had that happy look with your handspun Seraphim, too; that’s one of the reasons why I love the modeling shots of your FOs so much! I also happened to be thinking lately of the CPH surgery you had to perform, and of that priceless “picture” of you when you had realised something was wrong way down there with the cable… Bits and pieces of your blog are popping up in my mind sometimes, just like that. As for the socks, I hadn’t yet come across your blog when the Jaywalker madness hit you, so I mostly know of these only from your wonderful header pictures, or your mentioning them. But I do remember the knee highs, though! By the way, are the gorgeous American Pie Sock Hop Knee Highs still waiting for their heels and toes to be spun? Oh, and I could mention the fun fur hat as well…
Well, you get the picture… I do remember! And I can’t wait to see what you’ll be coming up with next!
I want the miters. *pout*
Aw, now that we’ve gone through the journey with you, we’ll all be waiting happily for a FO. 🙂
After reading your post yesterday I had this really weird dream of meeting you, but there were chinese restaurant and fortune cookies involved as far as I can recall, talk about randomness.
Arianne, CPH, manners, comments and trolls, quite a variety of things you have blogged about. I will miss the miters, but I am sure your blog will continue to entertain and stir thought.
I enjoy your blog, with or without miters.
can’t say anything new BUT I’m sure the miters will appear in the header just like the Jaywalkers do AND because you’re so damn organized when we miss them we’ll be able to stroll through your categories and get a fresh fix – I mean it’ll take needin’ a lot of fixes to get past all the color collections you’ve created. White is the absence of color – where would we be without it – that’s why it’s a color wheel – it makes the world go round!!
Jus’ keep bloggin’ girl – we’ll all be happy!
hmmmm – but will we remember it was MADNESS????
What’s wrong with obsessing about miters? They’re quite extraordinary – they will be missed once you’ve finished.
I think you’re right; in a world where there is so much awful stuff to obsess about, it’s good to obsess about something as great as color. Color is beautiful.
I remember Ariann. In fact, seeing your beautiful sweater is the reason why there’s a half finished one languishing in a bag somewhere in my house (I’ll finish it…one of these days). Though, I do love the miters. And am extremely impressed by your committment to the project. I can’t wait to see the finished product!
I agree – color is a cool thing to be obsessed about. That’s probably why you don’t go for b&w pictures too much. That’s something I always disliked about photography – how people insist that b&w is for the top notch photographers. I LOVE color! I ALWAYS have a hard time picking out yarn colors because I love color.
*just so you know, I LOVE all your pictures and posts about the miters!!! 🙂
There’s nothing wrong being obsessed with color that I know of. It’s one of the things that sucked me into quilting in the first place. And then texture and more color sucked me into knitting. I do like the shot of your miters all laid out in the 5×5 block.
You mentioned in the post before this that some colors appear differently depending on adjacent colors. That effect fascinates me. The Amish use that quality in their quilts all the time – this book (http://www.amazon.com/Amish-Art-Quilt-Julie-Silber/dp/0679751424) has a particularly nice collection and excellent pictures.
This book: http://www.amazon.com/Amish-Adventure-Workbook-Color-Quilts/dp/1571200053/
is about making quilts that deliberately create color effects. I’m slowly working my way through it. It’s a quilt book, yes, but it doesn’t have to be done with quilts – it’s most about color and color relationships, taught via Amish quiltmaking. Not that I wish to give you another obsession. Your mitering and color play just made me think of this.
It’s funny, because I am one of those people who Does Not Like Miters and thinks that they usually looks silly at best, but I’ve so enjoyed watching you find new ways to combine the colours that I think that I’m actually going to miss seeing them! I can’t wait to see the finished pictures.
I found your blog a little while back because I was trying to find opinions about spinning wheels. The image of you in my mind is a fascinating collage wherein you are sitting and spinning on a hill overlooking a lovely marsh wearing blue jeans, pink jaywalkers, Arianne, and all wrapped up in your gorgeous diamond fantasy shawl. So the jaywalkers are there, but there’re all those other wonderful knits, too. 🙂
I think there are a lot worse things to obsess over than color.
Helllooooo, Cara! I wanted to share this really easy pattern for socks that I’ve been knitting that you might enjoy too if you’re looking for something AM(After Miters):
http://www.magknits.com/Mar07/patterns/rainy.htm
I am loving how quick these knit up and I’ll bet they’d look pretty in some STR medium weight….
I do love the whole miter process that you’re going through!
You “tunnel vision” post is pretty eye-opening; a look at your technique/inspiration with color. You have this great balance of inspiration from the gut, prep work, technique, and joy. And your blanket kicks ass.
Ok, I’m de-lurking today.
Wait, before you do anything rash….Everyday I look forward to checking the blog, hearing about the miter saga, and seeing what colors you have put together. What will I do now? I look at your miters and pretend that I too can finish something I start knitting.
Well, at least try to apease us by posting something. We can’t do cold turkey. That’s just cruel.
The blanket is amazing, and I’ve been really enjoying reading your blog about it. Don’t let the naysayers get you down. I don’t care if you blog about the mitres every day! Heck, all I ever post about is socks, so who am I to talk? Anyway, I’m fascinated by the stained glass picture approach to color selection. It’s given you so much wonderful inspiration. Keep up the good work!