Square #22
This square was inspired by this photograph:
Applying the Stained Glass Filter in PhotoShop:
The white looking color in the square is actually a peachy pink that perfectly mimics one of the lighter colors in the photograph. To be honest, all the colors look a little off. It’s really much closer to the photograph.
Guild was fun – but I have to admit my mind was on squares rather than spinning and llamas. I spun for like five minutes and it was all I could do to take out a miter. I have to measure my bed today, but I’m leaning more towards 30 squares instead of 25. Somehow I think a rectangular blanket will be better than square. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s the right thing to do or because I can’t see myself stopping. Everything’s sort of muddled together now and I’m pushing myself.
I’m also knitting hurt. This project has taken a toll on me physically. I have slowed down CONSIDERABLY (and please – no lectures on repetitive stress injuries and exercises and whatnot. I’m a big girl and if I want to fuck myself up I will.) But I start to get some pains in my right elbow and right wrist about half-way through a miter. I know what this means and I’m taking steps to fix it. The biggest problem, though, is that I’ve put a hole in my left index finger.
Basically, I split my callus. I’ve written about how proud I was of my calluses before, and I still am. Proud, that is. I showed my finger split to Ann while I was out on Lawn Guyland and defiantly proclaimed that I was HARDCORE! Look at me! There’s BLOOD! She cackled in the way that only Ann can and told me I wasn’t freaking hardcore. All my booboo meant was that I was DOING IT WRONG!
I told her, if I was doing it so wrong, how had I managed to knit 91 miters (with another one on the needles) in 37 days? She told me madness trumps knitting skills any day. I think she might be right. But hey – I may get a square out of it anyway!
Have a great weekend!
The stained glass effect of/on your fingers is awesome. No lectures here, just make sure that if you bleed on your yarn that it is what you meant to do. Badge of Honor and all that.
Well, I don’t know what to say. I feel somewhat responsible for your descent into madness and physical injury. But on the other hand I agree that 30 is better than 25.
I have to try this stained glass thingie; it gives you such clarity about what colors you’re looking at, and their proportions.
Cara, I never doubted your hard-core-ness for a second. And I really like this stained glass method of colour-seeking!
From pain comes beauty, great example.
Hah and I was GOING to say, if you got really into it you could just bleed on your yarn, but it looks like I got beat! Keep on with the mitres, thanks for slipping the Canadian spelling in there for us 🙂
your madness/hardcore is inspiring…i am spinning to knit a blanket…singles, but spinning a blanket indeed!!
Ah, there’s nothing like a good knitting bender! And you don’t wake up hating yourself the next morning…
Love the stained glass effect. That’s really neat.
Using your injury for inspiration, now that’s dedication. For me, it’s exciting to see someone use the things around them in ways that would never occur to my mundane brain. Keep those squares coming!
Stained-glassing your knitting scars….
madness indeed.
Makes me think of the saying I learned while hanging out with a rugby team in Germany,
“Bones heal, chicks dig scars, pain is temporary, glory is forever.” Knit on sistah!
That is creative, inspirational, freak-show madness at it’s fanfuckingtastic finest. Oh.my.everlovin’god.
I think I know what my favorite square will be.
Mwah. Have a great weekend.
Crap. Take out that wrong apostrophe, will ya?
When life gives you boo boos, make miters!
I have the EXACT same cut on my index finger, only it is 1/4 inch up from yours. However, I think mine may be a papercut. Still, I too consider myself super hardcore 🙂 because I’m knitting through the pain (okay, it’s not painful but still…). I like the idea of a rectangular blanket instead of a square blanket. A square blanket may end up being too long or too short in one direction. Miter away!
Correct me if I am wrong but I see 2 Squares #21 on your blog, I think this new beauty is #22, no?
Square #21 reminds me of ice cream – specifically Neopolitan and Spumoni. Yummy colors!
Booboo needs anti-bacterial ointment and a band-aid. All better soon.
Peggy
Speaking of knitting injuries, did you see this? Warning: not for the faint of heart. http://anastaciaknits.blogspot.com/2007/04/knitting-disaster.html
this square looks like fancy chocolates to me. keep on keepin’ on. can’t wait to see the next one!
I knit too much too, sometimes. I make my left arm hurt, and I’m trying to figure out what I can do about it. I think it has something to do with how I hold my needles.
I LOVE the boo-boo mitre inspiration 🙂 In a way, it could make up a strange memory blanket!
If you have not yet measured your bed, there is an article on about.com, in the hobbies, knitting section on bed sizes and common blanket sizes. That could save the struggle of measuring, especially the length.
I love your miters, and I am sorry for your owie. Bag balm is wonderful for healing minor wounds.
Love the mitres! I think a rectangular blanket will be cool. Hope your finger heals soon.
I just wanted to say, that while generally a lurker, I am absolutely in love with your miter project and seeing the colours yu come up with in every post. I have to keep reminding myself that my cousin’s having a baby that really should get the baby blanket I’ve started to prevent me from abandoning everything and jumping on the miter train.
I’m totally with you on the “please – no lectures on x, y, and/or z. I’m a big girl and if I want to fuck myself up I will” – love it! I so hate it when people are telling me what to do (or, just as bad, when they are worried for me) when I know perfectly well what I’m doing and when I’m doing precisely what I *want* to be doing.
Keep on having fun!
Add in a little bit of blood-red, to symbolize the bloodiness, though.
I am SO digging that stained glass effect!
Square #22 is gorgeous – reminds me of spumoni ice cream! I can’t wait to see the next one!
Love the stained glass injury picture; I got a similar hole on my right index finger from my KP Options needles. You’d think I would just stop pushing the needle with my finger, but no, that’s too easy. For what it’s worth, it didn’t ever start bleeding, it just snagged on stuff. And it went away after a week or two.
I love the colors in the finger stained glass. They’ll make a gorgeous mitre.
I love the colors in the finger stained glass. They’ll make a gorgeous mitre.
I split my callous on a fairly regular basis, every second sock or so. I find the best cure (other than just sucking it up and knitting anyway, and avoiding band-aids because then you REALLY can’t knit) is to either switch projects (in this case, not an option) or make a switch from metal to wooden needles. Wooden needles, for all their pesty qualities, if nothing else FORCE one to slow down, which is usually just the extra fraction of a second you need to keep it from getting any worse, at least.
I love the miters, and the stained glass filter idea is pure genius.
You know, there are standard quilt sizes out there, according to what kind of bed you have (double, queen, king, etc). I googled “standard quilt sizes” and got a bunch of hits, so that may help you determine how big to make your mitered blanket. Just a thought.
Gorgeous, gorgeous color choices, by the way. I hope that finger heals up soon! I find it more painful to knit with cotton than with wool, myself.
If you buy a new, larger bed so you can continue to knit miters, I’m going to start worrying! ;o)
Hmm, I was thinking neapolitan and mint-chocolate-chip, myself. Mmm.
As a cellist who has had callous issues, may I recommend Band-Aid Liquid Bandage? And we’ve been wandering around the office all afternoon trying to track down chocolate, and this square didn’t help. 🙂 Your squares are all so lovely!
like I already told you – it’s not a blood sport.
My knitting related cut is higher and a little farther to the outside, but otherwise exacty the same. I had to call my (adult) son over to see your photo and show him how much it looked like mine. He asked why I push the needle with my finger. Um…greater control…I think….which equals greater speed. The real answer is probably HABIT.
Sure hurts like a son-of-a-gun when the darn needle stabs into the hole occasionally!
You can use a little bit of super glue to seal the crack in the callus if you want.
Hey, I get the booboos, too, when I am knitting like a mad woman. And I don’t think it’s because I am doing it wrong. If I were doing it wrong I wouldn’t get such great results! I’ve found that I get the split in places where I don’t have knitting calluses, though. Hey, it just shows dedication. Knit on, Queen of Miters!
Superglue. Originally created for skin, still works.
It looks like spumoni! (Or at least the supermarket kind.) Sorry about your finger.
OMGosh…I think it looks just like Spumoni too, even before I noticed Cindy commented that, as well. Try the invisible bandaid for your cut. I use it all the time when my fingers split from the cold in the winter….I LOVE LoVE the squares…make us some cards and I’ll buy them. Take care and happy weekend.
I practically live with Band-Aid Liquid Bandage in my knitting bag as I tend to bite the hang nails something awful. It should work for a paper cut as well. Have fun with this latest square . . . I am thinking blood red for the one set of stripes that doesn’t repeat.
You are TOTALLY hard core. If bowling is a sport, for heaven’s sake, and CHESS even used to be an olympic sport… I mean, you’re doing exercises to stay limber, you’ve got calluses, you’ve drawn blood: you’re going to WIN these cotton mitre olympics! Gold medal in the heavyweight, king-size division!
Extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeme miter knitting!
Your cut reminds me of this video from Polysics, in which the cut on a girl’s finger sings to her (it’s not as gory as it sounds).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J1WRTgmY2Y
Dude, you’re knitting with cotton, it was bound to happen. 91 miters in 37 days is damned impressive, Cara, you rock.
I sincerely hope you do a square in those colors. Not only would it be extremely significant, but the colors are really wonderful, the contrast and the range of shades in the skin tones is very cool.
If you don’t make a square out of the finger photo colors I’ll have to come down and smack you!
When I scrolled down and saw that your color inspiration was from a leaf, I laughed out loud. When I saw your great squares, I thought of ice cream…chocolate with vanilla, chocolate with strawberry, chocolate with mint…yummy! I’m not sure if this is because I am ice cream depraved or what. Love the squares…keep going despite the injuries, but do take care!
Love the “IM a big girl…” quote. I may borrow it. It will go nicely with my “Seriously, WTF” t-shirt.
My daughters think I’m nuts anyway.
I am knitting miters and I think you said you’re getting 5 out of a skein? 4 main color and 1 contrasting. Right? I don’t seem to get the extra square and I don’t know why. Any ideas? I might have to put on my shirt…
hahahahaha! You are killing me over here with that photoshopped pictture of your callous! Ha! A mitre baser on that, too funny.
Ah…needle hole in left index finger, thanks to my Inox size 2.25 mm needles. Lacy socks, good; hole in finger, not so much. With a nice flexible fabric bandaid around the finger, it’s OK, and I won’t have to wait to finish the socks until it’s too warm to wear wool socks.
Rectangular, definitely. Any thoughts on what you’re going to back it with? Yeah, I sewed together one square and I love it!
I finished a square throw not to long ago. If I did it over again, it would be a rectangle. Maybe you won’t have the problem with something as large as a bed cover, but my throw should be longer on one side to wrap around me properly. I thought the square shape was important to mimic the square log-cabins I pieced together–not so much now that I see the finished product.
yeah, rectangular is better. you go.booboo schmoooboo.
Oooh Oooh Oooh that is my favorite square so far!!!! Damn when our body gets in the way of our knitting. Hey, have you ever tried the Bryspun needles? They are way easier on your hands, especially when knitting cotton. I heart them.
(sorry if it was mentioned before, I didn’t take the time to read the previous thousand comments!)
Wow! That square makes me think of chocolate AND that makes me hungry. That is a lickable square!
Exactly, Peggy! Neopolitan and Spumoni colors. Now I’m hungry. I’m loving the miters, Cara!
Yay for another mitered square!! I so love seeing the colors that you put together. I am diggin’ the stained glass effect on the pictures.
Your picture of your finger made me flinch. Looks like it could be a bit on the tender side. I hope it doesn’t hinder your productivity.
hmmmmm I know I’m a freak— the last pic immediately made me say “STR…Pink Granite” Hope your better- no pain- no gain- knit while you’re hot…
ps—- todays squares?…. ice cream….yum.
Hope your wrist and elbow are feeling better. I have a similar afflication – aching-kinda-sorta-numb hands. However, I’ve come to associate this with lots of knitting, so having aching hands on Monday usually means I’ve had a really good weekend, so I’m oddly pleased when my hands ache.
I hope you have a great weekend with lots of knitting and picture taking – your photos are awesome.
Remember you’ve got to include that particular shade of pink that is the sore bit. Pink and grey will look good. But the mitre you’ve just finished made me want Neapolitan ice cream, right now!
i love the miters! i was just wondering . . . why did you stop doing a CC repeat? i love them either way – i’m starting my own this weekend!
Poor finger. Try Band-Aid Liquid Bandage. Lots of musicians use it for repetitive injuries. It protects enough that you can go on playing. And surgeons do glue together wounds with Super Glue, but I find the Band-Aid product less annoying. Gorgeous miters. You are obsessed! Nicely so of course. Productively so.
You can superglue that split finger and it’ll be good as new and you can keep right on kitting with no pain. (Just be darn sure it’s clean in there, first, or you’ll be sealing in infection, and that’s BAD.)
The meiters all look great. You’re a wild woman.
What a fun way to choose color combos. I’ll have to remember that!
In my book you are both hardcore and crazy! An admirable combination!
I once knit in the emergency room, with my left middle finger wrapped in layers of gauze after I’d sliced its tip off. (this is why I really shouldn’t cook) It gave the nurses a good laugh.
I have cubital tunnel-like carpal only in the elbow instead of wrist-from drawing so much and the best fix is to wrap the affected arm in a big towel or something that keeps in from bending at night_I have a brace but the towel thing works in a pinch!
I have to admit that although I don’t love the effect of the finished mitered blankets myself (I get a little overwhelmed by the overall experience) I’m absolutely fascinated with your color combinations. I’m really enjoying your series of pictures + stained glass filters. Combining colors doesn’t come easily to me, so this makes a really great lesson in how to choose things that work together.
91 miters? You’re making a house cozy, aren’t you? They’re great individually, but awsome all together.
91 miters in 37 days?!!! Are you a robot? Or at least an alien from planet knitlikecrazy!?
The miters look beautiful, and I’m mighty impressed by your callus! I have one too, but it pales in comparison…
I have an off topic question. I remember seeing you at sheep and wool. Did you rent a room for Rinebeck? If so, where did you stay? I’m planning on a hotel but i’m looking for a place with lots of knitterly happenings.
Thanks!
I’m really excited to see this blanket come together.
While I’m quite sure you’re nursing an addiction, I LOVE IT! You are Hard Core. You are a Rock Star, and not the nice lip-glossy sweet kind, the play till 2 a.m. and toss back shots your fans in the crowd bought you kind. If you went on tour with your squares, the other knitters would throw balls of yarn onto the stage.
I’ll be so sad to see the end of the squares, but I’m DYING to see it all put together!
I found your blog via a link at Eunny’s. Your knitting, your photography, and your writing are lovely! I’m so glad to have stopped by.
Holy shit. Hardcore, indeed.
The colors continue to be beautiful, and I can’t wait to see the square that emerges from the injury photo.
This is going to be one amazing thing, I tell you what.
Have you tried the adhesive thimbles/finger pads for quilters? They’re little ovals of plastic, sticky on one side, and very sturdy–the needle won’t poke through them like it will through bandaids and liquid bandages. And you can remove it and stick it back on a couple of times without it losing stickiness. Thimble-it is one brand, but I’m sure there are others.
Here is a tip that may help that to heal quickly (it works with my daughter’s hands when she rips her palms on the bars) Get some bag balm or preparation h. Put on finger and cover with bandaid at night. It almost works like magic. Your afghan is looking lovely.
OMG! You mean that’s why I have calluses? I didn’t even connect them with knitting, yay! I’m a callused woman!
OMG! You mean that’s why I have calluses? I didn’t even connect them with knitting, yay! I’m a callused woman!
You’re inspiring me to have courage with color—- I’ve cast on a chevron— (well I cast on THREE but we won’t speak of the other two) working on one in artyarns silk… in a coral/orange/pink and an olive green handpaint. YUM.. I can do color. I can! thnx;)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/229/469878396_f389620ebd.jpg
or on blog
Oooo. Hope your boo boo is better soon. A question. I’ve done a few mitres now and the fussiness of the decreases — i.e. they aren’t the same each time — is getting me down. I can’t do them while say listening to a book on my ipod. ‘Cause I have to pay attention. Is there a rhyme or reason that I’ve missed other than they alternate and the number of stitches knit seems to decrease by two sometimes? Sheesh, I feel dense.
I was going to comment all cool with how square #22 reminds me of neopolitan ice cream, but I see someone else has beaten me to it. Boo. Ah well. They still look lovely.
Hope your finger gets better soon!
It’s so fun to see the squares knit from photo colors. I see one, immediately get an image in my mind (this one was saltwater taffy, bought on the Jersey shore.) Whatever I think of is always so different from the inspiration photo. It’s like a color Rorschach test.