Superbowl Sunday... Woop Woop!
Although neither of the teams in the Superbowl are the "family team," I always enjoy a good football game. I think this one will be entertaining. Both teams are good ones and should make for some great knitting time (children willing... yeah, right, who am I kidding?). Speaking of things to watch while knitting, the movie watching has continued here at Chez Craftylilly. We just haven't seen much that warrants a review on this blog. I have to tip 5 DPNs to the film Lord of War, which has been the best movie we've seen in the past couple of months by far. Interesting story, good acting, and a very well executed starting credits where a bullet is followed from its creation to its use. I also should give 3 DPNs to Mean Girls (cute, terrifiying because of the threads of truth), and The Island (entertaining enough, great first half, and hey, Ewan McGregor). I've seen a lot of other movies, but none worth mentioning. For the most part though, I've been knitting through TV shows that we have on DVD, the Sopranos, The Wire, CSI, and of course Project Runway.
Now where are the results of knitting while watching said movies and shows? Well, I finished up the last sleeve of Twist last night while watching The Island. You can see that I've started blocking it today. I could fit everything but one sleeve on my blocking board, which bums me out. I figure I'll block the second sleeve once the rest is dry. It's just annoying I can't get the whole thing blocked so I can seam it all. I want to get to the button band and collar! ARGH!
I also received my mittens from the mitten swap I've been involved in through the knittyboard. They are gorgeous! Karen knit them for me out of FleeceArtist Blue Face Leicester Aran in lovely blue, purple, and green colorway. She also used the Hermione Pattern which is fabulous since I was thinking about how hard it's going to be to mail off the Hermione Mittens that I'm knitting for my pal. After reading Annie's last post about some people feeling put off by the posting of gifts and goodies received on knitting blogs, I've been waffling back and forth about whether or not I should talk about these lovely mittens, but the beauty of them, in the knitting, and the yarn just needed to be written about. Thanks Karen for both the lovely mittens but the lai see for the kidlets.
Now where are the results of knitting while watching said movies and shows? Well, I finished up the last sleeve of Twist last night while watching The Island. You can see that I've started blocking it today. I could fit everything but one sleeve on my blocking board, which bums me out. I figure I'll block the second sleeve once the rest is dry. It's just annoying I can't get the whole thing blocked so I can seam it all. I want to get to the button band and collar! ARGH!
I also received my mittens from the mitten swap I've been involved in through the knittyboard. They are gorgeous! Karen knit them for me out of FleeceArtist Blue Face Leicester Aran in lovely blue, purple, and green colorway. She also used the Hermione Pattern which is fabulous since I was thinking about how hard it's going to be to mail off the Hermione Mittens that I'm knitting for my pal. After reading Annie's last post about some people feeling put off by the posting of gifts and goodies received on knitting blogs, I've been waffling back and forth about whether or not I should talk about these lovely mittens, but the beauty of them, in the knitting, and the yarn just needed to be written about. Thanks Karen for both the lovely mittens but the lai see for the kidlets.
posted by Jennifer at 2/05/2006 12:37:00 PM
14 Comments:
Twist looks wonderful- can't wait to see it all seamed up and modeled! And those mittens from Karen are so gorgeous!! They definitely need to be shared- so lovely! :-) I just read Annie's post after clicking your link and there was lots of food for thought to be found there. I must confess that I'm guilty of doing public gift acknowledgements (though always with a private thank-you, as well) and never considered how it might put-off others. I never meant it an exclusionary spirit; more to show the gift giver how much I appreciated her thoughtfulness, but Annie has very valid points. Lots to think about. Having never been "cool" myself, I wouldn't ever want others to not feel welcome. I suppose, like anything, it's about finding a happy medium. Take care and have a great Sunday! :-)
I read Annie's post. While I understand and agree with much of what she said, I always thought it was a nice compliment to the gifter to show the gift on your blog - especially if it was a knitted item. That person put alot of work into that item and I think they deserve a big thank you.
But I know what she means about feeling on the outside of a "club" of knit bloggers - especially those groups that are lucky enough to be able to meet and knit together in person. When I first started blogging I felt very reluctant to leave comments - it felt like butting into a conversation that I hadn't been invited to - but then I realized that when I liked something someone had knit I should just say so. I would if I saw it in person. And who doesn't like to hear a compliment on their knitting? :)
There are definately some blogs who seem to display things in the "mwah" way Annie pointed out - but it is fairly easy to spot those. I think most people are like me - they just appreciate having a place to talk about & show off their knitting, and they feel happy if anyone out there wants to join in!
Again, I have to say I love those mittens and I've got some Fleece Artist Bluefaced leicester aran in a brown colourway too. Now I know what to use them for.
The mittens are gorgeous. She did a great job.
Amy
i always post my gift to scknowlege how much i love them, but i guess it would be a boring read to everyone else? twist looks fantastic and the mittens are to die for! show them off baby! :)
Twist looks great! And those mittens are very, very pretty!
I read Annie's post, too, and now I am filled with fear that people have read my blog and felt excluded. Yikes! That is absolutely the opposite of what I feel I get out of blogging, and what I hope people get out of my blog. I think when you do a public exchange, that anyone could join, like the Sockapaloooza or the mitten exchange on the knittyboard, then it should be OK to show your gifts on your blog. Especially if the gift is a handknit as opposed to a box o' goodies. I agree with Stephanie that the crafter deserves her props in that case! But I guess I have also seen some posts around that relate to gift exchanges that not just anyone can join. I suppose that could make someone feel excluded, and that's not good. Hmmm. I'm with Chris. Food for thought.
Twist looks great!
I'm so glad that you like the mittens! :)
mean girls only got 3 dpns?! really?! i thought it was sooo funny! i guess if you go for plot, it does seem sort of formulaic. i'm a huge fan of rachel mcadams...even before her notebook fame. hehe...
those are some realllllly beautiful mittens.
annie's post is food for thought, but then again, the blog community is just another version of the bigger picture. in any sort of social setting, you'll always have in-groups and out-groups (like in mean girls). it's not anything bad; it's just a fact of life. you can't please everyone all the time, and you can't know everything about everyone. it makes sense to practice courtesy when blogging about things that involve others, and that's probably the best you can do; blog with discretion.
Interesting thoughts on the blogging community. I have to say that I mostly feel left-out because I don't have a ton of subscribers or regular commenters. But I know that's partially because *I* don't make much of an effort to become part of that community. It's hard for me to get into other people's blog and I'm not much of a KAL-person so I only have a few blogs that I read or comment on.
What's interesting though, is that while I sometimes feel like an ignored blogger, my college's blog recently pointed out that my blog is one of the most widely read Alumni blogs aside from a couple of big name bloggers (Dan Drezner, et, al.). That was pretty eye-opening.
So sorry that you had to question whether or not to show your lovely mittens. My post was meant to highlight the one paragraph from the Knitter's Review article- not to lambast all knitting blogs. There are a few blogs that post about special, private exchanges where one is allowed to join by invitation only that are indeed exclusionary. Not all knitters belong to those type of exchanges. I've heard from a lot of people who have said that they do indeed feel "slighted"- right or wrong.
Oh well, it's an interesting topic, isn't it? And every opinion is certainly valid.
Not posting pictures and talking about the gift exchanges is just like not writing about meeting other knitters/bloggers cuz you don't want anyone to feel left out. If someone is going to have their feelings hurt cuz they aren't included in something, then perhaps they shouldn't read the blogs or maybe get involved.
I admit I feel a bit left out, but more than anything, I like seeing the pictures of knitted gifts and hearing about them
I always feel vaguely stalkerish posting at times, but then I tend to talk to complete strangers in person all the time.
I think it would be impossible to keep up with all the blogs out there! I read waaaaay more than I comment on and a fraction of what's on my site. I'm lazy. Bookmarking is easier.
Those mittens are darling!
Great mittens! I agree with my post today about wanting to see what other people have received, and I'm sure your gifter wants to see you wearing her creations!
P.S. I just read Annie's post. I disagree. Maybe I don't read the right blogs, but I have never felt "left out". Sure, I see that some people get 50+ comments a day and that would be nice, but I don't feel like it is a clique or anything. If anything the high traffic blogs don't seem to mention the gifts they've received or they don't join the exchanges/KALs. Not to mention that anyone is allowed to join in 95% of the exchages that are out there, so if you feel left out, feel free to join in!
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