Spundone

So far I’ve got old t-shirts and newsprint.

Words cannot represent the sensual heaven of working with Malabrigo wool. I could sit and pet the stuff all day. Right now I’m working on the Mondo Cable Cap in Malabrigo worsted Déjà Vu.

This yarn makes me happy!

I always say the value of something lies in what it means to you, money aside. If someone truly appreciates the meaning behind buying something handmade, the price will not be objectionable. If someone finds it too expensive, they can buy the same junk as everyone else! We have the mindset of always looking for a bargain, but think twice about what that bargain entails.

stitchesandpurls:

Recently got asked about if I could make an adorable baby hat like the one pictured below… found some lovely patterns to try on Ravelry.  Since then- they have decided not to use me, probably due to cost.  So lets have a little chat about that…

Fortunately or unfortunately those of us who make handmade goods cannot compete with bargains.  When you buy a handmade item, it will never be as cheap as Wal-Mart, maybe not even Gap.  The beauty of buying handmade is that you can customize your purchase, know that it was created uniquely for you, and as a result you receive a quality piece - a true work of art (in my opinion).

When you buy handmade knits you are not just buying the yarn.  You are buying the maker’s time. The amount of time that goes into one headband that I make is between 2-3 hours (and that is the smallest item I sell).  Should I pay myself just minimum wage… the prices would be too high.  As such I try to consider market pricing (for quality goods) and my time spent along with the costs of genuinely making an item.

This has happened to me several times now, where folks ask me for pricing and then never contact me again.  In the beginning I was worried that I was doing something wrong… but now I am finally to the point of not taking it personally.  The people who truly believe in buying handmade understand the value being provided- and those who don’t understand it, can purchase their goods at a million other places :) . AND that is enough rambling for this Friday!

for those who procrastinate on Christmas gifts.

I’m halfway through a sock I’ve been working on bit by bit for the last few days. This is my first attempt at making a sock, and of course I have to choose one knit with size zero needles and oh yeah - tiny cables.

I buy this intimidatingly thin alpaca yarn, and I forget to wind it at my LYS. I can’t wait to start my project so I decide to knit from the hank, but this soon becomes tangled so I return to my LYS where I spend the next hour on the swift untangling and winding and snipping.

This is a toe-up sock, but not knowing what I’m getting into I cast on using long tail instead of one of those fancy figure eight cast on methods which would only be appropriate. I later realize how counterproductive this is - the whole point in toe up socks is to avoid sewing!

Halfway up the foot I notice two extra stitches have surfaced and after scrutinizing each column I can’t trace their origins. Yet by the time I notice it’s too late to k2tog without compromising the pattern.

After making my way through the foot I get stumped on the heel, which Cat Bordhi on YouTube talks me through. This is frustrating enough, not to mention the many wrong twists I’ve made during the wraps causes much difficulty when un-working the heel. I am almost finished with the heel and — !@#& — out of nowhere a patch of miniscule stitches comes undone!!

As if this project isn’t already sounding like torture, throw in the fact that I’m no good at following patterns because I work in short intervals. Life does not allow me the luxury of time to knit for hours, and my memory does not retain minutia like what row I last knitted. In other words, I can already see these socks are coming out different sizes.

I think you know where this story is headed - I’m starting over. Ripping out hours of concentrated work. It’s worth it in the end. I hope I reach someone with my story, perhaps another ambitious knitter too full of self-confidence. I’ll attempt this again tomorrow, and this time I’m doing it right.

This design won the 2009 Brit Insurance Designs of the Year award. The Metrocable is a system like a ski lift, but for the people who live on the hillsides of Medellín it is an indispensable mode of transportation. The steep sides of the city are home to some of the poorest, most populated neighborhoods, and the Metrocable offers these residents convenient access to the valley in a style befitting the landscape. Bringing quality, reliable transportation to the area is monumental; commuters would formerly spend more than two hours traveling by bus but the Metrocable takes only seven minutes. The system runs twenty hours a day, 355 days a year, and serves 1 000 000 passengers each month. Poma has introduced this technology in similar regions, including Quito, Ecuador. More information about Poma, and a video featuring the line.

I recall my own experience in beautiful Antioquia three years ago. The ride in the Metrocable gave me a panorama of homes stacked too close together, people cooking over fires built on rooftops, toddlers wandering alone. Our hosts, natives of Medellín, would not consider leaving the cable car because of the danger. The stories of these people are cast aside like their location in the city. Metrocable provides a link of opportunity between barrios Popular 1 and Popular 2 and the wealthier valley. Easing access to jobs, libraries, and education has infinitely increased the residents’ quality of life. It is impelling to witness how commodities like transportation and design can transform the lives of families who have been on the side of the mountain for centuries.

In the cable car (Don’t worry about the baby - he got in a fight with a swingset.)