Here’s something fun I saw on Twitter today, while I had a quick break from soothing Jay who had an earache.

Jess, tweeted to say “Knit and crochet patterns work on the Kindle!” She linked to a picture of her new Kindle 2:

And look–the pattern she tried out first is the Cosmopolitan Cowl. I have been actively looking for reasons not to want to buy a Kindle. I feel like I already have too many little devices, phone, ipod, camera, etc. that I carry around when I travel. But the fact that it is a new pattern publishing medium isn’t helping. The pattern looks readable, and even the photo looks nice in greyscale. Not only that, the new Kindle2 will read to you and it will also play audio books. Not helping. The biggest thing stopping me now is the price.

The idea of a portable method of reading digital patterns is very appealing. As more and more patterns are offered in digital format it is becoming convenient to be able to access them from, say, your yarn store, or your knitting group. Of course, spilling a glass of wine on your Kindle is a bit more of a problem than spilling it on your paper pattern. I’m hoping that more devices like the iphone (which doesn’t handle pdfs very conveniently yet), Palm and Blackberry will allow for pdf viewing soon too–even if its not convenient to follow the pattern on a small screen, you could check gauge and yarn requirements.  Connecting knitters and crocheters with their digital patterns when they are in stores buying yarn can only help yarn stores and shoppers.

Yesterday I was talking to my partner in crime, Julie (The number of projects we are involved in together is too large for even us to keep track of them all; we’ve decided it may be better if we always work together as a rule), and I said, “I started and finished a teddy sweater on Saturday due in no small part to the fact that I had a quiet house and Dragonfly in Amber on the i pod.”

“Maybe you should thank Diana Gabaldon in the acknowledgments of your book,” Julie quipped. She got me thinking about my creative process and how what’s going on around me affects it.

When I’m in the design stage of a project, normally, I work in my studio without any music or radio (I love to listen to NPR when I’m doing e-mail or other computer work, but I need quiet for math and thinking about the art and pattern of design.) But once a project is underway, I enjoy having something happening while I work–this could be conversation with a friend or a knitting group, it could be watching Selma at Judo practice or her piano lesson.

Most of the time, when I’m working, I’m on my own, and my backdrop is likely music or a movie or an audio book. As much as I love watching television and movies, I’m not so good at working unless what’s on TV does not have a storyline. If there’s any drama, I most likely end up unconsciously putting my needles or hook down to pay attention. I did watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel while I’ve been working on the crochet for  bears book, and while I enjoyed them immensely, I think that the next time I watch them, I’ll get more crocheting done, since I’ll already know the plot.

When I have an engrossing audio book, things seem to fly off my needles or hook. I get lost in the book and loose sense of time as well. In a series as all-consuming as Buffy or Outlander, a reader or viewer gets lost in another world, and I at least tend to think about the story even when I’m not watching or reading or listening to it. It’s my favorite kind of story, one that you can’t stop thinking about. But does someone elses’ creative genius effect my creativity? I certainly haven’t noticed anything obvious. I don’t have the urge to design Scottish things, or create vampire-esque projects. But I can’t help but think this collision of creativity, the soaking up of one creative work while making another must not happen without some effect. What I notice most, is that I feel more creative when I’m exposed to good writing, it makes me want to create more, write more and be better at it.

I’d love to know what you all listen to or watch while you’re crocheting and knitting and how you think it affects your creative process. Let’s start a conversation in the comments.

Oh, and speaking of bears, to encourage conversation, I’ll award a free copy of Knits for Bears to Wear to a randomly selected commentor on this post. I’ll close the contest one week from today.

Thank you to all of my testers–you did a great job! The pattern is now available in my Rav store, and I’m sure you’ll soon see my testers’ versions too now that they can add them to their Ravelry projects page. I’ve been wearing this cowl nearly every day, it’s the perfect thing to ward off the chill here in Cordova. It’s so soft, I often forget I have it on. Here’s my original post with more pictures, and notes about the pattern.

$5.00

Last week I was thinking it would be fun to make something valentiney, and then while I was working at The Net Loft, I re-discovered the Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted semi-solid colors. This combined with the fact that I’m currently taking a knitting class in designing nordic mittens led me to try out a stranded hat with the new yarn and Valentine theme. I’m considering it a warm-up for the crocheted fair-isle bear sweater I’m about to start. I was out of practice doing crocheted colorwork, and I had to play around a bit with holding the yarn to get a comfortable technique. I ended up holding both colors in the left hand.

I began the hat at the top, and concentrated the increases instead of spiraling them throughout the crown so that I didn’t have to worry about changing colors and increasing at the same time. I also didn’t want obvious increase lines since the color patterning is what should get the attention.

I used the special tapestry crochet graph paper from Carol Ventura’s More Tapestry Crochet to initially chart the hearts. The slanted graph paper shows what the charts look like in crocheted stitches which don’t stack vertically, especially when worked in the round. I then transferred it to standard graph paper so it’s easier to follow while crocheting.

Then after working the heart chart, I worked even to create the rolled brim. (BTW, the mist on the lake behind me? They call that “frozen fog.” Selma and I think the back yard looks like Narnia under the rule of the White Witch.)

I didn’t write a conventional pattern, but I drew out the chart so if you want to make the hat too, you can.

I used a partial skein of skein of Lamb’s Pride in Creme (M-10) and almost the whole skein of Strawberry Smoothies (M-200). My gauge with a 5mm hook was about 4.3 sts per inch. The hat has about a 23″ circumference.

Starting with 6 sts, I doubled in the sts in the 2nd and 3rd rounds and again in the 5th. In rnd 9, I increased again in every other st, and in rnd 12 in every 3rd st for a total of 96 sts. I increased once more to 99 sts before beginning the hearts.

The chart represents 1/2 of the hat. So, you’ll continue each pattern row as you began to the end of the round. (The rounds are spiraled, but I’d recommend placing a marker at the beginning, so you can keep track.) The x’s mark the white stitches. Clicking on the chart will take you to its flickr page where you can download a hi-res version.

Like I said, I had to fiddle a bit before getting comfortable again changing colors. I made a little (low-quality) video so you could see what I ultimately ended up doing. It also demonstrates how to yarn over with the new color in the stitch before the color change.

Let me know if you have questions. I’d be happy to answer them. We’re taking a trip to Anchorage with the kids for Valentine’s day. It will be my first time on the ferry in Prince William Sound and I’m looking forward to it. We’ll be seeing the new movie Coraline based on the book by Neil Gaiman that Selma got for Christmas and loved, and we’ll be stocking up on chocolate hard-to-find groceries.

Robyn alerted me to the fact that Detroit Public Television has episodes of Knit and Crochet Today streaming on their web site, including the episode where Drew Emborsky, The Crochet Dude, demonstrates how to crochet my toe-up sock design.

Drew does a great job of showing all the fun parts of sock-making. It was nice to see all of those darn step-outs I made put to use! And the pattern for the socks is still available for free from the Knit and Crochet Today web site.

Today I taught at The Net Loft but instead of working on a teddy varsity jacket like I intended, I felt compelled to create something valentiney. I’m giving myself the rest of the evening to work on it, and if I like the results, I may have a wee love-day gift for you all before the weekend is out.

UPDATE: We’re Changing the date for Fair Use in Art and Craft Day to May 1st, so we all have more time to work on our projects.

Tonight I was talking to my brother about the recent revelation that the AP is suing Shepard Fairey over his derivative use of one of their photos in creating his iconic HOPE poster. We were both upset at what is obviously an attack on fair use. (I wrote about fair use last spring, and there’s a nice article explaining it on the Stanford University web site. Essentially it is part of copyright law that allows limited use of others’ copyrighted work). We feel that Fairey’s poster is a clear example of the Transformative Factor of fair use. Here’s a description of that factor from the Stanford University Web Site.

• Has the material you have taken from the original work been transformed by adding new expression or meaning?
• Was value added to the original by creating new information, new aesthetics, new insights and understandings?In a parody, for example, the parodist transforms the original by holding it up to ridicule. Purposes such as scholarship, research or education may also qualify as transformative uses because the work is the subject of review or commentary.

(Photo of Fairey poster Flickr by user Steve Rhodes, CC, Some Rights Reserved.)

We’re hoping a groundswell of support for fair use and Fairey might be created by actually exercising fair use. So we’re inviting you to do just that:

On May 1st post to Flickr, your blog, facebook or anywhere else, a picture of art or craft you created exercising the transformative factor of fair use in the spirit of Shepard Fairey.

What can you do until then?

• Work on your craft or art
• Spread the word by linking, or tweeting to this blog post. (Here’s a short sentence you can easily tweet):Creating transformative work for Celebrate Fair Use in Art and Craft Day: May 1st, 2009. http://tinyurl.com/fairday
  

• Sign up for the facebook event.

Selma came home from school in the middle of the day with a stomach ache. As she was convalescing, she re-discovered my stack of fiber-related children’s books. After reading Cashmere If You Can, she decided to write a review, and we thought it would be fun to share it with you. The following is Selma’s book review.

Cashmere if you Can, written by Terron Shaefer and illustrated by Christopher Corr is a funny and fantastic book. It’s about a goat that becomes a super model. It is great for children and adults of all ages, and it even has a moral of honesty and truth. It is a goat’s life story. Wawa (the goat) and her family live in a city that’s inside a canyon called New Rock in Mongolia. They live on everything tourists leave behind. One day, Wawa’s little brother Hauhau found a camera that was his sister’s ticket to fame. The illustrations in the book are colorful, abstract and cartoony. The book may be short, but it is not for babies. To find out the rest of the story, you have to read the book.

Here is my favorite illustration:

I like how the illustrator fits everyday things (like graffiti and art) into a totally not everyday story.

I got a bit of a late start today. My work continues on the teddy bear book–I’m completing a pair of swim trunks today (I hope), and earlier this morning one of my two guest designers, Robyn Chachula, mailed me her contribution. She’s posted a sneak peek on her blog. I can’t wait to see the whole thing.

I had to slow down this morning because I’d invited a couple of people over for coffee and stitching. Last night, when searching around for something to make for them (I originally had thought muffins, but wasn’t really inspired in the muffin department), I remembered that a few years ago, I adapted a coffee cake recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. This is one of those recipes that you can usually whip up on the fly because most ingredients are probably in your pantry. It’s fluffy and sweet with a nice crumb and a yummy streusel topping. The only thing I’d change is the color–I’d like it to be a darker golden brown, I might have to play around with adding something like coffee or brown sugar to make the cake a little darker.

Here’s the recipe:

Dry

1 1/2 c flour
3/4 c sugar
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt

Wet

1/2 c unsweetened soy milk
1/4 c + 1 T canola oil
1/4 c water
1 T arrowroot powder (substitute cornstarch or tapioca flour)

Topping

1/4 c brown Sugar
2 T flour
1 1/2 t cinnamon
3 T margarine
3/4 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9×9 square baking pan. Prepare topping: mix sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cream in margarine, stir in nuts. Set aside. Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside. Whisk together wet ingredients. Combine wet with dry and stir until smooth. Pour into baking pan. Spread topping over batter. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until done.