theraineysisters knitting and so much more

My oldest daughter is a senior, need I say more?

I feel like I am living in the Old South under the hanging boughs of a giant Weeping Willow, waiting for Rhett and the boys to bring me supper.

Or maybe Mardi Gras?

We are just nerdy enough to be happy she got tee-peed on Senior Tee Pee night!  And the cops were out searching every car for suspicious quantities of Charmin! 🙂

I stayed up until 2am reading the last of Harry Potter #6…I am shocked, saddened and afraid to read #7.  I do not expect to get much knitting done this weekend!

And of course, GA started up again last evening.  I thought it maintained the continuity of the previous seasons.  I’ll keep watching.

Here it is — I got a picture of the silent auction bag pre-sale:

I think it turned out cute — they used matching ribbon and allowed some of the contents to show.  There is something in the bottom which makes it very round and flat.

Here is a picture of the bottom, which creates a nice starburst pattern:

Like I said, it’s not my favorite, but I hope it finds a good home! 🙂

I have been plugging away on the third Hemlock, but a picture would not add to much of anything.  That is all I have been working on knitting-wise EXCEPT for the fact that it is United Way time at my place of employment.  One of the fund raising activities is a silent auction of Themed Gift Bags — you know, A Night at the Movies with DVDs and popcorn, or a golf-themed bag.  The Team Captain for our department had the decidedly brilliant idea for a knitting related theme — now you can see how well I have trained my co-workers!! 

I of course jumped on the idea and donated most of the stuff, and did the shopping.  We started with a felted Market Squares bag that I made a while back and never really cared for.  It was in gaudy summer colors and was not felted enough.  I threw it in the washer one more time and it did improve.  

Our LYS donated a gift certificate to a series of learn-to-knit classes (I would give the name but don’t want them to get inundated with requests!).  It is a total win-win for the yarn shop: it costs them nothing to add a student to a class, but they gain a future customer!  We purchased a gift card to a nearby coffee shop, and then filled the bag with yarn from my stash, knitting needles, a zippered accessory bag, lots of knitting accessories and a very basic learn to knit book.  The estimated dollar value is more than $230 but the cash outlay was only $50 — thanks to my stash and generous donations!

The auction is next week so we’ll see how it goes.  I really hope it brings a good price.  If it’s a hit, I’m not sure what we’ll do next year – I don’t have any other bags I want to donate!  It’s a great cause so it is a nice way to get use out of things that were gathering dust in my yarn room.

I hope to get the Hemlock done this weekend and then I can move on to something I am thinking about…

In Answer to Your Questions:

The picture at the top of our blog was taken in Florence during the first of many road trips for Sally and me.  The year?  None of your beeswax!! ;)  Though the fashions would indicate that it’s VERY recent! 😉 😉 😉

I do not have a picture of the Market Squares Bag that I donated — what a doh!  I forgot to take a picture.  I’ll try to catch one before the auction.

And in answer to your questions about the Hemlock Throw, I created a pdf file that combines all the pieces of the pattern into one place for your knitting pleasure!

I received an anonymous letter in the mail this week, and it troubled me a great deal.  Though couched in a certain amount of flattery, the letter writer’s purpose was to discourage me from entering my knitting in the fair.  His/her reasoning was that as a “professional” I should consider myself ineligible to participate and that to continue to enter my knitting would be unfair and unethical.

I would prefer to respond directly to the individual by letter or phone.  Unfortunately, because she (I’ll stick to “she,” though I don’t know the writer’s gender) did not provide her name, I will address the letter through this blog, the only public voice I have.  What troubled me most about the letter was that it felt like a personal attack, which I feel was based on inaccurate information and false assumptions.  

First of all, I am not a professional knitter by any stretch of the imagination.  I work full time in a large metropolitan hospital, managing the staff education department.  Knitting is my hobby.

In my forty plus years of knitting, I have been published twice for my knitting designs.  Both cases resulted from contests held for NON-professional knitters.  

The first was a contest for Knitters Magazine in 1999.  Previous afghans had been designed by professional knitting designers.  This was different: they held an open contest for their readers to submit aran afghan squares.   My design was selected along with 23 others.  I did win the contest, which was one of the highlights of my knitting life.  The booklet containing all 24 squares is still in publication; I receive no “royalties” or income from its publication. 

The second instance was also a contest.  In 2000, the editors of what is now Simply Shetland contacted knitting shops that distributed their yarn and asked them to solicit designs from their customers.  My design for Rosemary’s Song was accepted.  Again, I was ecstatic — until I heard that the factory that made the yarn (Dunedin) burned down.  Bummer.  Years later, the design was reworked in different yarn and published in Simply Shetland 2 (2005).  I was asked if I could also design a hat because they needed a small project as a filler piece.  I designed the Aubrey Cap.   Again, I receive no royalties or income from sales of the book.

In 2006, I submitted a couple of designs to Simply Shetland, and they were rejected.  I reworked one of those designs, the Lace Tam, and submitted it to a knitting magazine, along with a couple of other ideas, and they also were rejected.   Hmmm – I do not fare as well against “professional knitting designers.”  Because the tam was already knitted up and the pattern written, I thought I could put it on my blog as a pattern for sale.  The volume of sales is a mere trickle.   Most patterns on our blog are free. 

I have never worked in a knitting store, and I do not sell my handknits.  No one would pay me what they are worth in terms of my investment in time and materials!
 
If the above describes a professional knitter, then heaven help us!  I would be living on the streets, sleeping on my piles of UFOs, if I had to rely on the paltry “earnings” I have made from my design “career!”  It would be wonderful to be able to make a living as a knitting designer, but I just do not have the time (or apparently the talent).  I find far too many exciting projects designed by others to take the time to design my own, though inspiration may strike in the future — who knows?

I do teach knitting classes.  I started teaching classes as a way to find and connect with other knitters and to share my passion for knitting.  This was before my Thursday knitting peeps and blog came about.  I love to teach knitting, but I do it to support my yarn habit, not my family!  It is totally unreliable as a source of income — I don’t have the time to teach very often, and the classes are cancelled on a fairly regular basis.  

Teaching a few knitting classes does not make me ineligible to participate in the fair.  I know several people who regularly teach classes and enter items in the state fair.  I know people who work in knitting stores, teach and write/sell patterns, many of whom enter items in the fair.   This type of income is called “hobby income” for a reason.  Many people support their expensive hobbies with a little pin money.  It is clearly not my means of livelihood.  When I claim this on my tax form, my accountant just shakes his head and laughs because the amount is well, laughable.

I know I won a lot of ribbons this year — no one was more surprised than I.  One of the main things the judges look at is technical expertise.  I have learned a lot from the judges’ comments over the years.  I work really hard to perfect my knitting technique, through a great deal of trial and error, and continue to learn and refine my craft.  When do you get “there?”  I dunno — I’m certainly not there yet, mes amies.  There’s a lot to learn and new heights to reach.

I did stop entering my knitting for a few years, but the fair was just not as fun to visit.  So I started entering again.  Sometimes I have a good year and, just as often, a not-as-good year.  Each year, different things are entered by an array of extremely talented people.  It is always fun to see which projects get the ribbons.  It’s like opening presents at Christmas for me.   It is a fun and exciting time, no matter where the ribbons fall.

I’m sorry to bend your ears for this long.  I had a lot to say and no one specific to say it to.  I do feel blessed that I have been able to find a meaningful outlet for my creativity and to feel successful at a hobby I truly love.

I know many of you support me and I appreciate that support more than you know.  I do not want that support to be directed against the anonymous sender of the letter.  I will assume her intentions were honorable, though misinformed.  So please refrain from making comments against her.  I also do not assume that I will have changed the writer’s mind, but I hope I gave her something to think about. 

…And, please consider signing your name next time.