Why Didn't I Think of This?

I stumbled across a wonderful blog the other day: re:knit. The blogger describes it as "a knit- blog re-blog"--she gathers the tasty bits from across the web into a sort of knit-blog's greatest hits. Very cool, and saves me a lot of time slogging through my bloglines. Why didn't I think of this (surely not because I'm lazy and lack imagination)?

Oh, and another Elvis Sweater update courtesy of You Knit What??. Be careful what you wish for.

You Know You're Obsessed When...

...you come across a photograph of the soon-to-be-demolished stained glass murals on Terminal 8 at JFK and instead of worrying about how to save them, you start thinking about new color combinations for a Ballband Dishcloth.

Check out Kate A.'s beautiful analysis of the Mason-Dixon knitting phenomenon over at her very purty blog. Wonderful stuff.

Ninepatch Dishrag and Knitting Synchronicity

Since I've been neglecting my blog, I've also neglected to sing the praises of Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne's Mason-Dixon Knitting. I've been knitting almost exclusively from this book for the past few months as an antidote to my stressed-out melancholic life-related funk: it's fresh (in the sassy sense), funny (in the giggle and annoy the person trying to read in bed next to you sense) and remarkably unfussy (as in the it's OK to knit nothing but garter stitch using cotton you can pick up at your local Wally World [if you were ever going to be so bereft of ethics to step foot in a Wal-Mart--oops, that's me being fussy]). Anyway, I've made the ubiquitous Ball-Band Dishcloths (given away before being photographed but you can see some of Kay's awe-inspiring examples here) and the Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono (peeking out above, waiting to be seamed and trimmed. No babies in the immediate future, so no rush). Just finished this Ninepatch Dishrag, the pattern for which Kay put up on their blog last week.

So here's the synchronicity part: I have the book. I pore over the blog that inspired the book. I lurk on the remarkably active Knit-A-Long. I've seen pictures of Kay, and I've always thought "Gee, she looks so familiar," but chalked it up to that overfamiliarity with public figures that once convinced my husband and his friend Robin that if they could only have tea with Joni Mitchell she would be their Best Friend...but I digress. Last week, Kay posted, with the loveliest photos, about a recent move to Washington Heights, my very neighborhood. So I dropped a comment suggesting a neighborhood knit-in, carefully composing so as not to sound stalkerish. Well, within a few minutes I get an e-mail back...it turns out I do know her! It's a long story and not particularly interesting but the reason she (and her children) look so familiar is because I shepherded them through the grueling paces of the NYC private school admissions process a couple of years ago (it's my job to judge children. I'm not proud, but it's a living. They got in, by the way).

Anyway, the knitting world is a small smelly one. And very sweet.

Elvis Sweater Update

Well, slap my bum and call me Sally. A poke around the internet reveals that I am far from the only one obsessed with the Elvis Sweater. It's been reproduced on playing cards, salt & pepper shakers, shot glasses, and even as a design for...well, a hound dog. I found a revelatory discussion of the garment's origins here; apparently it was worn by Elvis in this scene from Jailhouse Rock and may or may not have been his own garment or acquired from the MGM wardrobe department. Since the movie was in glorious black & white, the original color is in question, but it is most often reproduced in blue. A prototype won a contest on the knit-o-rama blog...it's close, but it's not The Sweater, so I might still drag out my Ann Budd and Barbara Walker and play with some charts. Nothing new under the sun, I guess, especially when it comes to celebrity knits. Or Elvis.

Elvis Sweater

I'm usually pretty imune to celebrity knitting sightings (well, there was Martha's Poncho, but that was a monumentous occasion and anyway it was crochet). Whatever, there's something very compelling about this sweater, worn by Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock. I think one of my summer projects might be to deconstruct and chart it (didn't make any promises about actually knitting it, folks). Stay tuned.

All the News That's Fit to Wear

It's not knitting, but it is textile related...DD works the catwalk in an ensemble constructed by a very talented friend entirely from the school newspaper.

Fierce. And informed, too.