FINE. YOU CAN HAVE WHAT YOU WANT.

For fuck’s sake. OK. YOU WANT PICTURES? YOU CAN HAVE PICTURES!

A tub full of commissioned socks for men. 100% alpaca wool.

And I hated knitting them. I really like the person I knitted  them FOR. Just not the yarn I was asked to use.

Plain Jane sock

Plain Jane sock using Northbound Knitting Fingering in Nautical.

Plain Jane socks using Knit Picks in Minty.

Socks for KristiLynn using Knit Picks.

Yarn for cup cozies!

The grey yarn was dyed by Lisa of Northbound Knitting and the orange was dyed by Knitted Wit.

These three are examples of cup cozies that I’m knitting as wedding favors for my wedding!

More plain jane socks from a local yarn dyer whose name I can’t remember and if I recall, can’t be found online anyway.

A work in progress pic of Drizzle by Meghan Jackson using Berry Colorful Yarnings in Cheshire Cat.

LAST ONE.

This was a last minute Mother’s Day gift for my momma. She’s allergic to wool and most other things so I knit her this Storm Fir shawl by Fiddle Knits in Sprout (100% Organic Cotton) by Classic Elite Yarns. The colorway is Steel Blue which you really can’t tell from this picture but I swear, it is.

 

[Not A Knitting Post] I Don’t Look In The Mirror…

I was surfing the internet this morning when I came across this article. This author of the article talks about how she used to look in the mirror (or windows or anything with a reflection) CONSTANTLY to make sure that her “flaws” weren’t easily seen. The article goes on to talk about how she gave up using a mirror for a year.

Now, my head twisted this article around and I started to get really angry. REALLY angry. Angry to the point where I got maybe halfway through the article before showing the page to KristiLynn (you know, my BFF) and saying I needed to stop reading articles.

I don’t look in the mirror for different reasons.

I have Discoid Lupus, an auto immune disease that attacks my skin, leaving lesions and scars. I can get these lesions from UV light, stress, and heat (amongst other things.) They show up on my face and arms and I’ve got a lovely more specific kind of Lupus (Tumid Lupus) on my back and chest which leaves bumps all over, making it look like I have hundreds of mosquito bites.

I don’t look in the mirror because I feel these scars make me look ugly. I feel like maybe if I don’t look, don’t see them, they don’t exist and that no one else can see them too. I look in the mirror long enough to brush my hair in the mornings. That’s it. Other than that, I don’t look. I maybe look at my hair in the bathroom while I’m at work, but even then, it’s unlikely. If I look for too long, I see them, see all the imperfections. See the pock marks on my face and realize everyone else can see them too. And then I worry that people will stare because of all of these scars (even though “all of these scars” equals maybe five scars on my face.)

I’m not going to hide the fact that even while I type this post, I’m fighting back tears. I’m angry that there are women out there with beautiful scar-free faces that are worried about being “not thin enough” and THAT is why they don’t look in the mirror. You can fix fat. You can’t fix scars.

 

May is Lupus Awareness Month

In case you didn’t know…

I’m sorry I haven’t posted in forever. Writing has seemed like such a chore and things have been busy… too busy.

I got engaged on Christmas Day so I’ve been spending a good chunk of time getting ready for the wedding. We have a ceremony/reception location, I have a dress, and we know where we want to order our cake from, but other than that, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

My commissioned knitting has been taking up a good chunk of my time as well. I knit a tie for Donna Druchunas that was in the Spring issue of Knitting Traditions from Interweave which was super exciting. And I have another project on the needles for Donna as well (but as she hasn’t given me permission to talk about it, I won’t say anymore.)

I’ve been spending a lot of time knitting plain jane socks and working on knitting cup cozies in my wedding colors (Charcoal and Pumpkin in case you were interested) as wedding favors. My favorite pair of socks currently has to be a pair of plain janes I knit out of Northbound Knitting fingering weight yarn in Nautical. They are hands down the most gorgeous socks ever. AND they’re super soft. I suppose I’ll post a picture of them next time I update.

I got a new laptop around Thanksgiving and haven’t put any of my pictures or files on it yet because within the first two weeks of owning it I got a horrible virus and the entire thing had to be wiped. So I’m afraid (I guess) of putting all of my files and pictures on it and the laptop getting another virus and then everything would be gone all over again. In my round about way, that’s why there are no pictures in this post. There are no pictures on this laptop for me to include. Other than wedding venue pictures. Which has no place on a knitting blog.

Although to be honest, I’m not sure this post has a place on this blog. This seems to be just random ramblings of a crazy woman.

Sigh.

Readers, do me a favor, will you? Post in the comment section about what you’d like to read about next. I need some inspiration.

I’ve Never Been Good With Anniversaries…

Seriously. I’ve NEVER been good with remembering them. One year my boyfriend and I actually forgot our anniversary… and our anniversary lasts for two days!

So it’s unfortunately not a surprise that I’ve forgotten the anniversary of the day I started Miss Vicious Knits (which was apparently September 6th.) HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!

I feel like it has been a year of ups and downs. Lots of knitting and lots of unraveling and lots of stashing away pretty yarns for projects that I may never have the time to knit.

But also, because of this blog, I’ve had the joy of getting to meet you. Yes, you. You in all your fabulousness, dear reader. You keep me writing and plugging along and researching and digging deep within myself to find things that inspire. You give advice when needed and praise even when it’s undeserved. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!

Here’s to us, and our writing/reading relationship, and let’s hope there are many more to come.

Also, I’m sorry. I didn’t get you a present. Yes, I know, it looks bad. I’m sorry. Oh baby don’t cry. I’ll get you that shiny skein of yarn you wanted. Now go put on a pretty dress and I’ll take you somewhere real nice.

Sometimes I Wonder…

Sometimes I wonder if Knitters are as strange and awkward in real life as I am. I like to think that on the internet (especially on Twitter) I come across as being cool and bad ass. But in real life? Nope.

I was looking at one of my secret knitter heroes online, The Sexy Knitter, and she comes across as cool and awesome as a chick could hope to be. And then, I went looking (at this point I was probably cyber-stalking a bit) at the pictures of herself that she posted on Ravelry. Now, I’m not gonna lie. She looks pretty. But in some of the pictures she also looks awkward. Like maybe she was like me in school and didn’t have a shit ton of friends and wasn’t popular.

Sometimes I also wonder about these “fabulous” people I follow on Twitter. I almost feel like we’re friends, like we have a great going back and forth, but then sometimes it’s hard for me to realize that I don’t actually KNOW them. And they don’t know me. Like Lisa from Northbound Knitting. She’s amazing and awesome and at times I forget that she doesn’t actually know me, hasn’t actually met me, and my eagerness to be her friend on the internet might be misconstrued as me just being a weirdo.

Nope, I just really want a friend.

Anyway, back to what I was wondering. In real life, are these people as awesome as I think they are? Or have I put them on these ridiculous pedestals? Do any of you do this?

My Fingers Hurt

It’s been awhile since I posted. No real excuses to be honest. Other than I’m lazy.

Here’s a picture collage of what I’ve been working on since the lost post.

Starting from the top left corner, I’ve been working on a Vanadium by Lisa Mutch, trying to learn how to crochet, Five by Five by Felicia Lo, Hull by Lisa Mutch, Beyond Puerperium by Kelly Brooker, and two pairs of Lifestyle socks.

The yarn I’ve been using has all been Northbound Knitting, Berry Colorful Yarnings, or Candy Skein, except for that delightful watermelon looking yarn which was hand spun by Weekend Knitter.

I’ve been keeping myself super busy. And I plan on continuing to do so. There are some designs by Meghan Jackson that I’m itching to get at.

[Photo Courtesy of Alex Tinsley]

Plus, even though I live in San Diego and they is really no need for hats, I am going to knit the Polaris hat by Alex Tinsley for myself. And Lisa Mutch will soon have a new design in the winter issue of Pom Pom Mag called Edda that I’ve decided I DESPERATELY need in my life.

Things have been busy, my darlings. And with Christmas/Festivus right around the corner, I don’t have time to stop!

What have you been working on? Are you planning on knitting for Christmas/Festivus/Winter Holidays?

INTERVIEW: Rohn Strong and the Heritage Collection

This week I’m pleased as punch that I got to Interview Rohn Strong for his new book “The Heritage Collection: WWI & WWII”!

 

MissViciousKnits: How did you come up with the concept for the book?
Rohn Strong: It was really a bunch of circumstances that played together in my favor and the book just came out! I have always loved history, especially WWI and WWII history. There is just something about looking at the nation and the time where so many people came together (whether it was forced or by free will) to support the boys fighting across the world. When I tied knitting into that and was able to see the role knitting played in the war effort, it all just kind of made sense. So I decided to put the book together and go forward with it!

MissViciousKnits: When did you first start knitting/crocheting?

Rohn Strong: I began crocheting when I was about 6 or 7. My mother was working on an afghan for my dad, who at the time was over 450 pounds and 6′ 5″ tall, needless to say she gave up. I picked up her hooks and began trying it all on my own. Now, knitting didn’t happen until much later! I was late teens when I took some classes to learn how to knit, and haven’t stopped yet!

MissViciousKnits: What’s your favorite piece from the collection?
Rohn Strong: My favorite piece is definitely Cordelia. The piece is a v-neck pullover with a gorgeous pleated sleeve. I knit it out of madelinetosh tosh merino in Grove and Thunderstorm…I just adore that piece.

MissViciousKnits: How long, from start to finish, did all of this take?
Rohn Strong: In total the whole process took 10 months. It was about 3 months of writing, 3 months of knitting, 3 months of editing and waiting, and one month of finalization! It was a blast…but I am definitely feeling the snap back of my exhaustion!

MissViciousKnits: Was there any point during the process that you got discouraged?

Rohn Strong: Yes! A healthy amount of discouragement is needed every now and then! However I kept going. There were days where I would knit with a migraine to the point of barely being able to see the stitches in front of me. I wrote until my fingers were numb from typing. However, I just kept my head down and finished what I came to accomplish. We all have bad days and good days. Encouraging days and discouraging days. However, as I have said before, Giving up just because you have one bad day is like throwing out a whole batch of cookies because one is burnt.

MissViciousKnits: Are any of the designs available in plus sizes?
Rohn Strong: That depends on anyone’s opinion of plus sized. In the fashion world, anything over a size 12 is considered “plus sized”. When it comes to my designs I tried to offer a nice range of patterns for people to choose from. Most patterns offer a Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large, option.

MissViciousKnits: What are some of the unusual techniques used in the knits?
Rohn Strong: Most of the techniques used are simple, to be honest. Stockinette and Garter are king. However, the unusual-ness of it has to do with construction. Almost all the sweaters in the book are actually knitted with no shaping, and in one large piece, so there is literally only two seams! Also the last sweater in the book, Clara, has a lace pattern that is to die for! I LOVE IT!!

MissViciousKnits: How did you do all of the research for the book?
Rohn Strong: Thank God for the internet first of all! It was a long process and took lots of time but through digging, interviews, phone calls, library runs, and way too much money spent of books, everything came together. Other than that it was just a lot of reading and late nights, I am blessed to have a rich family history which lent itself to the book so simply!

MissViciousKnits: If you had to describe the book in three words, what would you say?
Rohn Strong: Historical. Modern. Beautiful.

 

You can pick up a copy of Rohn’s Book at the following links! Check it out!

Ravelry

Amazon

Createspace