After seeing this sweater that Grumperina made, I simply MUST make a vintage pattern by Mary Maxim  but I can't decide which to do - I have these patterns... of course, I'm not opposed to modifying or combining the charts.... what do you think?

This is the first buffalo pattern I ever bought - it's bigger than the one on the back of Grumperina's sweater - which is kind of cool - I could mix it with the same pattern she used... I may (or may not) want to use the "ground" that the buffalo is standing on...

This is the glorious pattern that was the inspiration for the madness - I think it's way too cool!  I could just knit it the way it is also... but while I LOVE the way it looks, part of me doesn't want to just duplicate what Grumperina made... she's pretty darn inspiring... and while I believe it'd be flattering, it's probably more flattering to use her craft posts as inspiration rather than duplicating her idea (although at the end of the day, I guess she really just made a pattern from 1957; it's not like she designed the thing).... 

... and then there's the fish sweater - I was thinking of doing this one and putting a border on the bottom of it perhaps of fishing lures or something (knitted pattern, not actual lures!) - keep in mind I'll probably (definately) change the color of the pattern to whatever I want... most likely I'll want to do something a little less "contrasty"...(is contrasty a word?) :)

Last but not least, my FAVORITE - the seahorse sweater - I think it's a bit gay - but I really think it's cool - if anyone has ideas of a color mix that might make this more "hip" and less "homo" speak up - it's my fav... I think it looks sort of western - like a cowboy shirt... and if I can figure out how to do it and it be a little less "obvious" then it's probably what I'll do...

These patterns are all so amazing - such great graphics - Mary Maxim has tons of them (these I believe are all from the mid/late 50's) - and I think that knitted in good wool they'll be awesome! - browsing Ebay you'll find a lot of them available - as well as on oldcraftpatterns.com -

I won't start any of these any time soon - but I WILL one day make one... I appreciate Grumperina's blog posts about her experience and the gorgeous photoshoot she did of her finished project... the more I think about what I want to do, the more sure I become that I will probably make the seahorse cardigan.... I have an idea of making the entire piece intarsia and/or fair isle... if anyone knows of or has "ocean" inspired graphs / charts, please email me :)

 

Last night I delivered my entries for the 2008 LA County Fair and while I was there, they asked me to make a plea to the other guys who knit in the Los Angeles County area - so here goes....


Guys - the LA County Fair is having a "Men Who Knit" competition on September 7th, 2008 - (the entry info is attached below).  If you call or sign up soon (get in touch with them for the details) I believe that with your paid entry fee of $5 they'll send you a pass to enter the fair that day!  I plan on going and hope to see and meet some of the other L.A. guy knitters there! 


While I was there dropping my knitting off, I met a few amazing artists who were turning in some beautifully framed needlework - I think that there's an entire "fair culture" that I don't really know about - people who do this year after year... This will be my first fair as an adult (I entered paintings and sculptures during my High School years) and I look forward to seeing my pieces on display with others from the county!

If you entered in the fair this year (or have in the past) I'd love to hear some comments about your experiences!  so far I think it seems like a neat experience - it's really early for drop off - before doing this I had no idea that the entries had to be turned in over a month before the fair starts!  I guess that's so that there's enough time to review, display, judge and award ribbons before the whole thing begins!  The LA County Fair runs September 5-22 at the LA County Fairgrounds (Fairplex) in Pomona, CA!

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It's a LOT of fun to work on this piece - I am enjoying using my mannequin to help me figure out where to put new bits... I spent the morning sitting out in the back yard with the TV on (yes, we have a television in our backyard) - enjoying the cool/warm weather and watching some mystery show... pretending to know how to crochet and making random bits of crochet and knitting.  piece after piece made and stuck into a ziploc baggie...


I have purchased a few books online that should help me with my crochet skills - While I want to make more and more for this piece, I think it'd be wise to wait (it should only be a day or two!) until some of those books arrive and I have the chance to learn some new stitches!  (I'm anxious though; I love this working without a pattern stuff!!)

Once I had a lot of bits done, I started to attach them to my fleece - which I bought from Ozark Handspun!  I haven't discovered yet just how much of the fleece will be visible by the time I'm done with this piece... it's a "work in progress" which as you know means that I have no idea what it's gonna look like finished!

Freeform can be a little challenging - there are some colors that I think work good, but then once I stick the piece on the wrap, they stick out - like the purple does in this picture - but as I keep going things seem to work themselves out.

I'm gearing up for work - getting ready for another full week - I hope everyone had a nice safe weekend!