I finished reading Rohinton Mistry's "Tales from Firozsha Baag" last week - it's another great book from him. "A Fine Balance" is my favourite book of his - it reminds me so much of my impressions of India and Delhi, though he tends to write more about Mumbai.

This book is a collection of short stories, each one focusing on a family or character who lives in the Firozsha Baag building complex, and describing one of their memories or stories. Some of the characters cross into other stories, having a smaller part in other people's lives. It's a fairly close-knit group, though there are cantankerous characters and some who keep to themselves. It's as I've always imagined the buildings in Indian cities. I've always thought there seems to be more of a community in the cities in India - perhaps because there needs to be as people have to help each other out in order to live and survive. It was one of the things I noticed when we'd drive through the streets - people tended to stop and talk to each other, and they seemed to recognize or know others in their local area. This is different to the apartment blocks I've always lived in - perhaps it's just my blocks, or me, but people in the places where I live seem to barely know each other apart from recognizing someone on the stairwell as they enter their apartments. In the stories, the people of Firozsha Baag are involved in each other's lives - one woman owns a refrigerator and another apartment stores their meats in it in exchange for helping her with other chores. The difference between parts of India and Australia could also be that people in Australia tend to have their own "stuff" and don't need to share it as often, so there are less causes to know your neighbours. And many Australian's live in separate houses not apartments so there is also the separation of space and land dividing the different families, and people don't live in extended families as often as is done in India.

The book is of course written beautifully, so I'd recommend reading it to anyone who wants to know more about life in India. The section below is from the story called "Of white hairs and cricket" caught my eye as it's about yarn & spinning yarn and also music and records - a few of my interests. In this telling, Mistry seems to weave together the simple moments in life as he describes the spinning wool - blending the movements of the yarn with the nuances of their everyday lives, setting the scene for how the family lived.

I went to check out the apartments in Waterloo today. not sure if I can afford one though. they're very close to Crown St (behind Bourke St) so there's lots of cafes and restaurants nearby. it was a 15-20min walk from Green Square station though - I think the buses are closer. I'd caught the train into the city but the Airport line was closed and CityRail had buses replacing the trains. but the bus didn't stop at Green Square so I ended up at Mascot and had to come back. there was a Mazda dealership across the road so I dropped in to see the Mazda2 as I think I'm going to have to buy a car and they're very cute. not even one person tried to help me. :( so I left and walked up to Danks St - using the Maps on my phone to find the directions. there's a new French cafe on the corner. I ate at the Whole Foods cafe, looking out at the street from the benches next to the open sliding windows. such a lovely day. some people were talking at the table in front of me and they'd mentioned to a friend who dropped by and stopped to talk to them, that the French cafe was new and booked up & it was hard to find a table.

24/10/2009

video file on blip.tv page

then I went into the city to catch the train home and St Andrews Church was singing it's song to the people of Sydney.

video page on blip.tv page

I popped into Morris & Sons prior to catching the train and bought some more yarn and a cute Panda toys pattern book - these look fairly simple and quick to make and the samples in the store were quite cute. each toy can be made from 1 skein of 8mm yarn. they didn't have the Panda yarns at the store, so I bought some Cleckheaton "Country" and Elie Riva "Natal" 8mms instead as it's quite nice to knit up. Panda is an Australian yarn company too - I hadn't heard of them before, but I noticed there were a few pattern booklets in the store. I think I'll sew the eyes though instead of using sew on ones, so the babies don't accidently swallow them. I might try make one for Kim's new baby, and if I manage them, maybe some for Tab's and Bec's kids. they're only little hand-sized toys. the lady in the store said to knit with two strands - one from the end & one from the centre of the skein to make them larger like the samples in the store. we'll see how I manage.. also I bought some Debbie Bliss "cashmerino aran" to make a small baby blanket - it's the "throw" from the Debbie Bliss "the baby knits book" - I cheated and wrote out the pattern in my notebook whilst in the store as I didn't want the rest of the patterns in the book and the book was quite expensive.

the I heart Kings Cross project has been installed into Fitzroy Gardens & surrounding streets in Kings Cross, Sydney. it looks amazing! it took a week to install & they used a tall ladder and a crane.

the knits seem to blend in to their surroundings well & at the same time brighten up the streets. I took waaay too many photos but I couldn't stop look at the detail and volume of amazing work. incredible! I couldn't stop staring at the detail of the stitches. I had to wait for my sister to arrive so I had some time after the launch to listen & watch some of the people's responses - everyone seemed to love it! they were taking turns having photos on Jade's knitted chair, and in front of the trees' branches and next to Zoe's circle piece on the sculpture & the I heart Kings Cross logo as well as staring up at the tall tree pieces.

http://www.aliak.com/content/i-heart-kings-x-project-opening-day = (this) blog post
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aliak_com/tags/iheartkingscross = photos
http://bit.ly/19jFKo = slideshow movie of the photos

thanks to Reef Knot - especially Michelle McCosker, for organizing everything and letting me contribute. was a lot of fun. I hope they keep me informed of any future projects!

video @ archive.org page

photos

slideshow movie of flickr photos

some highlights

& the pieces I made :
the rainbow blanket & pink scribble lace (Debbie New pattern) ...

the red section under the frilly knot hole ...

and the bucky fuller inspired triangles & different stitches ...

I watched this video during lunch today on the Subversive Yarn site - the guy has made a home made knitting machine from an old printer and a picaxe microcontroller. as I watched it working - I haven't really seen a knitting machine before that I can remember - I wondered if you could convert a manual typewriter into a knitting machine. replace the metal letters w/ latches. then type words into stitches.

you'd probably end up with experimental knitting not flat rows but I think that'd be beautiful

/ideas

they also have a link to this Sleeping Beauty installation by Nadine Sterk - it's a lamp shade that is knit in realtime when you power it on - I think this is one of the most beautiful & useful exhibits I've seen in a gallery installation. amazing

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Knitting machine - Homemade - by correx37

I've been reading & flipping through some of the knitting books on google books. apparently they're going to start offering free downloads for public domain books soon, using the EPUB format (not pdf). not many of the knitting books seem to be in the public domain yet though but I will keep looking.

Constituent imagination: militant investigations//collective theorization - by Stevphen Shukaitis, David Graeber, Erika Biddle, AK Press
page 209 - Knitting and Global Justice Activism is a great chapter on some of the "revolutionary knitting" groups and their ideas: knitting used to 'slow down' in this modern world, diy textile production, knitting as a binary code (K & P) - like learning a programming language (mathematical knitting), plus more...

Knitting for Good!: A Guide to Creating Personal, Social, & Political Change - by Betsy Greer - has a nice intro on how the Riot Grrrl movement helped women take back diy/craft (part of third wave feminism). and how women now have the choice to craft as well as work - it's no longer just your "grandmother's domain" and is not the only option for women any more. knitting as meditation. lots of other ideas - these are some of the things I've thought about knitting & craft too. just being able to make things is a great thing

I'm starting to knit for the I heart Kings Cross art project : http://iheartkx.wordpress.com - the knitted pieces are going to be tied to poles and trees as part of an art project in Kings Cross (Sydney) in october. I'm not really following a pattern of stitches - they said make it ~30cm wide and anything up to 3metres, the longer the better. so I'm just changing stitches and needles and colours as my mood decides. seeing how a mix of smaller (12mm) and larger (25mm) stitches go together. using 3 strands of yarn (8ply acrylic) to thicken it up. so far I like the textures. reminds me of Australian chocolates - cherry ripe, mint slice or maybe peppermint crisp. (I think I have chocolate on the brain tonight ;)

24/08/2009

i <3 kings X project - art knitting : day1 on 12seconds.tv

video page

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25/08/2009

I bought some 15mm bamboo needles at lunch today. and saw some thicker yarn at lincraft. bright colours and the threads are different widths - like the silk yarn. but this is 50% wool & 50% acrylic. it's nice to knit up. maybe I should have bought a few balls of each colour though as the stripes will be narrowish.

kings cross yarn on 12seconds.tv

video page

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29/08/2009 saturday

was a great group of knitters in the park in Kings Cross today. all knitting for the I heart Kings Cross project. learnt some new stitches and spoke to lots of cool people. we'll be there every sat in september. was great that some people just walked by and sat down and joined in - including a woman on holidays from Taiwan who has a knitting group there. she was a fast knitter too! it was pretty windy towards the end - I think I'm wearing half of Kings Cross now as the wind stirred up the dirt iheartkx.wordpress.com

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01/09/2009

finished (!) rainbow tree cosy for I heart Kings Cross project on 12seconds.tv

video file

it's finished! I was going to make it longer but I feel like doing something else and ~ 1.2 metres should be long enough

knitted tree cosy for the I heart Kings Cross project
I'm glad I finished it. still have time to do some of the finer ones like those at http://dneese.blogspot.com

starting a list of knit for charity sites & links - I wrote up a short piece about knitting for charity for "Winter Zine" after reading their call for submissions, so adding to it here to keep track of the links

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(zine submission - I still think I tend to write in 'promotional' style even though I don't mean to, so not sure if they'll use it..)

Knitting for Charity to keep yourself warm (... in person and in spirit)

The best thing about winter is that it's too cold and rainy to go out often at night, so I tend to stay in and catch up on my knitted UFOs - unfinished objects. I pull out yarn and patterns and needles and sit on the couch under a warm blanket, with the heater on, and watching TV or a movie or listening to music. So far this winter I've finished a knitted cushion cover which was started towards the end of summer, and have almost finished a knitted pillow toy for my cousin's son.

20090314_closeup_knitting, originally uploaded by AliaK

The Sydney Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef - In the interest of contributing to the world wide phenomenon initiated by The Institute For Figuring, In Stitches Collective is facilitating the creation of a Sydney Coral Reef. We invite you to participate in this woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and craft, a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world.

The reef was inspired by geometric models of hyperbolic space, originally developed by mathematician Dr Daina Taimina in 1997, using the art of crochet. Until that time most mathematicians had believed it was impossible to construct physical models of hyperbolic forms, yet nature had been doing just that for hundreds of millions of years. It turns out that many marine organisms embody hyperbolic geometry, among them kelps, corals, sponges and nudibranchs. The IFF reef not only looks like an actual coral reef, it draws on the same underlying geometry endemic in the oceanic realm.

The Crochet Coral Reef is a collective and collaborative experience created by The Institute For Figuring (IFF) directors Margaret and Christine Wertheim (www.theiff.org). The project not only draws attention to the beauty and fragility of the coral reef (an ecosystem system most vulnerable to the effects of climate change), but also links communities through science, mathematics, art & craft.

In Stitches Collective are holding a workshop at 2pm on the 21st of Feb at 44 Little Oxford Street, Darlinghurst (behind Taylor Square on the Surry Hills side). visit http://sydneyreef.blogspot.com for more details

The IFF site has instructions for you to build your own hyperbolic plane

One suggestion is to use plastic bags instead of yarn as another method of recycling them. the gooseflesh blog has a plastic bag yarn tutorial on how to reuse plastic bags as yarn.

deputy-dog blog has posted an article about urban / graffiti knitting & the knitta please crew who do graffiti knitting around their towns. check out the tree cosies below

Knitta began in August 2005, when the soon-to-be-Knittas were discussing their frustration over unfinished knitting projects: half-knitted sweaters and balls of yarn gathering dust. That afternoon, they knit their first door handle. Then it dawned on them ... a tag crew of knitters, bombing the inner city with vibrant, stitched works of art, wrapped around everything from beer bottles on easy nights to public monuments and utility poles on more ambitious outings. With a mix of clandestine moves and gangsta rap - Knitta was born! Today, Knitta is a group of ladies of all ages, nationalities, and ... gender.

there's a video of them on youtube :
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=9wVfUwVQhS8

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Frances Goodman's Sculptures - Toilet Graffiti Embroideries

- thanks Avital for the links!

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craftzine.com has a cool Motherboard Dishtowel Embroidery article - embroidery of motherboard circuit boards

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Lion Brand Yarn Studio looks like a great space! I love their stash shelves - they're like an artwork in themselves, and functional too

knitting resources and links

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knitty (online) magazine
http://knitty.com

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online knit communities

knit-list
wooly thoughts yahoogroup
wooly thoughts site
subversive yarn

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knitted toys

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/knitlist/message/90742
Squid Hat
Chicken hat
Knit Spider
Knit Veggies
Knit Dinos
Jess Hutchison - Her pattern booklet is fantastic!! but now out of print (i have a copy)

080620081165, originally uploaded by AliaK.

one of Squarey's arm - I finally worked out how to knit in the round using 3 double point needles. so Amelie's toy squarey is almost finished! one more arm + 2 legs + a face to go. whew, it's only been knitted in almost 2 years and 6 countries - Australia, New Zealand, UK, Israel, Turkey, India. I almost thought she'd be a teenager before I finished it..

I think this could be used to make fingers for gloves too

08/06/2008

080620081165

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this is what squarey looks like when he's finished - it's a Jess Hutchison (Jess Hutch) pattern from her book "Unusual Toys For You to Knit and Enjoy"
the below picture is Jess' squarey. the one I'm making has yellow instead of green (and there's a few more imperfections but I'm sure he'll still look cute) I'll post pictures when I've finished him

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesshutch/51386088

http://www.jesshutch.com/2005/10/booklette.html

http://www.flickr.com/groups/99032870@N00/pool is a Jess Hutch flickr pool which has other examples of her patterns that others have knitted

if only I wasn't allergic to wool - itchy!!

08/06/2008 update : ok I've finished all the pieces - just need to sew him up and add the stuffing and sew his face
I'll move his arms down to the stripes position like in the pattern - not like in the photo below

he's finished!

Amelie's knitted toy - Squarey - he's been knitted in 6 countries over 2 years. he's a Jess Hutch pattern
finished 04/10/2008

Amelie's knitted toy - Squarey - he's been knitted in 6 countries over 2 years - Australia, New Zealand, India, Israel, UK, Turkey. I almost thought he was going to be a 21st present for Amelie! Amelie is my friend's little girl - I found out she was pregnant whilst overseas, so started knitting a toy whilst my friend was pregnant - before I knew whether she was a girl or a boy. my friend chose the colours - she wouldn’t tell any of us whether she was having a girl or a boy. I finished Squarey just before meeting Amelie for the first time after I’d moved back home. she calls him “Mr Square”

he's a Jess Hutch pattern : Squarey from "Unusual Toys for You to Knit and Enjoy" - by Jess Hutchison
finished 04/10/2008

Miss Deaths Knitting Group

Do you want to learn how to knit, crochet and any other craft? Or you just want to come along for a social? For the new ladies who are coming for the first time bring a friend.

Boys are welcome as long as they do a craft or something useful

Sunday 18th May
Mu-Meson Archives

Time 4pm
Cost Bring a plate

http://www.mumeson.org

"Guerrilla knitting" has a couple of meanings in the knitting community - to some, it merely means knitting in public, while to others, it means creating public art by knitted means.

Rose White from yarnivore spoke at The History of Guerilla Knitting session at the 24th Chaos Communication Congress in 2007 in Berlin on day 3 - 29/12/2007. a torrent video can be downloaded of the session. (open the video in VLC if you don't have another video player that can play the .mkv video file). The Chaos Communication Congress is organised by the Chaos Computer Club, Europe's largest hacker group, founded in 1981.

Dan sent me an invite to the Open Source Embroidery facebook group. their website is www.open-source-embroidery.org.uk. I haven't tried embroidery since I was a child, and I don't remember being that good at it, but it sounds like a good project. so I thought I'd post info / photos my knitted polynomial bag. (even though it's not as nice / perfect as some of the other online examples!!) when I was a child I used to do lots of crafts and was always making things. I had a resurgence of this about a year ago. it feels good to make things with your hands, especially little presents for people. so I've been (very slowly) working on hand made things. I find it's better than buying something, though it does tend to take me longer to finish things these days!

knitting patterns have a certain mathematical quality to them. knitting is basically a binary system - knit & purl stitches. so it's possible to knit binary sequences, letters eg convert the letters to ascii hex, then binary - some people knit their names as signatures in their work.

people knit in fibonacci sequences and end up with patterns and colours / stripes that somehow seem natural, just as the fibonacci sequences showing up so much in nature.

so I'm keeping a list of patterns and urls for sites on logical / mathematical knitting.

there's also the crocheting - such as the hyperbolic plane crocheted recently by Daina Taimina as a way to describe it physically. I need to practice crocheting though, so will stick to knitting for a while

Craftster is a forum for people who love to make things but who are not inspired by cross-stitched home sweet home plaques and wooden boxes with ducks in bonnets painted on... If you've been known to run with scissors, you can break the rules of crafting with your fellow rebel DIY'ers there!

I just came across this article whilst reading some rss feeds. BlueAndRedCows on the craftster.org message board has posted a pattern for knitting converse shoes. apparently her old ones broke, so she replaced the fabric/canvas upper shoe with a knitted piece. they look great!! and seem to be really popular on the site also. Boing Boing's just posted an article about them also so I guess they'll be really popular soon!

it's great to see hand made / craft items being made, especially when recycling your favourite pair of shoes. I had a pair of converse boots when I was younger and I used to love those shoes. I bought another of the shoe type connies a couple of years ago but they were ruined once when they got too wet so I had to throw them out (couldn't get rid of the smell :( )

here's some photos of the final product. below is the pattern in case it's removed from the forum.
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=120442.msg1154164#msg1154164 is the url of the original forum message if you want to read the whole thread.

read more to see the pattern

Tasmania's Conservation Trust held a project to collect knitted jumpers for penguins caught in oil spills.

these are so cute!

click on the read more link below for the pattern: