the last few days... in instagram photos

 I apologize for those instagram haters out there - but I have become completely obsessed with it. I am a visual person, and it's like facebook but for visual people. I'd much rather see photographs of what you're doing than have you status update about it (there are exceptions of course, because I still totally use facebook) anyway. I spend quite a bit of time taking instagram photographs now. Especially this week, because my camera is away being repaired /grumble.

My sock is coming along! I really liked knitting the heel flap.

 

 I finished the heel flap! Picked up the gusset stitches and right now I'm reducing for some reason :)

Yesterday I put on my ass-kicking boots and knit/protested for reproductive rights!

On friday I got to use my old spinning wheel to spin some lovely merino. I'm still not the best spinner, and it's been so long since I did it that I'm a little rusty. I love the finished product though! I love slubby yarn, good thing I can't spin anything else:)

After spinning the wool I went and "borrowed" the spinning wheel from the Purple Thistle centre. No one uses it right now anyway. Here's a photo of me temporarily liberating it from the centre :)

I also started planning on doing some street art. Nothing terribly illegal, just some wheat pasted fat bodies with lovely captions. See finished example under this caption.

All bodies are good bodies! Trans bodies! Bodies that use mobility aids! Queer bodies! Bodies that hurt! Fat bodies! Skinny bodies! Heavily tattooed and pierced bodies! I love 'em all!

1 comment abortion, crappy iphone photo, hand spun, instagram, knitting, pro-choice, protest, reproductive rights, sock, socks, spin, spinning, spinning wheel, street art, vancouver bc

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Something I swore I'd never do again.

I'm knitting a pair of socks on 2mm needles. 

It's a mystery skien of yarn that I found in my stash with no tag. I suspect it's Sweet Georgia tough love sock... but I cant be sure! 

Right before I took this a cool young person came up and chatted with me about knitting. They were a rad kid! 

When I saw the Yarn Harlot at VPL she talked about how it took her about 16 hours to knit a pair of socks... I am at about sixteen hours and I'm just barely done the cuff! I'm usually an incredibly quick knitter (I once finished a sweater for me, a large person, in four days) so it's a bit odd to have something take so long! 

They're really the smallest stitches ever! 

5 comments 2mm, 2mm needles, crappy iphone photo, double pointed needles, instagram, knitted, knitting, sock, sock yarn, socks

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Photographing your knitting class!

Hey folks! 

I taught a class yesterday at Baaad Anna's about how to photograph your finished objects! It went amazingly, here are some of the shots I took! 

Caitlin, modelling some hand knit socks from one of the folks who took the class.

More socks!

Some lovely knitted iphone cases! 

Caitlin modelling a lovely hand knit hat!

One of Caitlin's knitted shawls! 

1 comment Baaad Anna's Yarn store, Caitlin Ffrench, ffrench, girl, grass, how to photograph your knitting, iphone cases, knitted, knitting, Photographs, photography, pin up, shawl, socks, tattoos, vancouver, yarn store

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No-pattern toe-up chunky weight socks.

I measure the width of the top of the front of my foot. Then I figure out how many stitches to cast on using a provisional cast on method. I do a toe with wrap and turns, figuring out as I go how many I need. I try them on as I'm doing it (these ones were actually for a friend, so I found the measurements of her size feet online and just measured). I don't count rows or stitches. Then I just knit a tube until I need to turn the heel. I should be knitting these two at a time, then they would be the ultimate socks, but I haven't quite figured out how to do that yet... maybe next pair. 

I like toe-up socks because I am lazy, I like to try things on as I go, and like to get all the important things done first (toe, heel) so I can just go go go and don't have to worry about running out of yarn. 

My tip about yarn: if you're learning use BIG YARN. Worsted, or aran, or even chunky (like these ones). They make big socks, but they also won't take you absolutely forever (I knit one of these socks over a 24 hour period). Always have nylon included. These were a wool/acrylic/nylon blend that works great for beginner socks. 

I learned how to knit socks from Very Pink on Youtube. Her tutorial on toe-up socks rocked mine right off! 

1 comment acrylic, advice, big wool, chunky, green, how to, instructional, knit, knitting, learn, learning, nylon, socks, toe, toe-up, top down, tutorial, vintage chunky, wool, yarn

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Oh just some things.

It's been a while since I last posted. Things are a-changin' around here and it's hard to find time to sit down and write a blog post.

 I have read at least two radical feminist self-help books in the last three weeks and I've talked a lot in that time too to lovely people. There's so much change in the air, I'm feeling pretty good about it!

Also:

I made a pair of slippers out of Ella Rae Mega.

So pretty much things are great.

Also, I have spent so much time in the last three weeks with lovely people. One of whom I have taken a photograph of. She was speaking at a Trayvon Martin solidarity rally and her name is aly. It was pretty amazing. Everyone who spoke that day was amazing. 

Here are the rest of the photos I took that day. They weren't of every speaker (because I was also filming) but there are quite a few lovely faces. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sylvia_mcfadden/sets/72157629729032857/ 

aly's wearing a knitted thing. See, it's relevant. 

I will try to post more knitting-related things soon. 

1 comment aly, ella rae, knitting, mega, rally, slippers, socks, solidarity rally, trayvon martin

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I have half-knit quite a bit!

This post is inspired by this comic by Natalie Dee!!

My half knitted knitting things! Things that I will probably never finish! I wish giving someone half of a project was a socially acceptable thing. "Here, I knit you one sock! I wrote the pattern down! You get to finish the other one!" But noooooo that ain't what people want. 

1 comment berroco, berroco vintage chunky, half knit shawls, half-knit, Half-knitted, handmaiden, handmaiden lace, knit, knitting, nataliedee, one sock, prototypes., shawls, shrug, socks

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What? Another pair of toe-up Noro socks?

Why would I even do such a thing? ANOTHER pair of Noro socks?

 The store has settled and I'm taking my knit-break! I started these things last night and they're knitting up quickly. I am using Noro kureyon and 5.5mm double pointed needles. I am planning on felting these suckers. 

That's right I use my boobs to hold my yarn sometimes. That's not weird right?
I look like I'm giving some sort of secret yarn victory hand-signal. Wut wut! 

Noro is like crack. The colour changes are addictive! Instead of "just one more row" it's "just one more colour change!"
Long striping wool is dangerous. 

These ones were knit out of Noro's silk garden and I knit them over a weekend several months ago.

Damn straight. I don't have time to knit socks out of sock weight wool.

Leave a Comment 5.5mm needles, addictive, All the socks, double pointed needles, dpns, felted, Noro, Noro kyreyon, silk garden, slippers, socks, the most intersting man in the world knits socks, toe-up

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