Yummy Yarn

Pattern support for Origin' yarn line

2010-03-17T01:16:10Z

You may have noticed I added a note to Sunday's entry. Two people who attended TNNA in January saw Bergere de France (BdF)'s Origin' line and made almost the same observations as I did. Awful packaging. And, can't feel the yarn. And really, knitters, we want to pet and smell our yarn, don't we? Here's another thing: the yarn is not actually out on display, at least at the BdF stores I've been to. It's in the back. In the store you have catalogs, perhaps a few samples, and color cards. You pick your yarn, your color, and a saleslady goes to the back to get exactly what you want.

Anyway, let's move on to the catalog! ETA: The catalog is in French, which means all directions are written in French, and all sizes are metric. Brush up on your language skills! Or, use Google Translate! Or, find the French groups on Ravelry—there is bound to be one thread somewhere about French-English knitting terms and translations.

{ Flickr } Montage by MJ, screenshot from Origin' website

The catalog generally reflects the yarn's perception of luxury: thick, uncoated cover stock; spot gloss on the cover; thick, glossy paper for the contents; perfect bound; nice photography with an editorial style. It averages 3-4 images per knit, and at least one of those is a larger crop of the whole, but not necessarily a detail shot. There are 23 knits, of which two are accessories. My favorites are these six below.

This first one. I love everything about it. The grey-toned aqua, the cables, the collar, the fit. It even has a set of matching buttons (second from the top on the previous image, right side). It's made from the alpaca blend—yum—but 18 balls at €8 is a bit high for me. I'd make it with another alpaca yarn with more yardage and *ahem* costs less.

{ Flickr } Montage by MJ, screenshots from Origin' website

And of the next three, I like the low scoop neck and eyelet cable of this grey pulli! It calls for the cashmere blend; for 9 balls at €14/ball that's got to be one really nice (and really soft) pullover. If I ever have the time to knit this, I'll sub in a cheaper yarn.

{ Flickr } Montage by MJ, screenshots from Origin' website

Do you see anything you like in this catalog?

Origin ::: Bergere de France : yarn and catalog
La boîte a tricot ::: 44 rue des Fourbisseurs, Avignon : yarn and catalog
Knit Naturelle ::: online vendor : some yarn, catalog, single patterns

All images by Origin by Bergere de France.

Origin' by Bergere de France

2010-03-14T13:33:02Z

{ Flickr } Screenshot from Origin' website

A display of new yarns caught my eye at the yarn store in Avignon in December last year: Origin' by Bergere de France (BdF). It turns out it's not new, per se. BdF announced the arrival of Origin' in October 2009, apparently, to its newsletter subscribers, and there is a bit of discussion about it in their forum. I waited to see if more information would come out but so far, apart from their forum thread, a Ravelry thread, a Paris trade show and a listing of UK suppliers, there has been nothing. Yet? ETA BdF showed this at TNNA earlier this year.

According to its website, the line consists of "seven outstanding yarns of natural origin". It's true, most of these are made up primarily of 1 material: alpaca, bamboo, cashmere, merino wool, mohair, silk, and soy, whereas the main BdF line is a mixture of wool and acrylics. Origin' is also priced higher, possibly because of the quality of the material. This is clearly not a budget yarn line! But we all need a bit of luxury every now and then, non? Let's look at the colors.

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{ Flickr } Montage by MJ, yarn screenshots from Origin website

The colors are gorgeous, aren't they? There are enough neutrals and colors for every preference, and I love that there are some touches of grey and brown in some of them. The blues are very contemporary, as are the purples, but I do wish they had more green! It makes me wonder if these were a result of some color preference, popularity, or geographical survey.

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Curiosity got the better of me, eventually, so I purchased a couple balls of Soja in Brin (Eng.: sprig), a clear, bright robin's egg blue. It's a cable-ply, meaning it's two 2-ply yarns plied together to create one cable-like strand. It was also only 16% soy, with cotton making up the other 84%, but the yarn itself is soft and quite shiny. It felt luxurious! At €5/ball it's a decent price (but that's because I'd already spent €€€ at Puyricard). Now, to find a project using 186 yds / 170m of DK-weight yarn! Any suggestions?

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I'm not sure about Origin''s packaging: each ball is individually packaged in its own recyclable pouch. I'm sure this is meant to add some touch of exclusivity, but somehow in this age of recycling and the push toward renewable materials, it isn't necessarily the best choice. I'll grant that yarn can be delicate, but this isn't the best packaging direction. It's beautifully designed, yes, but it sends the wrong message to knitters.

Perhaps the only other problem I see is that I wish there was more about the actual origins of the materials for the yarns themselves. Two lines of intro copy on the site is not enough; when I first saw the yarn line I thought it meant that these were produced by organic, sustainable, eco-friendly methods. Who knows? If and when BdF launch Origin' in the US at any of the major trade shows, I hope they'll have more information. It's a truly lovely yarn line, with gorgeous colors and beautiful pattern support, but a bit of transparency would be helpful.

On Tuesday I'll post about the pattern support. In the meantime, take a look around the website.

See? Wool and knitting are good for you.

2010-03-12T02:12:10Z

I got this link from my friend Sandi, and it's really good!

It reminded me of the guy who came home to find his apartment covered entirely in foil (read this article) but this one had an army of stylists and a camera, so everything had to be perfect. I bet they used a knitting machine for most of it. The sneakers are fantastic.

Yarnworthy: I was clicking around looking for newish (to me) yarns and happened upon Be Sweet, whose products are made by South African artisans. The Magic Ball, a combination of different types of yarn and color schemes, would make gorgeously unique scarves!
I can also imagine pairing that with a regular plied solid yarn and making something stripey and fun. Or, using the Magic Ball for trim on an otherwise plain knit.

...And more Liberty

2010-03-10T17:51:04Z

{ Flickr } Image captured from Liberty of London website

I'm quite excited about Liberty of London's new collection for Target and today on their website they announced the online release of the full collection! For you lucky Liberty print lovers in the US, this blog post has more pictures (the watering can above is just one of them). The products go on sale this Friday!

Save me a teapot! I mean it!

Liberty also collaborated with French concept store Merci on a collection called Liberty et Merci; this blog post shows some snaps of the opening as well as an interview with Merci's creative director, Marie-France Cohen. Miss Cohen describes the collection:

"Liberty is a dream name and is so close to English style. I like the eccentricty of the English and how you are never afraid to be different. What's fun about this collaboration is that we have not used Liberty in an old-fashioned way but in a quite trendy, cool, French way. English eccentricity- French taste!"

Just fyi, this is the medal Miss Cohen was referring to.

Winter. Spring. Liberty. Books.

2010-03-08T02:08:10Z

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Yesterday winter returned with a vengeance to the south. I had a nice British roast dinner (Americans would call it lunch) with friends and the snowfall never ceased. Unfortunately I left during the worst time, and things were rather tense and silent in the car as I drove slooowly down the hill and wound my way back home on those curvy little roads. Ye gods. I am so over this white stuff. What you don't see in the picture is the village behind the snowfall. Really, it was rather beautiful, all that snow. Powder. Soft, light, white, pretty. But I easily got past that: how can those snowclumps pack so much wetness and cold in them, and sneak in through all 5 layers of clothing, and still make me shriek as they melt down my back???

Hello, Spring? The world wants you. Now.

{ Flickr } Image © Liberty of London for Target

I was doing some research for work when I discovered that Liberty of London are going to be featured at Target! Liberty, of the gorgeous flower prints, will be featuring 5 of their prints (Dunclare Pink, Sixty (below), Martha Grace, Peacock, and Carla) on items ranging from piggy banks to bicycles. (I personally would like a skateboard with a floral print but I'll settle for the teapot!)

{ Flickr } Image © Liberty of London for Target

Finally, here's a video all book lovers will love. Have a happy Monday!

The Olympics: Vancouver 2010 coverage and the future of sport climbing

2010-03-03T09:31:12Z

Have you had enough of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics yet? Two weeks' worth of fantastic athleticism and I'm only just getting over it.

One of the reasons is that the IOC has given full recognition to sport climbing's internationally recognized body, the IFSC. This is the first step toward eligibility for inclusion at the 2020 Summer Games; sports for each Olympics is selected 7 years beforehand, so the 2016 sports are already locked in place. (Note that this does not include traditional and alpine climbing.) What happens next will take place behind the scenes, according to this article, possibly changing rules for bouldering (low-level ropeless climbing), sport climbing (climbing with a rope), and speed climbing (racing), and adding an anti-doping policy. What is key to making sport climbing a successful spectator sport (because it can be boring, watching someone project a route), as IFSC president Marco Solaris said in this article, was

"... 1) Media visibility; 2) Each competition must become a great event; 3) Federal commitment, on all levels, to make sport climbing grow in their own countries."

What does this mean for sport climbing? Well, more visibility for the sport, and probably more commercialism, as if there wasn't already enough of it. Recognition of the sport could mean that national parks associations will reconsider access issues and rules for cliffs in certain areas (such as the closure Williamson Rock in the Angeles Crest mountains just outside Los Angeles). It could also mean imposing mandatory safety measures, since rock climbing can be dangerous (whoa, Dean Potter solo highlining at Taft Point in Yosemite).

I've already stated my ambivalence toward sport climbing as an Olympic sport, but perhaps the idea will grow on me. Since the 60s the sport has evolved from a highly-specialized, almost-secretive, dirtbag pursuit to a more polished, accessible, structured body with ordinary people doing incredible things, one can only guess what can happen in the next 10 years. Change is good.

In closing, here's a selection of some of the best imagery of the 2010 Games, taken from The Big Picture.

©AP Photo/Matthias Schrader #

Sweetheart and Sweetstar

2010-02-24T01:24:10Z

Kate Gilbert, creative director of Twist Collective and designer extraordinaire, recently released Sweetheart and Sweetstar as her contribution to the Haiti relief effort.

According to this, Sweetheart was born out of a sketch made by Kate's daughter, and loving maman that she is, Kate obliged.

And, predictably, those with boys grumbled. Thus Sweetstar was born:

If pink and more pink just isn't your little girl's thing, try other color combinations. Maybe it's just me: these first two make me think of sunflowers and irises:

And these. I know of one niece who can at times be nature-lover or punk princess:

I'm sure you can think of other stupendous color combinations, with variegated yarn even, or stripes! And I'm sure they'll look just as good in yarns with textures such as tweed, velour, bouclé. The only limit is your imagination.

The best part is that 100% of all proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity's efforts in Haiti, exclusively. Isn't that fantastic? So you can keep *your* little sweeties warm at the same time that you're helping out other people's loved ones.

There are, of course, other knit-related efforts out there:

Yarn Harlot Stephanie Pearl-McPhee keeps a running tally of the amount donated by knitters to Medecins sans Frontieres / Doctors without Borders here.
Ravelry has created a special Help for Haiti tag for pattern searching. Check to see deadlines on donations, as some patterns may be available for contribution for a limited time.

Unexpected Beauty

2010-02-18T01:18:10Z

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Rust on ironwork, 2010.

A visit to the old town on the hill just this weekend resulted in a few decent pictures, this being one of them. I lucked out: it was a bit of a cloudy day, which is perfect for pictures. It was bitterly cold, though, the kind of day when most people—most locals—stayed inside. When the hardiest people were the tourists and out-of-towners determined to make the most of an otherwise gruesome day. I found this bit of rustiness on an ordinary metal gate facing the fountain facing the Hotel du Beffroi. The owners never bothered sanding it away and, quite frankly, I like it the way it is. A few quick snaps and then off I went, down the worn and icy cobblestones and over the bridge to Place Montfort, for a mid-morning noisette.

Gigondas, or a day in the French countryside.

2010-02-10T01:10:10Z

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I spent Sunday in the company of friends, at a lovely little village near us called Gigondas. It's a charming place with lots of pretty vignettes like the one above. There is a particular street decorated with all sorts of odds and ends, the work of one resident whose apparent motto is "more is more, yes, lots more". There is a garden of contemporary art that's quite interesting, and pretty cool in that they can be touched, and explored, and moved around. There is a former hospice that serves as a little tourist office and offers wine tastings. (Most people think first and foremost of Châteauneuf-du-Pape when it comes to Côte du Rhône wines, but Gigondas is high up on the list, too.)

We ended the day at a friend's place to enjoy a warm fire, wine, flapjacks, and a tarte aux pommes. And a promise to get together again. Enjoy the pictures!

:::

For the first time in a long time, while taking pictures, I thought about my blog. This one. It's been through redesigns and updates, and reflected my varying levels of interest in assorted crafts. And, quite frankly, I thought of shutting it down at one point, but perhaps out of pure laziness, flakiness, or nostalgia, I didn't. Sploggers be damned. It's about redefining its purpose. I no longer knit as madly as I used to, a consequence of my living in Europe and my stash living in the US. I obviously don't spin, or quilt, or sew, for the same reasons. (I really don't want to accumulate stuff while I'm here.) I still climb, just not now while it's bitter cold. And I'm doing more freelance design, which I've sorely missed, and which I recently got back into. So while I figure things out, I'll continue posting on anything and everying, and add pictures on Flickr. Stick around.

2009 Book List

2009-12-31T11:31:09Z

I didn't reach 52 books, but I didn't expect to. With the shuttling back and forth from the old world to the new and back again, and preoccupations with issues (the usual), and the availability of quality, English, reading material, it was hard to keep on track. I did manage to read a few good books while in SoCal (#s 8–16 and 29–50), but the rest of them were from our English friends (and therefore you'll see British authors). The differences in spelling and labels made me think of growing up with the Queen's English in Nigeria, and then facing American English in junior high. Ah, culture.

This year marks the 5th year that I've been doing the "52 Books in 52 Weeks" meme (see lists on my About page). Memes are strange things, part popularity contest, part true competition, part snobbery. Reading parallels rock climbing: there is a personal challenge, a variety of selections, a goal, and a tangible reward (of sorts) at the end. No wonder it endures. When it started out (I'll laregly credit Large Hearted Boy for this) and spread through the knitting blogs, I wasn't the least bit surprised because the knitbloggers of 2005 were a smaller community with a handful of marquee names, and very open to all kinds of viral marketing, polls, and memes. Now, with book lists so commonplace on blogs (and I've made lists to read once I return to the US), it was surprising to read that this meme is once again making the rounds, this time through design blogs such as this and this. What's old has become new again.

Here's to 2010 and many more books in your bookshelves!

One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night, Christopher Brookmyre. Funny in a twisted way. Reading the thick accents was a bit difficult.

Slumdog Millionaire, Vikas Swarup. Good book.

In A Sunburned Country, Bill Bryson. Touches on the Aborigines, which bears addressing even more.

The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett

The Perfect Spy, John le Carré

Revelations, Jerry Moffatt. The climbing legend's story in his own words. Could have been edited a lot better.

Scarpetta, Patricia Cornwell

Righteous Pork Chop: Finding a Life and Good Food beyond Factory Farms, Nicolette Hahn Niman

High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed, Michael Kodas

Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America, Morgan Spurlock. An older book, but still relevant.

Ender in Exile, Orson Scott Card

The Brass Verdict, Michael Connelly. Good writer. This book brings together Bosch and Haller in a very unexpected way!

The Overlook, Michael Connelly

The Last Coyote, Michael Connelly

Sandworms of Dune, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. These two books are what the authors claim would have been Frank Herbert's 7th in the Dune Series. They're good, but I disliked the ending because it has an unrealistic, fairy tale quality. I think I would have liked it if it had been written *better*, it just seemed so rushed. I do, however, like the very last line...

Hunters of Dune, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

Jacquot and the Waterman, Martin O'Brien

The Full Cupboard of Life, Alexander McCall Smith. Good book, great series!

The The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith.

Tears of the Giraffe, Alexander McCall Smith.

The Kalahari Typing School for Men, Alexander McCall Smith.

Deeper, Jeff Long. The sequel to The Descent; less creepy. The first is a must-read. But not before bed!

Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernières. I liked this very much. I don't intend on watching the movie; sometimes books are better left alone for the individual to imagine the characters.

The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman, Louis de Bernières. This wasn't very good. De Bernières' writing style was rather tedious here.

The Showa Anthology: Modern Japanese Short Stories

The Transformation and Other Stories, Franz Kafka

Mr. Nice, Howard Marks

Slam, Nick Hornby

The House at Riverton, Kate Morton

Genghis, Conn Iggulden

Moriarty, John Gardner

The Whole Truth, David Baldacci

The Appeal, John Grisham

Book of the Dead, Patricia Cornwell

Predator, Patricia Cornwell

Secret Prey, John Sandford

Phantom Prey, John Sandford

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, Ruth Reichl

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World's Most Famous Cooking School, Kathleen Flinn

Come to the Table, A Passion for Eating and French Living, Louise Luiggi

I'll Never Be French (No Matter What I Do): Living in a Small Village in Brittany, Mark Greenside

The Billionaire's Vingegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine, Benjamin Wallace

Echo Park, Michael Connelly

Lost Light, Michael Connelly

The Overlook, Michael Connelly

Still Summer, Jacquelyn Mitchard

The Inner Circle, Mari Jungstedt

Chasing Harry Winston, Lauren Weisberger

Alexander & Alestria, Shan Sa

Personal Velocity, Rebecca Miller. Short stories of women.

Would love to read Susanna Clarke's The Ladies of Grace Adieu

Today is devoted to elephants.

2009-12-09T11:09:09Z

Not every post has to be about knitting, after all.

Photo by Cesare Naldi.

The Big Picture recently covered National Geographic's International Photography Contest and the first photo in the gallery touched me: The image of Rajan, a swimming elephant, supporting his mahout Nazroo is beautiful because it speaks of trust and the bond (sometimes over a lifetime) between handler and animal.

For some reason when I think of elephants, I think of them swimming. It's incredible that such massive hulks of mammal can actually move across water (when, um, I can't), and to see them in action is priceless. I've collected a few videos for you:

This is Rajan, the elephant in the picture above. Rajan lives in the Andaman Islands, in the Indian Ocean. Lots of water! What to do, eh?

This second video has a particularly nice story behind it. The owner (who is not the filmmaker) saved the video because she liked it so much and posted it for all eternity (or until the BBC claim copyright violation). There are apparently quite a few swimming elephant lovers out there.

This third features a memorable scene in The Fall (2008; IMDB). Tarsem (Singh) directed this, with Krishna Levy doing the music; in this interview, Tarsem mentions that male elephants will swim in the ocean to get to a female. He's also known for directing REM's Losing My Religion music video, another favorite of mine for its look and feel.

It should be noted that Tarsem has a thing for elephants going back to 1994. Read on.

Elephants are good for comic relief, too. No water, but elephants and trampolines are another improbabe combination. Also, it's rendered, but let's suspend reality.

And of course, the magic combination is elephants + swimming + comedy, which resulted in one of the most memorable commercials I've ever seen. This 1994 commercial by Fallon McElligott (now Fallon Worldwide) and directed and produced by guess-who (Tarsem, of course) put them on the map. (They also created the Sony Bravia play-doh bunny commercial.) According to this, the scratchy phonograph music was made especially for the commerical and is unavailable for purchase, and that it was filmed at Koh Phi Phi Ley at Maya Beach in Thailand.

And if you haven't had enough, check out this list of fictional elephants.

Form

2009-11-29T15:16:16Z

Nothing says Winter like that trifecta of grey skies, cold rain, and body-staggering mistrals! (And a new masthead. Pretty, pretty.) Welcome back, Old Man...

Snail shells, bleached white in the sun, are everywhere at our home crag. They are all over the dirt trails, the patches of wild thyme, or the various bits of exposed rock. I've found them in handholds, even. They come in all sizes and shades of white. I feel sorry for the lowly snails sometimes, but they leave behind such a wondrous legacy of geometry, evolution, and pure... wonder. The most notable thing about their shells is the form: a spiral, always curving clockwise, always growing. I do believe it's Nature's most beautiful line.

It's no surprise that the spiral, and artists who use it, are the inspiration for this set of hats I've designed (and am still working on). I sketched, charted, revised and tore up notes, knit up and frogged samples, and employed tests knitters on Ravelry to do some work, and this, dear knitters is the result. May I present Smithson and den Arend, now available on my Patterns page:

Smithson is a reversible spiral hat that can be knit from the top down or the bottom up. The best part about it is it can be made in a variety of yarn weights (although I'd advise against laceweight), so it's a truly flexible pattern. It should also be noted that this is the simplest hat of the three, and the one that my guy friends favor most.

den Arend features a single spiraling cable section that continues into the brim. You can make it a snug hat, or as is the fashion nowadays, a long and slouchy one. It's the color that makes it masculine or feminine, I think. In pink it is absolutely girlie. My niece would approve.

Goldsworthy, the last of the three, is a work in progress. I cannot tell you how many iterations I created of it, and how many spiral progressions I figured out, but the one thing I can say is that it is not finished, and will possibly be done by January. I want to make something that is worthy of the artist it is named after, and like his work, it can be a fleeting thing. Please be patient.

Enjoy the spiral.

Yalla

2009-11-22T10:22:09Z

The copyscraping episode left me not wanting to have anything with knitting for a while. After contacting lots of entities and not getting anywhere, I signed off.

It felt good.

I flew back Home.

I worked.

I watched Top Chef.

I picked olives. This year I picked only those bigger than my thumb. I packed them in salt and once a day I shake the jar. The mildness is *just* there.

I climbed rocks. I read climbing blogs. I watched climbing videos. I'm getting stronger but I'm not yet strong enough. (Hah! Like every climber I know.)

I read design blogs. I missed Graphic Design: typography, composition, color, imagery, artistry. Not usability. Not functionality. Just. Design.

I started drawing again. I warm up by trying to draw straight, parallel lines and round circles, like the monks, and perfectly spaced squiggles. I draw in pen. Because I want to.

I think I'd like to start blogging again. Whenever I feel like it. Out at the cliffs, I hear people yell out, "Allez", encouraging a climber to move past a crux section or to keep moving. Yalla expresses the same sentiment, flowing off the tongue like silk. Do you like it? I do.

Yalla. Allez. Let's go.

Copy scraping, or splogging, is illegal.

2009-09-19T23:02:03Z

Copy scraping, or splogging, is illegal.

At least in the United States. But it doesn't matter whether you're doing this in Germany, or Turkey, or some tiny island in the middle of the Pacific. The fact is that if you're using someone else's original content and original imagery for your own purposes, whether monetary or pure spite or whatever, it exposes you for who you really are:

A fraud. A thief.

Unoriginal, uninspiring, uninteresting.

If you're reading this on a blog or feed whose name and owner is not Yummy Yarn by Mary Joy Gumayagay, then the words and images have been scraped from Mary Joy's original knitting blog.

You can't come up with your own content, so you have to use someone else's. I pity you, if this is the way you make money, with Google AdSense ads interspersed with my content. And, I might add, other bloggers'.

You must be one pathetic human being.

I guess you think you're getting the last laugh, don't you? Don't worry, call me lots of names, it just shows how uncivilized and crude you really are. You seek validation through others. You are insecure, you find joy in cheating, you find security in hiding. You are nothing, and you will always be nothing.

Softly wanes the cheerful light

2009-08-31T23:09:09Z

Sunset in the Mediterranean, overlooking the hamlet of Çrni Kal, Slovenia, in the fall of 2007. A week of climbing at 2 different crags with a bit of exploring in nearby Trieste, Italy. Spasso!

Goodbye, Summer! Southern California, thank you.

Reunion.

Revision.

Revival.

And, as always, a new masthead.

Toward the end of August I got to thinking about that vital part of me I left behind in the Old World. The rock climber. The museum-goer, the market-browser, the eater-of-berries-along-the-forest-path. The lover of light and shadow. The artist who so deftly creates a landscape in a few careful strokes of watercolor.

Reconnect.

Time to go home.

(Boy, did the light seriously wane at our most recent get-together! What was supposed to have been a Sew-In became a gabfest.... ladies, I think I know you all A LOT BETTER NOW.*ahem* Happy Birthday dear Jillian, I'm glad you liked the fabric and the crocheted scarf!)