Fall Leaves Knitspiration

I realize this is about three months old, but I found this photo on my phone and realized I never shared it with you all. I love the combinations of colors! I think I will pick a top two or three and use them together in a design next year.

Blue Sky and Clouds

I'm heartbroken by the violence and hate in the world, but it keeps turning. Even on rainy days, we have to try to remember the sun. 

Light and Curtains

I love the way the light is (mostly) blocked by our bedroom curtains. 

Tiny Bird

I saw this tiny bird with a big sky as a backdrop and I'm mostly just happy he didn't fly away when I got closer.

Tapestry

I love looking at textiles from around the world, especially when they're deeply personal. One of my nieces just got back from 2 years in the Peace Corps in Lesotho. Their traditional crafts focus on weaving a dyeing textiles. This one is a lovely wall hanging. I love the way the artist has chosen colors!

Knitspiration via Tile

This in the entryway of The Third Bird in Minneapolis. Lovely!

Colorwork or Texture?

Again, I swear I was paying attention in church, but LOOK at those grates! So pretty!

Inspiration in Church

I was paying attention during the sermon! But, before church on Easter Sunday, I had to snap a photo of this awesome detail of First Presbyterian Church in Tulsa. Potential very fancy slippers?

A Doorway In Minneapolis

:) I love it! I can see sideways heart-ish motifs marching up a sock!

Flowers, And Color

One tip I've heard for coaxing yourself out of a color rut: find a piece of art that you like and use colors from it to inspire yourself. 

I think the same can be said of a lovely grouping of flowers. I'm not always a fan of yellow, but I love it grouped with the green, pink and white tones, here. My Nana loved yellow, and was a little sad about not wearing it all of the time in her later years. She felt white was a more dignified color for an older lady to wear. 

I hope she's not too hard on me, if she can observe me, when I'm older. I intend to not cut off my hair and wear whatever color I love that the moment - choices that I know wouldn't fit with her sense of what a proper mature woman does!

Great Colorwork Inspiration

I love this! It doesn't fit in my house, but it might fit into a knit design sometime.

Paris Wallpaper Socks

I almost hate to say that I fell in love with Paris. It seems like such a cliche. Does every American who goes there have to follow in the footsteps of Thomas Jefferson, Gertrude Stein, Julia Child and Ernest Hemingway? Anthony Bourdain basically says you have to be a complete dunce not to fall in love with it, though, so I have even that curmudgeon on my side.

Well, I did fall in love. We did. In May of 2013. The first draft of Sock Architecture was done, and most of the patterns were drafted out, too. I took a break from obsessing about my book to obsess about Paris. Anyone who was following me on Twitter at that time got to see a pair of little socks roam around the streets. I couldn't tell you why I had those particular socks, then.

Some obligatory Paris photos:

Anyway, when you're looking at everything in the way that travel forces you to, as if the whole world was made all over again for you last night, you sometimes look a little more closely at little details than usual. 

This was the wallpaper in our little hotel. Very simple. Very elegant. 

Months later, I saw a design call from Dream in Color for designs using two colors and bases of yarns, I knew I wanted to take design cues from the wallpaper. 

Voila. Paris Wallpaper Socks.

Colorwork Inspiration

I love the texture of old brick walls. Does that yellow rectangle remind anyone else of National Geographic?

Yellow and Blue

Just water and a lemon under fluorescent lighting at work, but it's pretty!

Mouchoir Socks

Mouchoir means “handkerchief” in French. This sock has a half-handkerchief heel and a simple stitch pattern to match. I love the stitch pattern, but it does limit sizing options a bit. I hope you can forgive me. Both toe-up and top-down versions require no grafting at all and are written out in three sizes, plus an adjustable size.

Mouchoir Socks, Top Down

Why It's My Favorite: Another simple-but-exciting stitch pattern, an easy-to-adjust heel shaping and a round toe that doesn't require grafting. What's not to love?

Mouchoir Socks, Toe Up

Why It's My Favorite: This heel, when worked from the toe up, doesn't need any picked-up stitches at all, just increases and decreases. Also, it's a good heel to know for anyone who wants to design their own socks because it fits in a way that's pretty similar to the Round or French heel, but is much easier to work out, math-wise. I love the toe shaping, too, which can be a little more pointy than most but doesn't have strong lines, which could be a bonus for hand painted or self-striping yarns.

Random Colorwork Inspiration

These are all from a nice but ordinary hotel room. I love toying with ideas for knit stuff with these shapes/colors, even though I have no idea when or for what reason I am likely to use them. Anyway, great two-color schemes, no?

Grungy Basement and 16 Handknit Socks

Sorry for showing you my grungy basement. Hey, it's dry and functional, and that's really all I ask. But, I am very grateful for the little green bar someone hung up there a while ago. It's the perfect spot to hang 16 socks to dry at once!

My sis bought me that little octopus years ago at Ikea. I love it to bits.

So, I haven't dropped off the face if the earth, and I've been knitting socks.

1885 Lumber Exchange

New Work Friend: "Hey, are you into architectural details?"

Me: "Yes!"

If taking photos of grates in 129-year-olf buildings is wrong, I don't want to be right.

(There's a little more information here, but I think the captions on the photos are switched.)

Black and White

I hope it isn't considered harassment to take a photo of the back of an intern's shirt, because I totally did that (I asked first!)

Negative and Positive

This is the floor of a little bar close to work, where some co-workers and I went to lunch recently. (I don't remember which one, sorry!)

I love the use of negative and positive space. I have a tendency to think about filling spaces, but this is a geometric shape that I really love. It may make it's way into my notebook, somehow...