Don’t worry, she’ll be back soon.

I wonder if she’ll ever get this quilt done.

We’re catching up on our knitting and rejuvenating our brains.
See you soon.

Library of Congress   Prints and Photographs Division
LC-USZ62-106947

When I first started creating my blog I researched web page graphics by reading several books and websites about the topic. Each one of these sources mentioned that fonts can be a creative way to personalize a website. I never thought much about fonts before starting a blog, but a whole new world was revealed as I set out to find a font for the title of my blog.

The array of websites offering fonts is endless with some actually giving away their fonts for free. I found a vast online community of folks that are obsessed with fonts. There is even a web forum called typophile which discusses all aspects of fonts including help in identifying them.

Some of the coolest fonts are the tiny pixel ones like knitty uses. The editor mentions in her FAQ that she doesn’t want to tell where she found her fonts but I think it is only fair to give credit to the woman who designed it. It’s called lilany and was created by Danielle Huthart at Pixelyn. She offers this and several other free pixel fonts for non-commercial purposes. Pixel fonts produce very clear tiny text when antialias features are not used. I tried creating pixel text with several photo editing programs and found Adobe Photoshop Elements works the best for this purpose.

If you are curious about the font used for the knitty title, it is called Pesto which is for sale by fonthead design.

Yesterday I purchased a ticket for a short trip to London and Paris this winter! Maybe it is good karma resulting from my Phildar yarn odyssey. I can’t wait to visit a Phildar yarn store in person. I’ve been so excited about the trip that my knitting has suffered a bit. I put the stripped sweater aside this week so that I can start designing my next Christmas stocking that incorporates the lighthouse pattern from Sweaterscapes. I’m going to combine it with a design from A Time to Knit Stockings. I’ll probably start the stocking this weekend and also try to finish sewing the stripped sweater.

Winter Interweave Knits Update (again):
I thought that the subscriber-only code was printed in all of the magazines. Well, today I made a trip to Barnes & Noble to look at guide books and happened to checked out their shipment of winter Interweave Knits. Their shipment of IK did not have the subscriber-only code. I guess Interweave printed two winter issues, one for subscribers and another for bookstores. Last weekend I just happened to come across a bookstore that got ones with the subscriber-only code.

Thanks to Eklectika my comments are now working. I didn’t realize that I had to set my archiving to “individual” to get the comments to work properly.

Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World.

Science history buffs and folks curious about how synthetic dyes entered the world might find this book interesting. Because of my long-standing interest in color theory and dyes, it caught my eye during one of my recent visits to The Weaving Works.

Before knitting dominated my needlecraft life, I dabbled in the quilting world. I really like the concept of quilting but seem to get stumped when I can’t find fabric that matches what I have in mind. Sometimes I’m looking for a certain design to fit a theme and other times I’m looking for a specific color. My constant quests for the perfect fabric eventually lead me to the world of dyes. While I haven’t been able to commit much time to developing my dyeing skills, I still dream about being able to find more time to pursue this interest.

This book is a biography of William Perkin who accidentally came across a way to produce dye from coal-tar. He was one of the first chemists (if not the first) to translate his new discovery into a very profitable market. The author believes that Perkins is directly responsible for the hugely profitable modern chemical industry. Companies such as DuPont, BASF, AGFA and Bayer all have roots in dye manufacturing.

Besides being a biography about Perkin, this book gives some brief tidbits about the modern textile industry. My favorite is about an observation by Don Vidler who is a sales director for a company that markets Tencel. Vidler noticed that while designers and color forecasters love to come up with new exciting color pallets each season, most adhere to a “New York uniform” of all black for their personal dress.

While the subject of the book caught my interest, I didn’t particularly like how the author organized the content. The first couple of chapters were confusing. He starts by talking about Perkin but then jumps to the modern world. Once I understood the author’s formula, I started enjoying the book more. I noticed that quite few of the reviewers on Amazon also had mixed feelings about this book. I would recommend it as mildly interesting reading for those interested in dyes and textiles, giving it three out of five stars.

I just saw the winter issue of Interweave Knits at a local bookstore. Anyone can access the “subscriber-only” site; the code is printed on the second page of the magazine!

If I didn’t already subscribe I would have bought this issue. I especially like Marcel’s Sweater by Véronik Avery and Uptown Boot Socks by Jennifer L. Appleby. There’s also an article by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts, which describes a new intarsia in the round technique. I still think they should have put Annie Modesitt’s sweater in this issue. They could have bumped Three for the Road (simple hat, scarf and fingerless mitts), the Granny Square Pullover and Knitting Behind Bars. Maybe they are hoping to get some of those inmates to subscribe.

Ok, I really want to start the stripped cardigan but I have two outstanding projects that really need to get done. I really hate starting a new project when I have others that are yet to be completed. It shouldn’t take too long to finish these socks for my niece. I’ve really got to get cracking so she doesn’t out grow them before they are completed. Don’t these colors look familiar?