More on Knitblogs

My previous post on Rockin’ Blogs made me realize that my blogroll had become woefully outdated.  Very few of the blogs that I mentioned in the post were on my sidebar, which is silly because I obviously follow them.  I realized that my blogroll was stuck where it was more than a year ago when I entered the land of knitblogs.  Two things have changed since then.  First, I began to drift away from the “superstar” blogroll and more towards blogs with more modest readership.  Second, the pantheon of superstar knit bloggers has changed considerably in the last year or so.

Let’s look at the superstars first.  When I say “superstar” I mean the likes of the Yarn Harlot, Brooklyntweed and Grumperina.  Anyone who closely follows knitblogs has heard of them, if only because they’re listed on most blogrolls.  Also, they tend to link to each other.  Many of the popular knitbloggers have very similar blogrolls, all linking to the same group of… popular knitbloggers.  I don’t have any interest in making a statistical study of it, but it does seem that popular blogs only link to popular blogs.  Is this because “good” bloggers have taste that mirrors the taste of the blog reading public in general?  Or does earning a place on the sidebar of a superstar blogger confer a wide readership overnight?  See FemiKnitMafia’s experience being “Harlotized” as evidence that such a thing is possible.  When I first built my blogroll it drew almost entirely from this popular group, because I figured it was a good place to start. 

That list of “popular knitbloggers” as it appears on blogrolls all over doesn’t really make sense anymore.  Several of the superstar blogs have gone dormant for one reason or another.  Take the brightest star of all, Eunny Jang. In August 2006 she posted extensively on two brilliant self-designed sweaters and lots of beautiful spinning. She hasn’t posted at all in August 2007; she actually hasn’t posted to that blog since April.  I assume it’s because she’s been super busy editing Interweave and working on her design projects.  Purly Whites/Sundara rarely posts anymore, presumably because she has a hand-dying business to run.  Apparently bitter purl has a book coming out, which might be why she hasn’t posted since March.  The feed reader I use tells me that thousands of people still subscribe to these feeds, even though they seldom get updated.  I think it’s sort of silly to keep linking to inactive blogs just because they were popular and interesting once, so I removed them.   

So, why do I read the blogs I do?  What I look for, more than anything else, is knitting content.  I know that sounds self-evident, but it isn’t really.  I don’t really get Knit and Tonic, for example.  Wendy has a great sense of humor, and takes really neat pictures, but that’s not what I came for.  I want to see what people are working on.  Neat photography and a keen sense of humor are 100 times better when the subject is good knitting.  Take this post by Grumperina.  It’s just a post about socks, fer crying out loud.  But it is well-written, well-photographed, and about knitting.  Take the series that Cara from January One did about her mitered square madness. Once again, it’s well-written, well-photographed, and about knitting.

I look for the same things in the “mere mortal” blogs (no offense gals!).  Blogs with more modest readership are even more fun to read in my opinion, because the writers appreciate and respond to comments.  It feels more like a conversation that way.  It also feels like you actually get to know people.  It’s fitting that MLE was the one who called me a Rockin’ Girl Blogger, because her blog was the first one that I regularly commented on.  I think I might have first seen her on the Knittyboard, but I don’t remember.  I do remember that I began following her blog because of the kinship that I felt because we are both in our 20s, married, and named Emil(y/ee).  I kept following it because she has what I consider to be similar taste and skills.  It’s interesting to see what she picks to work on, because chances are it’s a project that I’ve considered too. 

Ha!  Are you all still reading?  Fabulous!  Thank you so much for making it through what must be my longest post ever.  There aren’t even any pictures!  I’m really curious about what you think of the knitblogging universe.  Do you tend to follow “superstar” blogs or “mere mortal” blogs?  What makes you decide to subscribe to a blog’s feed?  Do you bother commenting on a super-popular blog if you would be the 182nd person to do so?  Why is a peanut called a peanut if it is neither a pea nor a nut? 

Discuss.

Rockin’ Blogs

I was totally psyched and flattered to learn that MLE named me a Rockin’ Girl Blogger.

I’d like to recognize some more rockin’ gals. Since I believe in spreading the wealth, I focused on people who did not already have the Rockin’ Girl Blogger button up. There are obviously a ton of rockin’ bloggers, but here are five more in no particular order:

- Nicole from All Buttoned Up. Nicole is a really neat person who has made some beautiful stuff. I admire her most for an ongoing project of hers that is becoming one of the most valuable resources in the land of knitblogs, and becoming even more useful by the day.  The Walker Treasury Project  was her idea.  I think it shows off some of the very best aspects of our community.  Which reminds me, I had planned to do a few more swatches…

- Robin from Yarncrawl. Robin cranks out beautiful work at an amazing pace, especially considering she works AND takes classes too. She’s also always there with supportive comments and advice.

- Ruth from Knitting on Impulse. I would be absolutely shocked if no one else had nominated her, but I haven’t seen any mention on her blog. Perhaps blog memes aren’t her style. If you’ve never seen her blog it should absolutely be your next click. She creates beautiful things and her blog is full of stunning photography. Her series on creating color schemes from what you find in nature is a must.

- Batty from Batty’s Adventures in Spooky Knitting. I first became aware of Batty on the Knittyboard, and she’s a hoot. She’s also a prolific commenter on other people’s blogs, which I really admire. I don’t comment as often as I should, and blog comments create the great sense of community that we have. Plus, bats are awesome.

- Kelly from Kelp! Knits. Check out these socks, and  this shawl and this cat bed. Beautiful stuff!

These two gals have already been nominated, but I had to mention them too:

- Mel from Pipe Dreams and Purling Plans.  Check out her design in the August issue of Magknits. I was lucky enough to hear about the design in the planning stages, and I’m SO impressed.

- Ruth from Ruthless Knitting. Ruth also has some awesome designs, and her Sheldon is currently the MOST POPULAR toy in Ravelry! Ruth also provides a really interesting mix of knitting and non-knitting content. Check our her series on the adventures of Florence.

So, these are some of my favorite bloggers.  If you’ve never visited them, you really should! 

Why I blog

Last week there was a bit of a kerfuffle over why people blog. If you missed it, see these relevant posts, and read the (hundreds of) comments. One of questions being discussed was “why do people keep blogging if no one ever comments?” From that question sprang the larger question: do we blog for ourselves, or for our “audience?”

I started this blog (and became involved in the Knitty Coffeeshop) for one simple, uninspiring reason. Over the winter that I planned my wedding, I started a bunch of knitting projects and didn’t finish anything. Once the wedding was over and the dust had settled, I decided that I wanted to tie up all the loose ends. There was a WIP along going on at the Knittyboard, and I set up my blog to post pictures of my progress. That was it.

At that point (way back in June 2006) I was shockingly ignorant of the knitting blogosphere. I was pretty ignorant of the online knitting world in general, to be honest. I had been using Knitty patterns for years, but I had never tapped into the community. I had never needed to. I graduated from college in 2005, so until relatively recently I had a large “real-life” community of knitters to talk to. I didn’t feel the need to reach out into cyberspace until I was in a new city, with all of my knitting buddies far away.

Once I started my own little blog, I became more aware of the other blogs out there. The first ones I found were, predictably, those belonging to prodigies and beloved designers. I was considered the “knitting sensei” among my college friends, but this level of skill was something new entirely. In new settings, I rarely speak unless spoken to, or unless I have something very important to say. I sincerely doubted that I would ever have anything useful to add to the conversation.

But I kept plugging away. And yes, I was blogging just for myself at that point. I enjoyed keeping a record of my progress, and being able to do “finished object” posts at the Knittyboard. I tied up my loose ends, and began some new projects. I finished those new projects, and I posted about them. I even whipped up a little free pattern, and posted that. What the heck, right?

Then something happened. I noticed that people started to find me by googling things like “Glasgow Lace modifications” and “Clapotis Noro Silver Thaw.” I do have useful things to say on those topics (add waist shaping, and be prepared to fight with the dropped stitches). I became aware of the fact that a couple of people had actually used my pattern. Maybe I am adding a little something to the conversation after all.  I hope that someday when everything is tallied up, I will have contributed some small fraction of what I have gained.

Anyway, now I’ll share with you yet another remarkable thing out there in the knitblog world. Cara of January One mentioned the fascinating color studies that have been featured at Knitting on Impulse.  She uses photo editors to pixellate photos so she can study the colors that the photos contain.  Her examples are totally stunning. While I am still a color-theory novice, it has been a fun thing to play around with.

Look at all those different blues and purples.  This will be addictive.

And finally, I will mention my very  favorite aspect of the knitblog world: the people.  I’ve “met” the most wonderful people in this cozy little world of ours.  I am excited to say that Ruth and Beth and I have started sharing our designs with one another in a private knitting design workshop.  I had been frustrated that I didn’t have anyone to give feedback on the designs I’m working on, because of course once you post about them it is harder to get them published.  Hopefully by sharing with Ruth and Beth and whoever else may join us I can refine some of my stuff and get it out there.  This will be fun.

Raglan Revisited

Grumperina declared her most recent sweater to be the “most wearable” one she’s ever knit. Which got me thinking. What is the most wearable sweater that I’ve ever knit?

The award goes to a simple bottom-up raglan that I knit in 2004. I wore it today, as I often do on the weekend. It was based loosely on Rosedale, minus the intarsia. I used Valley Yarns Charisma in a green – teal – blue – purple blend. It doesn’t seem like Webs has it anymore, which is too bad, it was nice yarn.

There is some really neat pooling and flashing, especially on the sleeves.

I could have prevented it, I guess, but I like it this way. I knit this before I really knew about the online knitting community, and before I knew the words “pooling” and “flashing.” So, readers, what is your most wearable sweater?

Once upon a time…

I enjoyed, and I was decent at, stranded colorwork.

Lopi Sweater, completed circa December 2004.
I am frustrated with Red Light Special, but I will get my mojo back.

2006 Wrap-up

2006 was an intense year. I got married, experienced the first scary health crisis in a parent, and the first passing of a grandparent. A few days ago, my husband and I joined the ranks of homeowners. I’m looking forward to another exciting year in 2007, which includes actually moving into to the new home, in my hometown, and (hopefully) beginning law school.

2006 has been a good year for knitting. I had a lot of WIPs build up during the wedding-planning process. I started to get bored with knitting, because all of my projects were the same: in the round, size 8 needles. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I felt like I wasn’t challenging myself.

Glasgow Lace was my favorite FO of 2006. I added waist shaping in a lace garment for the first time, and it presented just enough of a challenge to be really interesting, but not enough to be frustrating.

I’m also proud of the Chevron Bag. Granted, the pattern got rejected from an online knitting magazine that shall remain nameless, but it was the first pattern that I ever wrote up. It got picked up by a few free pattern sites, and now generates the majority of hits to my blog.

In 2007, I want to do more designing. I have a couple of projects in the works, and I am excited about them. I love the way I have to think about knitting to do this. I recently scrapped a project that I had originally thought of as a spring garment, but now I am seeing it as a fall garment and I know that it will be better than the original version I had in mind.

In 2007, I want to do more socks, because I have a pretty spectacular sock-yarn stash built up. I want to relax about gift-giving deadlines, and start things earlier. I want to work through my stash before I move. I want to keep knitting, and to stay involved with the wonderful group of people that I have found in knitty-land.

Persnickety

I’m about halfway through the Clapotis for Judy, my MIL.

This is a good opportunity to show you how fussy I get about matching up stripes in Noro.

I buy a bunch of these

and re-wind them so I can find any knots that disrupt the color sequence. If there is a knot I start a new ball.

I bought six skiens, but I ended up with eight balls of varying sizes.

I figure our which color each ball starts and ends with, and plan an order so the color sequence is continuous.

When I have to join a new ball, I make sure to start it with exactly the same color that I’m finishing with. And after all that, Noro betrayed me.

Ok, fine, it isn’t that big a deal. Here, I’ll show you what I mean.

On the left, pink is followed by olive-brown, and then by purple. The next time pink came up it was followed directly by purple, skipping the olive-brown! I didn’t join it wrong, the ball skipped that color. It just goes to show that knitting is governed by mysterious forces beyond our control!