Sweater Quest: The Interview

Today's the day! At last, the blog hop stops here. Adrienne Martini answers a few questions about her new book, Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously. "Year in the life" books may be all the rage right now, but this one speaks to us as crafters. Adrienne decided to knit an Alice Starmore Fair Isle sweater. As you know, it took her seven years to knit that beautiful purple sweater. Before she sat down with her Starmore, she needed to learn a thing or two, like knitting with two hands. She took a big bite, and um...I don't think I can go anywhere good with that metaphor. I sat down and read it in a moment, and I loved it.

I loved it because it's about crafting and explores the tangential themes that run through this thing we do. You know how I like that. And it's funny. Take for instance that counting problem I've mentioned before:

Needles in hand, I cast on 357 stitches. I count again--359. No problem. I rip two stitches out. Count again--356. Cast on another--356. Again. Crap. Pull needle out of work and unravel all of it, because my counting mojo is not on my side. Steps must be taken.

Cast on 100 stitches and place marker. Cast on 100 more and place marker. Ditto 100 more. Count stitches--302. Roll eyes up to heavens. Pull needle out of work and unravel.

Cast on 50 stitches and place marker. Count those stitches again to make sure there are still just 50. Cast on 50 more and place marker. Count all of them to make sure the total's still 100. Do this until you reach 350. Count again and get 349.

Mutter impolite words under your breath. Think about taking up different hobby. Skeet shooting's fun, I hear.

The good news is that, like all of us, Adrienne perseveres, knits a gorgeous sweater, and we get to go along for the ride.

Anna van Schurman: As you know, most of my readers come here for the counted cross-stitch. What does your book offer them besides proving that someone who can knit Fair Isle with two hands can't count either?

Adrienne Martini: My hope with Sweater Quest was to talk about not only the compulsion of knitting but of the attraction of craft in general. I cross-stitch as well and know how you can find yourself fixated on a project that you just have to buy, stitch and frame--and that you can't really rest until its done. My cross stitch equivalent of my Mary Tudor sweater is Long Dog's Opus 2. It mocks me right now, since I only have the patterns and haven't found the perfect floss and fabric yet.

AvS: I've heard there are cross-stitch designers who, like Starmore, don't like mere stitchers making changes to their designs. Do you think that crafters have responsibilities to consider the intentions of the designer? This is a hard question for me to formulate because I was trained in English when "the author [was] dead." But as an author yourself, maybe you have some feelings about intention?

AM: I think that any sensible author learns to let the work go; otherwise, you'd spend all of your time explaining, "that's not what I meant!" Anne Rice has done this a few times and gotten herself into ass-deep boiling water. Design is a little different, I think - but I really can't speak from a designer's place since I'm not one. I have enough trouble figuring out what color to paint my walls, much less a canvas. I've gotten off track, haven't I? Crafters have a responsibility to respect what draws them to the design in the first place. For a Starmore sweater, the draw is the color. For Opus 2, the draw is the geometry.

AvS: How scary was it to cut the steeks?

AM: Horrifying. I kept trying to convince other people to cut them - but Anj held firm that I had to be the one to wield the scissors. After that first one, tho, I was a steek-cutting fool. I no longer shudder and whimper when I have to cut my knitting.

AvS: I know you were ill during the retreat, but I'm hoping you still enjoyed it. Tell us a little more about the retreat. I know you had a specific goal in mind (steek cutting assistance) but did you learn anything new or make some friends or meet some blog fans? Do you often get opportunities to be in groups of many women "and one man" and how did it feel?

AM: Other than finding some moral support with steek cutting, I don't know that I had a specific goal in mind. The Retreat offered three classes - I took one on making hand coverings (like mittens and gloves and those weird fingerless mitts) whose formulas I've dug out on more than one occasion. It was a little like summer camp without tents. I made some new friends and can't wait to go back again. Plus, as grown ups, you don't often get the chance to have all mundane responsibilities like cooking and cleaning completely taken care of by professionals for a weekend. It was awesome to focus all of that time on knitting and laughing.

AvS: When are you writing the book about cross-stitch? Okay, that's a selfish way to put it. What plans do you have for the next big projects, in terms of crafting or writing?

AM: Right now, there are two book proposals hopping around different editors' desk. We'll see which one gets reeling in first. And, yes, the publishing industry is a lot like fishing.

Thanks so much, Adrienne! Adrienne's book is available in the usual outlets; here's one.

Interview II

Doaleigh says that my answers to the first two questions are cop outs. But really, I think it tells you a lot more about who I am that, given two options, I invent a third. I practically invented thinking outside the box. But I call it "chuzzwazza."

As for regrets, I think that all of the things I have done up until now, all of the people I have loved and lost and befriended, and the places I have been makes me who I am today. So why should I care that I once had a boyfriend who went to Europe and cheated on me with a German girl? I am so much better off without him. (The dude is taller, hotter, and nicer to me.) And I'm sure whathisface and that slut* are still very happy. (They got married.) Also, I am sure I learned a lesson from that relationship. What was it? Your mother is always right? Don't let other people make you feel bad about yourself? Don't shit where you eat? Yeah. I think it was that.

So I've sent out the questions. I was going to ask why the rhetoric of the last election focused so much on "small town America" when 0ver 80% of U.S. Americans live in cities or conurbations and nearly 90% of economic output comes from urban areas, but I thought that wasn't fair to my foreign friends who may have been unaware that Americans, generally, are idiots.


And I'm not sure it's fair to ask questions you don't answer yourself.

1. The local news media shows up on your doorstep. It turns out your neighbor is a serial killer. You cannot say, "He was so quiet. This is such a shock. This kind of thing doesn't happen here." What do you say? (You can choose the neighbor.)
Oooh. Who is it? Is it that guy who always comes running from his house to help when you have a flat tire or the car won't start? Is it the guy who is always telling us to get the township to plant a new tree in our yard? Or is it that woman who lives alone at #1? I'd want the dirt! Now you know why I wrote my dissertation about women who kill.

I'd probably say, "well, she didn't have fangs and 'monster' tattooed across her forehead if that's what you're asking." Because it does happen here. It happens everywhere. And often, they're just regular people.

2. What's the greatest invention created in your lifetime?
I think I have to say the magic google box. But is it the box? the internet? or Google? Yes.

3. What was your best job?
For 3 months, I inspected internal computer disks. I made a boatload of money for standing in front of a testing machine for 8-12 hours a day. But by the time school started back up, I was ready to be intellectually stimulated again. I think I like that schedule: several months of being intellectually stimulated mixed with weeks of low-stress, monotonous, high-paying work. Where do I sign up?

I'm not really sure in what way it is the best, but it's the first one that popped into my head.

4. Over the next 18 months, we're all likely going to have to cut back. Where will you make these cuts? What luxury will fight to save? Will you actually come to blows?
I think it's going to be eating out. We'll probably start bringing our lunch to work too. And more dried beans, especially if I am "at leisure." We may even have to (shock horror) budget. I may end up going to the mat over salted caramel hot chocolates if this cold weather holds though.

5. Are you a good speller?
I suck at spelling. Schwa sounds throw me for a loop. Is it an "a"? an "i"? an "e"? I drive the dude nuts asking him to spell simple words. But I know the words that give me trouble and I double check them. (That's where a lot of troubled spellers fall down.) I leave the autocorrect turned on the computer. And, perhaps ironically, I'm a good proof reader. Mostly because when I don't know--even if I'm just a bit unsure--I look it up.

*Only used for comic effect. I literally never thought of her, even during the breakup scenes. This was about him and me. Mostly him. No, just him.

The Interview

Doahleigh had this little interiew on her blog and I really meant to get to it sooner but I couldn't be torn away from stitching Flea Market Souvenir.

1. If you want to participate, leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.” (And your e-mail address if I don't already have it, please.)
2. I will respond by e-mailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

1. Would you rather be beautiful but always smell terrible or be ugly but smell lovely? Can I be plain and not smell at all? Really, given two options I always go for the third.

2. The old adage says to regret nothing, and that's probably true. But if you could change something you've done, what would it be and why? Grad school? Boyfriends? Missed opportunities? No. I regret nothing. I think. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.

3. What are some of your nicknames? Tell us the stories behind them. My mother used to call my sister and me fernface and ferndock, but we can’t even remember who was who so I have no idea about the story behind that. But that’s not so much a nickname as it is a term of endearment. I’ve always been the shortened version of my real name, so I’ve never had any real nicknames. In kindergarten, I could write the shortened version but they wanted me to write the formal version. I didn’t know how to spell it--and neither did they! I really am that little name, always have been.

In high school I had a friend who called me Nick the Dick which was shortened to “Nick the” so the nuns wouldn’t hear us say a bad word, but I have no idea why she called me that and no one else really did. I was complaining about not having a nickname in college while I was jumping around (because it was cold outside and I need to be told to wear a jacket) and someone decided I should be called Tig, as in Tigger. But I am so not a Tig. It didn’t stick.

4. What is one of your own favorite physical features and why? Also, you should show us a picture (if appropriate). My eyes. Apparently they are not photogenic; I cannot find one picture where they are not crossed, baggy, tired-looking, or carrying dark circles. Or maybe I'm just under the delusion that my eyes are a good physical feature.

5. When was the last time you cried and why? Usually I cry at commercials while I watch tv at home. But last Wednesday, I cried at Qdoba at lunch time. It was about the job. But I must stress that I cried about my perceived failure more than the actuality that I probably will lose my job. The dude gave me his hanky.

Bonus question: Who is John Galt? Yeah, I could never finish Ayn Rand’s novels. Just don’t have any appeal for me.

That's it. I promise if you ask for questions they'll be hard. And kooky! Go for it!