Dyepot, Teapot

There’s some interesting things coming up in the new year for Portland geeks. Ignite will be back on February 5th at the Bagdad Theater. You can submit a proposal to talk anytime between now and January 15th. We’re also looking for sponsors.

Putting on big events like Ignite or BarCamp requires all sorts of resources (sponsorships, volunteers, friendly spaces) and coordination. In order to do this more effectively, we’re starting a non-profit organization called Legion of Tech. I’m excited to be involved as a board member. We’ll be the umbrella organization for future Ignite, BarCamp, and Startupalooza events. We’re also looking at other ways we can support the Portland tech community.

One of my personal projects, the PDX Groups wiki and calendar, continues to grow, thanks to help from several local community members. Since I started this, I’ve heard from a lot of people who want to see the calendar become a better tool for everyone. So one of my new year’s projects will be to try to connect all of the people who want to work on this, and try to make that happen. We have a really friendly and active tech community forming here, and the more tools we have for connecting people with resources that match their interests, the better.

Portland Art Center, one of my favorite First Thursday stops, has been going through difficult financial times. This fall they invited interested local artists to decorate a square wood panel for a December fundraiser show. A piece of my own textile experimentation will be on display, along with ~300 other works. It should be really interesting to see what everyone created.

They’re having an opening reception tomorrow from 6-10PM, in the main gallery at NW 5th & Couch. Panels sell for $300. 75% of that goes directly to PAC, and the Henry Hillman, Jr. Foundation is providing a matching grant up to $20,000. This fundraiser will determine whether PAC can continue to operate into the new year, so I really encourage everyone to go look, and tell your friends.

Lucas and I are on our annual Thanksgiving Vegas Vacation right now. We spent the weekend in downtown Las Vegas, but most of this week we’ll be in Arizona, with two nights back downtown at the end.

I’m feeling a little sour about our first night’s accommodations. Shortly after we checked in at the Golden Gate Hotel, someone tried to run a test transaction with a company I’ve never heard of on the credit card I used to make the reservation. Fascinating old hotel, but I’d rather stay someplace that doesn’t cause me to spend my morning on the phone with a fraud department.

Saturday we had a really wonderful dinner at Bouchon. Fabulous food, friendly service, entertaining people watching at adjacent tables. I want to go back… as soon as I can afford it.

Our plan from here is a Route 66 adventure, Ash Fork to Topock, returning back to Lucas’ mom’s house in Golden Valley for Thanksgiving. Rusty abandoned gas stations await.

Silicon Florist has a round-up of links from last night’s Ignite Portland event. I had a great time. Those five minutes go really, really fast.

Here’s some links to follow up on my talk.

That binary scarf pattern is available on Knitty. Knitty is a great resource for interesting, attractive patterns, and they’re all free. It’s published as a quarterly online magazine.

The sweater percentage diagram came from Knitting in the Old Way, by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmerman, is another great book for learning how to make a sweater that fits you, using any yarn you’d like. The method of designing by percentage comes from her.

If you’re just getting started, Stitch & Bitch by Deb Stoller (editor of Bust Magazine), has really good illustrations showing exactly how knit stitches are formed, as well as detailed explanations of how to fix common mistakes.

The “knitting 2.0″ site I mentioned is called Ravelry. It’s still in invite-only beta, and the waitlist is long (but moving as fast as they can handle), but as someone who uses a lot of “social” sites, I am really impressed with this one. It seems to do exactly what it needs to, no more, no less.

And for online knitting entertainment, the queen is Yarn Harlot. She has four books out, one of which won the 2006 Ben Franklin Award for humor.

Did I leave anything out? Leave a comment and I’ll add the needed links.

Ha, maybe I do want to write.

To my occasional embarrassment, sometimes I get in the habit of watching a lot of tv while knitting. Especially shows like What Not to Wear and America’s Next Top Model, which send Lucas running. One recent Saturday, I saw an episode of ANTM where Janice Dickenson (former model and full time crazy person) was teaching the girls the difference between posing for editorial and catalog photos, and it clicked with something I’ve noticed about how people respond to fashion content.

Editorial photos are what Vogue does with those multi-page articles showing Keira Knightly on the savanna. Catalog is more obvious; it’s what you see in department store ads and mail-order catalogs and anywhere a retailer is trying to convince you that you, too, could be that woman in the turtleneck and boot-cut jeans. Models pose differently for these two kinds of pictures (check this yourself: where are they looking? are they smiling? what about posture?) but the way the clothing is styled is different too.

A catalog image needs to convince you that you can wear something. The people will look happy. They’re probably standing straight and looking at the camera. The clothing will be styled to reflect the buyer’s (presumed) lifestyle, without a lot of elements you’d have to be highly exhibitionistic to pull off. But editorial photos are meant to do something else. They’re more conceptual, less practical. The focus is on inspiring the reader and evoking a mood. Runway shows will do this too. They’re trying to sell you on an idea.

But people outside the fashion industry aren’t necessarily tuned in to this distinction, and are often more focused on ‘can I wear that?’ than ‘ooh, I want to be a Baroque German Princess too!’. So you get complaints that the models in Vogue Knitting are wearing tutus with their sweaters, or there’s no camisole under the sheer blouse, or something else along those lines. Our habits for evaluating clothing are more practical, less imaginative, and we don’t automatically analyze ‘how could I make that work for me?’. I don’t think that’s bad, but it’s an interesting tension to observe. It probably has applications elsewhere, too. Are we selling an idea, a mood? Or an item to plug into someone’s existing needs and lifestyle?

As a footnote, this is what’s interesting about ’shopping’ magazines like Lucky. Their aim is to take these concepts and break them down into things the reader can directly buy or do, bridging the gap. They identify trends and break out the components, and then show multiple versions so the reader can find one they like. If you’re interested in staying fashionable without spending a lot of time on it or hiring a stylist, this is perfect.

I haven’t felt like writing much lately. I’m in the middle of one of my occasional ‘bored with technology’ phases, too. So I’m letting a few things slide. It’ll pass before long, I expect.

I’ve been tracking everything I cook on my wiki, though. Might be interesting if you’re looking for ideas.

I’m also going to be presenting at Ignite Portland on Thursday. I’m giving a five-minute talk on why knitting is neat. If you’d like to go, plan to be there early. The number of people who’ve expressed an interest in attending exceeds the space’s limits. But it should be worth it; there’s 18 fun talks on the schedule, and free food and drink.

Speaking of knitting, I just got an account on Ravelry. It’s an awesome knitting social network and project management tool. I’ve been adding some of the things I’ve made, and I’ll link to it again when the site is public.

Members of the Portland Etsy street team will be in Brooklyn this week for a trunk show at Etsy Labs. Several shops are also doing an online sale. The vendors participating have some very cool work. Check it out.

Portland is in the middle of its own fashion week right now. I’ve been following the coverage, and I was thinking about trying to go to a show or two, except… they’re having it at a shipyard on Swan Island. And I don’t drive. I’m really having trouble with the idea that an event that’s billing itself as green/sustainable picked a car-required venue, with apparently no shuttle service from downtown. What on earth were they thinking? People are saying that the venue is lovely once you’re there, but for me the location is a complete deal-breaker.

I’m also not that excited about the work I’ve been seeing in photos so far. There’s a ton of solid colors and drapey fabrics and knits, and on the whole it just doesn’t feel very fashiony. A good shape and structure is important, but you need details, too. At least the attendees seem to have taken ‘dress to impress’ seriously, with interesting results.

I’m sure there’s some good work in there, but given the (very low) odds that any of it is offered in my size, I want to feel inspired, not just vaguely content. I guess I’ll just stick to ogling the fall Prada collection for now.

We must be at the end of September, because today the last essays in O’Reilly’s Women in Technology series were posted. Mine was earlier in the week, found here if you missed it. Some very interesting perspectives were included. One big thing I noticed is that most women seemed to attribute their success to doing what they were interested in, whether or not anyone else thought they should. But the same people also benefited greatly from being around people who did support them. Maybe we need to keep talking about women’s participation in technology as both an individual effort and a group one.

If you’re interested in further supporting the goals of this series, or just having the whole collection in one handy package, a print edition will be available starting in mid-October, but you can pre-order now. All proceeds will be donated to the Alliance of Technology & Women scholarship fund.

Much thanks to Tatiana Apandi for being the organizer and editor of this project.

For the last several weeks, as my calendar filled up, I’ve been anxiously hoping that at least some part of this past weekend would remain open. Friends getting married? Okay, it’s in town and only takes up one day. Birthday party? Whew, that’s the weekend before, no problem. Timbers playoff game? Um. We had the great fortune to not only finish second in the league, and make it to the playoffs, but also to win our first round, meaning… the big semi-final game was on the only day I still had open to attend the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival, my annual sheep-viewing pilgrimage.

Fortunately, the game wasn’t until 5PM, and my family agreed to go earlier in the day so my car-less self could have transportation to and from Canby, where the festival is held. And while the Timbers did not win their game against Atlanta, the team still had an excellent season, and I got my sheep fix.

Fluffy sheep.

Spotted sheep.

Clothed sheep.

Naked sheep.

Not sheep. (Yaks.)

Also not sheep. (Camel with a cute little girl.)

Bad sheep.

Also also not sheep. (A very friendly goat.)

We also stopped at St. Joseph winery for their 25th annual grape stomp. But that’s really not sheep.

On Friday I packed up my recently finished knitting projects and headed off to the Japanese Garden in SW Portland with my mom and brother.

Lots of other visitors had cameras, but I think I was the only one looking for interesting things to drape a scarf around.

Did you know that the guard lions by the front gate will also help you with your purse?

I even came back with a few good pictures of the green sweater (thanks Peter!).

Crafty Wonderland was a complete bust, so this week I’m listing the things I had on display there in my Etsy shop. Here’s what’s up so far:

Luscious handspun yarn–if I wore these colors, this one wouldn’t leave my hands. It’s soft, squishy, with colors that remind me of sari fabric.

Glycerin soap.

Felted Clutch Purse–I have these in neutral colors too, but the green is my favorite.

Keep checking back the next few days, as I list more yarn and purses in different colors.