Keanu Reeves probably has narrow feet

I have this idea of myself – the way I would look, if my outsides reflected my insides.  I’d be taller and my hair would be straight (or at least predictable) and my feet would be big enough to wear more shoes without so much of a hunt, and while I’m at it, they would be less wide and peasantish. There’s a scar or two I’d do away with, and I’d be more… lithe, more graceful. I’d never, ever fall going UP stairs.  That’s what I would look like.

Now, I’m neither silly, nor young, so I don’t believe for a minute that any of this is going to change.  I’m undoubtedly going to spend the rest of my life dancing at nipple level to my friends, hemming every pair of pants I’ll ever buy, hoping for the best with my hair, and sighing as I try on yet another pair of dress boots that are both too big, and too narrow for my dumpy wee feet.  I absolutely understand all of this – and it can’t explain what happens to me when I walk by the Habu Booth at Madrona.

They have all these samples hanging up. They look like this, and like this and like this. They are interesting, elegant shapes, and knit from paper, and silk and stainless steel, and they are so beautiful to me that no matter what my intentions were – no matter how firm my resolve to stomp straight past that booth this time, I end up drawn in there, standing below the samples, running silk through my hands, pulling the stainless steel thread into wild shapes, and imagining myself sweeping along, wearing all those lovely things paired with elegant wide pants that don’t make me look squat, or a long sophisticated skirt that I don’t own, together with wonderful shoes that would never fit my feet. It takes what’s really a surprisingly long time for me to remember than that I’m actually the woman from the first paragraph, realize I’m thinking that these sweaters will make me someone I have no hope of ever being (namely tall) and eventually I buy more stainless (or paper, or silk) for yet another scarf, and sadly moon off to the button booth where I buy enough pewter clasps for imaginary sweaters to make myself feel better.  (I have lots now.)

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This time though, one of the samples was Sea Tangles.  Do you see how it looks? It’s… elegantly ratty. It fits right in with that way that I think I’d like to be – that New York artsy, post-apolcalyptic, I was almost cast in the Matrix, kind of look. Better than that, it’s sheer – I’d wear it over other clothes, clothes I own already, and I wouldn’t need to be tall – or even tall-ish, I don’t think.  If I made that, I thought…

habustart2 2016-02-17

I’d never fall up the stairs.  I’ve started. I can’t wait to find out if you can wear a stainless steel and wool sweater through security at the airport.

(PS. I also got the paper and silk/steel for some scarves. I am weak.)

134 thoughts on “Keanu Reeves probably has narrow feet

  1. of course you can wear that. and should. What’s Madrona without a purchase you didn’t really, truly, deeply need except that you did?

    • Ooooooo! I love questions that threaten to make heads explode!!!

      Remember the one in Star Trek TOS, when Spock freaks out all the androids with the line, ‘Everything I say is a lie.’? Awesome 🙂

  2. I think that sweater will go with many things.

    I have a tiny skein of Habu steel yarn. I bought it with a vague notion of making a skinny scarf out of it. It was just too intriguing not to try a little bit of it.

  3. I’m tall, have feet to long to be able to find shoes, and still fall up stairs. Enjoy your knitting, you will look great in that

  4. So that’s what the steel is for! Lady Gaga would totally wear that (but maybe without anything underneath it). (You, maybe a simple sheath underneath, knit from cashmere and alpaca, for those cold Toronto winters.)

    And be proud of your hair. Do you know how much money people spend every year on curlers, rollers, curling irons, permanent waves, gels, sprays and other stuff??

  5. Habu patterns are all so elegantly odd. Ratty chic. I am mesmerized by the knitted fabric but have never worked anything in such a small gauge before. (Fingering is the smallest I have dared to date.) I am mighty tempted to try a scarf though…

  6. I am short, with equally square feet that love Birks, and I am nearing my 60th birthday, but somehow I feel a long skirt and heels, which I have NEVER been able to walk in, will make me tall and willowy. I own a number of scarves, all of them purchased with a tall, willowy vision of myself in mind. I totally get it. And now you have me wanting to knit more, out of this stainless steel and, well, anything, yarn. Knit On, I Say, Knit On. (I totally would have succumbed to Sea Tangles as well. And scarves. And the linen top Louisa, though I would look anything but willowy in it.)

  7. If it works then I’ll put in an order. I thought you were describing me in paragraph 1. Yes, especially the feet. But also the height. ::sigh::

  8. I am the first paragraph! LOL I am short: 4ft 9in, I have wildly curly hair that makes yours look straight by comparison and it feels so good to know I am not the only person to ever fall UP stairs.
    You lost me at stainless steel wool, I am way too practical and like soft stuff too much, but you Yarn Harlot can rock it I am certain.
    If I ever meet you in real life I will totally be all fan girly, while tripping up the stairs to show you my knitted socks.

    • It’s surprisingly soft, actually, because it’s not just stainless steel. There are quite a few out there from different manufacturers, but the only have a percentage of stainless steel and the rest is something lovely like silk or wool. I think the photo shows that it is wool stainless steel Habu A-148. It still feels soft, but it stays how you arrange it – if you stretch it out it stays stretched! Fabulous stuff.

  9. I too am ridiculously short with crazy frizzy hair, so I feel your pain. All I can say is a large quantity of leave in conditioner can go a long way. That said, you are beautiful and perfect (but you know this). I say set off those airport security alarms and let the, turn and stare at your daring, knitted, frizzy beauty. Xoxo. Can’t wait to see how all that metal shapes up.

  10. You will look elegant and fashionable in this awesome garment! And I really look forward to hearing about the escapade you end up having while going through airport security 🙂

  11. I absolutely swoon over that cardigan – the short one, not the long one. However, I tried on a sample at a trunk show, and it did absolutely not one thing for my tall and willow-y -at-the-time self. It was not a good look at all. It was quite disappointing. So perhaps you’re not missing as much as you think you are.

    That Sea Tangle though, wow! I love it. 🙂

  12. I wouldn’t try wearing it through security here in the US. A friend had on a sparkly sweater (commercially knit) that caused all sorts of problems and ended up with her getting up close and personal with a TSA agent. LOL I’ve also had my bag searched coming back from Ireland because I had a Waterford bud vase in my bag. Apparently the lead content was high enough to confuse them.

  13. I think you are looking at this wrong.

    I look like a Russian babushka…the salt of the earth…everybody’s grandma. I’ve taken the look and ran with it. I wear what every the hell I want. My paramount consideration is whether or not I’m comfortable.

    • It’s by far the most comfortable way to live. And who doesn’t like grandmothers? Maybe you have to pass birthday number 60 to feel ready for this attitude. (Note I said “feel ready” — anyone whose children are adults can play.)

    • Hmm…I read both these comments, and felt the urge to agree. I passed my 60th birthday, or maybe my 55th, and my attitude gradually changed. Is it clean? Is it decent? Is it comfortable? Does it fit? Good to go. No one looks at an elderly woman and criticises lack of fashion sense.

      Then I noticed our names. Coincidence?

  14. I too fell for that yarn to make a Sea Tangles, I think three years ago. Then I swatched with a very thin handspun silk together with the steel and liked that better. I still haven’t spun most of the silk, much less cast on. I hope yours goes well!

  15. I love Lucy Neatby’s Cables after Whisky. It took me 5 years to finish. My husband loves it and wears it all the time, still. This is interesting… And I have some very fine silk almost thread… Hummm…

  16. Stephanie, check some of the boots made for wide feet. I actually found two pairs that fit my own duck feet at Marisota (online). Now, if I could get the rest of me to fit my mental picture of myself… I’d wear longish swirling skirts and dramatic cardigans with those boots, and not look like a ship under full sail.

  17. Oh, yeah, totally get that. Have yet to finish the wool/steel scarf that will be worn in distinctive, arty ways with oodles of flair….(though people that have flair may not actually use the word ‘oodles’).

  18. I’m 5’5″, but still, I’ve got that 6.5 EE size feet thing going on. And I trip up stairs. And my hair aspires to be as thick as yours. I have to tell you thank you for making me laugh while feeling much less alone at such things. (Thank heavens for Birkenstocks.)

  19. Did you know they will let you try on samples? I did that one year. It’s dangerous (in the yarn buying sense), but fun and lets you know what you might look like when you finish. Got me to try some patterns I wouldn’t have otherwise.

  20. I’m actually really, really curious to know how airport Security reacts to yarn with stainless steel in it. Please do let us know how it goes!

    Also, I have to say, I am insanely jealous of you or anyone else with body and life to their hair. Mine is straight and super fine, which, believe me, is not all it’s cracked up to be. But have you ever met a woman who didn’t, at least occasionally, hate her hair? I’m trying hard to be a better person and just go with what God and Nature gave me. However much I may wish it were red and curly. 🙂

  21. I fell for that Habu spell several years ago…I am still tall, over 60, overweight and I pay to get that curly look!
    Have fun with your fiber!

  22. hmm, I do love your hair – but I guess it could be an amazement every morning. I also love Habu; for me easier to buy than to choose what to knit 🙂 Thus, I have a medium size box full, which is quite a bit of yardage for Habu.

  23. I tripped over the cat tonight and on my way down I whacked my head on the corner of the counter. As I lay here with my ice pack now I know my root problem…I was not dressed elegantly enough. Owligan didn’t save me. I think tall people must fall too, if only prey to thinking that they’re abnormal. All the tall people I know are always complaining about how huge their feet and how short their sweater sleeves always are.

  24. I can’t tell you how cool it is to read all these comments by short women with curly hair, just like me, and just like you. There really aren’t that many knitters out there dealing with frizz on a daily basis, and how hard it is to look good in all the flowy knits for the tall types.

    I love Sea Tangles! You must model when finished and share on the blog. This could be one time I might finish a Habu project start to end.

    • At 5 ft1 , with size 8.5 (yes!) feet, and frizzy hair, yes I am reading this and realizing I am in good company! I buy clothes in the children’s department –but not shoes 😉

  25. Alright. I need a skein of Habu in my life & a Matrix-looking sweater.
    But if it makes you feel any better…I’m a 5′ 9″ woman (I’m actually the runt in my family; the only one who didn’t clear the 6′ mark..) & it’s not always a ball. Your knees & ankles always hurt, & you risk your life if you wear high heels. At least I do. I look like a baby giraffe trying to walk after being born. Clothes NEVER fit properly (I wear my husband’s black pants to work as girl pants are a pain to find in my size) & I often have to buy men’s shoes because they don’t make shoes in my size. As for the knitting: I envy all of you who only need to buy ONE skein to make a pair of socks; not 2 skeins just so you can make a nice pair of anklets. You girls are beautiful & I envy all of you who have a better chance of fitting into a dress closer to Bette Davis’ size rather than Dennis Rodman’s . Being tall has made me look something more like Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality BEFORE the makeover. As for frizzy hair, the women in my family always tried to desperately curl their straight hair to make it look full & voluminous. The hours spent under a curling iron & enough hairspray to give the musical a run for it’s money would have been gladly traded for your frizz. Girls, we all want what we can’t have but we have to remember that we are all beautiful in our own way. Let’s just focus on making this world a better place one stitch at a time.

    • Well said! I don’t think you’re tall though. I’m 5’10 1/2 and don’t feel that tall anymore next to all the younger beautiful giants here. I remember having to pull down the waist of my jeans and rehem any all pants bought off the rack in the 70’s and 80’s. Now I’m older, plumper, and suprisingly more average. Size 11 feet are about the max for getting a pair of sox knit out of one skein, so I’m usually lucky there.

      • Thank you. 🙂
        Like I said, I’m the runt giant. :p And my feet are very long which is why my luck getting a pair out of one skein doesn’t work. I was traumatized from socks for a little while when I ran literally just shy of finishing the toe, lol (& I had 2 skeins of yarn that time as well as cut out a chunk of the ankle part to save on the yarn)!
        But you’re right, I’ve met taller women more & more these days, & they all complain about what I do too. No wonder so many of us wonderful crafters of all beautiful shapes & sizes & mains are taking matters into our own hands & making our own clothes from scratch once again. And thanks to women like Stephanie & others, it’s become an awesome & widely appreciated lifestyle. 🙂

  26. I too fell under the Habu spell last June when I drove 180 miles (each way) to meet Takako Ueki, took her Japanese Chart Reading Workshop (fascinating!), tried on everything in the trunk show, and came away with two project kits. I am smitten.

    Enjoy!

    • PS- Olga Buraya-Kefelian (olgajazzy) has lovely (free) pattern, Moonlight Shawl, on Ravelry that is knit with Habu Stainless Steel held together with Habu Bamboo.

  27. I too have dumpy feet, go shop at Walking on a Cloud interesting and comfy shoes for dumpy feet. My inner person is tall and lithe as well…….sigh

  28. 2016 is the year of the UFO. Including a recycled corduroy queen-sized quilt I started in 2010! But this could seriously distract me….

  29. The funny thing is- we don’t see what you see in the mirror. We see the woman in the blog, who raises brilliant daughters and cherishes all the small people in her life. Who copes with adversity with humor, and goes the extra mile- or 600- to help others. To the Blog you’re tall, intelligent, stylish, funny and a wizard with yarn. And have wonderfully curly hair. Ignore the mirror. The Blog knows who you really are. Because what you write for us is what’s on the inside. And you will totally rock the Habu.

  30. When a genie grants your wish for that willowy body, be sure to specify medium width feet, not narrow. Many shoes and boots that come in medium and wide are not made in narrow; there are even entire shoe store chains that sell wide shoes but not narrow.

    • Exactly . I am 5’4″, neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin, am pretty good at finding clothes that work for me, but finding shoes for AAA heels, yeah…

  31. I don’t know if it will make you feel any better, but I am a tall woman (5’10”), with feet so square AND large (US 11) that with a wee bit of hair they’d resemble hobbit feet, and I routinely fall up the stairs. I encourage you to be post-apocalyptic even with small square feet. At least you’ll look good going down.

  32. OK, Sea Tangles looks great on the model, and I’m sure you can carry it off.

    But I think if I were wearing it, one of my friends would want to let me know that the cat seemed to have chewed on it, and didn’t I notice when I put it on, or did he do it after I put it on?

  33. The designs – sigh- not my cuppa, but I think you should aspire to your inner vision, so have at it. (Though someday, I’d like to find something to use the silk/stainless with.) As for your hair, though I think it is lovely the way it is, you might want to try Wen. It’s not magic, but it may make your curls softer. I love it because I only have to use ONE product. (I’m a minimalist when it comes to grooming. Some folks call it lazy…..Either way!)

  34. I am days away from turning 68…..I am embracing a whole new me….the things I never could, or did, before ….I now own cowgirl boots, yes, with those endless points that make me fall going up or down the stairs…because they are mightly long and the stairs not wide enough :):). I love skirts…. I wear denim pencil skirts..with the slit on the back (for sexiness…..do not forget my age…), and my favorite…denim a =, lace and pearls….I wear pearls nearly every day, even to McD’s!!!…. and make up, …and my salt and pepper hair fluffs like a mushroom on humid days……embrace who you are…..so many of us want to be you!!!

  35. Oh, my gosh, even though I own a mirror and KNOW my style limitations, that first one is amazing! Honestly, though, the Louisa pullover would look wonderful on the height challenged. We just can’t pair it with flowing pants or a long flowing skirt

  36. I used to fall upstairs all the time. It stopped when I started to actually wear shoes that were the correct size for my feet. I have wide feet. I used to think I was a size 10 shoe but I was really an 81/2 D. Salesmen were fitting me with shoes too big to give me the extra width I needed. The result was my feet knew their position in time and space but were confused by the extra shoe length which got caught on the edge of the stairs and down I would go.

    All those tripping up stairs – maybe you are wearing the wrong shoe size.

  37. You can totally pull that shirt off. Just wear a correctly fitting tank / cami underneath, well fitting, mid-rise jeans (none of the two sizes too large nonsense and no high rise mom-jeans), and your favorite boots…maybe make a tightly knit stainless steel head scarf to tie up and frame your face and let those curls fly free behind (wrap it around to the base of your neck…not around your chin babushka-style). Aaaand I just made myself want to make one too. You’ll be elegant and ready for the most fabulous apocalypse ever.

  38. Yeah, you’re totally nutz. I don’t see the attraction at all. Yarn in my world is soft, strong, cuddly, cozy & warm. Stainless?? I cook with it. But, each to their own. I’d like to know if you can wear that yarn through the airport myself!! It might be a real interesting experiment. And I love your crazy wild hair – I’d trade you my ordinary dead straight fine hair any day!!!

  39. My sister used to call me babushka, and I’ve only gotten more so since she passed. I used to be 5’1″, but after two collapsed vertebrae I’m now 4’11”. With size 8 narrow feet… I can’t say I’m excited about the stainless steel yarn, except for the Louisa pullover from Cocoknits. I think I could actually wear that one. You will totally rock Sea Tangles.

  40. I also fall upstairs, but just to mix things up I fall down them once in a while too. Habu looks so interesting. I’m looking forward to seeing your sweater/pullover…..shear thing. Looks very cool which means you can totally rock it:-) I need to check out the paper yarn.

  41. I have the hair you seem to want, and I’ll happily cut it off and send it to you, if you like. It’s only this long so I can yank it back into a ponytail 24-hours-a-day, to keep the annoying stuff off my face and out of my eyes and mouth. As soon as I relocate my curling-rods (misplaced in moving 2+ years ago, too frugal to buy more), I’m throwing the 3x/year home perm back in and chopping it back to wash-&-wear length.

    Of course, then my head will look waaaaay too small for my body — I’m still only 5-feet-almost-2, but I’m twice the woman I was in university. Having each breast be bigger than one’s head, seriously, can be problematic in sooo many ways.

    I’ll turn 60 this year, and my fashion esthetic is (1) would I be willing and able to walk 5 miles in these shoes, and (2) can I garden in this? The answer to #2 is almost always ‘yes’ except with beaded evening gowns, and that’s mostly because they tend to lack pockets.

  42. I want to be there when you walk through The Magic Metal Detector at the airport. Imagine the look on the face(s) of the TSA folks when you explain that your jacket is made of stainless steel. And that you knit it yourself.

  43. I, too, am a short, busty person who fantasizes about being tall and lithe and looks longingly at styles that will never look right on me. In fact, in a recent bout of delusion, I bought some very pretty harem pants, just to wear around the house and be comfy in. They arrived and I pulled them on, reveling in their capacious legs and elegant design. My joy lasted about half an hour, until my son walked into the kitchen, saw me sporting my newest fashion purchase, and asked, “What is THAT?”

    “Harem pants,” I told him. “Aren’t they fun?”

    And my son, who has never uttered one word of fashion advice to me ever, said, “Um, no. That’s wrong.”

    I gifted them to my non-midget daughter.

  44. You know Steph, all things considered hemming pants is way easier than weaving a few inches on to the bottom when there is no thread to match the top 90% of the pants. Just saying, you have it way easier then you think!

    And, I might add, being tall does not stop one from falling Up The Stairs! Quite the contrary one is top heavy and more apt to fall over. To add to that danger, I hit my head on the part of the ceiling that invariably juts out when going down the stairs more times than I can remember. CRACK! – BANG! – OUCH!. See! That is why I can’t remember! ;-D

  45. Your knitting seems to have spawned a safety pin. Is this part of the “elegantly ratty” look? Will more pins be appearing along the way? There aren’t too many people who could pull this garment off (actually, pulling it off is easy, putting it on is where the challenge lies). Good luck.
    P.S.(Doesn’t it hurt to knit with steel?) May the force be with you.

  46. I suspect we must have similar feet. I wear a Euro 37, extra wide. I want to say the size should be called Hobbit wide. That is completely why I started knitting my own socks and why the process of knitting my own socks has been somewhat hit or miss.

    For boots, with my sturdy, peasant calves, I had my boots in at the cobbler where they removed a wedge of the leather in the shaft and replaced it with a wedge of elastic.

  47. oh thank Cthulhu, I thought I was the only one whose inner person was so different! In reality i’m middle aged and shaped like Winnie the Pooh with uncontrollable hair, but inside I’m a tiny 30-something Asian woman with an amazing haircut and big stompy boots and a post-apocalyptic baddass look. Only the boots made it over to real life. *sigh* I had some Habu in my stash. The non-stainless steel has been eaten by moths :/

  48. I’ve nothing to contribute about steel yarn but to cheer you on in your indulgence! Woo!
    However, after already trying to sweep you up into my unending love for all things LuSa Organics, so may I be so bold as to recommend Kenra Curl Defining Creme? This product has changed me. I had resigned myself to flat-ironing my hair forever because when I tried to wear my hair curly, it was crunchy or frizzy… usually both. Now? Bouncy, defined, soft, compliments-every-time curls. And it smells yummy.

  49. And here, my entire family had me convinced I was the only person who fell up stairs. So grateful to know there are others. Love you Stephanie

  50. Touch the Cat? Really?

    Ok, I can’t make you taller and I can’t change the shape of your feet, but I can send you a bit of advice. I am old enough that my mental image of myself will NEVER jive with how I really look, because in that image I’m still about 25 and I’m thin, which I never have been.
    Basically, the only advice I can give you is to lose all concern over how you look to others and concentrate on how you feel about yourself, and if you want to wear stainless steel and silk, lady, just do it.
    I’ve recently been set free of all styling dilemmas by shaving my head in response, not to illness, thank God, but to a series of grim jokes the Universe threw my way two weeks ago. A bad (godawful) hair colour, decision to cut hair REALLY short, self-cut with clippers, and finally the clipper “incident” where the short guard flipped right off and I shaved a swatch to the bare scalp right in front. There’s no coming back from that one and being that I couldn’t abide a lop-sided do any more than the atrocious hair colour, I was thus forced to shave the whole head to the bare scalp.
    Guess what? I don’t care. It was a bit chilly for the first week but I’m a knitter so I have hats. Life goes on and I’m not sick, and my world did not collapse because I do or do not have hair. I’m still me and I STILL don’t give a s**t what anyone else thinks about how I look. One of the few real joys of ageing.

      • I suppose I do! Thanks for the laugh. I was told yesterday that I “really rock that look”; but that was offset by my youngest son walking into the kitchen after having been away for a few days, looking at me and saying, “Gandhi?” Kids can always keep you humble.

  51. I totally see it! If I was wearing Sea Tangles someone would finally call me willowy which has been my dream drescription since I was a teenager. For some reason being 5’3″ has limited that descriptor being used freely.

  52. First of all, it takes RARE talent to fall UP stairs. It’s taken me Years to perfect it. One must be overly graceful.
    Secondly, you could pull off every one of those looks. (I’m eyeing Louisa tunic for my curvygirl self..& linen wool?!) I’m sure you have friends that sew (and if you don’t, pm me-I’ll trade for knitting)
    Get them to make up that lovely long skirt you’ve been speaking of for years in a nice wool. It will travel well and wear forever. Or knit one! My roomie had a long knit skirt with a wide elastic waist that mysteriously migrated into my wardrobe-well, it did go with everything…
    As for the boots…maybe a speaking engagement in Italy- you can have the perfect pair handmade there. (There is a US Air Force base there-I’m sure they would love the YH)
    We are our own harshest critics. You really are wonderfully amazing as you are. You were smart when you got in the knitting line instead of tall and bendy line. Way more benefits.
    I can visualize you in that stainless steel cardi with a messy topknot skewered with a rosewood knitting needle. Walk that catwalk.
    And anyone that can fix a lace knitting whoops several rows later is going to be my troop leader in the Matrix.

  53. I’m the lady who drove you to your hotel near LaGuardia in December. I fall up stairs also. Totally irrelevant, but randomly similar.

  54. I fall often enough that my medical records say that I am a “fall risk”. I’m almost 5 ft 5 in but in my family by marriage I’m a shrimp. In my family of origin I’m the tall girl. Next to my tall friends I look like a matzo ball. So it all depends on your perspective. My feet are a normal size but with a high arch that is hard to fit.
    So we should all stop comparing ourselves to some ideal and just accept what we are. My hair is frizzy too.

  55. I believe Habu uses a “yarn pheromone” spray around their booth that draws you in. It’s useless to resist.
    Like the idea Sea Tangles can be worn over a garment.
    I to am vertically challenged with feet that keep me firmly planted to the ground. In my minds eye I’m at least 5′ 8″, weighing in at a mere 125 lbs (smile) with feet that are attractive, plus my nose would be ever so cute and my hair like spun waves of gold. Ha ha ha what can I say, I’m a dreamer of dreams.
    PS. It could happen right!?!

    • Not to rain on your parade, but I’m 5’8″ and at one point weighed 125. That point was after I threw up my guts for two weeks, didn’t eat anything, and was hospitilized for an illness they couldn’t diagnose. That is beyond slender and onto skeletal. It’s amazing how much weight a tall person carries just to hit ‘normal’. At least that’s what I tell myself when I see the number on the scale.

  56. This is the year of embracing: my age (old), height (lack thereof and on the down escalator), shoes (sensible), hair (super short and silver), but my inner knitter still kicks a**! Go for it, girl. Can’t wait to see the pictures of stainless steel meets the airport scanner!

  57. That sweater is going to look lovely on you. A cut at a Ouidad salon will make you hair easy to style. There is one in Toronto. It makes a big difference when the person cutting your hair only cuts curly hair and they know what to do.
    My mother always said that fall upstairs is lucky. Good thing cause I did it today.

  58. Middle aged, short and very curly hair here. I am a newcomer to your blog and this is one of the many reasons I so enjoy it. Reading about yarn like Habu and the fascinating things one can do with it. Thank you and I can’t wait to see the finished product.

  59. But that is the power and the magic of fashion, and especially yarny fashion…. the ability to transform us into our better selves. And if not outwardly, at least inwardly. Knit on with hope and passion! 🙂

  60. I am tall and willowy, in my mind. And only in my mind.

    Best make sure you’re wearing something UNDER your stainless steel sweater when you wear it to the airport! It was nice to see you at Madrona. Someday I’ll actually try to chat you up! I’m shy…

  61. Keanu …. Mmmm. I like the look of the sweaters, but I always wonder how you clean a garment knit of wire or paper? It WOULD mess up a squirrel pretty good though to Ste test the steel yarn!

  62. So – I have small square feet (nicknamed Freddie Flintstones) – one big positive if you don’t do so today – is you can buy children’s shoes for a much lower price – particularly boys sneakers & cowboy boots (in Texas – super fancy ones for a good deal), winter boots etc…. If you aren’t doing it – you’d be surprised at the name brands for kids that fit better for those of us with Freddies.

  63. I have only just discovered the joy of petite-size clothing. It sounds like a gimmick, but it’s not–the stuff is actually made for shorter people. I’m so extremely short that I’m still hemming my pants, but only by 1-2 inches instead of 6 (true story).

    Also, I totally think you could pull off Louisa.

  64. Oh Steph,

    I love that your writing expresses exactly how you feel. You make me laugh. I love that Habu stuff, but just to look at or decorate with. I also have a couple of cones that I thought I might make a scarf with, will never happen. Bless you and knit on…

  65. I feel your pain when it comes to shoes. If you haven’t found this blog already, maybe there will be some ideas for you. Prepare for sticker shock – but it’s better to have one really expensive pair of perfect shoes than to have five almost-right pairs!

    https://www.barkingdogshoes.com/

  66. Well..go ahead Steph,

    I could never wear such a thing. There just way too much of me to cover and it would look like I had sea weed all over me and I already look strange enough….

    bjr

  67. If I could, I would trade with you and give you my fairly thin 6′ height and thick sometimes-wavy hair… it’s totally wasted on me. I have no sense of style, am completely unable to put accessories together to save my life, and live in t-shirts and jeans. It’s a good thing I don’t have to dress nicely for work.

    Nevertheless, if you want to give me the Sea Tangles sweater, I would definitely wear it with pleasure and make a stab at looking like a person who wears that kind of thing…

  68. This is a knitting mistake. I know because I have made it. If you knit for the imagined you a sweater designed to elevate your life into the imagined state, all that happens is that it gathers dust in the closet and never gets worn. In the morning the real you goes to the closet and picks clothes for your real activities of the day, and the imaginary-you sweater is not appropriate. I have several like that and they were a waste of good yarn and knitting time. “To thine own self be true” applies in knitting, too. Sweaters knit to fit my real life are about worn out, but the ones to fit the Keeanu Reves version of me are only used by the moths. But I think you will have to find out for yourself. The real you is lovely and charming and kind and really nice. These are good things. Just try and be careful on stairs. Amazing how they can jump up at you and get you! I’m in a wheelchair now, so stairs are no longer part of my world, but i used to fall up them, too. When I fuss about what I am not, my husband, Dan, says, ” But honey, you have so many other virtues that I love you for. Don’t worry about what you are not”. Not bad for a guy who has to constantly help a wife in a chair. Ask your husband. Joe I am sure feels the same.
    Julie in San Diego

  69. I’m laughing as I read this because on the continuum of knitting we may be the alpha and the omega – I’m currently knitting a dishcloth in Peaches and Cream cotton (vintage – now discontinued color!) and you are knitting maybe the coolest pattern ever in the hippest “yarn” (steel?) ever. If there is a spectrum of knitting – you have to be at the far end with this!

    (Knitting matches my emotional state – when things are rocky in life, I want my knitting to be “comfort knitting”. )

  70. I would be shorter, with crazy curly hair and smaller feet that fit most shoes so I wouldn’t have to hunt so much for ones that fit 😉

    Sometimes tha grass is greener on the other side because it is astro-turf!

  71. It is why I avoid the Habu booth altogether. I still have some of their weird but elegant stuff from 8 years ago. Just to reassure you, I’m not short and I have narrow feet. But I’m convinced you must be 6 feet tall or Annie Hall to wear what comes from Habu.

  72. I know the allure of the Habu scent and have succumbed to it so many times that I now have double cones of different colors. Your Sea Tangles looks lovely and you might want a pair of earrings to go with it. I made Romi Hills sail earrings, http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sail-earrings, for myself and every woman on my gift list. Fun and so very cool. Romi, http://www.ravelry.com/designers/rosemary-romi-hill, is an amazing designer.
    Oh, I needed to make my sale earrings a little shorter as I am a “no-necked monster” and, btw, trip on cracks in the floor that are invisible to all humans.

  73. Dear Stephanie,
    Seeing that you named this post “Uncategorized” I thought it was the perfect time to send you a blog response because my response is sort of uncategorized as well. I am mainly a quilter but do enjoy knitting, especially now that I have a grand-daughter. I have followed your blog for a number of years and wanted you to know how much I enjoy it. The reasons are many but mainly I applaud your perseverance in keeping up with the blog so regularly. I have noticed, in the quilting world, that many quilters who use quilting as a job instead of a hobby only blog when they have something new to sell. You never do that and in fact the only time I see you “selling” is for your yearly bike fund-raiser…..and that is so appropriate! The other thing I truly respect is your honesty….given freely, but never in a mean or condescending way. So……please keep blogging just as you are and know many of us who do not have a blog, stay in the background and live an expert knitter’s life vicariously though you!!

  74. I just had to chime in here on stainless steel thread and airports. I had a double hernia repair done in September at a clinic in Toronto. They used stainless steel thread for the repair. I’ve had no trouble going through airport scanners, so far… And the results of the surgery have been great.

  75. I adore Habu and have been to the NYC store. The most divine crack den ever for us knitters! I love the sweater and say go for it. I on the other hand am trying to finish Hela with Alafoss-Lopi right at the time our winter has turned from wimpy snow to rain. As for shoes, I wear size 10. Hard to find cute in that size without spending the rent money!

  76. this post reminds me of why I read your blog. you are wonderful just as you are. I am a short woman too and I have had my days when I was tall and svelte just as long as I don’t look in the mirror too hard. Thank you for the blog I needed to know I am not alone. I have been looking online at the steel, is it hard on your hands?

  77. I’m laughing because I’m tall and have narrow feet, and I complain about how hard it is to buy pants and shoes. And how frustrating it is that patterns are never quite long enough. I suppose it’s human nature to want what we don’t have. I can’t wait to see your Matrix sweater. I’m sure you’ll be smashing and elegant and cool – all at the same time.

  78. There is something mysterious about knitting. I’d like to know how I, a short roundish 60ish woman can look at a skinny teenager in a tight sweater and think if I make the sweater it will make me look like the model. I’m not prone to delirious and incoherent thoughts for making lifedecisions, but somehow, when I am making knitting decisions, I am taken by a wild illusion. Now that I know, I second-guess myself by going on Ravelry, picking out the pattern, and looking at the rounder knitters modeling their/my reality–and picking another pattern.

    It seems you have the same mystery happening with Habu. You’ll have to figure out how to second guess yourself, too.

  79. Stephanie darling. Complaining about your hair gets you nowhere! Stop spending ALL your money on yarn and spend some on your hair! Take Biotin to healthy it up and thicken and provide new growth. (also good for skin and nails!) Get a shampoo AND conditioner and use religiously (the type for BODY in your hair plus you need something to keep it from getting dry in the winter). If you are getting perms, stop! The 80’s are over and so is big hair. Get some straight hair and a blunt cut chin length. If your hair is naturally curly, all the more reason to spend money for a great haircut. You are going to all these major cities, and traveling all the time, find out the best hairdresser in town, make an appt ahead of time…bring lots of money for product and tips. JUST DO IT! It only takes an hour. Your feet I can do nothing about…although a pedicure really helps! I like navy blue polish….sweet!

  80. 1. The grass is soooo always greener – I have always thought that I want YOUR hair instead of my weird straight-ish thin stuff any day.
    2. If it helps, I have great luck with the Uniqlo pants – free hemming by them in 24 hours or less – and Athleta (takes longer, but still free), and those you can order online in the petite sizes and they’ll still hem in-store for you. Not that we can’t hem ourselves but it’s sometimes nice to outsource, right? 🙂
    3. Some day I’d love for you to share where you have good luck with shoes and clothes that fit – as a < 5' petite-yet-busty woman myself I feel we need to stick together and share the good places. 🙂
    4. Yes, that sweater is going to work perfectly! <3

  81. Ach! I have *loved* Sea Tangles since I started knitting six years ago. I bought the yarn long before I was proficient enough to knit a sweater. Which I still have doubts about, but anyway. Love that sweater. Love the matrixy look. Works for me too. I consider myself very good at the “tousled” look. Have you seen Raspy? You should check out Raspy.

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