stitchingandknitting

honey, I'm home

2011-09-10T23:40:00.000-07:00

....I've been busy you know. How've you been?

Busy doing quite what, I'm not sure.

I have been knitting and crocheting a great deal more than I've been stitching.

I've been teaching and workshopping and writing and drawing (a little). I've been avoiding all forms of useful domestic activity by involving myself in the pretty and the less than useful.

I took a bag of cotton yarn on holiday with a view to crochet a lovely ripple blanket. Failed. This yarn now seems to be turning into crochet flowers which wasn't quite the point.

I finished a pair of socks I started at Christmas. Success.

I started another pair which I haven't seen since we came back from holiday.

I'm now crocheting a leftover sock yarn granny square as part of my 'I know I'm watching the X factor but I'm doing something productive at the same time' effort.

I've been selling some of my lovely (yet not used) books and magazines on Ravelry in order to pay for my upcoming trip to the Stitching and Knitting show.

I'm on the list to become Secretary of our local Embroiderers' Guild. I think I'd better start stitching. My stitching usually involves reading about stitching or looking at stitching, never really, if I'm honest, actually stitching. This must change, particularly as I've set myself the task of actually using some of my fabric stash. My fabric stash is marginally bigger than my yarn stash as I seem to have become the type of crafter who cannot throw anything remotely fabric-like away. I can barely send ratty old t-shirts to the fabric recyclers. This is not healthy.

resolutely knitting

2011-01-04T07:37:00.000-08:00

Every year I make the same knitting resolutions:

- only buy yarn when I know I have the time, the knowledge and the pattern to use it
- use up any yarn that has been bought when I have flouted the first resolution
- try to buy UK yarn
- stop joining random forums on Ravelry just because they have interesting names
- do more knitting and less reading about knitting
- learn how to do fair isle properly
- learn continental knitting
- knit myself something bigger than a scarf or a pair of gloves
- finish one of the block blankets I have started over the last five years
- ebay my back issues of knitting magazines

I make these resolutions every year in the hope that one or two might stick for more than a week or two. I came back to knitting about five years ago and my interest in it has never waned. In fact, I think it's getting geekier and more obsessive as I go along. I was chatting to someone on New Year's Eve and found myself talking about knitting blogs, yarn bombings, the pros and cons of various fibres. Sometimes I wonder if it hasn't gone too far.

music to knit to....

2010-11-30T04:20:00.000-08:00

I ponder this quite often and make playlists on my ipod for crafting sessions.

It's a tricky notion. I don't want to listen to something too relaxing as I'm prone to fall asleep if too relaxed. I certainly don't want something too edgy. I want to listen to music that helps my knitting flow, allowing me space to think but without encouraging distraction or too much singing along. Is it possible to sing and knit at the same time? I don't think so.

My problems, however, have been solved. I apologise if you've already cottoned on to probably the best radio station in the world but I can be a bit of a late adopter. I started to listen to BBC 6 Music on Saturday and I haven't turned it off since. Also...and this is the main attraction for me....I haven't heard anything I haven't liked. I've heard new music, old music I haven't heard before and I've loved it all. I haven't had to listen to adverts or nonsensical DJs or random telephone phone-ins. It's my new radio find and I love it.

I've been listening on a digital radio but you can listen live on the link above if you have the technology.

Have a go and enjoy!

the perfect yarn store....

2010-11-23T00:59:00.000-08:00

....that sounds so 'American'. If I was being true to my Northern roots, I'd say 'wool shop' but, there you go, I've come a so far with my knitting that I now know the difference between wool and yarn.

Here's my list for yarn store 'must haves':

- either near to a coffee shop or the potential to make coffee for its customers
- a wide selection of yarn in relation to cost
- a wide selection of yarn from value acrylic to high-end hand-dyed cashmere
- good quality notions, displayed simply and accessibly
- friendly, informed and communicative staff
- simple, clean and organised storage and display of yarn
- internet access to search for patterns and help make yarn substitutions where required
- somewhere to sit and talk and think
- a sense of comfort with no pressure to rush
- an edited selection of patterns, books and magazines

That's all I want for Christmas...how about you?

new from old

2010-11-09T05:35:00.000-08:00

I'm fortunate enough at the moment to have a clearly divided week. Wednesday to Friday, I'm at college, at the foothills of my degree course. Saturday to Tuesday I am at home, working a bit, planning a bit, domesticating a bit.

My new regime list includes 'sort out blogs' and I've begun that process today. To your right you'll find some of my favourite craft blogs and websites, transplanted from my other blog, projectforty. I hope this will make the two spaces easier to read and, indeed write although I'm sure a little blurring of the edges will occur.

At the moment I'm working on three scarves. Pictures will appear. Photos are on my to-do-list too.

i knew i could find some....

2010-10-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

Socks, studios and knitted Mickeys....proof that fibre gets everywhere....

long time, no sew....

2010-10-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few months and nothing in my life has been more neglected than this blog. Something had to give and it was writing about knitting and stitching.

Despite my lack of writing, I've been hard at work. My Friday workshops are growing each week and I'm so proud of all the projects and skills that my knitters have accomplished. There are about twelve parents (well, mums) who drop-in for some knitting tuition or advice and a crafty gathering. The group is very supportive and encouraging and I'm continuously amazed by the variety of interests and projects that they undertake. I don't know who enjoys the sessions more, me or the participants.

I've also been trying a new venture, running workshops at weekends. I advertised very locally and have done two so far. I've really enjoyed the process of setting them up and encouraging brand new knitters and crocheters to have a go. Early feedback shows that people appreciate the time just to concentrate on learning a new skill, away from the demands of day to day life. Focusing on a craft amongst other interested people is really a great way to spend an afternoon. One of my main aims is really to encourage everyone to try new craft skills and have a look at the wealth of inspiration that's online and in magazines.

I'm hoping to continue developing the workshops and expanding them to make them as flexible and appealing as possible. I really believe that everyone can enjoy learning, particularly if they can then use what they've learnt to make whatever they want.

Current WIPS include:
- a sock (2nd of one pair)
- a lace scarf (2nd half of 2nd scarf for 2nd of 3 nieces for Christmas)
- a travelling scarf from Veronik Avery's 'Knitting in No Time'
- innumerable granny squares that need sewing up
- a summer crochet baby blanket

So....as you can see I've been busy but probably just not busy enough!

floral inspiration...

2010-07-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

Granny & I took a trip to Hampton Court Flower Show last week. Wherever I pointed my camera, I could see button, quilt and textile inspiration. I'd almost forgotten how much my camera allows me to gather and collect. It's only in the last week or so I've taken it out and about with me. We're glad to be in each other's company again.

These bird/dove houses that I suspect have a lovely, proper name, made me think of high-rises.

And these chrysanthemums made me want to rush home and make pompoms...

There are many more hastily snapped photos of beautiful displays and colour. More to come soon.

shock...horror....

2010-06-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

it's been over a month since I blogged here....how terrible is that? I wish I could say it's because I've been knitting and stitching so much but it isn't.

I have been knitting and stitching but not so much that I can't find time to write anything about it, at all. In fact, I've done some quite stitchy things.

- visited the quilts at the V&A (just stupendously deliciously and only open until Sunday 4th July)
- knitted at the pub
- started a new weekly kniting workshop
- crocheted a St.George cross granny square cushion cover
- dug out some hexagons I found in a charity shop and started to make templates and stitch them together
- finished one pair of socks that were meant to be given to child (A) at Christmas
- wound all my skeins into balls so that I'm ready to go when I get going
- started my contribution to our local Embroiderers' Guild Town Hall project
- re-arranged my fabric. again. just for fun.
- visited all the lovely vintage/retro shops in Frome last Thursday and had a good rummage
- organised my ribbons (that sounds so Jane Austen!)
- bought a vintage Singer machine for £5.99 from a charity shop in Chippenham - it must have been my red-thread day

If truth be told, I'm having a bit of a rethink about blogging and writing mainly because I now have three extra days a week to think about such things instead of just getting on and posting in any spare five minutes that come my way.

Being officially freelance has made me start to think about making it all a bit more cohesive and I have no idea where to start with that. I suppose more thinking is needed. I know I don't want to knit to order or to start designing but what I would like to do is make my approach more consistent. At the moment, I feel this little blog is a little too eclectic and random for it's own good. It's a bit like a quilt of un-related fabrics, it needs something to tie it together.

knitting for international peace

2010-05-25T01:05:00.000-07:00

I've abandoned lace for the moment - I'll be finishing my day job tomorrow and I think my lacey endeavours were badly timed. I have the equivalent of a cobweb lace shawl going on in terms of to-do lists and ends to tie up in real life. The last thing I needed was 12 rows of yarn overs and ssksksksksksksksksksps to addle my brain.

So, in the meantime, I've found some half-price eco-cotton along my travels around Wiltshire and I'm knitting some flannels inspired by an old Debbie Bliss magazine I found whilst looking for something else. I'm spending my evenings making basic 45 stitch squares with borders of moss-stitch or garter stitch, sometimes knitting them from corner to corner, sometimes putting rib in the middle, just playing around with the rhythm and symetricality (?! - is that a word) of the stitches.

The colour is pleasingly neutral (I know, pictures would help) and I'd recommend something similar for a calming knit-hour or two. I'm not sure I'd be able to knit 10 in a row without a colour break but for the moment, whilst my head is spinning, they're ideal.

finishing up

2010-05-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd finished the second half of my 'transitional' scarf and then managed to pull the needle out of the stitches. The air had a turquoise quality about it.

In my excitement on finishing, I started on a more complicated lace patterned scarft (I can do that, I thought). Those of you who are experienced in these matters may scoff. Here are the basic start-up instructions:

85 stitches
a 10 stitch repeat
a 12 row pattern

I am doomed. I've cast it on twice and knitted my 4 garter rows twice. I have got 3 rows into the lace pattern and it won't work. I tried dividing the row with stitch markers - that doesn't work. I think it's the wrapovers I can't cope with. I seem to knit them back into the knitting.

I am taking the kids to a swimming party this evening (yes, I know that I am being deprived of my Friday night wine-time). I am going to take a photocopy of the pattern (so it doesn't get wet) and I am going to try again. Again.

I am determined not to let my substandard knitting numeracy stand in my way. At least until I throw in the needles and sell the yarn on ebay.

I'd be interested to know if fellow knitters have this compulsion to beat their knitting weaknesses? I am not usually known for my perseverance but I cannot let myself be defeated by a few holes and some 2 ply.

Wish me luck - it may be a very long weekend.

I think I peaked....

2010-05-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

The knitting and crochet blog week was fantastic. I wrote about knitting, six days out of seven. I haven't written about knitting for over ten days. Do you know why? I've been knitting!

The combination of a new book (Veronik Avery's Knitting 24/7) and writing about my beloved craft, kicked me out of my knitting block and got me on the road to every day knitting. So, two birds with one blog shot. Fantastic.

I've almost finished my first project from the book and am pleased with how it's turned out apart from the fact that I think I may have different dyelots. You'll see what I mean when you actually get to see it. Still no photos but am finishing my day job in two weeks time - there'll be lots of photos then. Promise.

The workshop is going well. I've brought in a new count-up system, encouraging all members to add up their WKT (with knitting time) over the previous week. Between 8 of us, last week we managed 28 hours - that's more than a whole day. I imagine the more prolific Ravelryites would scoff at this total but for a group of young, busy mums (not including myself in the former element of that description), I'd say that's pretty good. I'm trying to introduce the concept of little and often, a little daily knitting practice.

I am now looking through 24/7 for another project. I'm quite tempted by another, slightly more complicated lace scarf but, as usual, I am tempted to knit it with thicker yarn on bigger needles. I have laceweight yarn, in fact I have something like a mile and a half's worth of lace weight yarn but everytime I start an appropriate project with it, I lose my count and get frustrated with my ongoing basic inability to follow complicated instructions. '24/7' does make good use of charts, though, and I'm finding them invaluable. I find myself staring at them as if they're some kind of Sudoku.

I am finding my knitting very therapeutic amidst the uncertainty of our current political situation. I remember my nan during the last coalition in 1974, she got very panicked about all sorts of things around that time and bought lots of sugar and flour and tea bags 'just.in.case.' To avoid fear of this nature, I find working my way through a few lace repeats inexplicably calming.

my favourite yarn....

2010-05-02T05:22:00.000-07:00

This week of writing about knitting and crochet has made me realise that I am a complete knitting tart. I don't have a favourite designer, I don't have a favourite place to knit, I couldn't possibly pick out one singular yarn to praise. I'm a knit anything, anywhere, with any yarn kind of knitter. Totally indiscriminate. A yarn-flooze.

I am a collector, a magpie, a hoarder - just like, I suspect, many other knitters are. I collect yarn I see on the hoof, in places there shouldn't be yarn - at car boot sales, in charity shops. I see singluar balls of interesting yarn when browsing at the knitting shop and pop it in my yarny basket because I believe, one day, it will inspire me to create something beautiful. I find superlative patterns and buy the correct amount of yarn because I know it will be discontinued and I do not want to be disappointed. Sometimes this yarn never finds its way out of the stash basket.

I am incapable of buying yarn for purpose, or knitting one thing at a time, or making a project list and methodically working my way through it. I knit like I live, with a general theme and attitude but with a whole lot of other stuff going on.

Is this the right knitting path? I have no idea.

I've been grateful for this week though, grateful because it's got me thinking about knitting and crochet and all things yarn and fabricful. It's made me decide to commit to carving out some real yarn time, a dedicated time each day to sit with my knitting or my crochet. What can happen? I might actually finish something.

I'm sad this week has come to an end. I've enjoyed it immensely, for my own writing purposes and to catch up with all the other bloggers and their creativity too.

Hope to see some of you again sometime....

Knit nicely!

where do I knit?

2010-04-29T23:11:00.000-07:00

on the sofa in my kitchen

watching TV almost every night

in the garden

in the car (when husband is driving)

at sports fixtures (when kids aren't looking)

at knitting groups

in our village pub

at book club

on the train when I get the chance

never in bed

***

For me it's more about when do I knit. Some weeks I can squeeze in little bites of knitting of five / ten minutes here and there. Some weeks I do very little knitting. I've been experiencing knitter's block until this week of regular blogging and writing. It's kickstarted my list of projects to do and in a few weeks time I'll have chance to get to grips with Ravelry beyond the forums and the search engines. I've resisted posting projects and my ever-increasing stash so far but I'm reconsidering that. I'll have more time for taking photos and I like the idea of more organised knitting (ha!).

PS: Don't forget if you want to see other posts about knitting and where people knit, google knitcroblo5

lifelong learning...

2010-04-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

I like to think of myself as a pretty good knitter. I run workshops, have taught classrooms of kids and run our local knitting/craft group. I'll take any opportunity to convert a non-knitter to the yarnside. There is nothing quite (for me, anyway) seeing someone just 'get' the process of 'in, over, through, out' as my Granny taught me.

I do, however, have gaps in my knitting knowledge, just as I have gaps in my reading - like Dickens (what an admission!). I have an underlying knitting ambition to knit something in lace. I struggle with charts but am slowly getting to grips with them, their symbols.

I have a basic problem with counting rows. After twenty-something years of forgetting how many rows I've done, I still resist row-counting. Not for me, the technological wizadry of a paper and pencil - oh, no. I prefer to spend the majority of my knitting time re-counting my rows and trying to work out where I am.

I have developed a coping strategy - my projects have got smaller and simpler. This has been fine. After all I've had the excuse of work, time and family commitments. This week, however, has vapourised my knitter's block and I'm determined to get back to my regular knitting, just a little a day. I'm likely to spend quite a bit of time avoiding the World Cup, so that gives me at least a month of uninterrupted yarn-time. I'll be half way through a lace shawl by the semis.

There are also terms I know I should know and understand but, well, I just don't. Steeking? What IS that? Any article I've ever read about it frightens me. I don't like to read the words 'now cut your work' - not a pleasing or comforting thought. At all.

I heard once, also, that there are 54 methods of casting on. Now, that scares me!

PS: For those of you that are visiting during this week, you may wish to visit other blogs participating. Our organiser eskimiknits has created something called a googlewhack - basically if you search knitcroblo1 (for Monday's posts), knitcroblo2 (for Tuesday's) etc, you'll be rewarded with a list of talented and yarny bloggers who are taking part too.

knitters what I love....

2010-04-27T22:45:00.000-07:00

We knitcroblo bloggers have been asked on day 3 to nominate our one great knitter.

Please be aware that I am unable to do this. I have too many individuals who could be nominated so have decided to link to a few of my favourites online.

First of all is Vanessa Cabban of do you mind if I knit?

Vanessa writes beautifully about her knitting, her crochet and her illustration and her blog has such an amazing colour palette and real depth. She has just started designing for Coats Crafts and I'm really looking forward to knitting lots of her rosettes.

Online, too, and where I found Vanessa, is Jane Brocket and her yarnstorm blog. This blog inspired me to start writing about crafts myself and I've enjoyed Jane Brocket's books immensely.

I enjoy the Mason-Dixon books and the blogs listed to your right are an edited list of those I find myself visiting regularly.

I love Erika Knight's simple, chic designs, especially for the home and I've just bought Veronika Avery's 'Knitting 24/7' which, on first glance, has some intriguing patterns to get to grips with. I like the concept of finding projects that can be picked up for a few minutes, to fit in around everyone else, the fact that lots of little knitting 'episodes' will eventually work themselves up into something more substantial.

I don't believe there is 'one great knitter'. I think anyone who knits has greatness within them! I think knitters who take care and pride in their work and share it with others are doing something that we often forget to do in non-knitting life - making connections with family and friends, taking some time to make and not buy, enjoying the process of their own skills and activity. It's something we should all celebrate and pass on as far and wide as we can.

knitcroblo2 (addendum)

2010-04-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

The top half....

In all it's glory...

The comforting, warming cowl neck...

This is part II of my knitcroblo2 post today. I found the time to photography my favourite knitted gift that inspires me never to give up knitting! See the post below for the story behind it....

if I'd only known.....

2010-04-27T00:46:00.000-07:00

I met my husband 21 years ago. Sometime in between meeting him and marrying him, I asked my future mother-in-law (a keen knitter) to knit me a jumper. I had seen the pattern in Elle magazine - remember when Elle featured a knitting pattern?

It was a cowl neck, A line jumper with long, flared sleeves in I think what was called fisherman's rib.

She agreed and I sent her the pattern.

Sometime after she gave me the jumper (is jumper a term US readers will be familiar with?). She never asked me to contribute to the cost of the yarn. She refused when I offered when she'd given it to me.

Anyway....it was a deep, dark green and beautifully knit. Some non-knitters might have said 'it looks like it was knitted by a machine'.

I still have this jumper (but no time to photograph it today - I will by the end of the week, promise).

I wore that jumper to within an inch of its life for the first few years. I think I took it travelling with us when we went Stateside and I must have parcelled it up and sent it home when we continued to warmer climes.

It's cowl neck and slightly flared sleeves make it comforting and warming. I LOVE that jumper. I wear it when I'm freezing cold in the house. I wear it in the greenhouse when I'm potting up. I wear it when I'm feeling poorly or fed up because I can still (despite the extra pounds I'm carrying) squirrel myself away in it.

Since I became knitting-obsessed I see this jumper in other ways, too. I see the work, the effort, the sheer determination to knit through all that fisherman's rib. I see the swathe of stitches - there must have been hundreds cast on and hundreds of thousands actually knitted. I see it now as something I would balk at attempting being a quick fix, easy-knit type of gal. I see that my mother-in-law must have worked so hard and so tenaciously to get that jumper finished for her son's girlfriend of the time.

When I wear it, that jumper makes me admire her. I want that jumper to be immortal, to last forever, to never end it's cowl-necked beauty days in a charity shop or, worse, landfill.

That jumper and my mother-in-law make me feel as if I could knit anything, just a few stitches at a time, a few minutes each day. It makes me appreciate the rhythm and repetitiveness of knitting and the love that comes with a knitted gift.

a little premature

2010-04-25T14:05:00.000-07:00

In the interests of efficiency, and sleep, I am choosing to start my contribution to the knitting and crocheting and blogging week a few hours early. As it's an international endeavour, I figure I don't need to be too pernickety about timings etc.

So...day one...I am to write about how I started knitting and crocheting. What inspired me.

I am 42, born in Leigh, Lancashire. When I was growing up we had a large, extended family. I was taught to knit, I think, by my Nan. From memory she taught me to knit a scarf for my teddy. I don't remember my other Grandma being much of a knitter but I remember we spent many Saturdays at her house and my aunts would often knit and crochet together. The thrill for me was in the button box and they taught me how to make granny squares which were made into rainbow-hued tabards. Do you remember tabards?

There are a couple of photos of me in aran jumpers, as there are of many women of my age, I suspect. My mum seemed to make all our clothes up to a certain age and I remember handknit school jumpers.

I knitted an entire chunky knit v-necked jumper in a week when my Dad left home. I don't think I spoke much and through my teens I would find patterns and source something acrylic and knit jumpers that would never quite fit or fit too much. My peak was a black, red and yellow mohair bat-winged jumper. I think I took it to college with me the first time round.

I didn't knit properly for years. I made a couple of hats, perhaps a pair of gloves. It never crossed my mind until I bought my daughter some mini-needles and some wool for her stocking present - she was 3 - I was deluded. Once I started, I couldn't stop and since then I've become a little obsesssed by all things yarn and fabricful.

My favourite thing is to teach other people, to get them to sit for a while and learn something new that they can use how they want to. I love the idea that just a few simple techniques can be adapted to express love, generosity, an opinion, anything really. I love the fact that all these crafts are regenerating themselves amongst the technology and remoteness of many things around us.

I know I'm amongst friends during this week and I might end up preaching to the converted. I don't mind. This week's all about having another opportunity to eat, sleep and think knitting.

Enjoy!

knitter's block

2010-04-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

I'm getting to the point where I can't remember when I last picked up a knitting project. My knitting workshops had a break over Easter so I had no need to prepare swatches or examples. I am STILL knitting the fourth sock in the two pairs I started for the kids in October and my ever-growing bits and bobs stash has not been depleted for some time.

I've done a little crochet, a little sewing, a little drawing even but no knitting. I've been getting worried. My interest in crafts was revived by knitting. I love the repetitiveness of it all. I embrace knitting's therapeutic and calming effects. For some reason, though, those needles just aren't doing it for me.

I have, however, made the first step up the ladder of knitting love again. Today I took a trip to Wonderwool at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells with S & E. It was a great trip, a sunny day, no traffic jams and a huge space stuffed with independent producers, makers, sheep and craftspeople.

I've come away with ideas for projects, workshops, writing and general doing-ness. I'm relieved. I was concerned that I would go today and be immune to the power of yarn. It seems not. The yarn still makes me yearn.

So much so, that next week I'm participating in a kniting and crochet blog week, organised by Eskimimi on Ravelry. I hope to be able to post every day. There's nothing like taking the sheep by the ears.

in celebration of masculiknitty....

2010-04-12T08:54:00.000-07:00

They say that fishermen invented knitting (hence the rope) or was it Samurai warriors? In any case, having trawled (get it!?) Wikipedia and other sources of information, it seems to me that the history is a mystery beyond the fact that men invented knitting sometime long ago. For years, only men were allowed to knit, forming guilds and organisations that excluded those not properly trained. On my ever-growing list of to-dos is a proper look at how knitting got where it is today and who got it there.

As a bit of a knitting enthusiast, I can name several famous male knitters, there's Kaffe Fassett, Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed fame and Franklin Habit. There's Alan Dart of toy and character knitting fame and, of course, iknit's Gerard Alt.

Apologies if I've omitted someone but they're the gentlemen I think of first if asked to think of men who knit. I'm sure there are plenty of other designers, makers, manufacturers and knitters out there of the male persuasion.

I often wonder about men and knitting, how the very idea of knitting can bring out an allergic reaction in some of our male counterparts. I'm certainly not suggesting that all men should knit but I think that knitting is one of those things that everyone could try, just once, just to see if they liked it. A few years ago, that decision would have been made in the home or in a home economics class at school - everyone, at some point, would have been given the opportunity to knit, to have a go.

Nowadays, grandparents might have the time and the skills to show their grandchildren a few stitches but learning a skill such as knitting is something that few schools and teachers have the capacity for.

I'm trying to come up with a knitting project that's basic enough to be achievable but interesting enough for young people (of both sexes) to use their imagination and design choices to create something they love. It's coming along slowly but surely. The PTLLS course has helped me to structure aims and objectives, possibilities and outcomes. All theory so far but maybe I'll find a group who will allow me to trial it with them.

I need a hook, a draw, perhaps I'll have to resort to pizza. An hour's knitting for an hour's pizza guzzling. It might work....

making connections

2010-03-31T09:14:00.000-07:00

I went along to a 'how to network' event today with a friend. It made me realise that most people just don't 'get' stitching and knitting. They talk about interfacing but it seems to be something to do with marketing rather than stiffening a waistband. They refer to 'being in the loop' but haven't considered crochet. I suppose we're all different.

We had to divide ourselves into colour groups - red seemed to be for the go-getters of this world, yellow (my group) seemed to be the jolly and enthusiastic team, blue were analytical and green were caring and sharing and empathetic. I worried about not being more empathetic.

It was interesting to meet a wide range of people, people I would never normally come across either in my day job or my other stuff. When I meet people who knit or stitch, they invariably do something else like astrophysics or accountancy. The knitting and stitching may be something they love but find it difficult to translate those skills into a viable income. I'm sure knitting shop owners or designers would disagree with me but I think, like any market, there is perhaps only enough space for a prescribed number of excellent suppliers.

My priority is to take some time to really plan out what I'm going to do with all this, with the PTLLS, with the skills, with the interest.

my, haven't you grown?

2010-03-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

The 'larkrise' evolves and clashes beautifully with the oilcloth on our kitchen table. I'm enjoying the randomness of the self-striping yarn. It looks as if I've used remnants and scraps. My next decision is size. Do I want to stop at a shoulder-wrapping triangle or keep going and adopt the tucked in the waistband look sported by Mrs Timmins. I'm almost wishing a return to winterdom so I can get a few wears in before the clocks go forward.

inspiration strikes

2010-03-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

I did my micro-teach. All was well. Just four guinea pigs (sorry, students) and a pile of yarn. What's not to like. I offered my students the opportunity to take away their yarn and bring back their lovingly practiced crochet next week for our final PTLLS session. No-one took me up on the offer so I now have five skeins of Adriafil Mistero - all different colourways.

So, what to do? I have been admiring the shawls worn by the Larkrise ladies in the Candleford series on Sunday evenings. I particularly like the way they are so obviously made from remnants and I like the way they are worn wrapped around the shoulders and then tucked into waistbands.

Now, this isn't necessarily a look I wish to sport in public. I do not have the enviably trim waist of Emma Timmins. However, I now have five self-striping yarns to do something with and it seems to me that a simple, crocheted shawl may be the answer, ready for Winter 2010.

I have photographed the beginnings of my shawl on my diary. I use this book for everything. I cannot cope with a calendar at home or separate diaries for home and work. I find I have everything in this book and I have decided to keep a record of my projects, just to see when I start things and when I consider them finished.

knitting v. crochet

2010-03-15T05:11:00.000-07:00

Part of the reason I've been, shall we say, less available than usual is my attendance at a 'Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector' course on Monday evenings. I decided to do this course to refresh my workplace training skills and to be able to say, when I run workshops and courses, that I am actually qualified.

It's been a very interesting ten weeks so far. Tonight I am doing my 'micro-teach', a half hour slot and I've decided to choose basic crochet as my teaching subject based on the fact that my fellow students preferred the idea of crochet to knitting.

This got me thinking about my own preferences.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love them both dearly but I find myself drawn to the ease of crochet at the moment. This may be because I am involved with so many other things that I prefer to sit down with a hook and some yarn and no pattern, mindlessly but meditatively working my way through a blanket of squares or a stashbusting scarf.

I'm having, I think, something of a knitting crisis. I have no urge to make garments at all. I can muster up the interest and will to knit a plain sock or two but I find my interest is limited to the simplest and, if I'm honest, speediest patterns and projects. This has never happened to me before and I am feeling a little un-nerved.

I have spent the last few days, tearing out patterns and articles from my collection of knitting magazines and this did provide the odd flicker of itchiness in my fingers but, again, for things, not clothes. I quite fancy a pair of mittens for next winter.

I watched Monty Don's Mastercrafts on Friday. It focused on weaving and was a joy to watch. With my current flim-flam-ness, however, I realised very swiftly that weaving is probably not for me. Watching the painstaking threading of the loom and the threading of every single weft/warp (?) made me appreciate the effort the novices were undertaking and excelling in. It was such a relaxing programme, apart from the endless, usual repetition of clips and sections just in case our collective attention span had shrunk to nil.

So....where will inspiration strike, I wonder? Well - maybe Wonderwool. If that doesn't get my passion for two needles kick-started, I don't know what will.

All suggestions and inspiration welcome.

that was the weekend that was..

2010-01-30T10:01:00.001-08:00

A selection of pieces, by S

Fragments of papers using maps, music sheets and magazines

Show and tell at 3.45pm

These early weeks of 2010 are scooting before my very eyes. I lurch from Monday to 'Lark Rise' with days full of tasks and outcomes and objectives (at work, anyway).

Every so often I grab opportunities for a little craft and creativity.

Last Saturday, S & I participated in a workshop 'Paper in Distress' organised by our local Embroiderers' Guild and run by textile artist, Alison Harper.

S & I, both novices in the sewing department, both definitely novices in the sewing paper department, grabbed our junk paper, our envelopes, wrapping paper and assorted scraps of magazines and pulled together the above creations.

I enjoyed the process of making new surfaces from other materials and I'm looking forward to revisiting those surfaces and adding to them. Everywhere I now look I see pages and paper, ripe for distressing and damaging.

I have some potential free time tomorrow. I fear the worst....

who knew?

2010-01-27T08:16:00.000-08:00

Knitting can bring so many positive qualities to a person's life: relaxation, productivity, the joy of giving, stress relief, diversion from less positive addictions and a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment.

Who knew that knitting can also help a person deal with the more challenging aspects of modern life, such as completing an online tax return, by a deadline with a dodgy broadband connection, an untimely Tesco delivery and a husband resolving a complex emergency construction situation?

Well, for me, knitting did just that.

A little bit of thinking time, away from my keyboard and away from the ticks and crosses of the whole process did my powers of online comprehension a world of good. Having been unceremoniously dumped from the site by my broadband connection, I had a choice: a glug of left over ginger wine from Christmas or beginning a beret with the wrong needles and the wrong yarn.

It worked a treat - 5cm k2, p2 rib and I was fiscally unchallenged and whizzed through the rest of the process.

I submitted my return, sent it off into the ether, received my acknowledgement. Only 'Genevieve' will remain as a reminder. Perhaps I will wear her whilst completing my 2009-2010 return.

work(shopping) for a living

2010-01-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

I completed an Access to Art course a couple of years ago. Nowadays, my art/craft studies come in quick bursts, chocolate box treats.

In the last year I've been to several stitching workshops, organised by our local Embroiderers' Guild, at our local village hall.

I am always amazed by the fact that such talented artists appear, literally on my doorstep and every couple of months I can spend 6 precious hours with like-minded artists and craftspeople, alongside the invariably talented workshop leaders.

Last Saturday I distressed paper along with nearly 20 other stitchers and artists. We took our junk paper, tissue paper, found paper and we stitched it, soaked it, painted it and tore it. Our aim was to experience our actions on the paper and to create 2D surfaces, some created 3D structures.

As 15 sewing machines roared their way through layers of paper personalities and preferences appeared on those surfaces, some regular, some abstract, some planned. I couldn't comment anyone else's work but I liked some of mine better than others. I was happy to be in such an experimental company and pleased not to have a compulsion to make a finished article or object.

What did I learn?

- magazine paper becomes fabric like if soaked, twisted and stitched
- I don't like tearing holes but I'm not averse to a bit of scrunching
- I want to do more and make reams of this stuff
- I need a trip to Scrapstore for MORE paper
- I am becoming more and more interested in the abstraction of knitting and stitching, using the techniques to create rather than replicate patterns

My next step? To dig out the rest of the year's programme and to find a local textile group to keep those chocolate box treats coming.

the odd couple

2010-01-06T03:43:00.000-08:00

These singular beauties, you may remember, were planned Christmas presents for my beloved offspring. Unfortunately, as you can see, they remain unfinished. My plan was to knit them alternately, thereby requiring perseverance to complete both pairs. What I have at the moment is two unfinished pairs - two odd socks.

Our regular craft/knit night met in our local pub last night. There were two in attendance, myself and my good friend, S. Admittedly it was 5th January, and there was the imminent threat of snow. Despite our small numbers, it inspired me to re-start the socks. Perhaps they are Easter presents. Perhaps they will just be random, middle of the year gifts. I continued knitting whilst addicting myself to Celebrity Big Brother. Note to self: MUST STOP WATCHING NOW. Completing the socks is just not worth another month of mind-goggling awfulness although I am slightly fascinated by the relentless preaching of whichever Baldwin finds himself in there.

I wondered last night whether BB would allow knitting as they're allowing Mr Baldwin to read his bible every day. I think viewing figures would improve if inmates were allowed some kind of creative outlet. Viewers would be able to see their skills developing and their craft emerging. So much more elevating than watching them burp.

My main craft resolution this year is to use my existing supplies either by finding suitable projects and, radically, completing them, or perhaps passing some of my lesser favourites on to others who may use them more wisely and more swiftly.

I have started to think that stockpiling supplies makes me less likely to make/create. Whenever I think of an idea, it is counteracted with 'I really should do something with that x instead....', now if 'x' wasn't there, I'd have removed one barrier already. I'm going to be more discerning in my future purchases (once, I've had my use-up session), only keeping the bits and bobs I really love, not hoarding just in case something might come in useful.

craft memories

2010-01-04T10:46:00.000-08:00

Inspired by 'pinkfairygran's comment about her mother's wooden cotton reels, I started to think about my own crafting memories....

* learning to knit with my Nan and my teddy when I was about six *
::
* learning to french knit with wooden reels with nails in the top - about seven *
::
* wearing crocheted granny-square waistcoats made by my collective aunties *
::
* stitching embroidered patches on to the jumpsuit my mum made me from yellow cotton *
::
* getting arm-ache from constant aran yarn winding on Saturday nights with my Nan *
::
* knitting a chunky jumper in a week when my parents separated *
::
* making an apron and cap in domestic science at my Lancashire grammar school *
::
* stitching transfers onto tablecloths - flowers, I think *
::
These are a few of my favourite things. There are more, more recent. To be continued?
:: :: ::

sew thrifty...

2010-01-01T03:35:00.000-08:00

I found this little bag of beauties in Oxfam in Chippenham yesterday afternoon during my last shop of 2009.

I love old wooden reels. We were given them as kids with nails at the top to do 'french knitting'. We spent hours making snaky loops and winding them into coasters and other useful articles.

I like the way the plastic bag is crackling over them. They will be liberated shortly.

Happy New Year. x

re-sew-lutions

2009-12-27T08:44:00.000-08:00

'Red' magazine has proclaimed that knitting is so 2009 and sewing is where it's at.

I'm not so sure.

I find it quite difficult to switch between knitting and sewing as they are so different. I knit more than I sew but I'm starting to enjoy the immediacy of sewing. The processes and mark-making can be more gratifying.

I've been given a knitting calendar for Christmas. I want to be able to say I'll follow the pattern each day and produce 7 little squares each week. That's not going to happen no matter how resolute I am.

There are other 'to-dos' on my list. Many other 'to-dos'.

I'm spending this week making lists and mindmaps and planners, looking at how I might fit some of my 'to-dos' around the things that I need to do. Perhaps I should think of my creative 'to-dos' as needs instead of extras. I know I need to do some of them because I get grouchier and more difficult if I don't build in some time to make and sew and knit and crochet. I know you'll understand.

I can't bring myself to promise more sewing, less knitting for 2010. It would seem disloyal and I want to do more of both. I do, however, want to learn how to use my sewing machine properly and learn to cut patterns and understand what interfacing is for. I want to use some of the vintage transfers I've found on my excursions and look at using paper in embroidery and stitching.

I'd be interested to hear about other re-sew-lutions.....

colour me happy

2009-12-21T00:42:00.000-08:00

One of the things I'd like to do next year is explore colour and how it affects we stitchers and knitters in the projects we choose to undertake. Is it the stitch and the texture of our work or the colour that dominates? Is it a sublime combination of the two that makes a project truly successful? I don't know. I'm new at this. I am straight off to Ravelry to see if there are forums on the subject.

I do know some things though:
- I love other peoples' colour choices
- my colour choices always seem to be a bit 'off'
- I have no idea what to do with a colour wheel. Does anyone actually use them?
- I am drawn to jewel colours and bright colours
- I long to admire natural, earthy shades but I can't

Any suggestions on useful books about colour and colour and emotional response would be gratefully received.

knitty-liciousness in one link

2009-12-14T06:03:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen it before, head over to US-online-knitting publication Knitty for some great patterns, ideas for gifts and a fantastic article about Eleanor Roosevelt's knitting pattern for mittens.

have just seen this

2009-12-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

A new exhibition at the Arnolfine in Bristol. It looks really interesting - craft with attitude and purpose. Something that is happening all over the place from knitted benches to tank cozies.

'Craftism'

Take a look. I can feel a trip coming on.

spa-knitting

2009-11-29T07:34:00.000-08:00

Do you think it would be OK to take my knitting to a spa?

I don't want to take a book as I want to clear my mind. I am reading 'A Wasted Vigil' which is all about Afghanistan and quite traumatising. I can't start another book because AWV is also complicated and one of those books that moves around in time and across lives.

I have my socks to complete (amongst other things). I took them to the hairdressers yesterday. She was amazed and astounded by the self-stripiness and magic caused therefrom. She did ask me to put them away, however, while she trimmed and cut and shaped, She was concerned about my little bits of hair becoming part of the socks. Fair enough. She is one of the few people who have ever asked me to stop knitting but she had good reason.

My son and husband have asked me to stop knitting in the living room. This, I feel is harsh. It was part of the negotiations around their occasional unpalatable living room behaviour which I won't go into the details of but, as you may guess, has not stopped.

I shall continue knitting in the living room.

sock dilemma...

2009-11-23T11:39:00.000-08:00

I have made a commitment to knit a pair of socks for each of my kids. I am almost at the end of Sock 1, Pair 1. Now, do I continue with Sock 2, Pair 1, or for a little variety in colour change, move on to Sock 2, Pair 2.

S1, P1 + S2, P1 may result in total boredom and slothlike knitting. It has very definite stripes and I'm already counting each block of colour to convince myself I am knitting faster than I am.

However, S1, P1 + S1, P2 may ultimately result in 2 socks and no pairs.

I am almost at the toe of S1 so my target is to make sure I finish it whilst I have the energy and wherewithal to tackle the grafting and immediately cast on the second sock whether that be of the S1 variety of S2.

My problem has arisen because S1 (for son-child) is all blues and browns and subtlety whereas the yarn for S2 (for daughter-child) winks at me when I look in my stash basket with its bright red/pink/orange-ness. Believe me, I would take a photo but it's dark in here. I just want to get those colours on the needles and see how they turn out. I want some instant colour-gratification probably because of the wind and the rain.

I find that the weather directly influences what I knit. In the heat of summer I long for cool greens and blues, in the depths of winter, I crave fiery warm colours, preferably all together. I am a knitted seasonal stereotype.

over the pond

2009-11-19T03:33:00.000-08:00

Have just popped over to Yarnharlot (see right) who has posted about a knitting retreat in somewhere called Port Ludlow.

Anyway....she got me thinking....where in the UK would I like to go on a knitting retreat and what I would like to see there....

- somewhere with a bit of luxury but not too stuffy

- somewhere with a pool (for when I'm not knitting)

- inspirational tutors (preferably including myself) with a wide range of interest and experience and knowledge of knitting

- somewhere in a place of natural beauty, accessible from the hotel/b&b/cottage

- somewhere on the way past, or the way to, an inspirational yarn shop (or an inspirational yarn shop that was prepared to set up a 'pop up' shop at the venue)

- something new

- great food

- opportunity to stroll, walk (run for the athletic knitters)

I'm thinking luxury, country house hotel - I live in a place surrounded by luxury, country house hotels...perhaps they could be persuaded?

in the words of Chas and Dave...

2009-11-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

I've got more rabbit than Sainsbury's....

If I'd been a better blogger I would have taken photographs of the whole process but, in short, it involved lots of snipping, pulling and working out how to attach random plastic limbs to my pieces of felted knitting.

I spent 12 hours sewing at the weekend and I now have a beautifully curved spine to show for it. My hands don't want to stop moving. I am itching to change into my pyjamas and sew/knit something else. Perhaps not another rabbit - yet.

The tall rabbit with the handbag has been appropriated by E. I am pleased. I was expecting minimal response from my nearest and dearest. It was good to have something I'd made snatched from my sewing bag and taken to her bedside.

We had a discussion about 'Coraline' at the workshop. Amazingly, not many people had seen it. Below is my 'coraline-esque' sewing box, complete with dismembered 'Bratz' doll. Spooky-eh?

on this fine day....

2009-11-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

I battled the storms in my little punto to travel to Stroud for a workshop with Julie Arkell. I had to turn around just before Prince Charles' pad as there was a duck pond outside his gate. Those with bigger wheels and braver hearts continued through the water. I took the Leighterton road and miraculously got to the museum in time.

Ms Arkell is lovely. It's a two day workshop and I was very relieved to find how lovely she is. Her work is lovely too but I am not going to post examples here. I direct you to google images for Julie Arkell and you will see pages of pages of delicate, vintage-inspired loveliness from whimsical rabbits to fantastical brooches.

My work was not quite so delicate but, I felt, quite pleasing all the same. I have attended several workshops over the last few months and my most consistent discovery is that I am unable to make my work look like either the workshop leader's or anyone elses. Of course, in this polite world we live, fellow attendees and the lovely Ms Arkell were encouraging of my difference.

The fruits of my labour are shown below (I will take some photos in daylight tomorrow).

I have managed to crop my dear rabbit's sparkly feet. Julie Arkell's palette is one of faded, sort-of-forties, greens and pinks and blues. My palette is somewhat haphazard. I am unable to show a quiet restraint. I can do neutral-ish but a little bit of red, orange or some kind of saturated hue creeps in. Hence the legs.

A very enjoyable day, though and I'm really pleased to have the opportunity to spend six hours stitching tomorrow.

happy birthday to us...

2009-11-12T23:19:00.000-08:00

The knitting group I work with is a year old today - we've progressed from garter squares to knitted boottees, ipod covers to crochet scarves. It's been great to be involved in helping people find their way through patterns (why aren't they all written in a similar way), learn about yarn weight, explore colour and generally have a great time whilst occupying themselves with two needles and a ball of wool/acrylic/alpaca/merino.

I can't stay, I have to find some cake to take...

mood-knitting

2009-11-11T11:09:00.000-08:00

When I knit I feel:

calm
happy
able
relaxed
thoughtful
energised
inspired
positive

here's one wot I wrote...

2009-11-10T10:06:00.001-08:00

I write for Daisygreen magazine sometimes. I'm on the front page this week with my helpful suggestions for a crafty, stitchy, knitty Christmas. It has made me very, very happy.

it's got to be done

2009-11-09T21:42:00.000-08:00

I can resist no longer. I need to write about stitching and knitting. I have blogged for a couple of years now at projectforty about all things random and post-forty. There was a diversion to craftblogging at craftdelight but, in truth, I never quite committed to regular blogging about two of my favourite things.

So here goes...I promise to write as often as I can about stitching and knitting (with a dash of crochet) and what the processes of putting yarn, fabric and thread together mean to me.

I can't promise anything else. I think I should just give it a whirl. I also want somewhere to keep stitching and knitting links.

This week I am mostly knitting:
- mittens for E
- socks (because I found a lone, unfinished sock in my stash) for J
- the fan and feather scarf I started in the summer
- the beginnings of a cable cardigan (I got carried away in Get Knitted)

Things I want to knit:
- a pair of baby socks for a member of one of my knitting groups who is about to give birth
- an additional pair of socks for E

Also this week:
- I am collecting my bits and bobs to attend a Julie Arkell workshop this coming weekend
- I have written and sent off an article for Daisy Green magazine
- article proposals have been sent to a couple of local magazines

Whilst I get this blog up and running, I suggest you head (if you haven't already) to Ravelry and sign yourself up to THE global knitting space......