Self-Stitched September: One
Photographic evidence
I hate knitting sleeves. Everything zips along nicely and then I get to the sleeves and my will to live dies. I think I have twigged why I hate knitting sleeves.
Look at the photo. I'm wearing a Tangled Yoke Cardigan. It was originally knitted by Ms Old Maiden Aunt but it was gifted to me earlier this year. Lilith had knitted extra long sleeves because she likes having cosy hands. Look again. The sleeve is a full inch too short for me, if not more.
I have monkey arms, in other words. I already knew I had long legs because I struggle to find trousers long enough, but I never thought about my arms being long. Still, it explains my hatred of knitting sleeves - I have to knit them extra-extra-long and I had no idea.
Oh, by the way:
'I, Karie Bookish, sign up as a participant of Self-Stitched-September. I endeavour to wear handmade item(s) of clothing/accessories/ jewellery every day for the duration of September 2010'.
Yes, Virginia, I have chosen to participate in Self-Stitched September. I might not photograph every outfit I am wearing every day, nor will I blog my outfit every day (that way madness and narcissism lie) but when I do post, I'll link to the relevant handmade items on my Rav account (or otherwise document which items I have worn). It'll be interesting, although I'm still trying to figure out why I am participating.
- I want to wear handmade items more often (although I already do this)?
- I want to mix up the handmade items I wear (more likely)?
- I cannot resist a good meme?
So, today I'm wearing the Tangled Yoke Cardigan and my Echo Flower scarf/shawl. Let Self-Stitched September commence!
Journeys
Yesterday my colleague and good friend LH took me to the wonderful The Royal Edinburgh Repository and Self Aid Society on Castle Street. Kate Davies has written a whole post on it (and weaves in a bit of Jane Austen too), but nothing prepared me for the actual shop.
It reminded me of those summers when I would pretend to be Anglican for one day. I helped out in the home produce stall at the annual summer feté at the Anglican Church in Copenhagen - mostly as a favour to friends, but also because I could grab some really tasty homemade jam and sneak off with awesome homemade cakes (and cheap books). The shop was filled with all sorts of homemade goodies: jams, cakes, fudge .. oh, and knitting.
Oh, but the knitting. I had several moments of weak knees and uncontrollable knitterly glee. Plenty of pretty baby garments, practical gloves and neat scarves .. and then you would uncover one Shetland shawl after another. One-ply Shetland shawls - yes, cobweb Shetland shawls. The most beautiful, astounding things you could ever want to see in your entire life.
LH is holding one in the photo. I think at this point the two shop assistants had decided that we were bonkers, but harmless.
They pulled out more things for us to marvel at: fair-isle gloves and delicate lace scarves. I looked at prices and my heart nearly broke: for a full-size cobweb Shetland shawl (similar to the bottom shawl) the shop asked £75 (a quick price comparison). It is heart-breaking to see people of exquisite skill selling their handiwork at such a price - it is devaluating their work, their skill and their time - and I wonder why a centrally-placed Edinburgh shop is selling the shawls at such a low price? Does this reflect the market for such shawls or does it reflect that they are unsure about how to price the items?
LH said something profound about knitting journeys yesterday and I have been thinking about her words. Whilst I was physically taking my knitting on a journey yesterday, I began thinking about how knitting is also taking me for a journey.I am somewhere very different to where I am just a few years ago when I got back into knitting and that journey has only just begun.
In my head I'm playing around with a complex set of 'identity markers' and I am trying to work them out through knitting. I am getting increasingly interested in my knitting heritage (primary Danish and Faroese, of course, but with several detours because I am essentially a flâneur) as well as British textile history. I like to think of knitting as something intensely personal - the yarn runs through our hands and we touch every millimetre of the material we are creating - and I want my knitting to reflect me whoever I am becoming.
And to keep me warm and cosy so I will not die during the forthcoming Scottish winter. My cardigan's coming on nicely, non?
Working On: The Vicar’s Fields Mitts
I'm currently working on some seriously awesome colourwork mitts. I would have said "fair-isle mitts" but I recently got told off by someone who said that "fair-isle" was reserved for patterns stemming from Fair Isle, so "colourwork" it is.
However, the mitts are quite North Atlantic in their conception, design and composition. I'm using Shetland 4ply wool, the geometric pattern is inspired by Faroese pullovers, and the colours are lifted directly from a fair-isle colourwork pullover my gran knitted me when I was about eleven years old. I wanted a pair of mitts that reminded me of my cultural heritage and I think they'll fit the bill. I'm calling them "The Vicar's Fields mitts" in honour of some childhood memories.
When I put the first few details up on Ravelry, some of you contacted me to hear if I would make the pattern available. I have thought about it and have come to this decision: I will not be writing up a full pattern for these mitts. I will, however, put all my notes and charts up here on this blog, so if you want to knit these mitts, you can. I make fairly extensive notes whenever I knit, so there will plenty of information for anyone fancying their own Vicar's Fields.
Meanwhile I have had time to think about the last few days' events. The one thing about Knit Camp which really struck me was the emphasis upon British wool, British yarn, and sustainability. Everywhere I went I heard people saying they chose to spend their money on local vendors, local dyers, and local sheep breeds. Blacker Designs was one of the busiest stalls with their yarns from British flocks (and they had some wonderfully obscure breeds too). Toft Alpaca and Artisan Threads also benefited from the attention, but Shetland Handspun (no website) and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust really saw people talking. Later this year I'm part of an event about British wool and British yarns, so I was really excited to see the buzz surrounding local, organic yarn. Good thing Garthenor wasn't at Knit Camp or I would have walked away with their fabulous undyed organic laceweight which I have been coveting for ages.
Speaking of laceweight, someone has talked me into knitting her a Laminaria. I took a lot of persuading ..
Ravelry Picnic
Ah yes, the Ravelry picnic. I was too exhausted to properly enjoy myself, but it was nice to see familiar faces (and famous faces). I'll play catch-up with the world once I've had some sleep.
Knit Camp
I am just home from spending the day at Knit Camp. I did not do any classes as I was unable to go throughout the week and the only class I really wanted to do was a lace class scheduled for Thursday (I think it was Thursday), but I still wanted to experience a proper knitting event. You know what? It was pretty good. The event itself has been riddled with mishaps, confusion and general chaos, but as a Saturday visitor to the marketplace I had nothing to complain about. The choice of vendors was outstanding, the venue was well-chosen and even the weather was on its best behaviour. We had a lovely time.
One of my favourite moments occurred when a friend's mum showed off her mum's fair-isle work to the Jamieson & Smith people from Shetland. My friend's grandmother used to knit up swatches whenever a new Jamieson & Smith fair-isle pattern was released and as a result she now has a long sampler of pattern design spanning decades. The Jamieson & Smith people were absolutely intrigued by the sampler and many photos were snapped (as you may be able to tell from the photo). My friend's mum even had to pose holding the sampler which made us all beam. 
Other great moments: helping out at the Old Maiden Aunt stall and hearing all the amazing buzz surrounding Lilith's yarns, meeting Norah Gaughan and getting terribly star-struck, catching up with a truly enormous amount of people (Roobeedoo! Dodiegirl! Janicebee! Knitsomniack! LisaFalcon! Teagenie! Celtic Stitcher! Chatiry! So Cherry! Judith! Angela! Peerimoot! Anna! And a gazillion more - sorry if I haven't linked you, but my head's swimming with names!), having a knitterly lunch on the lawn outside the Pathfoot building with a beautiful view across the Stirling valley, getting so so so inspired by Artisan Threads' stall with their genuinely breathtaking sense of colour and visual flair, and seeing some very awe-inspiring knitting projects displayed at Artisan Yarns and the aforementioned Jamieson & Smith stall.
I actually did not buy much as my knitting budget is ear-marked for other things this season (and I have too much yarn, anyway), but I did pick up some shawl pins and buttons from Textile Garden. I do love buttons and I knew from their website that Textile Garden would have a good selection (the photo shows a tiny slice of their stock). I particularly like my new shawl pin/kilt pin which calls to mind koru, but I'm very happy with my new buttons too. I did pick up a skein of un-dyed merino/silk laceweight from Artisan Yarns, but the majority of my meagre budget went towards Knitting Shetland Lace, a CD-ROM by Liz Lovick. I am getting increasingly interested in 'heritage knitting' (for want of a better word) and Lovick's CD-ROM is just perfect for me: it compares the knitted lace traditions of Shetland, Iceland, the Faroes, Estonia, Ukraine and Orenburg, has many shawl patterns and guides you all the way towards designing your own shawls.
It has been a very lovely day and yet again a big thank you to everyone who said hello. I am utterly exhausted now, but someone's almost done preparing my dinner .. then it is time to snuggle up with some fair-isle knitting before bedtime. Tomorrow we have a Ravelry knitting picnic in the Botanics with Ravelry's Jess & Casey plus Miss Ysolda. See you there around 2pm-ish?
FO: Haematite Shawl
Quickest shawl ever? Kim Hargreaves' Opal ("Haemitite") was done in little over 24 hours and it was not as though I sat about knitting constantly. I can see this shawl becoming a stash-buster (and I say this thinking of some mystery red mohair in my stash) as it was so quick and fun to knit. It was also the perfect knitting group project: garterstitch with one tiny detail to remember on each row. Verdict: a winner.
I sat knitting the majority of it during The Life Craft's inaugural knit night which was really fun and relaxing. Congratulation to Von and the rest of the Life Craft staffers for being officially anointed with an unannounced visit the very next day by Ravelry founders, Jess and Casey, and Scotland's knitting designer star, Ysolda Teague. The Life Craft is a great new addition (I nearly wrote addiction) to Glasgow's West End craft scene and I'm so so pleased by all the positive buzz the place is generating.
I may also have bought some yarn whilst there, but since I have just finished some things, I'm okay with that. I'm trying to operate a "yarn out means yarn in" policy at the moment. I picked up some beautiful Shetland 4ply by Colorimetry which is destined to become part of my fair-isle winter mitts which I am (gasp) currently drafting.
Points
Firstly, the response to my Larisa scarf has taken me completely aback. The pattern has been available from a shop here in Glasgow for about a week - and so far more than fifty people have "bought" a copy (pattern comes with the purchase of a ball of Kidsilk Haze). I have received so, so many lovely, thoughtful and sweet comments from complete strangers that I don't know what to say except thank you. It's really quite startling and I feel a bit overwhelmed.
Secondly, I will be at the UK Knit Camp marketplace next Saturday (the 14th of August) in Stirling. Mostly I will be browsing and trying not to buy things, but I will also be helping out at the Old Maiden Aunt booth. I know several bloggers will be attending and I'm really looking forward to meeting many of my online friends/reads. If you recognise me, do say hello! I have very mixed emotions about attending the UK Knit Camp - it seems to have descended into chaos - but as it is one of the very few Scotland-based knitting events, I have decided to tag along. I just hope that the UK Knit Camp shenanigans will not deter people from staging further events up here. It's not Scotland's fault, I swear..
Finally, I had the pleasure of meeting Ali from Jamie Possum today. We had a great talk about sustainability, New Zealand and KnitNation. I am yet to try out her beautiful yarn, but I'm a) such a Kiwiphile and b) such a sucker for gorgeous yarn that it is just a matter of time before I succumb. I have long wanted to knit the Lorién beret and I'm quickly running out of excuses. Except that I also appear to have run out of knitting time and my stress levels are at a two-year high.
How to combat stress when my stress is knitting-related? Answers Suggestions, please.
My Favourite Obsession
People who lived through a certain obsession of mine will get a kick out of knowing I have found a pattern for Moulin Rouge mittens. Yes! Mittens with cancan dancers and a big red windmill! My life is complete! Maybe I should knit mittens based all my film obsessions. Any suggestions for Trainspotting, Velvet Goldmine or Hedwig & the Angry Inch mitts? Of course I already own Hedwig-themed yarn thanks to Ms Old Maiden Aunt. And no, I'm not asking about Star Wars patterns because there are plenty of those around..
I saw this little Ten Ways To Ruin Your Sewing tutorial over at Colette Patterns and thought it applied really well to knitting too. Here are the best bits but with a knitting slant added by yours truly:
- Stupid self-imposed deadlines. I have been prone to thinking "I need to get this pullover done so I can wear it to XYZ." End result: I never finish the pullover because I work on it 24/7 and end up hating it. Or it ends up looking a shoddy mess and I won't ever wear it. Besides, no-one but myself cares if I wear a new pullover to XYZ.
- The wrong fabric yarn. So you like that indie-dyed cashmere? And you're going to use it for a baby cardigan? Really?! You might want to talk to someone about that. Yarn recommendations are there for a reason. Substitute the recommended bulky-weight merino yarn with a 4ply cotton yarn at your own peril. If you are allergic to a fibre or the recommended yarn is out of your price range/you don't like the colour range, get clever about your yarn substitution. Also, using alpaca for a summer top = no-no.
- Inaccurate cutting. Okay, there might not be an equivalent knitting faux-pas .. except if you ignore the given tension. I've tried that. I tried to knit Mr Greenjeans without checking my tension. I ended up with something which was four sizes too big. I do these things so you don't have to.
- Winging it on a new technique. "Aha! So this project calls for a provisional cast-on? I don't know what that is, so I'll just use my normal cast-on. Oh, I need to unravel the cast-on and pick up new stitches? Where are my scissors?" Okay, so I have never done that, but that is because I love learning new techniques. But you get what I mean.
- Expecting every pattern to fit “out of the box.” "It’s a rare person that most patterns will fit without adjustment of some kind. Sewing knitting patterns (and ready to wear) are made for a statistically average body, and chances are high that that body is not yours. I know it’s not mine. Learning to make the adjustments you need is just a fact of sewing crafting life." (quoting this for truth)
- Being dishonest about your measurements. This is the big one for me, personally. I have a weird, distorted view of my body shape so unless I'm careful (and honest with myself) I end up knitting things that just do not fit.
Another great post is courtesy of the new Twist Collective: Shop Talk, by Sunday Holm, hits so many of the marks for me. "Requesting that the shop photocopy a particular pattern to avoid paying the full purchase price of a book." is a huge pet peeve of mine (can you tell I used to work in publishing?) as is Getting a less than warm welcome which I remember vividly from a certain defunct yarn shop here in Glasgow. Sunday's article is well worth a read and even a re-read.
Finally, Jess and Casey of Ravelry-fame and -foundery are coming to Glasgow. Join us all for a knitting picnic in Glasgow's Botanic Gardens - more information on Ravelry in the various Scottish/Glasgow groups - and a big thank you to Vonnie of The Life Craft for alerting me to this! See you there?
FO: Foxglove/Revontuli
A miracle happened today. The light drizzle stopped and the sun came out just as we were gearing up for a quick Finished Object shoot. The gods somewhere must like my new shawl/scarf as much as I do.
The pattern was one of the first I ever queued on Ravelry, Revontuli-huivi. The yarn is Kauni Effektgarn, an Estonian 4-ply with long pattern repeats and I used 6mm KnitPro needles.
The majority of the shawl was knitted during epic bus journeys to-and-fro North-East Scotland. It was a perfect travel knit - long stretches of knitting/purling and a bit of interest ever so often. I quickly fell into a rhythm and could knit whilst keeping an eye on the ever-changing landscape. I think I would have thought this a bit of a boring knit if I hadn't been on the road. The yarn really does most of the work for you.
The pattern is well-written and well-charted. The yarn is rustic with beautiful colours - but it also nearly lifted the skin off my yarn-carrying finger (I knit Continental). I cannot imagine myself knitting Kauni (or its siblings, Aade Lõng and Evilla) at a tighter tension or for a full garment. I would need to wrap band-aids around my fingers in order to survive - and I'm not sure I'd find that particularly fun.
But, gosh, my shawl is beautiful. It blocked out very big, I love the colours and I know this will become my go-to scarf this autumn/winter. It is my favourite knit for quite some time and I feel a bit silly that I did not knit this a long time ago.
Have you seen the new Twist Collective? Oh my. I'm in love with at least four or five patterns (which puts the cat among the pigeons as far as future projects are concerned). My two must-knits are Hallett's Ledge (I have some vibrant purple Troon Tweed kicking about) and Cityscape (I might redrawn the chart so it includes some Glasgow buildings), but there are plenty of gorgeous patterns I can see myself wearing.
Also, I could kick myself. Some of my best friends have just been to KnitNation in London - and I forgot all about asking them to buy me some Wollmeise yarn. I did not want much - just one skein for a small scarf - but I completely forgot and seeing as Wollmeise yarn is normally as scarce as unicorns I probably won't get another chance (unless KnitNation happens again or I go on yarn-buying vacation to Germany - I don't know which is most likely).
Speaking of vacations, I did enjoy my mini-vacay but unfortunately it has meant that admin work has been piling up and I will be spending the rest of my Sunday filing papers and writing up reports. I think this calls for tea and buttered crumpets.
FO: Larisa
My Larisa scarf is finished and I am head over heels with it. More photos on Ravelry.
Specifications:
Pattern: Larisa by yours truly
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze, 1 skein (19 grammes to be precise)
Needles: 4mm KnitPro
Modifications: None, zip, zilch. I was effectively test-knitting my own pattern (which reminds me that my test knitters will need a revised version - I will get that to you by end of next week).
I'd be tempted to start another one, because what you see is actually a sample and I don't get to keep it.. but I've just cast on for a quick little weekend knit I've been meaning to do for a long, long time. More on that later.