New Projects!

I am trying to make sure I finish at least one thing before starting on something new but it's hard! Picked up the half-done crochet baby jacket last night and have started the second side - really enjoying it but still have the urge to cast on something new. Have my eye on some cute little knitted brooches - kitsch and cool. Knitting is so therapeutic and so creative. My job lacks creativity at the moment and knitting is one way of getting some back in my life. To anyone who is feeling low or stressed I would really recommend knitting as a way of getting things in proportion. It can be a real motivator and a destressor as long as you pick something that is within your capabilities and that you can finish fairly quickly. People love being given something hand knitted so it benefits everyone. If you can't knit ask someone to teach you. There are also lots of lovely tutorials on-line, http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/learn-to-knit or join a knitting group, you would be very welcome. Writing is my other big project and one which I just love once I get started. I've finished a couple of short stories, some flash fiction and have mapped out the ideas I have for a novel. I had a very creative day when I decided that as I was going on a novel writing course in the autumn I better have some idea of what my potential novel was going to be about. I had some vague ideas in my head and spent about half an hour getting them down on paper. I was amazed at how far my thoughts had progressed and how much of a framework I actually had. It was really useful - a bit like picking up lots of bits of knitting and sewing them all together. I'm not sure what the finished garment will look like exactly but I know the general shape now and the colour of the yarn. I'm getting on well with Scepticism Inc and hope to finish it on the way home tonight on the train so I can put some knitting in my bag for tomorrow's commute. I am so glad I don't drive in to work - I would lose so much recreational and creative time. Sorry to all the people who ever get inconvenienced by my knitting but I try to keep my needles out of your way. Here's to reading, writing and knitting.

All knitted out ....

Feel all knitted out having completed the wedding gift (photos as soon as the happy couple have been given it). Read on the train this morning for the first time for weeks; very strange book -story is narrated by a supermarket trolley. Scepticism Inc by Bo Fowler. Echos of Ben Elton's books in style. Have finished The Book Thief and absolutely loved it. Read it slowly (unusual for me) as wanted to savour it. Didn't want to finish it as knew it couldn't end well - being set in Nazi Germany - but I got there and it was worth the sadness to have read it. Also recently read Devotion by Nell Leyshon which is one of the best things I have ever read. If I had to choose the book I wish I'd written this would be it. Such wonderful characterisation and amazing empathy with four completely different people. Another book I read really slowly as I just didn't want it to end. So back to the knitting; found some lovely patterns while browsing. Downloaded some from Alan Dart's site http://www.alandart.co.uk/ I never imagined I would be doing this sort of knitting but these creations are so cute! I have also found a pattern for little brooches which are also cute so will be having a go at some of those. As well as the jumper for my husband, the cardigan that my friend Viv is still waiting patiently for, the half crocheted baby coat, the nearly-finished-the-back Aran jacket .... and some other things I've started, hidden away and forgotten about. And still the wool keeps coming. I renewed my subscription to Yarn Forward and they sent me two balls of Shetland 2 ply and a pattern for a hat. Thanks Yarn Forward. Spent some time yesterday downloading photos from my camera and sorting them into folders. Felt very organised. Now I need to do something with them so they're not just sitting there. Will post some on this site as I've realised I like looking at blogs with photos on them. Happy knitting.

Things I've finished

Have had a difficult year and so not posted much (not since August!). Had a fantastic trip down to Guildford for our son's wedding. Crocheted the shrug to wear over my dress but not sure anyone took any photos on the Sunday when I wore it. Very pleased with it. Have also finished several pairs of socks, a pair of fingerless gloves for my journalist daughter who gets cold fingers typing away in her Dublin apartment. Plus a shopping bag from plarn (which is what yarn made from plastic bags is apparently called). Haven't quite got the handles right but I love the material that is created. Have lots of ideas for other uses. This weekend I have been to Dublin to see my daughter and we spent the whole of Sunday on a secret project that took 8 hours to knit and then 20 hours between us to assemble! We are both so pleased with the finished result but as it is for a wedding that is coming up soon the details and photos will have to wait. Big projects I have finished include a blanket I started several years ago - knitted in cream arran weight, each square is a different stitch with a sea/beach motif. I'm really pleased with it but it needs a border to finish it off. I have used up all the original wool so am keeping my eyes open for something suitable. In the meantime the blanket still looks good, the border will just be the final touch. I started a cardigan for my mother at Easter and finished it a couple of weeks ago. As usual with my projects I had completed 80% of it and then abandoned it for something new. However she was really looking forward to it as it is a lovely modern pattern in a soft dusky pink. So I made the effort to get it out again, found out what I still had to do and just got on and did it. And it looks really lovely on her. She is in a care home and several of the staff and residents said they would go on a waiting list! No chance, I am off on something else already, as well as the several other projects that are still on the go - including that sweater for you Viv! I'll get there one day. Will post some photos when I get them off my camera and will keep posting, and knitting.

Shrug

My son is getting married on September 6th. We are travelling down to Guildford on our narrowboat (a three week trip) so we will have a very relaxing few weeks while chaos reigns in Guildford! We will arrive very chilled and ready for a fab time. I have a lovely floaty dress which needs a shrug, I'm halfway through crocheting one - a very basic rectangle based on trebles - and am just waiting for some more wool to finish it off. It's a good project to have on the boat as it's so easy to do while I'm waiting in locks or even steering on easy stretches. The colour of the wool is just right - a fuschia pink which picks out one of the colours in the dress and I have tried on the half that I have finished and am really pleased with it. Will post a picture once it's finished. I have nearly finished the scarf I started in Shetland with 2ply shetland and lambswool laceweight yarn. I have really enjoyed knitting with something so fine and will definitely do some more with this weight or even cobweb (1ply). I'm not sure I'll tackle a shawl but you never know. There are some beautiful patterns around (see latest issue of Yarn Forward magazine www.yarnforwardmagazine.co.uk/) and I am very tempted but I am better with projects I can pick up and work with while travelling. Confession time, at the moment I have on the go:

• A 4ply ribbed sweater for a friend that I've gone off (the sweater not the friend!) because I just don't think it will suit her, it's a 1940's pattern that she chose and while I love it I just can't see her wearing it - it's too much of a skinny rib. I must finish it and if she doesn't like it she can pass it on to someone really skinny.
• An arran jacket which I am knitting from wool from local sheep - Hebridean, naturally black/brown which is amazing to knit with. Not sure quite why I've not carried on with this, I've almost completed the back but have moved on to other things.
• A baby's hat - have knitted the hat and just need to sew it up, make two bobbles and sew them on. The baby's born now so need to finish it while it still fits!
• A baby's jacket - this is for the same baby as the hat and I've done the back and both fronts. Need to do the sleeves and sew up.
• Squares ad nauseum - enough to sew up into a reasonable size blanket. The main reason for not completing this is I don't like the yarn. This was one of the first things I started a few years ago and bought a stash of very cheap arran weight yarn which isn't that nice. I persevered but much prefer natural fibres now. Still, I really should complete this project and give it away to someone who will like it. All the squares are different stitches so it really is quite good. I just wish I'd used better yarn given all the time that went into the knitting.
• My shrug which WILL get finished as I need it for the wedding!

That's not too bad is it? And here's the list of the things that I have finished in the last year:

• Ten pairs of socks
• One blanket
• Two shrugs
• Several scarves

There's a moral here I feel - I'm good at starting large projects but better at finishing small ones - especially socks! I have also learnt to spend money on good yarn as it's a better investment. So here's to narrowboating and knitting, or crochet, and here's to me finishing some of those projects while I'm cruising down to guildford.

uk knitters
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Island knitting

Since visiting Shetland last month and buying some lace weight wool I have been looking at how knitting has developed as part of island culture. There are many traditional knitting patterns from various islands available on-line and while distinctive they also have much in common. Knitting seems to be an island hobby related to the availability of wool, the need for warm clothing and as a local source of income. So far I've found traditional knitting patterns from Shetland, Iceland, Fair Isle, Guernsey, Jersey and Ireland. I've put some links on my list for anyone who's interested. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this information but it's fascinating to see how knitting has developed in these relatively isolated communities. Although garments were first knitted for utilitarian purposes the knitters developed intricate patterns and colours which required intense work. Most of this work would have been done in winter, in relative darkness, by candle or firelight. And of course you had to spin your wool first. I watched someone spinning when I was up in Shetland. It looked very calming and restful but I was soon put off when the spinner told me how long it would take her to spin the small quantity of fleece she had with her - just a handful would keep her going for weeks. No wonder the invention of the spinning jenny was so welcome! My resolution (again!) for the rest of this year is not to buy any more wool but to get through at least some of the stash I've got. The problem is of course that I keep going to places where wool is for sale and falling in love with it. Buying wool is highly addictive but I must go back and have a look at what I've already got - I think I will be pleasantly surprised and hopefully will fall in love with some of it again and get on with knitting it. I've got four items on the go at the moment and must finish at least one of them before I start any more. A friend has asked me to knit her daughter a Christmas stocking to match the one she has. We've found a pattern on-line dated 1925 which looks exactly like the one she wants. So I need to go to a wool store and match up the yarn. There --- I've almost broken my resolution immediately, but in a good cause of course.

Knitting as Therapy

It's been a particularly stressful 18 months for various reasons - both home and work related. Looking back on how I have coped two things spring to mind - chocolate and knitting! I have no hangups about the chocolate habit, whatever has got me through all this has to be good and I've got it under control (I think!). Knitting however has added benefits. Once you've eaten that bar of chocolate it's gone. Once you've finished a piece of knitting it's there for ever, either to keep and cherish or to give away to someone who will appreciate not just the article but the time and patience that went into creating it. That's the thing about knitting, it's creative as well as being calming. There is something so relaxing about the simple repetitive movement of needle in, wool round, needle through and stitch off. You repeat it time and time again and it develops a rhythm of its own. I started with squares which require very little thought, are small enough to finish quickly, and build up into something as large or as small as you wish - a cushion cover, a small blanket or a large afghan. Then I moved onto socks and these were wonderful. Again they are small enough to finish quickly, and small enough to carry around wherever you go. They require some concentration at key points but a lot of the time you can just pick them up and do a few rows. With the wonderful wool around they look fantastic and they make fabulous presents. Currently I'm knitting a scarf with 2 ply (lace) wool from Shetland and there is only 1 pattern row. That's just right for knitting on the train or at odd moments, without getting involved in a complicated pattern with lots of wool. Knitting therapy really works for me. However agitated or worked up I feel about yet another thing that has gone wrong knitting never fails to calm me down. I knit on the train on the way to work and on the way home; I sat quietly at the back of a wedding service on Saturday and got my knitting out (I wasn't a guest but one of the bell ringers waiting for the service to finish so we could start ringing again). I have knitted in lectures and at presentations, not because I wasn't concentrating on what was being said but because having my hands and one part of my brain busy helps me to focus on what is being said. I have knitted on our narrowboat and on ferries. I haven't managed to get my knitting needles past airport security so I haven't knitted on a plane but am working on that one! When I next fly to China I will take some wool and use the plastic chopsticks that they provide with the airline meal. So if you see someone knitting in an unlikely place it might be me, particularly if I am looking calm and relaxed.