Day Five: Song

Hello FLS, my old friend, I've come to knit you again, Because pretty yarn came softly creeping, And I can knit you while sleeping, And the shawl that was frogged yesterday Still remains Within the knitting basket of doom.

In restless dreams I walked alone Wondered if I should knit Cobblestone, 'neath the halo of a second-hand lamp, I turned my eyes to the weather cold and damp When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of bright light That split the night And touched the knitting basket of doom.

And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand possible projects, maybe more. Projects without assigned yarns, Projects with scary-looking charts, Projects that look fabulous - but not on me And not one made me Disturb the knitting basket of doom.

Head said you do know Your yarn stash like a cancer grows. Find some sweater amount for Hey Teach*, Take these patterns and an FO this month you may reach. But my hands like idle raindrops fell, And rested By the knitting basket of doom.

And so to the great knitting goddess I prayed I looked at items I had previously made. And the signs were flashing, By the sweater amounts I had been stashing. And the signs said, top-down it shall be It'll be easy garter-stitch and fancy-free And suit that lovely wool-alpaca yarn you have kept in the knitting basket of doom..

(apologies to Simon and Garfunkel)

*no longer in my queue as per April 2011

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Alas, I have suddenly fallen ill and I am currently resting in my bed. I hope you enjoy this little filk which I originally wrote in August 2009. I have updated the links though :)

I hope to be fully recovered in time for tomorrow's blog post. Until then you can find more blogs participating in the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week by googling 2KCBWDAY5.

Day Four: Worn

I am wearing two handknitted garments in this photo:

1. My Nev Shawl.

I have found a big grey shawl incredibly wearable to my great surprise. I shall have to make more neutral-coloured accessories. This revelation comes as no surprise to nobody but me: neutral colours go well with many things.

2. A handknitted sweater I have never mentioned before.

This is indeed handknitted but not by me. It is an ex-display Rowan sweater - Sarah Hatton's Beatriz from The Lenpur Linen Collection - which I was lucky enough to pick up in Yorkshire last year during one of Rowan's garment sales. It is an incredibly comfy sweater and I wear it often (usually without my bra strap showing - sorry about that). The Lenpur Linen has softened a lot with each wash and the entire garment has a beautiful drape. If you have ever wondered where display garments go to live, you have your answer now.

I am slightly incredulous that I am wearing something knitted to sample size as I am apparently too large for any of the New Look sewing patterns. And before you ask, yes, I have tried on various other (ex-)display garments and can fit all but the most fitted ones. Sizing seems very arbitrary at times.

I do wear all my handknits but some knits get worn more than others. The two knits mentioned are worn often as are my Snorri sweater, the Forecast cardigan, the Haematite shawl, and the Art Deco shawl. I wish I knew what make these knits so darn wearable..

.. which brings me to the pertinent question: what makes you wear a handknitted item over and over again? Is it fit? Colour? General it-goes-with-everything-ness?

Find more blogs participating in the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week by googling 2KCBWDAY4.

Day Three: Embellishing

On the recent British census form I was asked about what I feel to be my national identity. After having thought for some time (which included an inner dialogue about the post-Enlightenment construction of Nationhood) I wrote Danish-Scottish. I have begun to cheer for Scotland in international sports tournaments which either marks me as masochistic or Scottish. I prefer the latter. However, you can take the girl out of Scandinavia but she'll always love white walls. And this takes me neatly 'round to today's topic of embellishment.

Being Scandinavian, I am not supposed to understand embellishment. Nordic style is all about sleek design, functionalism, and less is more. I remember reading an interview in my mum's favourite magazine: a fashion designer was asked what her favourite colours were and her answer stayed with me because of its über-Danishness. She loved "white, black, grey, and recently I have introduced bold colours like navy and nude to add edginess." Oh, Denmark. Thankfully people like Julia and Birgitte prove that Danes do actual colours and we do them well.

I digress. But you can see why someone having grown up with Nordic minimalism would find embellishments difficult. When I think of embellishing my knitting and crochet, I approach it like a true Dane: I take away more than I add. Some examples:

My St. James top. The pattern is a simple top-down raglan with waist-shaping. The original pattern called for a bow. I disliked the bow: it was floppy, left a gaping hole in the neckline and looked like a last-minute addition. I wanted something decorative, yet structured. I ended up crocheted three small motifs which I sewed on. I think it works because a) the motifs do not overwhelm the top and b) they are made from the same yarn as the actual top. It would not have worked half as well if I had chosen a different yarn.

Another red project: Red Redux. Another simple top-down project which needed very little embellishment. I found some handmade buttons on Etsy - four matryoshka dolls in red, yellow, green and orange - and that was all the garment needed to look 'finished'. Nowadays I must admit that I think the combination looks .. clichéd .. but at the time I liked the combination of a simple garment and striking handmade buttons. Today I would probably have used different buttons.

Speaking of buttons, they are my perpetual downfall. I have boxes of buttons in my stash closet. I find them secondhand (although this is getting more difficult, damn you craft revolution), they are great holiday souvenirs, and I am being given a lot of them by friends and family. I was recently given my great-grandmother's sewing box which holds a lot of memories and D's mother has also given me her own collection of buttons - a gesture I find incredibly touching.

Recently I have begun using beads in my knitting projects - my Larisa scarf pattern uses beads quite effectively, even if I have to say so myself (note to self: check up on what's happening with that pattern) - and I have also begun experimenting with adding fabric to my knitting and vice versa. I'd love to improve my freehand embroidery too, so I can add small, deft touches to finished objects. I am not talking about Versace-level embellishments, though.

So, morale of the story: I am ambivalent about embellishments but mostly because I am torn between 'understatement' and 'it needs something else'. And I'm a magpie when it comes to buttons.

Find more blogs participating in the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week by googling 2KCBWDAY3. I opted to write about the wild card topic today.

Day Two: Skilled Up

If you have ever played any role-playing game such as Dungeons & Dragons or World of Warcraft, you will be familiar with a system assigning numbers (your "stats") to indicate how good you are at something. Using D&D as an example, if you are very nimble and agile you will have a Dexterity of "15" (or higher) and if you are extremely clumsy, your Dexterity may be a "7".Your skill levels are modified accordingly, so a person scoring high in Dexterity will receive a bonus when performing acrobatics.

Now my personal stats run fairly average but I do get a hefty modifier to my knitting skills rolls. If only life were like a role-playing game and all the tasks revolved about figuring out knitting patterns..

.. but it is not and the last year has actually been quite odd from a knitting perspective. I can knit pretty much anything nowadays but I have been suffering from a lack of knitting mojo. It is odd: I have a beautiful stash, I'm blessed with fabulous knitting groups and friends, and I have allocated crafting time .. but somehow Mr Mojo just went out the door for a very long time. It felt as though all my knitting was pligtstrik, or 'i-have-to-knit-this' rather than 'i-want-to-knit-this'.

Technically I have not changed much from the knitter I was last year. I have not learned any new cast-ons or improved my entrelac - but I have become much more mindful about my knitting and what I choose to do with my knitting time. I have learned to disregard much of the Ravelry hype, avoid local knitting drama and not be distracted by what others think. Instead I have begun discovering who I am as a knitter and as a crafter. I can do so many different things but what do I want to do with them?

Like others, I am rediscovering plain knitting and I am a huge believer in 'less is more'. I am knitting for myself, to my own taste and in my own time.

To go back to the roleplaying terminology, it is as if my massive knitting modifier is now working in synergy with my WIS modifier. I suspect that means I've levelled up over the past year although I hadn't realised this. Maybe life is like a role-playing game and all the tasks do revolve about figuring out knitting patterns..

Topic: Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Find more blogs participating in the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week by googling 2KCBWDAY2.

Day One: Yarned

I often get asked which is the best yarn I have ever used. I never know how to answer because, for me, the quality of yarn is wholly dependent upon what project I am doing. When I think about yarn, which I admittedly do all the time, I just try to think about it in context. What type of project am I making and who am I making it for? How will the object be treated, how will it be used and how often will it be used? Do I need to think about maintenance? In other words, every yarn has a purpose. - Something About Yarn - Knitting & Crochet Blog Week 2010

I wrote this last year and it still rings true to me. Thanks to my livelihood, I see and use a lot of different yarns and I have rarely come across yarn that isn't fit for purpose. I will freely admit that out-and-out novelty yarn like Rico Pom-Pom isn't for me but it is a great yarn for the right sort of knitter. Likewise, I am a huge, huge fan of Rowan Kidsilk Haze but I know several knitters who cannot abide the texture, the fibres or how it knits up.

If I look at my personal stash, it is clear that I like really fine yarns (i.e. lace weight yarns).

I cannot explain this love of lace weights because I can only wear so many lacy shawls without looking like I'm taking part in a Victorian Era re-enactment show and yet I am forever knitting and stashing yarn not much thicker than regular sewing thread.

I am currently knitting a very, very basic triangular shawl using Noro Sekku, a 2-ply cotton/wool/silk blend. It is a typical Noro yarn with surprising colour changes, thin & thick bits, and it is slightly overspun. It works well with a very simple stocking stitch shawl but as a knitter I think I am definitely gravitating towards less showy yarns.

When next in Scandinavia I have a mind to stock up on Snældan 1ply, a brilliant Faroese/Falklands yarn, and Navia Uno, a strange lace yarn which combines a high-twist 'thread' and an underspun core to great effect. Both yarns look very unremarkable in the skein, but they knit up beautifully. My current blog header is a close-up of Navia Uno, incidentally. Later in the year I hope to have time to knit with Garthenor's organic 1-ply wool. I wish that Blacker Design did fine yarns because I would love to try some of the different breeds and also support British producers whilst I'm indulging in my favourite past-time.

Find more blogs participating in the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week by googling 2KCBWDAY1.

Just Knitting

Sometimes I get so very tired of knitting. No, I do not tire of knitting - that simple enjoyable activity that involves a ball of string and two pointy sticks - but I do tire of certain aspects involved in knitting.

I tire of the one-upmanship I see in the knitting community. That you need to be knitting the latest viral pattern craze in precious hand-spun unicorn yarn from a small island off the coast of Chile to be a cool knitter. Or that coolness equates you knitting crazy Estonian lace at knitting group whilst shrugging off its difficulty with a modest "oh, it's straightforward, really" and frantically counting in your head. I'm currently that last knitter (although my stitch pattern is straightforward, honestly) and I'm even knitting my crazy Estonian lace in an expensive designer yarn. Where is this one-upmanship coming from?

I tire of the idea of "a knitting community" too.

I was recently contacted by another knitter who asked me to share a copyrighted pattern "to support our knitting community". Really? Just because I knit, I am not automatically your new best friend. We share a common interest but I am not just a knitter. My identity has so many other markers that I do not feel automatic kinship with anyone who knits.

Besides, the very idea of a "community" is ridiculous when I see these self-confessed 'yarn snobs' and 'knitteristas' roll their eyes at seeing someone knitting a baby jacket on straight needles using cheap mass-market yarn. Isn't "the knitting community" just another way of saying "exclusive club"?

So, honestly, I needed something to cleanse my palate. I wanted to be reminded why I love knitting so much.

I took my inspiration from the recent Rowan magazine - it is actually turning into one of my favourite resources together with Knit1 Fall/Winter 2008 - and specifically Kaffe Fassett's Unwind Wrap. I looked in my stash, uncovered some yarns that went well together and I sat down to knit. I had no plan, no pattern, and I just used up some spare balls from the stash. No fuss, all freedom.

It felt great. I felt great.

I'm going to weave in my gazillion ends now and then get my partner to shoot a few photos of me wearing my newest project - but I'm not going to make out that it is the most exclusive, most amazing, or super-difficult project ever. Knitting it made me feel good and wearing it (despite the many loose ends) makes me feel good.

But at the end it is just knitting, you know?