The Last Post of 2015

How do you sum up a year like this?

Let’s start with how it’s the first full calendar year I’ve spent living in Canada. I almost did it in 2012, but left at the beginning of December. I emigrated in June 2014 so this year is the first one where I’ve made it through a whole circle around the sun.

In terms of this blog, things are going well. The biggest change was running my Kickstarter back in August/September. I’ve got a couple of the rewards ready to send out in the new year, and I’ve already posted both of the podcasts which were lots and lots of fun. I made new friends!

When I started the year I had fewer than one thousand followers. At time of writing I am edging up to four thousand. I love reading people’s responses to the blog and I love reading other people’s craft and book-based blogs around the place. Basically, I’m part of a great community and it’s an important slice of my life now.

My writing and I have come far. I don’t know if I told you guys but I had a piece about knitting and mental health published in a UK health magazine. I’d link it but honestly, it’s a little personal and I’m not comfortable quite yet.

Ironic that it’s in a print magazine if I’m shy about it, isn’t it?

I also spent a large part of the year working with Nerd Underground which is now defunct. A shame, but I learned a lot about comics and the comic industry. I also made friends, which you can see is a theme here. I really like people, okay!

Outside of the interwebs I went to Manitoulin for a week with my girlfriend, her parents, and my friend/her husband. It wasn’t an ideal vacation but the island was beautiful and I got some locally-sourced, naturally-dyed yarn and the best blanket ever, so it can’t be too bad!

My nephew Tommy was born that same week. I haven’t met him yet (but will do next year in April!). I knitted him a blanket and a cardigan in place of all the hugs I want to give him as soon as possible.

Other things I’ve knitted? So, so many things. After all I’m back in the Durham Region which means I’m back to binging on yarn from Kniterary (Martina does good yarns by golly).

I’ve made hats, shawls, blankets, socks, toys, mittens, fingerless gloves, etc. My needles click day by day and I love it more than ever.

My knitting skills have definitely improved. I knitted a shawl out of wollmeise that is now my favourite finished object by far. Complicated and fiddly, it only took me a couple of weeks and that includes the time spent cursing over a dropped nupp.

Got to love/hate a good nupp.

In terms of bigger projects I helped Martina and a bunch of knitters paint the new location for Kniterary which was a lot of fun. I even got paint on my handknit socks, and it was deliberate! (I still wear them all the time.)

I wrote about How To Knit A Sock (A Recipe) and laughed at the comments I received.

I confirmed my suspicions that I’m a process knitter and don’t care about the finished objects all too often.

Anyone can be a better knitter and I shared some ways I believe that’s possible.

More socks magically appeared on my needles. What? I have a problem.

Then more socks happened. And more.

Canadian winter slapped me in the face and my eyebrows froze.

2015 has, in summary, been an excellent year. It has been a strange one in places and stressful in others but on the whole I’m happy.

The other day I was listening to songs about escape that used to make me cry. I realised something: they do nothing for me now. I enjoy the music, yes, and I still sing along but they don’t burn at my soul like they once did. I don’t want to escape any longer. I’m home.

And that’s the best thing any year has given me.

There are good days.

Winter might be cold and dreary but it also the time when people fill the streets with sparkling lights and disturbing ten-foot blow-up Santas. It’s the darkest time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and yet we do our best to huddle together and bring a little colour and sparkle to an otherwise bland time.

Yes, I like winter. Especially now that I live in a country that has seasons beyond ‘wet’, ‘warm but damp’, and ‘cold and windy but at least a bit less wet’. We’ve only had one day of snow here in Southern Ontario so far and I’m okay with that, but the temperature is definitely dropping.

This weekend we went to cut down a tree and drag it inside our home. It’s now taking up slightly too much room and is draped with all sorts of delightful ornaments. Sparkle to keep the dark away: check.

The dog is enjoying the weather. In the heat it becomes too much for him to sprint around like a mad thing, fluffy as he is, but in this cool weather his energy is endless. He’s only two so he can run for days; I took him out for two hours and he still ran around like mad thing as we picked which tree to take home.

Luckily for him, he’s cute as hell (and photogenic).

Yes, I did have a treat in my hand when I took this photo; what was your first clue? (Right. He’s sitting still.)

Winter is also a time to crack out the many knitted items I own and one that I had forgotten about was a Noro hat I made a few months ago and stashed away. I used to dislike Noro but I’m a convert. It’s softer than it looks and the colours are delightful.

This has been my go-to had this year since I lost my green (store-bought) hat in a snow drift.

I didn’t feel like plastering my face all over the blog today so Luna very kindly let me pin her down and balance a hat on her long-suffering head. What? She’s much cuter than I am.

Though I’m not Christian, my favourite thing about winter is Christmas. I was, after all, brought up in a Christian country even if England is mostly full of sort-of-believers who turn up once a year to hear the choirs more than they care about the sermons. Christmas is not about religion for me, but I love it nonetheless.

Yes, it’s fun getting things. But it’s also fun buying things for those you love and knitting things when you have time (which I don’t this year).

It’s also a time that brings out the kindness of strangers. The other day I got home and I found a package in my mailbox which had a lovely colouring book inside. I was baffled; I couldn’t remember ordering one, though I have been colouring a lot lately.

All was revealed when I found the little note telling me it was from a relative stranger, another member of an Amanda Palmer fan group I joined earlier this year on Facebook. You can sign up to give and receive little gifts from kind strangers and I had forgotten about it.

Colouring was once a stressful pursuit for me; I wanted it to be perfect and it never was, but now I have realised that no one but me is ever going to see it unless I want them to, and even then they probably won’t care either way. That kind of freedom has me scribbling away whenever I feel anxiety taking hold.

If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it.

Winter is a strange old time, but it’s one where you can find a lot of warmth and light if you know where to look.

Not a Knitted Christmas

For the first time in years I do not plan to give most people knitted gifts this Christmas.

As you probably read in my recent post, I put a lot of love into my knitted gifts for friends and family. It’s important to me. However with the Kickstarter gifts underway I’ve realised I don’t have time this year to put the energy in like I usually would.

So I’m buying gifts for people. Shock horror!

That said, I’m sure my loved ones don’t mind. My Secret Santa at work will be lucky enough to get a knitted gift but that’s something quick and easy. Other than that, people will be getting gifts that suit them – just not gifts I’ve made.

This is very strange for me. Sometimes it even feels like cheating. Yet I know that with care the gifts will be just as full of love as a hand-knitted treasure.

Are you knitting/making people gifts this year? Why/why not?

Welcome to 2015!

By now most of the world has made it across the midnight barrier and found their way into 2015.

This is a poignant moment for me. 2015 will be the first year where I spend the entire three-hundred-and-sixty-five days as a resident of Canada. I almost made it in 2012 but missed it by a few weeks due to leaving for the UK on 3rd December.

At the beginning of 2014 I was living in Newcastle-upon-Tyne having a good time. I had finally managed to get my brain under control and was beginning to have a handle on over a decade of OCD (previously undiagnosed). Thanks to that and the fact I had such a great circle of friends in Newcastle, I was dealing much better with the fact I was thousands of miles from my girlfriend with no end date in sight.

In the spring I got my Confirmation of Permanent Residency. Six weeks later, on June 19th, I was back in Ontario.

It’s been six months and things are still going well. I’ve spent most of my time knitting and writing. I got a job where I can knit without it getting in the way of my work. My girlfriend and I are happy together, much happier than we were in 2012. And I’m surrounded by my animals.

This year has turned me into a dog person thanks to this brute. His name is Van and he is quite the charmer. Walking him has become one of the highlights of my day, even when he launches into the creek and tries to bite a fisherman’s rod.

In terms of knitting, 2014 has been a productive year. I have listed almost none of what I’ve done on Ravelry which I really need to change at some point but it’s quite difficult to do that when I have the habit of basically throwing my knitting at its recipient as soon as it’s finished.

At the moment I’m on a sock-knitting kick and I’m just about to finish some socks for myself (shock horror!) and start another pair with zero guilt because both socks are from yarn bought for me for Christmas. This year I want to be better at that. I don’t need to give away EVERYTHING I knit, though it doesn’t bother me that I do. I am most definitely a process knitter.

In 2014 I began to take my blog more seriously, trying to get some sort of schedule underway. I’m still working on that. I’m switching to posts on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday; that suits my energy levels much more than my previous attempts. I’m also getting back into pattern collections for you guys.

So welcome to 2015, fellow nerdy knitters. I’m sure we’re in for a good one. Thanks for joining me for the ride.

End of the Year Post 2013

What did I do this year?

I ended up in Newcastle upon Tyne of all places thanks to a kind offer from a lovely friend (Lucy!) when I realised I was stuck in England again for a while. This was one of the most difficult times of my life to date but I’ve grown to love Newcastle even as I long to get home to Ontario.

Me in Durham; the Angel of the North; my good friend Lucy and I in Tynemouth; Tyne Bridge at sunset.

It’s a gorgeous city full of vibrant people and a great yarn shop, The Knit Studio. I’ve met some lovely people there and have really enjoyed my time getting to know them. If you’re in the Newcastle area look up The Knit Studio – it’s shut for a bit at the moment but it’s worth a visit if you get the time. Gorgeous yarn, brilliant people.

In September I went back to Canada. Hello, Ontario! I spent a week chilling with my lovely girlfriend and remembering my life there before we skipped over the border to head out to Las Vegas for a few days. It was one of the best holidays I’ve been on and it was brilliant getting to spend unadulterated time with her in such a vibrant place. We stayed in Circus Circus which meant a lot of walking and some rather disgusting blisters but it was worth it for the heat and the surreal beauty of the place. It took us a while to realise the grass was fake – makes sense in a desert!

We saw a few shows and also went to the Grand Canyon on my birthday. I’d always wanted to go there so I was thrilled. We had a really nice day even though the weather was being a bit weird – it was just before the floods around the area.

Nari and I at the Grand Canyon; dolphins showing off; a raven looking dramatic at the Grand Canyon; Las Vegas at night.

While I was in Oshawa I got to see the pets I left behind and to meet a new one. Van is Nari’s new puppy – quite big already and growing by the day. He’s a sweetheart.

Luna; Ninja; Van and Sandra Dee; Seanie. All the adorables.

I saw my family a few times. I went down to my hometown in spring and spent a week there, mostly with my little sister though I saw a lot of my mum and saw my big sister and my niece too, as well as my dad. Then I saw the paternal side of my lineage in London both in September and earlier in December. Both times were great and lots of alcohol was imbibed. My mum came up in autumn and we had a good time exploring Newcastle.

My niece and nephew got big. I’m not sure when this happened. I guess it’s because I only see them a few times each year; they seem to expand exponentially each time. I am an extremely proud aunty.

Rubi and Jayden. You can guess which is which.

It has been a tough year. I’m thousands of miles away from the person I love and only got to spend two weeks with her; that’s 50 weeks apart. On top of that I’ve been dealing with some pretty heavy mental health stuff and I’m emotionally exhausted. It hasn’t been easy but I think I did a good job of making the most of it: I started exercising, I’m in therapy, I knitted all the things.

Which brings me to my last awkward collage.

Happy new year one and all. Let’s hope 2014 is a corker!

 

Related articles

• #6. Looking back (reiselustandbeyond.wordpress.com)
• Newcastle Christmas Market – Guest Wines on The “Other” Side (guestmeasures.wordpress.com)
• Handspun foxglove wrap (emmaroeder.wordpress.com)
• And Yarn Ran Through It… (mlknowlden.wordpress.com)

Finally: A Picture Post!

So it came to pass that the people did gather around an indoor tree piled high with generous gifts and then did celebrate the acquisition of new shiny things with the consumption of copious amounts of food. Yes, Christmas has been and gone (thank goodness) and it’s time to wind down from the crazy-fast knitting most knitters dread.

I kind of love it though.

This year I didn’t gift presents to just anyone. Not handmade ones. My departure from Canada and my charming girlfriend coincided horribly with the lead up to giftmas so my energy was limited.

Still, I have tiny relatives to indulge. Beware the brilliance of crappy iPhone photos. (The worst part is it’s not even my iPhone… I am burdened with a Nokia held together with masking tape.)

My niece is a little cutie. I crocheted her a scarf out of hot pink malabrigo.

It’s easy to knit and crochet for most little girls thanks to the awful pink stereotype. I try to avoid it the majority of the time – there are so many other colours out there! – but I had the perfect amount of malabrigo leftover from another project and I couldn’t resist the snuggability.

Find the pattern here on Ravelry.

This failed.

My first attempt at a sweater seemed to be going wonderfully. I was knitting at a rate of knots (har har har) and I finished the pocket and body in no time. However the rest of the pattern was horribly vague and assumed previous knowledge of knitting raglan sweaters which I did not have at that time. After fretting a while I abandoned it and started again with only a week to go until Christmas.

Find the pattern here on Ravelry.

Somehow I managed this without completely destroying all of my tendons.

I succeeded! This may be my proudest creation. I got to squish my nephew in it and it was glorious. It’s nothing special in terms of yarn (there’s not much variety around here, especially if you’re skint as I am) but it’s soft and easy to care for which is important for toddlers. Jayden is a bit fussy (understatement) so I’m glad he wore it all day without complaining.

Honestly I still can’t believe I knitted this in less than week. Best thing is my almost-forgotten aim for 2012 was to knit a sweater. Level up!

Find the pattern here on Ravelry. As you can see I completely ignored the colourwork.

I also knitted a cowl for my sister but forgot to get photos of that. Aside from the above (and a leaf scarf for a dear friend of which I have no photographic proof) I didn’t give any other handmade gifts.

Well, not until I spent all of Christmas Day knitting.

This hat was originally meant to be for me…

…but ended up being filched by my big sister.

It turns out I can knit an entire hat in a day if I’m avoiding thinking about the fact I’m thousands of miles away from the person I adore on Christmas Day. I got this done in about six hours I’d say, maybe a little more. I spent a huge chunk of the day with the yarn at my side. When I finished, my sister had expressed such adoration for it I just chucked it at her and said Merry Christmas. It’s nice to have a creation appreciated and I think it made her happy so that’s a little more important than keeping my ears warm!

On Boxing Day I settled down to knit through slightly awkward human communication as is my wont. Also, it counted as a sort of physical exercise while I was eating my weight in cheese and Christmas Pudding (or that’s what I’m telling myself).

I got this done in the early evening and gave it to my mum who had expressed displeasure that Sandi had got a knitted hat and she hadn’t.

My mum seems pretty pleased!

The pattern for both these hats is wonderful and you can find it here. It’s the most popular hat pattern on the site and I can see why.

That’s a satisfying bounty if I say so myself, but I’m not done. Right now I’m sitting watching Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes which is a cartoon I’ve been coerced into watching by my girlfriend, not that I took much persuading and to occupy my hands I’m whipping up a hat for myself, since I gave away my store-bought bobble hat to my little sister who didn’t want to be left out. I started with a pattern but I seem to be thoroughly deviating from the plan. At the moment I’m deciding whether to keep it as a padded headband or whether to pick up some stitches and make it a hat. THEN I have to decide whether to make it fitted or slouchy!

It’s a hard life being an unemployed knitter.

November Knitting

…And crocheting, but that doesn’t go with the alliteration thing.

This is my last month in Canada before I need a new visa/permanent residency, so I’m distracting myself with absolutely everything the world can throw at me. I’m crocheting a beautiful bag and a little fish that turns into sushi for a friend from the knitting group at the Little Green House. I am knitting some mittens for someone else and am about to start a little hat/scarf set for someone small. I have a lot of projects on the go and on top of that it’s Nanowrimo, so I’m writing 50,000 words (at least) of a novel this month.

You can imagine I don’t have much time to think about my imminent departure to England, or the fact that a bunch of strangers holds my fate in their hands.

Last month I also taught a three-part class on crochet which was my first time teaching – or at least the first time I was paid to teach. It was enjoyable and I think it went okay. It has rekindled my passion for crochet.

I’ll admit I’m mostly writing this blog entry to procrastinate all the knitting and writing and crocheting I need to do so I’m going to get back to that now!

New Year’s Resolution

So here’s my knitting resolution for 2012:

Knit a sweater.

Yeah. Pretty simple, but I’m determined to do it. I’m going to work up to it in a couple of stages since I usually tend to jump into things and rip them back twenty times before I get anything acceptable and I don’t want to do that this time.

First up, I’m going to knit a little baby cardigan for my nephew who is two years old. This way I use a whole lot less yarn and yet get to understand the structure of the thing. I’ve had my eye on this jumper for a while for Jayden and I’m sure he’s going to look adorable in it.

Isn't it cute?

Once this is done and once I understand the construction and logic behind knitting something this shape, I’m going to take a giant leap and knit something for myself. It’s going to have to be something simple and not too fitted – or at least something with a lot of ease, since I have a very defined body type (read: I have big bra size and a small waist). I may be able to find something easy to adjust but I’ll probably just find something quite stretchy in construction.

One creation I’ve been thinking about for a while is this charming and very simple pattern from Knitty:

Isn't it lovely?

Of course, I have a tendency to make things for other people even when I intend it to be for myself so the chances are it’ll end up being for my girlfriend. Besides, she’s smaller than me so I can make it with a little less yarn! See me and my devious ways… I’ve groped handled Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn before in a store and it is lovely so ideally I’d like to knit it with that. However, the pattern requires at least a thousand yards of yarn which is over half a mile of the stuff so it might have to wait until I have, y’know, a job.

Which hopefully shall be soon. Oshawa, here I come!

The final stage is going to be to knit something that DEFINITELY shall be for me. I’ve lusted after this for a long time and it’s one of the most popular patterns on Ravelry.

It’s the Owls sweater and it is SO CUTE.

Oh, the shiny goodness...

It uses less yarn (a minimum of 560, though for me it would be more – probably about 700, though I’ve lost a lot of weight so who knows what size I am these days) and it’s in bulky-weight yarn so it could be argued that I should do this before the previous. This is not just two knitted tubes like the other sweater though and the owls will be a challenge for someone like me who finds it difficult to keep track of rows and cables etc, which I shall be working on this year.

Owls it is then. By the end of the year, I want to have knitted this sweater. I want to be wearing it.

Can I just take a moment to be amused that ‘sweater’ comes more naturally to me than ‘jumper’ already and I’ve only been living in Canada for less than a month? Ditto on ‘eggplant’ instead of ‘aubergine’. I still struggle with the word ‘chips’ to mean ‘crisps’…

Back on topic. What are your projects you’re desperate to do this year? I’d love to hear what other people have planned!

A New Year

There’s been a lot of changes in 2011 for me, the people around me, and the world. It’s been a memorable year but generally not for the right reasons. It ended on a high note though and I have great hopes for 2012.

So what happened to me last year?

• I lost one gentle, relaxing job and started up a harder, more stressful job for the same pay.
• People around me fell ill or faced the possibility of illness.
• I got IIH, an unpleasant condition that meant I had to put off moving to Canada for three months.

Most importantly, though,

• I moved to Canada!

Yep, that’s right, after years of wanting I’m finally in the land of mounties and maple leaves. As I type this I’m sat in the mountains of British Columbia surrounded by some absolutely lovely people (and cats). Finally I’m where I want to be. In a few days I’ll be moving to Oshawa in Ontario where Nari and I will be looking for jobs and an apartment together. It’s like a dream come true and believe me, it’s a dream I’ve had for a long time. Pretty much as long as I remember.

None of this has anything to do with knitting or craft on the surface but believe me, internally it does. Because of all the shifts and changes in the last year I’ve spent a lot of time concentrating on getting better at knitting. I’ve learnt a lot of new skills and I’m proud of how far I’ve come.

New Skills

• Long-tail cast on – which I now use for everything
• Stockinette stitch – or rather, how to do it neatly.
• Knitting in the round
• Jeny’s surprisingly stretchy bind off – perfect for ribbed things
• Simple lace (usually lace rib)
• Increases and decreases of various sorts
• How to find and use vintage patterns

Major projects completed

• Mittens for Tamara
• Headband for my big sister
• Socks for Nari (my first complete and functional pair)
• Crochet shawl
• Hat for mum
• Escapism mitts for me (my proudest achievement so far)
• A beret for Jen

The majority of these were made in the tail end of the year while I was lying in bed or otherwise compromised with this delightful illness. I’m mostly better now and coming off my pills (although it is technically incurable) so I’ll be working soon and will have less time to knit. I don’t intend to let this stop me.

I’m going to post tomorrow about my major knitting resolution for 2012.

How has your year been?

What have I been knitting (& crocheting)?

Escapism Mitts

Pattern: Sojourn Mitts (Ravelry)

Yarn: Old Maiden Aunt’s Alpaca/Silk

Started: November 9th 2011

Finished: November 14th 2011

I started these mitts when my lovely best friend sent me a skein of this gorgeous yarn. I couldn’t help myself from casting on even though it’s almost Christmas and I have lots of gifts to knit. It was also a bit of a difficult time emotionally, hence the title ‘escapism’: it distracted me from the lovely imbalance of hormones in my head thanks to my medication. I wear these all the time. Dad even said they look professional, which is sweet even if inaccurate. There are plenty of mistakes but that’s what makes them not mass-produced. I would recommend this pattern to anyone.

Motherbot Hat

Pattern: Sockhead Hat

Yarn: Some random purple variegated sock yarn

Started: 1st December 2011

Finished: 5th December 2011

A christmas present for my mum. I was going to knit her socks, but then she asked for a hat. I’d already bought this yarn (I lost the label, hence unable to tell you the brand) so I found a pattern that fit the weight. This is a slouchy pattern but my mum has quite a small head so I decided to reduce the pattern quite a lot. She really liked it. We’re not so much with the waiting to give presents in my family…

Beretion

Pattern: The Columbia Beret (Ravelry)

Yarn: BC Garn Baby Alpaca

Started: About a year ago

Finished: November 2011

It’s not that I took months to make this relatively simple design. It’s that I had real trouble picking something suitable for the lovely soft yarn. It’s laceweight, which I equally adore and fear, since it seems somewhat harder to make into a finished object. This beret is quite appropriate since Jen wears one frequently. I’m assured she likes it. 🙂

—

I know all of these pictures are dubious in quality. Unfortunately at the moment I only have an iPhone to take photos with and soon I won’t even have that – I’m giving it to my mum when I go to Canada in a week. However I know I’ve got a camera somewhere. Just gotta find it!