Things I Love

Knitting

Obvious? Maybe. But when I discovered crochet I completely lost all urge to knit and all ability too. From being able to spin out a few rows in as many minutes I became utterly inept at the needles. Of course this didn’t mean I stopped looking at all the pretty things I could make if I tried again; it just meant I never picked up the needles. For that, I’d have to put down the hook.

Now I’m always clicking away. I have two knitting projects on the go at the moment, both of them shawls, though not really. They’re both by Martina Behm (website in both English and German) who makes gorgeous little shawlette designs with Hitchhiker’s Guide themed names. I could not resist. I’m making a 42 with some lovely baby alpaca yarn and a Trillian with some Zauberball.

Circular Needles

They are so much more convenient. For those who don’t know (which was me up until a couple of months ago) they are needles joined by a thin cord that is flexible. I find them so much nicer to use outside of the house since you don’t poke the person next to you on the train and your project is less likely to slip off the end. Absolute bliss.

Ravelry

It’s the best website around for knitters and crocheters. I’ve never encountered anything like it online before. It’s partly a huge database of patterns and yarns and other craft-related stuff, partly a large forum for people to discuss… anything. Of course most of the discussion is about knitting/crocheting/yarn, but there’s also a hell of a lot of random chatter in groups such as Remrants, which is where I spend most of my time there.

Which is a lot of time lately…

One Pretty Thing

If you like seeing a fantastically varied list of things to do gathered from all around the crafting world, go here. They also have a bunch of links to do with the business side of being a craftster which I one day wish to get into, so that’s been fascinating for me. Have a list of some of the best posts on that round-up:

• Customer Service
• Niche Products
• Six Quick Tips to Improve Your Routine
• How to Attract Readers

The Potential for Improvement

This is a running theme in my life. I start something, then I become obsessed with getting better. The more I see people on Ravelry churning out absolutely gorgeous patterns, the more I want to design my own (and I will!). The more I see people spinning and dying their own yarn, the more I want to try it some day. The more I see people branching out into new crafts, the more I want to discover.

At the moment I’m holding down a pretty high-maintenance job and don’t have much time or energy outside of it but it’s thinking about things like this that get me through the day.

How did I survive before I picked up a hook/some needles?

What have I been up to?

Well, it’s been a busy few months starting a new fairly high-pressure  job and unfortunately that’s meant not much time to think about fibrecrafts! Or rather, not much time to write about them since nothing in the world can make me put down my hook and needles lately. Why? Because I have been sent a very delicious box of gorgeous yarns by my Nari. I am in heaven. I have never spent so much time groping skeins in my life.

Kollage Yarns Cornucopia, three skeins. It’s made from corn and it’s beautifully soft, lovely subtle earthy colours.

Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Solid, two skeins. Even softer than the above. I want to carry these around in my pocket.

Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted, three skeins. Beautiful colours.

Malabrigo Yarn Silky Merino, by far my favourite yarn in the pack. Beautiful colours and lovely textures: it’s ‘Archangel’ and it’s in my work bag being lugged around. I’ve already made a bracelet from it just to gaze happily at it.

The package also contained two lovely crochet hooks far posher than the ones I currently have, some heart-shaped stitch markers, and cute bird-shaped scissors of the sort I have coveted for a while now. Nari has well-earned her Kindle which I shall be buying her for her birthday this year: it’s the best present I’ve got in a long while (possibly since my banjo).

Also shown in the above picture is two skeins of Schoppel-Woll Zauberball. They’re my own purchases and will be knitted up into gifts very soon.

Well, maybe not very soon since I have a few things on the books right now. I’m knitting (yay I can knit again!) a scarf/shawl thing for my best friend Jen out of the baby alpaca yarn she bought a while ago. It’s too beautiful to crochet, it just wasn’t doing it justice so I’ve forced myself to learn to knit. I could manage the basics of it before I started crocheting but my ability just dropped out of sight when I picked up a hook! Now I’m getting on fine and absolutely love the pattern which can be found here on Ravelry. Simple but elegant and I’m about 15 jaggedy-bits in (out of 42, since it’s a ‘Hitchhiker’ scarf, referencing Douglas Adams though Jen may not appreciate that as much as I do!).

One last thing. My little nephew Jayden, who is freakin’ adorable, has started to walk properly now. It’s hilarious watching him toddle along showing fascination at absolutely every vehicle passing by. He sees me knitting/crocheting all the time of course, though I think here in this ubercute picture he’s mostly fascinated by the colours… as if that’s not what draws me to yarn too!

Vintage Crochet Book

I’m lucky to have such fabulous friends. Along with a hand-painted zombie bag, a mountie/maple leaf necklace and a moomin soft toy, Heidi bought me this crochet book. It’s in bad condition but I adore it. Published in the 1840s it’s a small book of patterns, knitted and crocheted, and some of them are hilarious. I’ll be posting some at later dates.

The strange thing about this book is that there are no illustrations of what you’re knitting or crocheting from the pattern which makes it rather hit and miss I’m sure. It was a lot cheaper to publish without images of course but I’d be wary of putting a lot of effort into something that could turn out nothing like you imagined! I suppose that’s part of the fun or perhaps ‘Mrs Gaugain’ was particularly trusted on these matters. She certainly seems to have published quite a lot!

If you’d like to view a .pdf version of one of her published books (very different to my copy) then click here. This one has a few small illustrations to give you some hint of what you’re doing.

As soon as I get time I’m going to make some of the things from the book. How could I resist? I love the lure of such a tangible link to an era that fascinates me.