Something to aspire to

Day six: 2nd April. Something to aspire to.
2KCBWDAY6

Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make bu can admire the result of those that have.

I'm left handed and so knitting, being a two handed activity is easy, even though when I was at school I wasn't taught to knit because of being a lefty. Crochet, on the other hand, :) is another story. I, strangely enough, was taught to crochet at school and can manage the basic stitches but others seem to have to be worked in reverse by left handed people. This is a skill I would like to master - some time in the future.

And now for something completely different

Day Five: 1st April. And now for something completely different*
KCBWDAY5

experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.

I've been thinking about today's blog all week and I think this qualifies as something completely different... and before anyone jumps to any conclusions, it is past midday here so it's too late for any April Fool jokes :)

As, I'm sure most people who know me will testify, I'm a fibreholic and always on a quest for beautiful fibres and especially yarn, nothing is more exciting than tracking down that perfect ball or skein of fibrey heaven and so.... I've decided to have a ColourSpun Treasure Hunt.

You can take part today or if you prefer on any other day in April 2011. Just remember, all the clues will be posted today, so the longer you wait to take part, the more difficult it will be to find them. There will be a clue at each stop and at the end you will need to put all your clues together in the order you find them so that you can claim your treasure.

Clue #1  is  01 
write it down where you won't loose it and then go to http://www.facebook.com/ColourSpun#!/pages/ColourSpun-Natural-Designer-Yarn/179000468792769 for clue #2.

Happy Hunting :)

Where are they now?

Day Four: 31st March. Where are they now?
2KCBWDAY4

Whatever happened to your __________?

Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

As long as I have knit, I have loved mohair yarn. Many years ago, I knit a Kaffe Fasset tumbling blocks pullover in many different colours. It travelled with me to the US on a winter holiday and I wore it almost every day! When we returned home, I carefully washed it and laid it flat to dry in the laundry as it was during our rainy season. It was taking a while to dry and so "somebody" decided it needed a little help and popped it in the tumble drier, well you can guess what happened! When I went to put it away, I had a much smaller, fulled mohair pullover. Fortunately the style was quite loose and long so it just became more fitted and short.

I still wear that pullover and it is lovely and warm on even the coldest winter days.

Another pullover I often wonder about was sold on an exhibition. It was called "Wild Women" The lady who bought it had the most beautiful auburn hair and it looked stunning on her. I wonder if she still has it and if she may still wear it. I hope she's still enjoying it. I often feel tempted to knit another similar one.

Happy Knitting :)

Tidy mind, tidy stitches

Day Three: 30th March. Tidy mind, tidy stitches
2KCBWDAY3

How do you keep your yarn wrangling organised? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organisation exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organised at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organised, blog about an aspect of that organisation process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organised stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.

My studio is where I spend most of my waking hours and since I usually have a lot on the go, it has to be organised. There are parts that are very organised and sometimes it's organised chaos but generally I have a place for everything and everything in its place :)

 

This is my personal stash. I found these lovely, see through suitcases that fit on top of each other snugly and have little wheels that help roll them off the shelf. They seal well and keep my yarn clean and easy to find. The yarn is organised by colour and the suitcases according to the colour wheel. I have more that I keep in two large wooden trunks, sorted in custom made, see through bags.

I made this felt needle keeper to hang my spare circulars on the wall. It's decorative and the needles are always on hand. My Knitpros are kept sorted in their special "filofax" .

... and this is the organised chaos - freshly dyed yarn waiting to be labled, some drying on a rack and Dandy Bear waiting to be photographed.

Skill + 1UP

Day Two: 29th March. Skill + 1UP.
2KCBWDAY2

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. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

Last year was soo full with getting my book done, but I did still manage to learn a new knitting skill  - 2 actually. I have a friend who has arthritis in her hands and although she still manages to knit, forming purl stitches hurts so we (Heidi of Heidi Bears and I) set off on a mission to find a way for my friend to purl in a different way that won't hurt her hands and in the process learnt a few new ways to form purl stitches ourselves.

The first was the Norwegian Purl stitch. The method of forming the purl stitch differs from our usual method because the yarn is kept at the back of the knitting. Here is a link to a vidio tutorial which explains it far better than I could in words.

The second method we learnt was a whole different way of knitting - Portugese knitting. The yarn stayed in front of the needle for the purl stitch and for the knit stitch! Here is a link to  a video tutorial that explains how to knit this way.Instead of holding the yarn in your hands, tensioned with your fingers, it is fed through a  safety pin attached to your clothing just below your shoulder or it can go around your neck. The stitches are formed by flicking the yarn around the needle with you left thumb. It's really quick and there is very little movement so this was the method we showed my friend - who is very happy to be knitting more that garter stitch again.

HAPPY KNITTING

A Tale of Two Yarns

Well here we are -
Day One: 28th March. A Tale of Two Yarns.
2KCBWDAY1

Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

I have been trying all day to sit down and write about my very favourite yarn and life just kept happening but here I am now :) 

I'm a yarn snob! I want every aspect of my knitting experience to be wonderful and so I make sure that I only knit with yarn I love. My absolute favourite at the moment is my ColourSpun Pure Cotton Chunky. This is a new yarn that I have been experimenting with and I'm really enjoying it. It's extra soft and worked up quickly into comfortable, easy to wear, perfect for in-between weather cardigans. I'm going to make a throw next.

 Another favourite yarn is Adele's Mohair. Her yarns are also extra soft  and I'm busy knitting a throw for our bed using a mixture of colours and textures. Her yarn is mainly hand made and provides a living for many woman in an area where unemployment is very high.

Happy Knitting everyone

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week

It's here again - Knitting and Crochet Blog week starts tomorrow! If you are a knitter or enjoy crocheting and you're also a blogger - then join the fun. All the details are available on http://eskimimiknits.com/knitting-and-crochet-blog-week-2011/ . I'll be posting every day this week.

If you'd like to have my posts sent to your e-mail, insert your e-mail address in the block at the top of the right hand column and click on submit. You'll get an e-mail from feedburner asking you to confirm your subscription, click on the link and confirm.

What a Yarn

I have thought about this subject nearly all day and have unpacked a good deal of my stash in search of the yarn that makes my heart flutter and they all do. I just love yarn and have found it particularly difficult to choose just one. I do however keep going back to the same few yarns in my stash - they are all hand dyed and hand spun.

If you've been reading my blog, you will know that I am a fairly new spinner and have been spinning yarn for just over half a year now. I love spinning and at the moment my favourite yarns are the ones I have spun using Lexi Boeger's book for inspiration.

The reasons I favour them so are:
a. They are all very different from any yarn available in the shops.
b. Each skein is unique - there is not another one the same anywhere
c. They are all made using natural fibres and are so very soft
d. I made them - for me and therefore they are just the perfect yarn for me :)

Coiled yarn

Granny Stacks

Multi colour

Roses

Nubs

I have so enjoyed taking part in Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2010  - Thank you to everyone who has visited here this week.

Revisit a past F/O

Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of hole. Or maybe that jumper that your did just didn’t like that much

I have a much loved Denim Jacket that is probably the one item of knitting I have made that has seen more of the world than me. It bears testament to how wonderful recycling can be - made from an old pair of Chris's denim jeans, stash yarn and bits and bobs found in my studio. It was made in 2003 and accepted for that year's Wild Wonderful Wearable exhibition. In 2004 it was accepted by Innovative Threads and spent that year travelling on the exhibition here in SA, in New Zealand and Japan - it also features in the book - Innovative Threads: A Decade of South African Fibre Art  by Lisa Gillespie.

Since then it has travelled with me where ever I go - it's become an old friend... and soon it (or rather an image of it) will be part of an art work made by Jeanette Gilks for our upcoming Fibreworks exhibition  - in Cape Town later this year.

Wild Wonderful Wearable - 2003

the back

close up of one of the panels

close up of the back

Location, Location, Location

I need a whole cyberspace to describe where I like to knit because I like to knit anywhere :)

Seriously though there are a few favourite places. I obviously knit in my studio and yes, I do have a comfy chair (with a little stool to put my feet up). It is placed at the window so that I can take full advantage of the daylight and the sun in the winter.

In the evening, I have another comfy corner in the TV lounge where I knit. The light in there is not that great - in fact its terrible and I am constantly looking for a good lamp that will fit in with the decor - so I knit more simple things at night.

A few friends and I meet once a week at a beautiful little tea room and that is another favourite place to knit.
Linda posted about it this week on her blog

I also knit in the car (though not while I'm driving), and when visiting friends and... I just love knitting - anywhere, anytime!

A New Skill

I received my spinning wheel as a gift from my husband for my 40th birthday (letting my age out here ;-) and finally learnt to use it properly at a fibre retreat last year. I love spinning - probably as much as I love knitting - but the only problem is a spinning wheel is not that portable.

The new skill I would like to learn is how to spin on a drop spindle. I received a lovely Ashford drop spindle as a gift earlier this year. I have watched people spinning away on them - even total spinning beginners and they all make it look so easy but I just can't seem to get the hang of it - so - I'm looking forward to the next fibre retreat where I aim to learn to to spin that spindle!

This book, "Spin It" looks like a good idea - has anyone read it? If so, let me know what you think of it by leaving a comment here.

One Great Knitter

I've put a lot of thought into todays post because I know many great knitters and many of them are really good friends. Natalia Valentine is one of the best knitters/crocheters/tunisian crocheters I know and if anyone has any question about anything she is the person with the answer. She produces many of the patterns for Stitches n Bears magazine and has written a book on Tunisian Crochet. Heidi, Linda, Sandra and O'dette whom I knit with every week also rate in my list of great knitters. Heidi hates sewing seams and has developed all sorts of ways to avoid them which she happily shares with anyone who wants to learn. She also produces amazing tutorials which can be found on her blog Heidi Bears . Linda knits the most beautiful animals (2 of which I'll be featuring in my upcoming book) and these can be found in her etsy shop - Mamma4earth. Sandra produces the most beautiful  art knitting and O'dette, who only recently started knitting is just a natural. Another great knitter is my very good friend Linda, better known as Sissie. She is an inpiration to everyone.

Here are some of my great knitting friends

The other person who I think deserves mention here is Hazel Hele who produces wonderful wearable art.

Hazel's Grand Canyon

....and the author of one of my favourite books - Debbie New.

I know there was only supposed to be 1 but ... :)

An Inspirational Pattern

When I read what the topic for today's post is, I immediately knew what I was going to write about.There is one pattern or rather technique that I am dying to try out and it'll be one of the first when my book is done. It's Sally Melville's "Knitting as Warp" and can be found in her book - Sally Melville Styles.

I love colour work and really don't mind working complicated fairisle and intarsia with lots of different yarns hanging off my work, but this really appeals to me as it's different. It combines knitting and weaving. The background fabric is knitted - very loosely in stocking stitch - which means fewer stitches and rows than normal knitting to produce the same size, so I imagine that it would work up fairly quickly. Then the fun starts - weaving in the colour work. The pattern is worked from a chart and it is all very clearly explained in the book. Since only one colour at a time can be woven, the process seems fairly simple but the results look amazing.

Starting Out...

I never learned to knit as a child. I'm left handed and at school it was considered impossible for a left handed child to knit! I never complained - I was put at the back of the classroom during knitting lessons with books to read instead and I love reading. My Mom and Gran both tried teaching me but in a mirror so that I could learn to go the opposite way to right handed people; since I wasn't actually that keen (having seen the matinee jackets my friends were knitting) I never learnt.

When I was 15, my boyfriend (now my husband) got a motor bike. He wanted a scarf to wear when riding but couldn't find anything suitable so he bought some yarn (for 2 scarves) and needles and asked me to knit him one. I was too embarrassed to admit I couldn't knit and my Mom and Gran were both busy with projects so I went to his Nan and explained my predicament. She said that if after spending a day with her I still couldn't knit then she would knit 1 scarf - not what I wanted but if I didn't learn to knit I would have to admit to him that I couldn't!

Reluctantly I went over for the day and was surprised to find no mirror. Nan didn't know I was left handed. She taught me to knit like she did. I struggled to hold the needles and throw the yarn, so the right hand needle was tucked under my arm, by the end of the day not only was I knitting, I was a knitter and in no time at all 2 extra soft garter stitch scarves were produced.

And the rest as they say - is history!

To visit other blogs taking part - google "knitcroblo1"