Variety is the Spice of Life
I love weaving. I spend as much time as I can weaving. Sometimes I batch cook just so I don’t have to stop to cook. My family thinks I’m a little obsessed (they’ve never actually said it, but I can see it in their eyes). Occasionally though, I take a break…and turn to knitting, with the same obsessive zeal.
I love weaving. I spend as much time as I can weaving. Sometimes I batch cook just so I don’t have to stop to cook. My family thinks I’m a little obsessed (they’ve never actually said it, but I can see it in their eyes). Occasionally though, I take a break…and turn to knitting, with the same obsessive zeal.
Last week my husband asked me to knit him a pair of mittens. This request is actually epic. I’ve been knitting for over 20 years and in all that time he has never asked me to knit him anything. A few years back I did knit him a pair of socks. But if I remember correctly I rhapsodized over the yarn, (Herriot Fine), said what a great sock yarn it was, how he needed a pair of socks, that I’d never knit him anything and surely that was wrong. He finally, just to hush me, said I could make him a pair of socks. (Yay! He pays for the yarn!) But, back to mitts and him asking, I jumped on it!
I wanted something super warm, but not bulky. That meant probably 2 colours. I also needed a design that looked sophisticated…something a particular accountant type might want to wear (symmetry and clean lines are important). I, of course, decided to design my own. A nice, subtle pinstripe look (sophisticated and clean) and Ultra Alpaca (super warm)
Ultra Alpaca usually uses a 5mm needle, I cast on with 3.75mm. I really wanted a smooth dense mitt. A vertical stripe takes longer to knit than horizontal, but also gives double density as one yarn is always carried behind. It was a bit of a challenge to shape the thumb gusset. The increases are worked over 2 rows, 1 for the main colour, one for the contrasting colour. I think it looks beautiful! My husband good naturedly tried on the mitten many times so I could make sure the fit was just right.
Mitten 1 and Mitten 2
In the end, the first mitt was just a little off. Second mitt is perfect! I’m currently in the process of test knitting the pattern, need to make sure it is perfect before it will be available.
My little corner of the living room
It’s great to have a passion, something that you love to do. It’s also important to take breaks. When I weave I am closed in my weaving room down in the basement. It’s quiet and peaceful and I can really focus on what I’m doing. On the other hand it so easy (maybe too easy) to block out the rest of the world. Knitting brings me back up into the main living area of our house. The place where everyone else hangs out most of the evening. As much as I love weaving, it is good to take a break.
Knitters are Never Alone
Our cruise ship had about 4,200 passengers and 1,733 crew members. The 2nd day at sea we had an informal knit group that met every sea day. One lady was working on a massive crochet blanket…it travelled in it’s own suitcase! She finished it on this cruise. Another had only brought 1 sock project with her…she was knitting slowly so she wouldn’t finished too quickly.
If you knit, you will never be alone.
Our cruise ship had about 4,200 passengers and 1,733 crew members. The 2nd day at sea we had an informal knit group that met every sea day. One lady was working on a massive crochet blanket…it travelled in it’s own suitcase! She finished it on this cruise. Another had only brought 1 sock project with her…she was knitting slowly so she wouldn’t finished too quickly. Still another was a beginner knitter making a cotton scarf because wool was too itchy. On the last day I saw her project…she had ripped it all out and started again because “it had holes”. Another brought a hat kit that she had bought on a previous cruise to Alaska. Still others came to the group thinking they were going to learn how to knit. (note to self, next time take some extra yarn and needles to share). The best part was even though we came from different places with different backgrounds we were instantly friends because we all loved yarn and creating.
Knitting brings people together. Often in the afternoon I would relax in the café with a cup of tea and my knitting. People I had never met before came over and asked about what I was making. Telling me about their mothers and grandmothers who knit. Asking about my wool, telling me about their current project (which they left at home and now regretted). Even the entertainment director shared how he had to learn to knit in school. Turns out it was actually latch hooking, but still, fibre related!
Knitting is a universal language. Not everyone on the ship spoke English, but it wasn’t a barrier to enjoying knitting together. Many women (and a few men) had to come and touch my project. And even if we couldn’t understand the words, we understood that we had a mutual love for fibre and creating. One of the crew members, trying to ask what I was making finally asked “what part of your body does this cover when you are finished?” Another lady in broken English painstakingly told me about the baby sweater she was making for her grandson. I saw her later knitting during a concert. Her sweater was beautiful!
The lesson I learned this cruise? If you want to make new friends, knit in public!