tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81995788388169980732024-02-07T07:35:35.209-05:00The Sojourning SpinnerKristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.comBlogger1130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-62694503918916254682023-12-09T19:00:00.011-05:002023-12-09T19:00:00.133-05:00Finished the Pink Pullover<div style="text-align: left;"> I have finished knitting the pink pullover. I had a bit of trouble finding information on how to sew up the pieces. I looked at Deborah Newton's book <i>Finishing School</i> and Knit Pick's YouTube video "Sweater Finishing Part 1: How to Set in Sleeves," and then I found some more information in the book that the sweater pattern came from, Amy Herzog's <i>Knit Wear Love</i>. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> I am fairly happy with the result. I regret adding four stitches to the front and decreasing them above the bust to give extra room in the chest because each decrease looks like a mistake in the stockinette.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> As I tried it on, I wondered if I would be happier with a sweater made from a different type of wool such as a down breed wool rather than the merino I used for this one. At least the merino wool is not scratchy like the stuff I used for my first two sweaters.</div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-33911629316189369622023-08-19T07:00:00.154-04:002023-08-19T07:00:00.133-04:00Finding Ready-made Clothing with Fiber Arts Attributes<div style="text-align: left;"> Last week I got to hear Cindy Conner speak about her new book, <i>Homegrown Flax and Cotton</i>. One of the questions she got from the audience was, can I buy garments from you. The answer was no. People have no idea how much time it takes to breed cotton for colour and good spinning qualities, grow flax and cotton, process it, spin it, weave it, and sew it into garments. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> It got me thinking about places where you can buy ready-made garments or lengths of fabric that have one or more qualities that are like the qualities of homegrown, handspun, hand-dyed or naturally-coloured handwoven clothes. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> As I post this, Maiwa in Vancouver carries some yardage that is handspun, naturally-dyed, and/or handwoven. Some of their scarves are handwoven. Their website lists some scarves and shawls in the clothing section and others in the fiber arts supplies section. There is some clothing suitable to eco-print or dye. Some of their regular clothing is handspun, naturally-dyed, naturally-coloured, un-dyed, and/or handwoven. They carry linen and wild silk, along with cotton and wool. I own an un-dyed, naturally grey woven wool scarf from Maiwa. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> J.Crew had some items about five to eight years ago that were dyed with real indigo. Sometimes you can find these in good second hand condition or new with tags on resale sites like eBay and Poshmark.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> Rawganique sells some un-dyed clothing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> I recently found <a href="https://www.poetryfashion.com" target="_blank">Poetry</a>. Haven't bought anything from them but as I write this, they have some clothes dyed with real indigo. They are based in England and ship to other countries. The website is showing the Summer collection, which has a lot of linen. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> Some Etsy sellers sell yardage or clothing that is un-dyed, naturally-dyed, eco-printed, handwoven, or handknit.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> Of course, all of these clothes cost more than most people think of spending. The styles are limited and are often made of woven fabric cut with a lot of ease in a boxy shape. That is, there is a lot of extra fabric. To my eye this makes the models look shapeless and larger than they are. The colour selection is limited and tends to be mostly colours that flatter redheads. Some of the sizes can be out of stock, which makes it tough to shop. On the bright side, the items tend to have better pockets than most women's clothing does.</div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-13290797622901275552023-05-27T07:00:00.004-04:002023-05-27T07:00:00.137-04:00Bought a little yarn for a good cause<div> One day this week out of nowhere after 141 days of my 2023 cold sheep resolution not to buy yarn, I felt like getting some sock dpns and 60 grams of sock yarn, to make some tiny sweater holiday ornaments that I promised to a charity craft sale, so I could knit on an upcoming trip. And I did get them.<br /> I have sock needles but they are ridiculously expensive to replace now that the company that makes them is so popular. I am thinking risk management. I don't care so much if I lose new, inexpensive needles from another company while travelling. <br /> I have yarn on hand earmarked for other projects that I could knit on my trip, and I even have some sock yarn scraps for tiny sweaters. I could have stayed with the cold sheep slash stash reduction resolution and not bought yarn. </div><div> I decided to treat myself to new sock yarn anyway. The colours, red and white, are more suitable to the holidays than the indigo, dark red, and black that I have. The tiny sweater project is one of the only two projects in my WIPs or queue that have both a deadline and somebody expecting the finished object. The other such project is the sweater I posted about last month. If you are wondering how that's going, the sweater is in pieces with half the pieces blocked.<br /> I rarely let people know I'm working on a fiber arts gift for them or have a gift planned. That way it's all inner expectations of my own to meet and not outer expectations from other people.<br /> Now, back to cold sheep. While I was shopping some other balls of sock yarn called to me because the shop came out with new colours but I can resist for now.<br /> My cold sheep resolution this year was actually to go cold sheep except for some dish cloth cotton yarn for the charity craft sale. It turned out that while they needed dish cloths for the Spring craft sale, they didn't need dish cloths for the holiday craft sale and that's why I offered to make tiny sweater ornaments instead. I'm rationalizing that I'm substituting the sock yarn for half the cotton yarn I'd planned on.</div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-91439738556713503402023-04-29T19:00:00.011-04:002023-04-29T19:00:00.146-04:00Spinner's Chair, Curb-side<p style="text-align: left;"> I happened to pass a garage sale that was selling a spinner's chair, a wooden chair that has a very narrow back. The design allows a person who is spinning yarn to move her arm freely as she draws the fiber back. A while later I passed the same place. They had packed up the sale and left the chair at the curb. I resisted and did not bring it home.</p>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-72017336432389948772023-04-02T14:00:00.007-04:002023-04-02T15:50:36.324-04:00Hello From Sleeve Island<div style="text-align: left;"> Today is Palm Sunday, a week before Easter. I have just cast on for the second sleeve of a sweater I had originally hoped to finished knitting for Valentine's Day. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> I suppose the main thing is to finish eventually. </div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-3853136280549767452023-01-02T19:00:00.017-05:002023-01-03T07:12:02.551-05:00Using My Ravelry Queue<div style="text-align: left;"> The following is an excerpt from a couple of emails I sent a friend. It's mostly about how I use my queue on Ravelry. Thought you might like to read it. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><div> My favourites on Ravelry have patterns or projects that I like, whether or not I'd actually wear them or make them. If I can get a free pattern for a favourite, usually I download the pdf right after I favourite it and I add it to my library. Then I decide whether I'm likely to make it in the foreseeable future. I also think about whether I really want to be reminded that the pattern exists or if it's okay if it's buried in the library. If I am really interested in it, I add the pattern to the queue. Then I change the order of the queue if needed.</div><div> I think of my queue as having two parts. The patterns at the front of the queue have stash yarn assigned to them. They are patterns that I am probably going to make. The queue is not a firm commitment or firm plan. Perhaps I would consider it a placeholder. I make a firm commitment when I make a project page. </div><div> The patterns at the end of the queue don't have stash yarns assigned. They are patterns that I'd like to make, possibly. I might later reject them if I think they'd turn out to be too difficult technically or too expensive or too difficult for sourcing materials or too ill-suited to the recipient or not terribly functional or too way out there in looks or whatever. Right now, this section includes a cluster of patterns for selfish crafting. That is, crafting items for myself, not to give away. Some patterns in the queue have notes on them about possible directions I could take the finished objects I envision. I don't expect get to this section of the queue for a year. I may not get to some of the patterns ever. For a few of them, I don't even own the pattern yet.</div><div> The order of my queue in the first section is subject to change, frequently. Right now I am torn between making specific gifts versus using up all I have of one kind of yarn and thereby getting rid of a storage box. </div><div> The first section of my queue, the stuff assigned to stash yarn, is in an order that has patterns for gifts mixed with some patterns for myself. I can tell which pattern is meant for a gift and which is meant for me because I have tagged each accordingly. When I queue a pattern, I often write the intended recipient's name in the notes section as well as the regular field for recipient. This is because the regular field entry doesn't show in the queue overview but the notes do. </div><div> One fun analytical thing you can do is go to your favourites or your queue or your library and then click on advanced search. After that you can select only sweaters or only a certain weight of yarn or some other criteria. Even if you don't drill down in search, just seeing the patterns in a different format can be helpful. </div><div> One way to increase your library is to search designers, select knitting, select a popular designer, do an advanced search on their patterns, and select "free." </div><div> Or search patterns, arrange the order by "hot right now" or "most popular," and select "free." </div><div> When searching patterns, it is possible to bring up a search field for the pattern notes. This often turns up more results than a regular search for key words like Christmas or geeky. This option is on the left at the bottom. </div><div> To have a pattern in the queue multiple times, I went to the queue page and selected "add to queue." I filled in the field for the pattern name, clicked the link symbol, then selected the pattern from the search results. I find it helps to know the designer in case multiple patterns with similar names turn up. Then it's just a matter of filling in the rest of the form. </div><div> Sometimes I will type in something generic for the pattern name, like "cardigan," hit the link symbol, but choose "none of the above." This creates a queue entry for a future project done with a pattern I make up or a project for which I haven't yet determined the exact pattern.</div><div> I believe bundles are available for favourites only. But you can temporarily bring up something kind of like a bundle in the queue with the search function. On the queue page, you can search the queue for a particular tag. This lets you see a subset of all patterns in the queue with that tag. If you have a certain name for a bundle in favourites, you can carry that over to the queue by tagging patterns in your queue with the same name. </div><div> You can enter a search word on the queue page and use the pulldown menu beside it to search by pattern instead of tag. This lets you see all cardigans, for example, or all hats. </div><div> Alternatively, you can do the advanced search on your queue and then filter it a number of ways. For example, it is possible to do an advanced search on your queue and see if a friend has one or more of the patterns in her favourites. You can search for lace by selecting the characteristic of lace or by typing lace into the project notes field. This would not be as idiosyncratic as a bundle name but it could help you slice and dice. You can see at a glance whether your queue is mostly accessories or not, for example. You can also look at the difficulty rating and select only easy patterns. </div></div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-8388279686073066132022-12-31T07:00:00.140-05:002022-12-31T09:39:41.904-05:00The Tail End of 2022<div style="text-align: left;"> A few weeks ago, which was early December, I came up with three possible fibre resolutions to choose from and do until New Year's Day. Option 1 was to finish up or toss out old works-in-progress. Option 2 was to start and finish as many easy projects from stashed yarn as possible. Option 3 was to start and finish projects for myself. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> What I wound up doing was some of Option 1 and some of Option 2. I finally called an end to the two sweater projects that had been stalled for years. I got rid of their yarn too as it was no longer my taste. I also knitted a couple of hats for gifts using an old familiar pattern. One of the hats was actually Option 4 because I bought yarn for it instead of using yarn on hand. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> I ended the year having used as much yarn as I'd bought over the course of the year. </div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-83988954053072700982022-08-13T07:00:00.127-04:002022-08-13T07:00:00.229-04:00Fashion Types and the Fiber Arts<div style="text-align: left;"> I read a book by Carol Tuttle called Dressing Your Truth: Discover Your Type of Beauty. To get the author's specific recommendations for dressing according to my type, I went to her Living Your Truth website, took the DYT quiz, created an account, and went through the beginner guide. I went through the beginner guides to all the types, not just mine, and took notes. I wanted to know what she recommends for the other types so I could avoid those things. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> I found the content helpful, and considered the ads that came with the content worth enduring. I like thinking about things in categories. I've used the Color Me Beautiful system for my clothes since I was a child, when my mother had a colour party.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> I also looked at content online by Molly Bingaman of Ladybird Styling, which is similar to DYT. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> I understand now why I have barely worn the Lush cardigan I knitted for myself last year. Its lace design details, unstructured circular yoke, somewhat thick (DK) yarn, negative ease (I did zero ease), and loosely knitted fabric are definitely for a type different than mine. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> The sweater quantity of yarn that I bought recently was DK. I returned it. I have not decided what sweater project I will do this fall, if any, but I know any yarn I get in the future for sweaters should be thinner than DK.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> You can undo a handknit sweater and knit the yarn into something else. I could do this with my Lush just to be thrifty even though the yarn is too thick. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> I understand now why I like the look of wool roving dyed multiple colours but I lose interest after I spin it into barber-pole yarn with the colours all mixed together. No wonder I once spun a repeating multicoloured braid by pulling the sections apart and spinning each colour on its own. In light of my type, it makes sense that I like solid colours, sequential or symmetrical Fibonacci stripes, plain weave, and stockinette stitch.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> I expect the information will inform my fibre arts choices going forward. I hope this will mean fewer regrets and more items that work in my wardrobe. </div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-59064234013256218042022-07-16T07:00:00.017-04:002022-07-16T07:00:00.195-04:00Squirrelled Away Another Sweater Quantity<div style="text-align: left;"> I did wind up buying another sweater quantity of yarn, in a beautiful dark blue wool. I've used the colour before for a hat for a gift. The yarn was on sale and I'd been eyeing it all through last year's yarn diet. I plan to knit up this yarn in September. Buying it means the volume of my yarn stash has gone up and that makes me somewhat uneasy, but the prospect of a sweater is good. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> Early in the year I bought four balls of Jamieson and Smith Shetland yarn to knit a Bousta beanie. I got as far as the brim and then quailed at the thought of trying stranded colourwork for the first time. The project has been hibernating ever since. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> I bought 200 g of fingering weight wool yarn in tonal teal for myself, to make a set of mitts, ear warmer, and cowl. I bought 100 g of multi-coloured Malabrigo fingering to make mittens for a relative. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> The same relative gave me two skeins of Malbrigo worsted from her stash and picked out two skeins at a yarn shop with me. I've knitted two cowls, which are on their way back to her, and I plan to knit two hats. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> She and I got to go to the 100 mile fibre fair in Coombs, B.C. I saw a woman there with some hats and a cowl made with the språng technique. I was impressed because the woman had used Coptic colourwork, intertwining on a background of interlinking, as well as the Tegle pattern, a solid-colour pattern of triangles in S and Z interlinking. </div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-22029602876399649362021-12-04T07:00:00.012-05:002022-03-30T08:14:35.121-04:00Twenty Percent Less Yarn<div style="text-align: left;"> Just checking in to say that my cold sheep resolution this year has resulted in a reduction in my stash of yarn by twenty percent. If you don't count the two sweaters in progess that have been stalled for years. Which I don't. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> I am fairly happy with that amount of progress. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> I am considering rolling the resolution forward into 2022 and trying not to buy any yarn again, with the exception of a couple of sweater quantities. </div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-70978706780210072002021-09-18T07:00:00.013-04:002021-09-18T07:00:00.255-04:00Yarn, Organized<div style="text-align: left;"> A hat I'd knitted a number of months ago disappeared for a while. It is a gift for a family member and the person's birthday is approaching, so it was becoming more important to find it. I even started knitting a contingency hat. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> I finally found the lost hat, at the bottom of a box of yarn. Huzzah. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> While I was rummaging in the yarn box, I pulled all the boxes out and organized all the yarn. I sorted by weight and then sorted the fingering weight by content, since that's what I have the most of. Before, the yarn was all just sort of in the order I'd bought stuff. Organizing it was a task I'd had on my to-do list for a while, so I got the satisfaction of checking it off.</div><div> I mentioned to someone (someone with a fabric stash) that I'd done this task and she asked if I found any yarn I'd forgotten about. I found just one ball of yarn I'd completely forgotten I had. Such is the power of having filled out a Ravelry stash inventory. As a bonus, the yarn was in a colour I'd been thinking of buying. Electric blue, if you were wondering. </div><div> I matched up three more patterns with yarn I have and put them in my Ravelry queue. I think most of the yarn is matched with patterns now. It's just a matter of getting around to actually knitting it up to reduce the amount on hand. </div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-14810254333717046212021-08-28T07:00:00.057-04:002021-08-28T07:00:00.239-04:00What to Make Next<div style="text-align: left;"> The green cowl worked out fine. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> After I finished knitting it, I didn't knit for about a month. Finally I ripped out the two projects I had languishing on the needles. They were a hat and a pair of gloves in patterns I'd never done before. I restarted them with patterns that are old favourites. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><div> I withstood the temptation of a rather good yarn sale. When I say withstood, I mean I didn't buy anything. But I wasted a bunch of time putting yarn in the online cart, thinking about it, and taking it out. The waste of time counts as a minor cold sheep resolution failure for me. One of the points of the resolution was to take the time I would normally spend window shopping, and spend it on making things. </div><div> I ran across a good piece of advice on Ravelry. Someone said she wanted to knit a garment but didn't know what to pick. Someone else advised her to think about how long it had taken her to knit the last garment, then count the same amount forward in time, figure out what the weather will be then, and choose a pattern suitable for that weather. </div><div> Well! This advice would have me casting on for a wool sweater tomorrow.</div></div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-55791869525354152362021-07-03T07:00:00.092-04:002021-07-03T07:00:00.224-04:00the green scarf didn't work out but the cowl seems okay so far<div style="text-align: left;"> I was telling you about how I was adapting a hat pattern and using the chart to knit a scarf. It didn't work out. There was an imbalance between the number of knit stitches and purl stitches, and that caused the scarf to curl. I got a little more than a foot done and then ripped out the stitches.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> I started again with a cowl, knit in the round, using the same chart. There's no curl this time because the fabric is a tube. And of course I put ribbing at the edge to prevent curling there.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> I chose a larger needle than the hat pattern calls for, to create a soft and loose fabric that will drape. I've seen the recommendation for a larger needle for cowls in a couple places. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> I based the number of stitches on a lace cowl I'd completed recently in the same weight of yarn. That number turned out to be inadequate. This cowl was turning out to be much narrower than the other one. I ripped out my work and cast on again, adding enough stitches for two additional repeats of the motif. Now everything seems to be in order and it's just a matter of plugging away at the knitting. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> I was thinking yesterday about the role fear plays in my fiber arts and that of my friends who are kind enough to talk to me about their own progress. A small problem like this one with the scarf slash cowl doesn't bother me so much. But I do get hung up on some things. I tend to get gripped by fear during bigger projects where I really care about the outcome and I'm unsure about my chances of success. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> Right now fear is making me reluctant to start a fingering-weight sweater for myself for Fall. Also, I'm not ripping out and redoing a hibernating WIP, one of the two sweaters that have been stalled for years. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> I read once that when you have projects looming over you that you're procrastinating on and not about to start, you can use the energy from that nervous pressure to get a lot of little stuff done that you mean to do anyway. Guess that's what I'm doing with the cowl. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> Hopefully, whatever projects I do, I will use up some stash. My cold sheep resolution is going alright on the yarn-buying front, I've bought the bare minimum. I want to use up more yarn by the end of the year, though. </div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-25467174587996938302021-05-29T07:00:00.097-04:002021-05-29T07:00:00.239-04:00email subscriptions are ending<div style="text-align: left;"> If you have subscribed by email to this blog, The Sojourning Spinner, please know that your subscription is ending. This is because Google is putting Feedburner on maintenance mode in July. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> Apologies, but I can't see any way on my end to add this function back.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> You have the option of subscribing through an app that serves up RSS feeds. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> In other news, I am in the process of adapting a hat pattern that I like. Not for a modified and improved hat but for a scarf. A scarf to go with a hat I've already knitted. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> The adaptation process is a little tricky. While the hat is knitted in the round, the scarf is knitted flat. Any knit stitch that is knitted through the back stitch to twist it on the right side (and there are many such stitches) must be turned clockwise and purled on the wrong side. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> Further adding to the difficulty is the fact that the chart is charted for every row. In a lot of charts, the even-numbered rows are the same stitch and not even shown on the chart, and are thus rather simple to convert to flat knitting. Not so with this pattern's chart. The stitches are worked as they present themselves just as they are in the row below. Apart from turning the purls. So, you see a knit stitch below, you knit a stitch. At first I found it hard to see which was which. So, I turned to the chart. You have to read the chart the other way, left to right, on the even rows and do the opposite of the symbol as given. That was worse and I went back to examining the stitches. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> Anyway, it is a challenge. And I consider the effort to be worth it for the end result. I think that once it is done, the scarf is going to be well received by its recipient. </div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-42969744839230722882021-04-10T07:00:00.046-04:002021-04-10T07:00:00.293-04:00A Resolution, In Conflict with A Greater Goal<div> In January I resolved to go cold sheep. That is, I resolved to not buy any yarn or fiber for the year. The only out would be if I knitted up two-thirds of my stash. </div><div> This resolution sprang from the realization that I had enough yarn to knit for a year without buying any more. I felt that if I stopped spending time on yarn selection and pattern selection, then I could apply that time to using the plans and yarn I had already sunk effort into. Finishing projects, rather than starting. Doing justice to them. </div><div> I lasted two weeks. Then I discovered that the two sweater quantities of yarn I'd bought in December were too itchy. I exchanged them. I felt irritated because I hate to go back on a resolution, especially a resolution with cachet like cold sheep. However, the main goal is to make myself clothing, and new yarn was the path to doing that. </div><div> I could have frogged two old and stale projects, the partially-knit sweaters, and used that yarn. I just wasn't ready to do so. Now I might be ready to tackle one, after I get some gift knitting done.</div><div> It is an odd thing that having unfulfilled plans and unused materials around is unsatisfying yet the process of getting plans and materials is satisfying. </div><div> The other week I found myself browsing online looking through yarns on sale. Must have been in need of some retail therapy. I selected a yarn and a pattern to go with it, both of which would suit a knit-worthy family member. It made me feel clever, to spot them and make a pairing. It's the old hunter gatherer instinct, presumably. Then I asked myself if it would really make me happy to place an order, given that I had enough yarn on hand to make gifts for family this year. The answer was no. I emptied my cart and made a note about the pairing in my records to review next year. </div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-51374602038752620512021-04-03T19:00:00.108-04:002021-04-03T19:00:00.282-04:00It's Very, Very Pink<div> I knitted myself a cardigan. It's a very intense pink, which makes my inner child very happy. <br /> The fit is excellent, due to some modifications I made to the pattern. The idea for one of the mods came from a video on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/StephaniePearlMcPhee/posts" target="_blank">Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Patreon</a> account. </div><div> The pattern is one that I'd meant to do for a long time ever since I heard podcaster <a href="https://woolwork.net" target="_blank">Louise Scollay</a> rave about it. Am late to the party and all, which is okay. </div><div> The buttons on the cardigan came from a couple of old linen jackets that I had loved and worn to shreds. </div><div> It's quite something how for a project you take information from here, inspiration from there, and materials from the past and present. </div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-47874282320763836612020-11-07T07:00:00.158-05:002020-11-07T07:00:02.635-05:00Potato Chip Knitting You might remember an old commercial for potato chips that bet you can't eat just one. I find that some knitting patterns are like that too. I knit them, and then knit them again. It is quite satisfying.<br /> I am currently coming to the end of a streak of knitting accessories for gifts. There's half a hat and one pair of mitts to go. The hat pattern is one I've used before, and the mitts pattern will be new to me. <div> I am growing a little in technical skill. I feel quite clever because I've applied a technique I learned from Ann Hanson in a Craftsy course of hers, the one row buttonhole. I used it to make a ponytail opening just above the ribbed brim of a hat. That hat was the third hat I've made from a particular pattern, in white after doing lime green and dark red. The pattern has a lot of texture from thin lines of stockinette on reverse stockinette. It is a pattern with a bold style. There are family members I would not make it for, because I just don't think it would appeal to them. I like the look of it, though, and fortunately I also like the knitting process for it. I found the stitches easy to read and the pattern easy to memorize over the course of a round. That surprised me, given all the cables.</div><div> Have amassed some more books on knitting sweaters but haven't dug into them yet. I got one book for a particular pattern that I think is quite pretty because it has a lot of texture. It is similar to the hat I just mentioned. However, I have concerns that such a sweater would visually add bulk and not be flattering to wear. And I think you really have to be sensible and weigh both when picking a project. So that pattern may stay in the "nice to think about" category.</div><div> I did read one knitting book recently that was written in the 1980s. The content is very dated in parts and rather amusing. The author raved about the new looser fit that had just become fashionable. It's good to know that I have the pattern for a dolman sleeve sweater if I ever need it. I got the idea to buy that title from watching Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's stash room tour on Patreon, a tour which includes her bookshelves.</div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-60253866116112565982020-07-25T07:00:00.015-04:002020-07-25T07:00:04.311-04:00Raglan Sweater So I was working on a sweater. I am pleased to say that it is finished and it fits. <div> I had started out following the pattern Brick by Clare Lee. I made quite a few modifications to the fit and the design details. In the end, I began thinking of it as just a raglan sweater. </div><div> Anyway, it is nice to be done. I enjoyed the process of making the sweater as much as I enjoy owning it. (Not wearing it, not till Fall.) I just mean to say, the sense of accomplishment is pleasant. Big project and all.</div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-89002689489998673752020-03-07T07:00:00.000-05:002020-03-07T07:00:00.187-05:00Radio Segment about Briggs and Little Yarn<br />
You might enjoy listening to a radio segment about Briggs and Little Yarn called "Made to Last," at <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/made-to-last-more-than-100-years-old-canadian-wool-company-thrives-in-changing-knitting-market-1.5459413">https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/made-to-last-more-than-100-years-old-canadian-wool-company-thrives-in-changing-knitting-market-1.5459413</a> or on the CBC Radio app under the Sunday Edition show.Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-83738653283782339882020-02-29T07:00:00.000-05:002020-02-29T07:00:00.234-05:00Trends in the Cut of Clothing and Knits Decades ago I read a book about planning a wardrobe and making smart choices when one gets pieces. It recommended that you study the clothes in the shops and magazines to examine the cut, as well as the colour, embellishment, and texture. For example, see where the waist sits, where the line of the shoulder sits in relation to the tip of a person's bone at the end of the shoulder, how high the underarm sleeve sits, how closely or loosely the fabric sits against the body, where the hems and seams hit. It seemed like a sensible and clever approach to me, so I adopted it.<br />
Recently I had a look at knits on the market and realized that drop shoulders have come back in. I feel like this change snuck up on me. I remember the last time they were in and I remember when they went out. The shoulder is dropped and the body of the sweater is wide like before, but the sleeve is much narrower this time. With less of a taper, understandably. The necklines are somewhat wider and lower. The yarn is a finer gauge. The modern knits don't have as much texture or colourwork as they did in knitting books from the last fashion cycle. This may be for style or just because it is cheaper for a factory to make plain garments.<br />
I suppose if a knitter was enterprising and liked math, she could snap up secondhand some of the knitting books from the 80s and 90s and modify any drop shoulder pattern that lacks armhole shaping. You'd reduce the number of stitches in the sleeve, plot a new neckline on graph paper, and perhaps convert a pattern to a different, finer gauge by recalculating the stitches and rows or by using the directions for a larger size and accounting for the difference in row gauge. I saw a used book from the 90s the other day at a thrift store and passed it up without thinking about possible modifications. On the other hand, using a recently-published pattern would be simpler.<br />
In the same thrift shop, I saw a cardigan with a colourwork yoke that looked to me like it was handknit, judging by the lack of tag and a texture and gauge like Icelandic wool yarn. I thought the yarn felt rather scratchy and wondered if that was the reason the sweater was donated.<br />
The other day I was able to correctly identify a woman's cowl as handknit. This was out in the wild, not at a guild meeting where the odds are high of running into handknits. I guessed because the cowl was in garter stitch. If a factory had made it, the machine would have needed two needle beds. More complicated machine, more expensive, less likely. Whereas a handknitter can knit garter stitch flat easily. <br />
Besides the drop shoulder sweaters, I noticed some yoke sweaters with colourwork for sale online. I've seen one person wearing one. I will have to try and see the details up close sometime. From a distance the sweaters appear to have been knitted flat in pieces, using short rows to imitate the curved design that's characteristic of handknit yoke sweater patterns from the 80s. The original designs were a function of the technique in the decreases handknit in the round. Again, simple for a handknitter, involved for machines.<br />
It's is nice to know what the new fashionable options are. Fashion still seems to be favouring sweaters with a natural shoulder fit and a high-ish underarm seam. I consider these to be more flattering and more trend-proof.<br />
This begs the question, why am I knitting a sweater with a raglan sleeve. Expediency, I think. Brick is such a simple pattern that the directions make me confident I can finish knitting it if I keep plugging away. I expect the result with Brick will look acceptable and be comfortable to wear.<br />
It might be fun to do another sometime in two colours like a baseball t-shirt for a retro look.Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-45483188879537926202020-02-22T07:00:00.000-05:002020-02-22T07:00:00.655-05:00Rabbit Hole of Research in Knitted Texture I created a bundle of favourites on Ravelry and called it texture. I created it so I can view at a glance pictures of a collection of patterns and projects that show texture in the knitted cloth and that particularly appeal to me. <br />
When I saw the URL for the bundle, it appeared hundreds of other people had done so before me. Found I could type in a different number in the URL and see other bundles. <br />
I'll be a while. The results are very cool.<br />
Am also looking at projects made with undyed yarn, using the advanced search feature, sorted by most favourited projects. Some of them are very pretty.<br />
Myself, I just finished knitting Julie Hayes' beret pattern Colette in undyed brown yarn. Love the concentric decreases in the crown. Am wondering if I should mail the hat to a family member now or wait months and months until Christmas.<br />
I applied concentric decreases to a stockinette hat that's fresh off the needles. I knitted it without a pattern as a sort of test swatch for a sweater, as is recommended in Elizabeth Zimmerman's <i>Knitting Without Tears</i>. Used the same yarn as I used for Colette but with one needle size down and a different natural shade of wool on the white side. Am not into brown.<br />
Have cast on for the sweater, Brick, using the same yarn but in a medium natural grey shade. While I wish the wool was glossier, the colour appeals to me. Brick is a plain stockinette raglan sweater so it has no texture to it. I plan to knit the trim from the Susie Roger's Reading Mitts pattern on the cuffs and hem, with picot at the collar.<br />
***<br />
Oh, wow. There are hundreds of bundles of favourites under the name linen too. Love linen.<br />
You can type in www dot ravelry dot com slash bundles slash [name] for any name or word you think is likely, and see what comes up. Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-16483890265511298852020-01-04T07:00:00.000-05:002020-01-04T07:00:04.342-05:00A Podcast on Craftivism If you are spinning yarn or knitting and want to listen to interviews as you work, I recommend episode 447: "Rethinking Craft" from the CBC Radio program, Spark. <br />
<div>
You can stream it with your Internet browser at <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/arts-culture/spark/">www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/arts-culture/spark/</a>. Or find Spark from CBC Radio on your favourite podcast app, and find the episode. </div>
<div>
The last segment on crafts and activism, also called craftivism, will probably be of interest to you.<br />
For those who prefer to read, a synopsis of the episode is here, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/rethinking-craft-in-the-age-of-digital-reproduction-1.5291067">www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/rethinking-craft-in-the-age-of-digital-reproduction-1.5291067</a>.</div>
Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-66556383070895634672019-12-28T08:00:00.001-05:002022-03-30T09:43:05.314-04:00Whims and Plans At the last handspinners guild meeting, I asked a couple of people if they had yarn resolutions for the new year. One said, to finish unfinished projects. The other said, to make things for herself, since the Christmas gift knitting would be over. <br />
I consider these to be excellent resolutions. <br />
The trouble is, unfinished projects usually sit unfinished for a reason. Some problem holds you up from finishing. Moreover, I find it hard to resist the lure of knitting small gifts and charity donations. It is fun to delight other people. It's only when I get to the end of the year and reflect that I want to give myself a shake and tell myself to snap out of it.<br />
I am glad I made the things I did this year, even though they fell short of my ideal of "clothing, for me, in undyed or naturally-dyed colours." The knitted pieces were made for other people to use as accessories or for dishwashing. The yarn was in synthetically-dyed colours. I prefer undyed or natural colours because they are beautiful and eco-friendly, but am willing to use synthetic for other people. <br />
Looking back over the amount of knitting I did this year, I probably put in as many stitches as go into two or three sweaters. The stitches just went into different things. I find that garter dish cloths are easy mindless things to make while talking with someone or watching TV. I can sometimes knit a dozen stitches in a row on a dish cloth without looking. Sweaters, not so much.<br />
For those of you who have been keeping half an eye on my progress, let me remind you of the story so far. I have made a handspun, handwoven vest and I have made a språng vest. I have yet to make a complete handknit sweater. This despite having started two and despite having been a knitter for eleven years. In contrast I have made enough dish cloths that friends have urged me to start keeping a tally for their amusement. <br />
You might remember the Scraptastic hat I mentioned in the last post. I finally got it knitted in the correct size after four attempts. <br />
In light of my ideal of clothes for me and in light of the obstacles in the way, I have made some moves forward. This has been in the areas of my purchases and the way I use Ravelry. They are preliminary steps merely. I still need to do the work. <br />
I purchased four online knitting classes on Bluprint (formerly Craftsy). One of the classes is Button bands and Buttonholes by Anne Hanson. I have no skills or experience in this area, and the lack has held me up from finishing the Cullercoats sweater. The other classes are by Amy Herzog, and I'm hoping they will give me the skill of altering a sweater neckline, the problem holding me up from finishing the pullover in dark brown Rambouillet. <br />
I enhanced my stash of commercial yarn this year with a couple of sweater quantities of undyed wool. If you haven't heard the term before, sweater quantity (SQ) is a term for enough of the same yarn to make a sweater. One SQ is dark brown Rambouillet sourced from a single flock direct from the shepherd and the other SQ is a dark grey in wool pool fiber from a large knitting company. Both are worsted weight. <br />
It is sort of a push pull feeling, owning an SQ. I want the SQ to fulfill its destiny and be a sweater. Having an SQ in the stash is like having money burning a hole in my pocket. On the other hand, a sweater project feels like a lot of responsibility with many factors that could go wrong. So I hang back. <br />
As I hang back, I have been looking at the Ravelry pattern database for worsted weight sweaters. Have not yet found a design I like. <br />
Besides a sweater, I could use a SQ to make a shawl. I feel ambivalent about a shawl. I expect I would feel like a weirdo wearing one, beyond my comfort level with weirdness. It is an appealing prospect to have a shawl to drape over a chair at the guild's annual sheep to shawl educational demonstration. A number of handspinners I know do this or wear their shawl at the event. However, my goal is to own a wardrobe, not educational props. I can afford to indulge a whim, but I don't know if I can bring myself to do it. Possibly the book I ordered, with a Faroese shawl pattern in it, will be as far as I go. <br />
I have felt, in the past month, that I need to focus my mind on finishing works-in-progress. To that end, I have changed my view of my project records on Ravelry. I used to have an Internet browser tab open to show the default view of thumbnail photos and captions for all the project records in chronological order. I now have a view of only the thumbnails for current projects I've marked as works-in-progress (WIPs) and the thumbnails for old unfinished projects I've marked as hibernating, the ones that have a little ZZZ marked on them. I now see a to-do list, whereas before I saw a jumble. <br />
The change is good. But I find myself working on my Ravelry queue, lining up the next several projects to do, rather than actually doing projects and getting them done. <br />
I really only started using the queue feature this year. I enjoy planning and it is nice to see a plan written down. <br />
This month I updated my Ravelry stash record for the first time in ages. I played with the default settings on the stash section, to my benefit. I found that with the list view I could see the names of the colours of each yarn stashed. With this, I avoid the necessity of having to take photos of each ball to indicate colour on the thumbnail view. This only works because the amount of yarn is small, the colour ways are solid not multi-coloured, and the colour names are basic and factual, mostly, not fanciful and vague. Black, not Cosmic Night and such. <br />
I filled in my Ravelry library section for the first time ever. I limited it to knitting books and handspinning magazines only. I don't see any point in adding weaving and språng books. Those books' drafts and patterns won't become searchable in the pattern database like the knitting books' patterns do. <br />
Finally, I discovered that I can use Ravelry's search function to find commercial yarns that are undyed or naturally dyed. The details include where to buy the yarn. This should prove useful. <br />
My Kanban board for fibre projects remains useful and up-to-date. It shows me my options, tasks I've committed myself to do, and works-in-progress ranked by level of service (fixed due date, first in first out, etc.). The board duplicates the basic information on the Ravelry project records, queue, and stash record. It is just a different way of arranging it. I don't look at it enough, though, I look at my main Kanban board. <br />
I created one thing this year that I'm proud of. I made it after a lot of experimentation with a new material. It was a shawl pin made with lost wax casting, using a matt wax gun to extrude hot wax and create the model. It is a circle of bronze, textured, with a pin of textured bronze to match. The texture was derived from extruding wax onto a bed of coarse salt, the kind you top pretzels with. The idea for the texture came from a direct casting technique, hot metal poured onto rock salt, the kind you spread on icy walkways. I'd either read about that or seen it done on YouTube, I can't remember which. It wasn't anything taught by my metal instructor. The texture reminds me of the rocky slope of the beaches on Protection Island and Newcastle Island back home, pitted. <br />
So that's how things are here in my wool room. All the best to you in the new year, with your own whims and plans.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvy5cguNQ5m7-wDWwS6Iw8UrNmr-vzX9NepV_ZarnfB--XcR7bMy-sDKExi1Y-h21e-10P-6pn7_Pkvk1_EQD6IhHH6GlINPpyw5_VaZqFJ0i4D5JIYnM_udcC1Kt0lfPugzSw3RTW3LVyk2QpZyToBAsQ1kEl8Z0oPuFt6XDV4rluOv5zIZIXjAniVw/s5152/IMG_0347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3864" data-original-width="5152" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvy5cguNQ5m7-wDWwS6Iw8UrNmr-vzX9NepV_ZarnfB--XcR7bMy-sDKExi1Y-h21e-10P-6pn7_Pkvk1_EQD6IhHH6GlINPpyw5_VaZqFJ0i4D5JIYnM_udcC1Kt0lfPugzSw3RTW3LVyk2QpZyToBAsQ1kEl8Z0oPuFt6XDV4rluOv5zIZIXjAniVw/s320/IMG_0347.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-41500678028474844092019-10-06T07:00:00.000-04:002019-10-06T07:00:01.181-04:00Yarn and Cynefin I just knitted a black beanie in fingering yarn using Jane Tanner's pattern Scraptastic Hat. Didn't get gauge at first. I haven't sewn in the ends and blocked the hat yet, so am still not entirely sure the size is correct. <br />
There is a framework for decision making developed by Dave Snowden. Being Welsh, he called Cynefin. It divides contexts into different categories such as obvious, complicated, complex, and chaotic. Depending on the context, you take a different approach as you make decisions. I like to knit and listen to talks on YouTube by Liz Keogh on the subject.<br />
Non-knitters, or at least the non-knitters who don't live with knitters, think knitting is, at most, complicated. And not terribly complicated. You learn to knit, you get supplies, you follow the pattern, and you get what you expected. Like clockwork.<br />
Certainly there are best practices in knitting. So it can be complicated. Many knitters like to choose unfamiliar patterns and learn new techniques, which increases the level of complication. That in itself can stall a project. But it's not the only thing.<br />
Knitters know that knitting is not just complicated, it is complex. There is stuff we don't know, that we cannot know, going in. <br />
One yarn is not exactly like another so a substitution is a gamble. Having scanned a lot of <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/" target="_blank">Ravelry</a> project listings on pattern pages, I'd say substitution is the norm. And from the discussion boards and conversations I've had with yarn folk, a lot of time is spent deciding what yarn to get. Or spin.<br />
Then there is gauge. One person knits tightly, another loosely. Some people change gauge when they relax. I am fortunate, as my knitting is fairly consistent. I am also fairly consistent when I spin yarn. But my gauge is not always the same as the pattern writer's, and it takes a while to figure out what gauge I have. In my first crack at the hat, it came out inches too big. <br />
Another factor is that knitters like to throw pattern modifications in to the mix. It's equivalent to changing a baking recipe and hoping for the best. But with more math. <br />
Some knitters make up their own patterns. <br />
I think non-knitters don't get into knitting because they think they are not up to the challenge of learning the complicated steps, they'd rather spend their time on other things, and they wouldn't get enough of a payoff out of the investment of time and supplies. After all, they can get clothes they like from the store without a hassle. <br />
Whereas knitters know knitting can be akin to an epic quest.<br />
I found weaving to be similar. Same yarn, same draft (pattern), wider width, and different loom resulted in a looser cloth.<br />
I and others find it very tough to make decisions on warping interlinked språng. I believe that would improve if we got more patterns to follow. Språng is a whole other pair of sleeves, as the French idiom goes, because it is a bias construction.Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199578838816998073.post-35602969522330514562019-05-27T07:00:00.001-04:002021-03-13T10:11:50.699-05:00"Getting More Satisfaction From Your Fiber" podcast episode You can hear TJ King interview me on her podcast <i>The Peahen's Pondererings</i> in episode six, "Getting More Satisfaction from Your Fiber" available on iTunes and Google or on her site here, <a href="https://thepeahenspod.com/2019/05/26/getting-more-from-your-fiber/">https://thepeahenspod.com/2019/05/26/getting-more-from-your-fiber/</a>. <br />
We talk about stuff including the way I keep track of my works-in-progress and to-do list with the Kanban method.<br />
After the podcast was recorded, I asked David J. Anderson exactly what commitment to a work-in-progress (WIP) means in Kanban. He defined commitment to a WIP as a commitment to deliver goods or a service to a customer. Similarly, regarding the book <i>The Goal</i>, I said in the podcast that the goal in the book was for the factory to finish its work, but actually the goal for the factory was to get paid for the products they produced. I hope that you get my point in the podcast that we do things for a payoff, and that with yarn, usually we are our own customers. For a fiber artist the payoff can come from having a finished product or from enjoying the experience of the production process. <br />
When preparing for the podcast, I came up with 31 different common problems I have seen keep people from being satisfied with their projects and finishing them. TJ and I were only able to cover a handful on the podcast. But there's nothing stopping me from giving you the list here, along with the solutions I propose.<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Beginner problems, where you lack equipment, supplies, and know-how. TJ points out the problem of buying too much and buying the wrong things because you don't understand what you need. Solution: get the stuff, get the skills, and above all get support and feedback as you go along. </li>
<li>Intermediate problems, where you make larger items or take on more stages (like fiber prep or dyeing), and as a consequence you run into more problems that block progress or you get discouraged because it takes longer to finish. Solution: expect these problems, maybe limit your focus, and get any technical help you need. I was talking to someone about this and she said that doing larger projects and doing more crafts is not actually a problem. And it's true, it can be one of the joys of a fiber artist's life. Assuming you don't get lost in the weeds. </li>
<li>You modify a pattern and thereby cause problems you don't get from a tested published pattern, or you don't start a project because you are daunted by the difficulty of making the modifications you want. Solution: get help, get more skill at making mods, be brave, or search harder for an existing pattern that is close to what you want. </li>
<li>You are bored to tears at spinning two pounds of white wool or knitting miles of stockinette. Solution: don't do it, or break up the work so you don't do it all at once, or get an e-spinner or a knitting machine so the work goes faster. </li>
<li>Your project is a poor match for the context you work in. For example, you are trying to knit something that demands all your concentration but you are out in public with friends who want to talk to you. Solution: keep the complicated project for a time when you are alone, and keep a simple portable project in a pretty bag to take to parties. My evening knitting bag is black hemp/silk and contains a Granny's Favourite dish cloth. Also, schedule a block of time for the complicated knitting. </li>
<li>You use modern patterns not traditional production patterns (or modern methods not production methods of spinning, knitting, and weaving). Again, not necessarily a problem. I've just observed that modern charts for lace and colourwork start with an image and go from there, and take a lot of concentration. In contrast, charts from a hundred and twenty years ago have a rhythm to them. So if you want to forge ahead, consider production patterns and methods. I haven't knitted any stranded colourwork myself but I have done metal stamping in a Fair Isle pattern. I found stamping down the columns awkward. Then I started stamping from right to left, bottom row to top row the way a knitter approaches the pattern, and it went extremely smoothly. Similarly, traditional construction, such as knitting stockinette in the round and steeking, can be faster than knitting stockinette flat and seaming pieces because there's no purling. As for methods, there are teachers like Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Abby Franquemont, and Sara Lamb who teach production methods of knitting and spinning. There is a possible downside to this solution: the look and fit you get with traditional patterns has been around for a very long time and some people may consider them unpleasantly dated-looking. Not to mention that a stranded sweater can be too hot to wear in a place with central heating. </li>
<li>You keep poor records and so you cannot easily knit a pattern again or you cannot spin an identical skein. Solution: either accept this about yourself, or keep records with the details you need about modifications, yarn type, tools used, and so on. </li>
<li>Your project does not fit your taste in processes. For example, you are knitting lace because you want to have a lace scarf but you dislike knitting yarnovers and decreases. You buy a fleece because it is beautiful but you dislike fiber prep. Solution: practice self-awareness and acceptance. Only do the process you like, or do the process you dislike in a way that you can take, like in small doses or in the company of a friend. Or, get minions, or commission someone to do the work. I know most fiber artists don't consider this an option because they buy yarn intending to use it themselves. We tend to think of clothes as either homemade or bought ready-to-wear. But if you really don't like a process and you really want the product, you can commission the work. There are people who knit for money and take custom orders. </li>
<li>Your taste in processes gives you nothing near your taste in products. You like to knit garter stitch flat but hate the look of it, that sort of thing. Solution: stick with your taste in processes and give the result away. Or, see if you can tweak the process to get a product you like more. For instance, instead of plying your laceweight singles into laceweight 2 ply yarn and then knitting lace, try cabling those singles into a thicker yarn or making a 5 ply yarn (again, thicker) or holding a couple of 2 ply strands together when knitting something substantial. </li>
<li>You produce products that do not fit your lifestyle. For example, you love to buy chunky mustard yellow yarn and knit boxy mustard yellow sweaters but you need a lace shawl to wear to a wedding and all those cocktail parties you attend. Solution: knit what you love, keep it in a drawer, take it out to admire it, but buy ready-to-wear clothes. Or, go against your instincts, grit your teeth, and knit products that fit your lifestyle. Whichever makes you happy. You may need to get extra technical help to be able to finish making wearable items, if something is holding you up and keeping you from wanting to produce wearable things. </li>
<li>You make technical mistakes. Solution: learn the technical solutions, like how to drop stitches and redo them, how to swatch and block to get gauge so your items fit, how to use a life line in lace knitting so you can undo your knitting easily, how to fix a slub when spinning, and how to choose a flattering pattern. For that last one, the most flattering results I've seen are from people using Amy Herzog's Custom Fit patterns. </li>
<li>You have trouble meeting deadlines. Solution: set a reminder in your calendar and start way ahead. Or, do what you love, whenever you fancy. </li>
<li>You have little time to spend on the fiber arts because you have a demanding job or demanding family responsibilities. Solution One: choose a project you can pick up and put down so you can integrate yarn into your daily life. Solution Two: make yarn part of your vacation and leisure time by taking a class, going to a meetup, and so on. Keep duplicate sets of tools and project bags you can take with you. Solution Three: make sure you get out of your yarn time what you are looking for, and what you need to counterbalance your job or family. Examples are a sense of completion, time among women (or whatever demographic your meetup group is), time spent on math and science, and the experience of touching beautiful fiber. Solution Four: do not take on a volunteer task for a guild or festival until after you retire or your family no longer needs you, because if you have seriously demanding day job you have no spare time to spare. You need your yarn time. Defend it. It does you good. Solution Five: Practice selfish knitting, and keep what you make rather than giving it away so that you have a tangible record of your yarn accomplishments. </li>
<li>You can't make what you want because you can't get the right materials. For example, you need one more ball of yarn, and it's discontinued. Solution One: find the yarn; do a Ravelry search for yarn in people's stash that's for sale, post an ISO (in search of) message on a Ravelry discussion board, or look up the company's distributors and call them about old stock. To use a ball of yarn from a different dye lot and make a less noticeable transition, in between the old and new dye lots you can knit a section that alternates rows of either dye lot. Solution Two: work around the problem; use different yarn for the cuffs or shorten the sleeves. </li>
<li>You take on a commission, paid or not, and it goes badly. Solution: have an out clause and agree in advance on how you will handle change requests. Or, refuse commissions. </li>
<li>You wind up working with materials or tools you never planned for, because they were given to you, or you picked them up in a destash sale, or your friend left them to you in her will. Not necessarily a problem, as you may luck out and get something you like. Solution: do not look needy. Casually say things around friends and family like, "I get so much fun out of selecting just the right fiber," and "I have so much wool, my stash is awesome." When you're around non-fiber friends, be their friend, not the person in their life who is all about yarn. Be careful around destash sales: the seller cast off that stuff for a reason. And, check for moths. </li>
<li>You spend $1000+ on fancy equipment but forget to budget money for lessons, time to learn to use the stuff, and space to set it up. Solution: either budget for this, or don't saddle yourself with an obligation to live up to the equipment. </li>
<li>You wander into interesting but odd things to do with yarn, such as nalbinding and språng, for which there are few teachers and few patterns. Solution: keep to the mainstream and focus on that. Or, dive in. Contact the teachers for advice, watch online videos, travel for classes to places like the John C. Campbell Folk School or Scandinavian cultural centers, or get together a bunch of students and invite a teacher to come to you. </li>
<li>You suffer from second sock syndrome or get stuck on sleeve island, or you change gauge mid-project and can't get identical pieces. In other words, you have trouble finishing a whole project. Solution: get two identical sets of sock needles and knit two socks, switching back and forth between them, or do the magic loop technique, or knit one sock inside the other (if you dare). Try to knit always under the same conditions, with no fast music or tense TV shows. </li>
<li>You hate sewing up, or you create an overwhelming number of ends to sew up by using up scraps or doing involved colourwork. Solution: sew in your ends anyway. Or minimize the amount of sewing up by buying large balls of yarn, doing little colourwork, knitting raglan or yoke sweaters, and knitting toe-up socks. Also, me, I like to take the sting out of sewing up by using a really nice needle that TJ's husband Mike made for me as a custom order, out of bone. (Sorry, vegans.) It is shaped like his <a href="https://spanishpeacock.com/shop/ols/products/naals" target="_blank">Spanish Peacock single-point nalbinding needles</a> but a little slimmer. The regular nalbinding needle will work for worsted yarn. </li>
<li>You like to spin but not to ply. Solution One: don't. Spin singles and set them, or spin energized singles to knit or weave with like Katherine Alexander. Solution Two: get better equipment, such as a lazy Kate that holds bobbins at a 45 degree angle. Solution Three: improve your form, by taking a class or watching a DVD by teachers like Judith MacKenzie, Sara Lamb, or Rita Buchanan. </li>
<li>You need to spin and ply 3 ply yarn for your knitting to drape well but you hate to make 3 ply. Solution: do 2 ply and knit lace or weave, because 2 ply is great for this. Or, cable your yarn. Or pass the singles through a spice jar top to ply 3 ply. Or, n-ply, also called Navajo plying. </li>
<li>You use self-striping yarn but get fraternal socks not identical socks. Solution: start at the same place in the colour progression when you cast on, which may mean discarding some yardage and settling for shorter socks. Or, use solids, semisolids, speckled yarn, or chromatic yarn to avoid the problem. </li>
<li>You buy space-dyed braids because you love the way they look but you dislike the resulting barber pole yarn you spin, and the rest of the braids sit unused in your stash so they will be beautiful forever. Solution: split the braid in half lengthwise, spin two bobbins, and ply a 2 ply yarn. Or, spin the whole braid and n-ply it. Or, divide up the braid following directions for fractal spinning and 2 ply the yarn. Or, combo blend and combo spin. Or, spin and ply each colour separately by tearing out sections of colour. Or, commission the dyer to make you a coordinating solid braid. </li>
<li>You are too intimidated to use yarn or fiber that is frankly too good for you. Solution: if you have the skills to use it, use it anyway. If you don't, get the skills. </li>
<li>Your stash contains a little of this and a little of that, but not enough to make something. Solution One: going forward, focus more when you buy, and buy enough. Solution Two: use what you have by searching for low-yardage patterns on Ravelry, reading one-skein wonder pattern books, doing colourwork if the yarn is all the same weight, holding yarns together for bulky projects, and doing combo spinning and combo blending. </li>
<li>You find you made a mistake warping the loom, after you've sleyed 200 more threads through 200 more heddles. Solution: dig deep and consider why you're doing this and whether you really want to be doing this. Then either fix the threads or live with the mistake. </li>
<li>You want to wind a warp onto a loom but don't have a buddy to put tension on the warp while you crank. Solution: make new friends. Or, weave at a studio with an instructor and other students. Or, get a gadget from Harrisville Designs to tension the warp. Or, warp front to back. Or use a rigid heddle loom with a weight. </li>
<li>You try to weave with knitting yarn and it goes badly. Solution: use a narrow rigid heddle loom and a short warp. Or, wet your skeins of yarn and dry them under tension, maybe. Or, switch and use proper weaving yarn. Spend the money, and treat it as a new stash. </li>
<li>You lose yarn to marauding moths or destructive kittens, or you lose your project. Solution: use a Gamma seal lid on a 5 gallon bucket, use a Gripstic closure on a bag, and be cautious about bringing secondhand wool into your stash. And just generally be careful. In the podcast, TJ asked me about my general level of satisfaction with my fiber arts productivity. I forgot to say that my one regret was leaving a couple of skeins of handspun Wensleydale out where the moths ate them. Also I forgot to say that if someone announced to me, "That's it, you're done, no more yarn for you," I would be upset because there are things I still want to make. </li>
<li>You like to knit but hate to purl. Solution: knit continental. Or knit with the Irish Cottage Knitting method. Or, knit sweaters in the round. Or, knit the patterns in Elizabeth Zimmermann's <i>Knit One, Knit All</i>, which have no purling.</li>
</ol>
To sum up, don't let problems stop you from getting satisfaction from your fiber arts. <br />
When I receive a gift from someone that could influence me, I disclose it on the blog so you know. Here goes: TJ gave me a <a href="https://spanishpeacock.com/shop/ols/products/spindle-storage-stand" target="_blank">Spanish Peacock spindle storage stand</a>. If you haven't see one, it is an affordable stand that's sold as a flat pack.Kristen Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02163666835237644928noreply@blogger.com0