The Things We Forget

Whenever you tell someone that you're a keen knitter, a common response is, "Oh! I tried to knit a jumper/scarf/hat/poncho* (delete as appropriate) once but I gave up. My reply is usually, "Well why did you give up?" which isn't always what they want to hear. I just don't get it; surely if you're keen enough to go and find a pattern and buy the yarn, you're keen enough to see the project through to the end? No? Just me?

Sadly, this belief has gone a bit 'pot calling the kettle black' after a recent discovery.

We're moving house. Sigh. Which means having to properly tackle the craft and knitting cupboard. BIG sigh. But, ever keen to condense and de-clutter, I set about the task with my small plastic boxes and vacuum storage bags in hand (which, incidentally, are amazing for storing yarn in small areas). As I was rummaging around behind my bags of toy stuffing, I suddenly came across a dreaded UFO. An Un-Finished Object.

Noooooooo!

Back in 2006 I started a hoodie from the Stitch 'n' Bitch Knitter's Handbook (Stoller, 2003). The idea of knitting a hoodie struck me as pretty cool and autumn was approaching fast. I went to Durham Market and over-bought yarn then started knitting with gusto. In no time, I managed to finish the back and started on the front. It was here that I can unstuck. For some reason, completely unfathomable to 2013 Suz, I couldn't work out how to knit the front pouch pocket. So I gave up. Yes, I am thoroughly embarrassed by my young self. (Blink-182 said, 'Nobody loves you when you're 23,' and I can see why if I was that much of a quitter!)

Looking at the project again, the pocket seemed so simple. All I had to do was pick up some stitches from the front and knit in a panel before knitting across all stitches to join them. Invigorated by my discovery, I managed to finish the whole project in less than a week.

Was it worth it after seven years of languishing in my craft cupboard? Definitely. And my advice to all knitters who have projects that they gave up on - ask for help, look on You Tube at tutorials, read the pattern again on a different day with a clearer head. Don't give up! Although I am in no position to judge anymore.

August is the New December

I was reading a thread on a mummy forum the other day (sorry - please don't judge me) and it was all about Christmas. The mum in question was asking for tips and patterns for Christmas crafts that she could make with her 2 year old and also admitted to having done some Christmas shopping already. I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that she was shot down in flames. "How DARE you mention THE C WORD when it's still August?" the Keyboard Warriors cried. "Stop wishing your life away!"

Whilst I didn't comment myself (yes, I'm a coward) it's fair to say that I am also thinking about Christmas in a big way. And that's for two reasons. Firstly, the Hart Household is on a tight budget these days. It makes sense to spread the cost and pick things up when you see them, even if it is August. The second is because I'm a knitter and knitting takes time and patience and should never be rushed because that sucks the joy out of it.

Rachael and I already have all of our Christmas markets and craft fairs booked and have had for some time. Every year, I knit reindeer tree decorations and they always sell out. I can't knit the things fast enough! So I've started already with the gravelly tones of Alan Sugar saying, "Smell what sells," in my ear.

It's not just about knitting for our mini-business, though. Which is why I'm starting now. For the past few years, I've knitted furiously throughout November and December and made some money out of it. Don't complain, I hear you cry, right? I guess not, but by the time I've done that I just don't feel like making anything nice for myself. This thought coincided with Rachael's return from Norway clutching julekuler and I fell instantly in love.

Julekuler are traditional Norwegian Christmas balls and they are gorgeous. Seriously, just Google them. I did and discovered 55 Christmas Balls to Knit (Nerjordet and Zachrison, 2012). For starters, just look at that man's Space Invaders Christmas jumper. What a hero. I'm already tabbing that pattern out, let me tell you. Anyway, with visions of a beautiful tree covered in knitted baubles, production is well underway.

Admit it, you've thought about The C Word, too...

In other news: I found and finished a hoodie I started knitting in 2006. Yes, 2006. It's taken me 7 years to finish it but I promise it won't take that long to blog it.

We're All Going on a Woolly Holiday

A sad thing happened this week; my best girl and partner in craft crime, Miss Rachael Dilley, moved to Norway for her four month university placement.

Never one to miss an opportunity for travel, I booked for us all to go and visit her during May half term quite some time ago. The strange thing is, I haven't actually given the country or what we will do there any thought - I just focused on the fact it'll be nice to see my friend.

Cut to the staff room, a normal lunch break, and a colleague starts talking about when she lived in Denmark. Now, I know full well that Norway and Denmark are very different countries, but what she said peaked my interest. It seems that when she was there, everyone knitted almost constantly. Allegedly, during meetings or presentations, if you can get the audience to actually stop knitting then you must be something pretty special. Just imagine that!

I then Googled "knitting shops Oslo" and BAM! hundreds of listings came up for across the city and country. I'm so used to living in a country where buying yarn takes planning that I had forgotten what this was like. But we weren't so different years ago. In the 80s, there were so many more yarn shops on the high street. My nan and I used to visit a fair few of them, let me tell you. So why did ours vanish when those in other countries in Europe didn't? Did we just stop knitting?

Since then, I have had word from Rachael that it is, indeed, some kind of woolly Mecca. Here is her photo of the wool display in her local supermarket:



Amazing!

What's more amazing is that the UK has the potential for this. I was pleased to see a yarn display in Wilkinson's the other day and I know Big Tesco does, too. It's not great quality, admittedly, but it's there. I've previously mentioned my beautiful local wool shop in Stanhope and, since then, we've had Woolaballoo open in Hexham. Is it possible that we have a resurgence on our hands? Or have we moved on too far?

Why not be the catalyst? Get yourself to your local independent wool shop this bank holiday. Vive le revolution!

UFO sightings

The first time I saw the abbreviation UFO on a knitting thread (sorry, couldn't resist) on a blog, I thought the author had gone mad. One minute they're talking about techniques and the next they're banging on about aliens. Bonkers! I soon realised that I was mistaken and that UFO actually stands for 'UnFinished Object' in the world of knitting.

I'm sure that you can all think of a UFO lurking somewhere in your knitting basket... Regular readers will know that I have the Skirt of Doom which, I'm sad to say, remains a UFO and has been resigned to the cupboard again. However, I'm generally a completist and have always seen projects through to the bitter end every time. Or so I thought.

We're actually in the process of trying to sell our house so every school holiday I try to de-clutter another corner or cupboard. Well, Easter saw the both rewarding and depressing task of tidying my craft cupboard arise. Diligently, I sorted through bags, filled boxes and sucked the air out of vac-pack bags stuffed with yarn. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I found a carrier bag stuffed in the corner and (shock!) it contained a UFO. Memories flooded back; starting my first 'large' project from the Stitch N Bitch handbook of a hoodie over seven years ago. I can't believe I didn't finish it!

If I remember rightly, I got confused about how to knit the pocket and became distracted. I blame youth. But there it was again, half finished, and looking lovely. I wasted no time in finding the pattern and starting again. Looking back, I can't believe I ever found it difficult. To create the pocket on the front, I had knitted up to the line of stitches level with where the top of the pocket would be. The pattern then instructed me to pick up a number of stitches from the bottom of the work (between two stitch markers) and knit up. I then had to knit both rows of stitches together to join them and carry on up the front as normal, thus creating a pouch. It seems so simple now but obviously beyond the me of seven years ago.

This got me thinking - just how much do we actually improve every month? Every year? Knitters are always practising, looking up new abbreviations, watching videos on You Tube; our progression in constant. I know that I am far more confident now than I used to be.

So my message this week is to make mistakes and be adventurous. You'll reap the rewards.

(And I'll post a picture of my hoodie once it's finished!)

Peaks and Troughs

I don't know about you, fellow knit-fans, but I sometimes go through phases of not wanting to knit. I know <judgemental silence>, I know. It doesn't happen often and never lasts long but, occasionally, I'll have a spell where I sew or draw or make jewellery of an evening instead of knit. Which is what I've been doing since my last post.

Thankfully, the Skirt of Doom appears to be working. So I have conquered that demon, if only temporarily. I know that I should press on with it before I forget all over again how to do it, but it has been resigned to the UFO pile in my craft cupboard (probably because I can't really knit it and do anything else at the same time - impossible with a tiny hurricane running around).

Now though, the trough seems to be passing and I have come out of it eager to knit CONSTANTLY! First of all, I knitted a couple of Anna Hrachovec's Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi  (Potter Craft, 2011) just to scratch the knit-itch as quickly as possible with maximum satisfaction. I remember her posting a picture of the tiny hot dog and falling in love with it, so I started with that. I also made the cupcake and then a bunny and lion (slightly altered by me, I must admit.)

I also made these cute guys for Easter.

I then moved on to making a hat for my beautiful friend's birthday, although more of that when it's not a surprise.

Knitting is doing me a favour at the moment, too. My little boy is having trouble getting to sleep alone so I have been sat knitting in his room as he drifts off. It's fast becoming my favourite time of the day and I'm getting so much done.

At this rate, I may even pick up the Skirt of Doom and crack on with that.

Rage Issues

My name is Suzanne and I have anger problems...

Knitters, we have all been there. You try to knit something, it doesn't work, so you frog it and start again. You then try to knit it again and it still doesn't work. Your temperature rises. You frog it again, this time a little more exuberantly. You go and make a cup of tea before trying again. It doesn't work for a third time. You cry.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that there is nothing in the world more frustrating than getting something wrong in knitting and having to pull it out. With each row that you pull out, you weigh up in your mind how much time you're also pulling out. Depressing and soul-destroying.

I am currently stuck in the middle of this vicious cycle. A year or so ago, when I was on maternity leave, I was revelling in knitting a myriad of patterns and garments while Noah napped. I decided to take on a tricky project; a skirt of English Mesh Lace by Suzi Anvin. I went and bought some 100% cotton yarn and set about creating the tube skirt in the round. A week later I think I had pulled it out countless times before finally succeeding, knitting 10 rounds and putting it away in my craft cupboard.

Fast forward to last week and I thought it might be a good idea to get the skirt out again. Always one to forward plan, I had written the lacework rows on strips of paper and had paper clipped the row I got up to at the top of the pile. Off I went, knitting three complete rounds, before I realised it wasn't working. And, because of the way it was knitted in the round and as lace, I really struggled to frog it back to where I picked it up. So (don't judge me!) I pulled THE WHOLE THING out in a fit of rage. Ashamed doesn't begin to cover it. I then had a little cry while my poor husband sat dumbfounded.

Being a diligent knitter, I then decided to knit a small swatch of the pattern to make sure I was doing it right. Nope, you've guessed it, that didn't work either. So I did what I should have done all along: I checked the abbreviations.

I was knitting SK2P as 'slip, knit 2, pass slipped stitch over' but I found out I should have been doing, 'slip, knit 2 TOGETHER, pass slipped stitch over.' I had assumed (lazily) that would be abbreviated as SK2-togP. Hmm.

So my advice for today? Even if you've been knitting for 24 years with few problems, don't think you are too accomplished for the abbreviations page. You're not.

Fame Infamy

I'm starting to worry that I'm gaining a bit of a reputation. First of all, I was head-hunted to start a knitting club by one of the Big Girls' teachers today. Despite having an already bulging schedule, I'm seriously tempted. It would be amazing to work with teenagers on more adventurous projects and design work. Then, as I was getting ready to leave work, a parent popped his head round the door to wave a scarf at me and say, "It's a home knit!" before wandering off.

Who am I kidding? I'm not worried at all. It's brilliant!

Anyway, I digress. I actually signed on today to tell you all about my new tea cosy...

Before Christmas, I suddenly became inundated with commissions for Christmas presents. One of them was for a tea cosy. A friend asked me to design and knit him a tea cosy that was like an Aran jumper. He sent me a few pictures of jumpers for inspiration, too, and asked for it in cream. I obliged, turning it around in two days before sending it off and not giving it another thought.

Except that's not entirely true. Now, whenever the teapot comes out, my mind wanders to the beautiful cable cosy. How I wish I had one of my own. The solution? To knit my own! Hurrah!

The cosy is knitted in two pieces and sewn together at the end, leaving ample room for handle and spout. I used 5.5mm (UK5/US9) needles and chunky wool, bought from my fantastic local wool shop in Stanhope. It is a fairly simple design using the basic cable C4B and alternate sections of knits and purls:

Now my tea can stay cosy and warm in this chilly weather!

It's a Sickness

Happy New Year, knitting friends! I hope this finds you well and happy and ready to embrace 2013.

I don't really do resolutions myself, but I do need to be better at updating my blog, so maybe a few things should change around here. Not least because I have been knitting like crazy for the past couple of months and haven't shared any of it with you.

My reason for posting today is to document my addiction. I can't stop buying knitting books. I know; it's a sickness. I just pop into those cheap, high-street book shops and come out with a bag full. I spent all of last week sorting out my bookshelf. Finally, it was tidy, and I felt marginally better about living in a cramped house. Then I went out and bought another book. Arg! I think my husband is about ready to strangle me.

Possibly the best thing about my addiction is that other people recognise and embrace it. I was bought an amazing book for Christmas by a dear friend called Knitted Dinosaurs (Barrett, 2011) and I am itching to get started on a few of them. My little boy has a dinosaur themed bedroom, as you'll know from previous posts, so I think a few more frieds dotted around the room will add to the ambience quite nicely.

I also picked up Animal Hats (Henderson, 2012) from my local discount bookseller's for a bargainous £3.99. I'm a bit miffed that a lot of the hats are crocheted (just can't do it) but some of the designs are just fantastic, particularly the shaggy lion.

I'll make sure I post photos of any successful projects!