Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises. --Elizabeth Zimmermann
I ended the opening section of last week's post, "We'll see what happens in 2021." It wasn't meant as a dare!
I'm at a loss when it comes to how to communicate as a retail business owner during times of crisis. (So...I have been for months now.)
I do think that there is a way to engage with craft that helps us in crisis. It can take the form of finding connection with others--whether that is those we stitch with (virtually for now) or those we stitch for. We can also use the meditative and creative modes of stitching to ground us, and help us to search for ways we can make a positive difference and express our humanity.
Rather than being a way to escape from our world, perhaps knitting and crochet can be part of the way we stay present in it, particularly when times are hard.
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…to learn (and do)
CURRENT CLASSES & EVENTS
Social Stitching via Zoom
Thursday, January 14, 4:00-6:00pm Social Stitching is back from winter break! What have you been working on?
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/981942707?pwd=TExyQlRPWnB3OW40QkFZRCs5aVRtQT09 OR open Zoom and enter 981-942-707 for the meeting ID
PASSWORD IS 330044.
Reminder: we've consolidated to just one Zoom event for now, but if you'd like to share project photos, chat, or share KAL progress, we'd love for you to create an account at yarnfolk.com and participate in the community we're building there. No intent to be yet another social network, but it's an option for sharing that doesn't depend on any outside platform. You can find it here.
...to anticipate
My current sweater (see below) is moving at a brisk enough pace that I can start to dream of the next one. Andrea Mowry's STRIPES! is a pattern that has caught my eye every time I've seen it since it was released last November. And last Saturday, all of a sudden, there was a pile of Woolstok on my table. One of the delicious aspects of this pattern is that you can knit it with as many or as few colors as you see fit--the yarn requirements are expressed as a total number of grams or yards. You could knit a different color for each stripe, just two, or a repeating sequence. The sweater is designed with both cropped and standard lengths, and is knit from the top down, so there is also flexibility regarding when one stops knitting. The collar has a couple of options, and can be knit double, which is a treatment I haven't used in awhile. Want to play along and want to see some color combos together? Email me what you'd like to see, and I will snap a pic for you!
(The size range of the sweater is 34.25-72.75", and the cropped length calls for 767-1965 yards, and the full length calls for 1016-2434 yards. Woolstock is 123 yards per skein.)
…to inspire
© Rebecca Harkins
When people ask me about custom knitting projects, my standard response is that I do most of my stitching for work, and outside of that, you have to make me love you. It's a pretty good system--most people don't have a clear idea of how much time goes into a handmade item.
I happened upon this Facebook post, which details the journey of some Romney fleece from sheep to wool coat, with a breakdown of the labor and materials costs along the way. Rebecca Harkins is the proprietor of Mae Be Farm in Kennewick, and it's truly impressive how many fiber skills she deployed in one project!
...to stitch
Deliciosa
Deliciosa has been completely absorbing, and somehow I managed to do the shoulder and neck shaping on the back while watching the Seahawks playoff game against the Rams. My results were better than the outcome of the game....
