Well, I’m probably not the only one finding 2021 not quite as hoped… I saw someone saying we should be referring to the current day as December 60th 2020. I can get behind that. Hopefully not so many more days of 2020 left so I actually have time to do anything other than work… One good extra finish of 2020 though was my silly Slouchy Sockhead Hat.
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What does a knitter like to do when not knitting? Buy yarn, pet yarn, ogle designs, and read books about knitting. Got a knitter you would like to let know you’re thinking of them without entering the minefield of fibre blends, gauges and tools that look like torture devices to the uninitiated? Maybe Ann Hood’s collection of short essays could be just the thing for you…
Maybe it’s the dour dark nights of winter drawing in already but I’ve been finding myself really craving working with fibre. It’s been a struggle not to cast something new one the needles, but I have had the wheel out and some delightful yak for a bit of sampling work I hope to share soon. Somewhat dangerously, I did end up going to the virtual Indie Untangled Trunk Show, which is probably what inspired the current bit of dyeing.
…This hat really is proving to be quite the disaster, isn’t it? To start today’s post, I’d really like to thank yarnmama10 for very kindly taking the time to point out on my last post that what I had claimed (and thought) was stockinette stitch on my hat was actually garter… Whoops. I am very, very grateful for someone pointing this out to me before I picked up one of those ‘lifelong mistakes’. In my excitement to knit on with the project and rushing to remind myself the pattern for stockinette I had forgotten to pause, breathe, and think about what I was trying to do. Whoops indeed. Here is a note to myself with a helpful guide on the differences between knitting flat and in the round.
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I’ve been very much enjoying the number of textile-themed narrative non-fiction books being published lately. From Kassia St Clair’s brilliant offerings, The Golden Thread and The Secret Lives of Colour, through to the exceptional Threads of Life and the still interesting but not entirely my cup of tea, Knitlandia.
Thank you so much to everyone who took the time on my last post about this knitting project to take the time to share advice, tips and a lot of encouragement. It was so much appreciated that I’ve gone from having a row of cast-on stitches to a whole 11 cm of material now!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links meaning if you make any purchases via these links, I receive a small commission that contributes to the running costs of the blog. However, any recommendations and opinions in this review are my own. For more information, please click here.
A book about knitting in the New York Times Bestseller list? Apparently not as outrageous as it sounds. Welcome to ‘Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World’, Clara Parkes’s collection of tales of knitting conventions and events across the world.
I am not the most confident knitter in the world. When I see fellow bloggers like bonnyknits and Quite A Yarn blazing through project after project, I do have to wonder what magic it is that blesses their needles. It’s probably far less glamorous and down to years of practice, experience and learning but I am always amazed with tales of grandmothers who can whip up a pair of socks in a day.
I’ve ventured far out of my way to visit craft shops before, some of which were rather off the beaten track, but I’m not sure any have proved quite as impossible to get to Zürcher Stadler. This isn’t so much because it is in the middle of nowhere, or because the sat-nav can’t find it, but because the road network leading to the place has a strategically placed no entry sign that seems to make it impossible to enter the estate where the shop is. I won’t say how we overcame that particular obstacle but plan your visit and route in advanced.
It’s very easy to feel that you’re in the middle of nowhere in Switzerland. Even Geneva, which is the second most populated city in Switzerland, has a population of less than two hundred thousand. The five biggest cities represent 40 % of the total population, making it relatively easy to ‘escape to the countryside’ where there are some excellent hidden gems of craft shops.
