Things I have learned this week:
I have knitted a lot more since the start of the year than I thought I had, especially when you see it all together. The green cardigan had already been a work in progress, but both sleeves have been knitted since the New Year. Everything else has been cast on since then. The geek in me wants to calculate how many stitches it all adds up to, but the realist in me points out that it’s much more sensible to say, “Look, you know it’s likely to be in the hundreds of thousands, if not the millions, so rather than working it out, use that time to do something more useful!” So, I will. I’m going to be casting off the body of the Serenity Sweater by Joji Locatelli today and will be continuing to work on my Little Orme Cowl. The cowl is so far that small circle on the needles towards the top left of the picture – there’s quite a lot to do. Down the left hand side (as I’m sure you’re dying to know!) are some swatches for my next Craftucation course – An Introduction to Lace Knitting. Look for that in a month or so.
I quite enjoy an Instagram yarn festival/marketplace! I wasn’t sure I would like it as a set-up. Each vendor has half an hour on Instagram live to talk about their products and the processes and inspiration behind them. There’s no actual buying happening via the livestream, but I had the IG live up in one window and the website of the vendor talking in another next to it. It was a bit like being at a yarn show where you can talk to the dyers and suppliers of yarn and fibre and ask them questions, without the stress of being on camera or not knowing when it might be your turn to talk. Have a question? Great, type it in the chat. A number of skeins of yarn and a couple of plaits of fibre fell into shopping baskets. Well, it would have been rude not to! (and one of them has just arrived!! – Nene 4ply in Starry Night from Riverknits – and it’s gorgeous!! And the hand-written thank you note, written, I think, by one of the children, is a lovely touch.)
The marketplace mentioned above was the Sunday part of the virtual Knit-Tea Retreat, Nordic Edition, that took place over the weekend. I have learnt SO much about differences in knitting traditions from different countries (thanks to Karie Westermann) and in particular Swedish knitting (thanks to Estelle from Midwinter Yarns) as well as a fascinating talk on colour theory from Becci from Riverknits. I can now even identify the different Nordic countries on a map (yes, that sounds a bit pathetic that I couldn’t before, but geography was never a subject I excelled at).
Hønsestrikk is something I want to learn more about. Stranded knitting with political/ funny/ personalised motifs in bold clashing colours and with a feminist twist is something I could really get behind!
Sourdough starter is a tricky beast. My dough this morning looked like a bowl of over-excited lava after an over-night proof. I’m hoping it comes out better than the weekend ‘loaf’ which looked more like an alien space-ship and was all ‘gummy’ inside. I have also learnt to follow the damn recipe when it’s something new, even if it seems like your dough will never pick up all the flour initially. Don’t go adding more water – or you will end up with a sticky loaf that looks like a flying saucer…
Rice flour gets everywhere and it’s really gritty under your feet.
I still get really excited and do a happy dance when someone buys a pattern and even more-so when they buy a kit or a course. You know, just in case you felt like making me want to dance 😉.
What have you learnt this week?
Stay safe, warm and keep knitting. K x