Someone on Threads asked recently why knitwear designers post pics of unravelled knitting and rewound balls of wool. I replied that when working on a commission knit we’re not usually allowed to show the knitting itself in progress before the item is published and so showing the yarn – even when ripped out – is often the only way we can post about our current project. Also, if it has been unravelled and is about to be reworked, that shows there is design progress happening, even if not actual knitting progress!
Last week I told you I was nearly halfway through the section that used the second colour of yarn in my current commission design. I finished it midweek but knew straight away I wasn’t happy with it. The first part with the first colour had been initially designed with 5 repeats, but I’d omitted the final one, thinking the item would be big enough without it and worrying I wouldn’t have enough of the first colour of yarn. I was wrong! It wasn’t big enough without it and when I ripped the second colour out to add in that final repeat of the first colour, that I should have knitted in the first place, I did indeed have enough yarn. Silly me. I am now three quarters of the way through the second colour for the second time and fully expect to actually finish it this evening. I am enjoying using this yarn and it is working up really well – even on the second knit! And this time, it will stay finished!
Lesson learned to trust my initial designs? Maybe. Although sometimes you do need to make changes to something partway through to make it work or to make it as good as it can be. And change is ok. It’s not the end of the world if you need to pull some knitting back and redo it – as long as there is time in the schedule to allow for this! There are many other things in life where change is much harder to deal with.
Last Tuesday’s Zoom workshop, Next Steps in Two-Colour Brioche Knitting, went really well. The two knitters who were there had both attended the Introduction workshop two weeks before that, and they made brilliant progress with their brioche increases and decreases as well as deepening their understanding of how the fabric is constructed. We even managed a little step-by-step reversing and fixing of a mistake by Zoom which I think is pretty good! In an in-person workshop that side of things is easier as I can hold the knitting in question and work out exactly what has happened and help the knitter fix it. This time it was achieved just from having it held up to the computer camera and me giving verbal instructions, which were ably followed. I will be scheduling more Zoom workshops over the coming months as I think it’s a great way to attend a class without having to travel.
However, I will also be teaching both these brioche workshops at Wool-in Garden City on Saturday November 23rd! These will take place in the pop-up shop in the Howard Centre in Welwyn Garden City (near the entrance and just by the escalators up to the station). The Introduction to Two-Colour Brioche Knitting is 10am-12noon and Next Steps in Two-Colour Brioche Knitting is 1pm-3pm. You could even book on both! The following day I will have a stand at the Wool-in Garden City Wool Show at Oaklands College, also in Welwyn Garden City. (I will be sending the hat and mitts I made for Simon that he commissioned in January to the organiser to be in the pop-up shop during the week as well, in the hope that he might show up to claim them).
On Saturday I was at Ewe Felty Thing’s Designer Day in Conwy. I hadn’t been over to the shop since before it opened in its new venue and I have to say I am very impressed with what Nikki and her team have achieved. The shop used to be a bank and there are things such as the vault door and the two safes in the vault that have been made into great colourful features. The vault door is a bright blue, the room inside is equipped with comfy chairs and space to knit/crochet and relax. The two safes in the room have had their doors removed, one is now bright yellow, the other Barbie pink, they have shelves inside and are stocked with books and patterns! A fabulous idea. One other remaining vestige of the shop’s previous life as a bank was in the ladies’. A notice glued to the door was titled something along the lines of “What to do in the event of an armed robbery or bomb threat”! It took me a moment to realise it was from the shop’s time as a bank and not likely to occur in a yarn shop.
The rest of the shop is spread across two other large rooms with a huge range of yarns (commercial and hand-dyed), wheels, looms and other craft items for sale. We were in a newly renovated room that I think used to be the manager’s office. One of the designers (Tanya from The Woolly Tangle) wasn’t able to be with us, but the four of us filled the room admirably and it was like a micro-mini festival. This little video gives a sense of it:
During quieter periods we chatted with each other and made progress with our current projects, and when it got busy we chatted to the customers and made suggestions of patterns and yarn combinations! Sue was with me and made good use of being in Conwy by having a walk in ‘someone else’s town’ and discovering the ice-cream shop sold vegan sorbet. I was delighted to be surprised with an intense raspberry sorbet mid-afternoon. All in all we had a great day.
Did I show you the wonderful yarn I was given for my birthday recently by my lovely wife?
I haven’t yet decided what it will become, but hopefully I will be able to turn my attention to it soon. Maybe I’ll have some ideas to share with you next week!?
Until then, take care, and do something that makes you happy this week. K x