A Visit To Old Maiden Aunt & Other Knitting Plans

Old Maiden Aunt yarns had an open studio day/housewarming yesterday, but as I could not make it, I travelled out to West Kilbride to help Lilith set things up. Her new studio space is marvellous: there is a real shop front where she can display her yarns and host workshops with a huge, airy workshop space in the back for the dyeing and drying of yarns. Now, Lilith and I go back years (our friendship is an ace story I must remember to blog at some point) and I am over the moon that she has managed to build her business to a point where she has been able to get such a wonderful space for Old Maiden Aunt and that she has such a huge amount of support from the knitting community. It makes me so damn happy. It could not have happened to a nicer person.

Gushing over ;)

Lilith and I spoke about my Karise shawl and I realised that my inner diary was out of sync. I thought Knit Nation was this forthcoming week when it is actually the following week. I was going to release the Karise pattern tomorrow, but instead I am going to take advantage of the extra week to work out the laceweight instructions. I was always going to include laceweight instructions but thought I would have to do that with a later update. Not so .. huzzah!

My head is buzzing with shawl design ideas and I've begun using Pinterest as a way of creating micro-mood boards (Polyvore might have been more obvious, but I don't like that community all that much). I was watching a documentary on the Ballets Russes the other night and started looking through my old source books on early 20th C design. I've also been swatching a tiny bit, but I need to finish writing Karise before I let myself begin something new.

At the same time I am also yearning for a big, big project. This year has been a year of small projects that I finish relatively quickly, but I want to sink my teeth into a really juicy project. One that I won't finish in two weeks. I just have to bide my time, because I know my big juicy knit will be a colourwork project from Rowan Nordic Tweed (out on August 1st). I'm torn between three projects from that book, actually: a cardigan with intarsia reindeers(!) knitted in Rowan Colourspun and Kid Classic (it has a sort of faded, vintagey sense of glamour to it), a lusekofte-inspired jumper in Rowan Tweed (very fitted, very lovely), and a cool shrug/bolero/sleeveless cardigan with selbu-motifs done in a sort-of positive/negative colour way which is also knitted in Rowan Tweed (very, very cool looking and knitting it might hurt my brain).

Perhaps I should start by ripping out two half-sleeves and reknit them before I contemplate doing anything. A month .. I should totally be able to finish that red cardigan of mine..

Background Details

It's been that kind of morning.

"So, which textile degree did you do?"

"No textile degree, I'm afraid. I have a degree in English with a specialisation in print culture from a Danish university."

"Okaaaay, why did you move there to do your degree?"

"I'm .. Danish?"

".."

I posted this exchange on a certain social networking site and some good friends tried to reframe things for me.

Can't you just invent an explanation? "Well, I was really going to study in Rwanda, but then the plane crashed and ..."

"and after fighting of the packs of lions and the rabid wildebeests, I thought I'd..."

"... I thought I'd knit myself a fishing net so I could get some food. And then my clothes had got all tattered, so I knit myself some new ones, and that inspired me to go into designing."

"That's why most of my garnments are green. Jungle-inspiration."

Yeah, it has been that kind of morning: quite odd but very funny.

Hang on. Most of my days are quite odd but very funny. Hmm.

Weather With You

Hello. Excuse me while I pretend I constantly hang about grey wooden panels wearing a red woollen dress and a gawjus mossy green scarf/shawl. Okay, so I actually do that quite a bit but I rarely wear matching lipstick and have my photo taken whilst faffing, so there is that.

In short, we had a photo shoot for the Karise shawl yesterday. For some reason the sun came out just as I took off my cape and the sunshine just made everything so much easier. I am never comfortable in front of a camera (stand straight, suck in tummy, smile, look natural) but the photo shoot wasn't too bad.

Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you..

Hopefully that means tomorrow will be sunny too. I am heading out to West Kilbride to see Old Maiden Aunt's Lilith and her new studio. Her housewarming is on Saturday but true to form I shall be working, so instead I am heading out to lend a hand prepping the place for the hordes. Some sunshine would be most welcome as my train will have a view of the Isle of Arran - and Arran is just prettier when it is sunny.

Oh, hell. Here you go. That song. I don't actually like it, you know, but it is the sound of summer..

Ouch

I'm home from A&E after a small mishap this morning which unfortunately led to a teeny-weeny bone fracture in my foot. It is nothing to be concerned about and the doctor just sent me home with a "plenty of ice, some painkillers and rest" message. She should have added "and plenty of knitting, missus" because that is clearly what I am going to do over the next few days.

Making Things

Crochet. I have been absolutely obsessed by crochet lately. Today I made this little bracelet out of scrap Rowan Denim. Pattern tomorrow. If you're a beginner crocheter, you will love how simple it is. Two things:

1) I love crocheting with cotton. In fact, I know nothing better than crocheting with a tightly-twisted mercerised cotton. Knitting with cotton tends to ruin my hands but crocheting is a different story all together.

2) I am an awfully tight crocheter. I have to go up at least one hook size (if not two) because my crocheting is uncomfortably tight and dense. In fact, you could probably use my crocheted fabric to cut bread unless I change hook size.

My very first garment ever was a self-designed crochet jumper made from my Mum's cotton scraps. It was yellow, orange, pink, lime green, and red. I made five granny squares and crocheted them together to form a strip right across my generous bust. (Hey, I was seventeen!) Then I crocheted stripes alongside the bottom edge making up the pattern as I went along. And a matching stripy square for the back. And another two stripy squares for the two sleeves. I whip-stitched everything together, of course, and wore the wonky cropped granny-squares-across-bust stripy jumper with pride.

Funnily enough the jumper got "lost" in the laundry one day.  Thanks Mum.

She never did manage to lose the trousers I made from my late uncle's kitchen curtain. These trousers would be have been on-trend this season had I not wore them until they fell apart (the fabric with its fish motifs might also have pegged me as being slightly weird). I am a bit tempted to sew a pair of wide-legged trousers, but I'll definitely give the crocheted granny-square/stripy jumper a miss.

Quoted For Truth

"The idea is to say that curvy is not a problem it's very sexy. I think, when I see women like Nigella with shoulders, boobs and hips, they are beautiful. Stunning. They are sexy. To put that on the runway is very healthy.

This is our moment, it means we have to push people to understand that a body with shape is better than tiny, skinny girls. Who dreams of being like a teenager? The model is not the only prototype for women. To have freedom to be as you are, to use your body as it is, it's very positive." - Franca Sozzani, editor of Italian Vogue.

My emphasis.