2013: My Year in Knitting

If 2012 was my year of 'throwing out the oughts', 2013 was my year of discovering what happens when I try to 'do what I love doing'. And the answer? A lot of things happen.

The Edinburgh Yarn Festival was an early highlight for me. I was teaching a class and also helped Ms Old Maiden Aunt on her stall. I met a lot of fantastic people; most importantly I met a lot of you lovely blog readers (hello!) but I was also happy to meet fellow industry people. Working in the knitting industry can feel almost isolated at times so events like EYF are fantastic for meeting "colleagues". And a huge thank you to L. for bringing me breakfast at 2pm!

I also went to Woolfest in Cumbria at the beginning of June and the PomPom Magazine PopUp Xmas Party in December. Again, meeting a lot of great people and marvelling at people's creativity and talents.

2013 was the year of working crazily hard.

+ I published Gatsby Hat, Gatsby Mitts, Eyre Shawl, Botanical Gardens Shawl, the Kilsyth scarf and Chinese Kites in Knit Now magazine.

+ the Doggerland collection was launched: Ronaes, Hoxne, Gillean Hat, Gillean Wristwarmers and Ythan were all released this year. Three more to come in 2014, phew.

+ I also found time to do a limited edition kit, the Tenement Tiles gloves, with Ms Old Maiden Aunt.

+ I also worked on several other designs that are yet to be published.

+ I also did a nice amount of teaching, copy editing, tech editing, and knitterly translations throughout the year as well as keeping up with my part-time job as a design consultant for a well-known UK yarn company.

(Note to self: this is why you needed a holiday in December!)

Selfish knitting? There was a tiny bit.

+ I discovered how much I love fair-isle by knitting the Orkney & Bute cardigans (both from Rowan 52). Neither are finished at this stage but I loved every single stitch.

+ I finished the Stevie cardigan by Sarah Hatton. I absolutely love it and it became my go-to cardigan immediately. I'd love to knit another one. I also knitted Sarah's Edith shawl in one of my favourite shades of Rowan Kidsilk Haze.

+ I am currently knitting the Castiel hat by Woolly Wormhead in some yarn I bought in Copenhagen. It's a nice, easy pattern that's great for when my head's tired and I need some comfort knitting.

2013 saw a lot of patterns that I loved on sight but haven't had time to knit.

+ Blanche Too by Susan Crawford made it to my queue the minute I saw it. It is a classic jumper with those tiny Susan-touches that just makes it stand out. It's next on my needles. + Cinnamon Girl Cardigan by Amy Christoffers. It's the shape of the garment that makes this cardigan such a stand-out for me. It is a contemporary take on the classic Aran cardigan - and how much do I love the reverse stocking stitch sleeves? + Rock Candy Pullover by Talitha Kuomi is the quitessential Karie jumper. It is a classic shape but has clever touches and details that make it special. + Happy Triangles by Kiyomi Burgin is one pattern I'll probably never make but it is so perfect for right here & now that it is ridiculous.

So. 2014? It will look quite a bit like 2013, I imagine.

I have things on my desk right now that I need to sign off by end of next week. I am back doing things with Glasgow University in early 2014. Doggerland will be wrapped up (and how I will miss it) and a new big project launched. More patterns will be released. I will be teaching classes - and I'll probably get all stressed out by mid-June!

However, Sarah has issued me with two challenges. Can I design a pair of socks? Can I design a garment? Of course I can.

2013 was insanely busy, so I do need to work on my work-life balance, but it has also been very rewarding on a personal level.

I think I have finally found my feet and I have a better understanding what I have to say as a designer. I have also met some really amazing people along the way and I certainly leave this year feeling stronger and happier as a result. It has been rough along the way but it has been worth it.

Thank you for 2013. Godt nytår - happy new year.

Seasonal Greetings

2013 was an odd year for me. It started out in spectacular fashion with the Edinburgh Yarn Fest and the year never slowed down for me. In years to come I think I'll look back upon 2013 with much more clarity than I am able to muster right now.

I took some time off recently. I went to London for work purposes and ended up at the Pom Pom Magazine's Pop-Up Xmas Party. It was an appropriate book-end to my year - sipping festive G&Ts with knitting friends and us trying to make sense of it all. I am not sure that we managed to do so but the cheese board was excellent. Onwards to Denmark where I visited family before spending five days in lovely Copenhagen (where I took the photo of the florists on Kultorvet). I spent time with close friends and relaxed for the first time in almost a year.

And now I am back in Glasgow and it is Christmas. 2013 is almost at an end. What an odd year. So brilliant in so many ways and so spectacularly different from everything I had imagined.

Seasonal greetings to you - no matter who you are, where you are, and how/if you choose to celebrate the next few days.

With Love from Glasgow

When you read this, I am currently on a much-needed break. The past year has been a whirlwind of activity and I was startled when I realised I hadn't had any time off since Christmas 2012 (when I had the flu so I am not sure it counts). I have spent some days on Aberdeen with family and now I am making my way towards London (where I'll be at the Pompom Magazine Christmas Party - hope to see you there?) and then Denmark. Hopefully I'll return with my batteries recharged and some major decisions made. I will be knitting whilst I am away - I am currently collaborating with Quail Books on an exciting project and I'm also working with Knit Now magazine on what promises to be their best issue yet - but I am not stressing about deadlines for once. But first I am really happy to unveil a collaboration with my original partner-in-crime, Ms Old Maiden Aunt. We had so much fun running our Sherlock-inspired project in 2012 that we wanted to do something similar this year. Instead of doing a three-month long club, we decided to do a one-off kit that combined our love of Scotland, local history, and Art Nouveau. We began working on this some eight months ago  so when Lilith received the small booklets last week, I whooped.

The Tenement Tiles pattern is inspired by the late 19th century tiles found throughout the Victorian apartment blocks ("tenements") in Glasgow. The pattern booklet includes a small essay about the tiles and Glasgow - the story of the tenement tiles is absolutely fascinating (it involves both cholera and false teeth!) and I have also included photographs of some of the tiles in my neighbourhood.

I see these late 19th century tiles every single time I leave my home - the entry way to my tenement is tiled with deep green titles depicting stylised lilies. Lilith and I began working on how to work the tiles into a design and the obvious solution was colourwork.

The Tenement Tiles gloves come in three sizes and the kit includes an exclusive Old Maiden Aunt colourway that won't be available anywhere else. We were really passionate about trying to capture a slightly weathered green-grey and Lilith came up with a colour that just blew me away. It is the exact shade I had in my head when I first started sketching all those months.

(An addendum: Glasgow's the first place I have really felt at home and it feels so very poignant to have worked on something so quintessentially Glaswegian at a time when Glasgow has been hit by tragedy.  It feels even stranger to be writing about my beloved home when I know this blog post will be posted when I am not here. Glasgow has a reputation of a hard, tough city but it is a city of beautiful architecture, amazing art and (most importantly) an incredible community spirit. )

Many thanks to the overwhelming response to my post about appreciating hand-knitting. I have much I want to say in response to your response but first I have some travelling to do. Also, in lieu of a big gift guide for the knitters in your life, I have compiled a small Pinterest board of some good gift ideas.

On Devaluating Hand-Knitting

It's been a couple of weeks and I've taken some time off. I have more time off soon which means I'll be away from my office for the first time since .. Christmas last year. Ahem.

I have collaborated with the very lovely Old Maiden Aunt on something which will be released whilst I am away from my office. We began plotting this almost eight months ago. It is crazy how quickly time flies. The photo shoot happened earlier this week - you can see the beautiful Glasgow tenement buildings to the left. Ah, don't let the winter sunshine fool you. It was bitterly cold.

But let us talk a bit about knitting. It's a bit of a ramble from here on in.

Earlier this week, I met a talented girl who had designed and knitted a 4-ply jumper for a client. The client had asked the girl to supply the yarn as well as design/knit it. I asked how much the girl had charged?

An entire 4-ply (fingering-weight) jumper from design conception to finished item and including the yarn. £35. Let me repeat that: thirty-five pounds.

When I asked her why she'd charged that little, she shrugged and replied: "Because the client didn't want to pay anything more and even baulked at £35". I got very, very angry at this stage. I didn't get angry at the girl because she was obviously just trying to make a little money. No, I got angry at a marketplace which so devalues hand-knitting to the point where a customer baulks at paying more than £35 for a custom piece (including materials!) and manages to get away with it. Make that a marketplace in which the customer manages to get away with it again and again because I have heard the same story many times.

That is not okay.

Why is it that hand-knitting is so devalued? Skilled artisan-makers like the girl I met are paid pennies when they should be earning pounds. Is it because hand-knitting is predominantly female-centric? Is it because history has taught the marketplace that hand-knitting is something poor people do to make ends meet and poor people can be exploited? Is it because hand-knitting is perceived as being 'a hobby' that people do between their 'real' jobs? I looked at hand-knitters and I am amazed at their skills, patience and talent. Maybe I am wrong - certainly the marketplace tells me so.

I have never knitted for money -  but I do get asked an awful lot if I am willing to take on commissions. Usually the punter wants me to whip up an aran cardigan because a machine-knitted acrylic version is deemed too expensive. When did we move from "mass produced" = inferior to "mass produced" = superior? To my mind, a one-off piece created by a skilled artisan using excellent materials should always be considered more valuable. How do we change this perception?

I am not an artisan maker and while I hesitate to label what I do, I'm probably more of an artisan makar. "Makar" is an old Scottish word for "poet" or "bard" - and I think of my knitting designs as a way of telling stories with stitches. I care about how hand-knitting is perceived and treated. I know exactly how much time and skill go into designing and writing a pattern - what does that say about my time and skill that Ravelry currently holds 122,147 free patterns? How could I possibly add value to a pattern (and price it at £3) when 122,147 patterns are free?

It's a weird job I have chosen and it is a strange industry too. All I can do is hope that you'll like my collaboration with Lilith (note: it involves an essay about cholera, false teeth and William Morris). I'll be back with a gift-buying guide for the knitters in your life. Treat them well: they are super-skilled and deserve a treat.

Then I Became Myself

When my friend Lilith wrote her blog post about taking a much-needed break, I knew how hard it had been to write that blog post. I have known Lilith for many years - she is a goofy and smart person with so much talent and a big heart - and I know there are parts of her life she doesn't mention much. I am so proud of her for writing with candour and honesty. It is surprisingly hard to follow in her footsteps and write about my own life with equal candour and honesty. I don't like writing about my personal life and I often feel that writing about my working life also transgresses some boundaries. As a result, blogging can be really hard. Some time ago I asked: what would happen if you had to be yourself? I think I am about to find out now.

Many bloggers like to present their lives in a great light. I get fed up with so-called lifestyle bloggers really quickly because life is messy and dirty. I am surprised to find that I had fallen into the same trap. My life is messy and dirty at the moment. October was spectacularly awful (and September hadn't been great either). I was pulled in all directions at once (family, friends and work) and I finally unravelled last week. I am used to working a lot, but I am also used to being able to juggle various commitments and managing my time myself.

Some six years ago I was diagnosed with a chronic illness. At the time it felt like the end of the world, but I clawed my way back and carved myself a new space. I run my own business now because it allows me some flexibility in how I work. When that flexibility is removed from me, life becomes just that bit harder for me. October swallowed me up completely - one tiny aspect of my working life blew up and flat-lined me. Feeling helpless is not one of my favourite emotions, I can tell you that, and I am not just physically exhausted but also emotionally. It's not pleasant.

I have had a couple of lovely queries:

"I am knitting this shawl pattern, but I'd love if you designed matching mitts!" I'd love nothing better than design, design, design. But I also teach, tech-edit, copy-edit, translate, and do consultancy work in the yarn business. I'm trying to fit in as much designing as I can but it can be difficult to find time. I plan my design work carefully ahead of time - the last two months (especially October) have seen all my plans fly out the window. If you are waiting for me to design a pair of mitts to match a shawl, you may have to wait .. no, it is not going to happen. Sorry. Design-wise, I'm now looking at 2015 options and I have specific ideas already.

"Won't you come teach in my hometown? I love teaching and I love travelling. I am fully booked until mid-April now and I do have to plan carefully for reasons I hope are apparent.

Now the query that's closest to my heart.

"When's the next Doggerland pattern? It's been ages!" Doggerland is all me - and that is both good and bad. It's good because it is so authentically me and what I do. It's bad because I am doing every single aspect of it myself - and that means if I am pulled in another direction, Doggerland just waits. And waits.

My original time line was this: the Vedbaek shawl was due out end of September, the next pattern out mid-October, and the last(!) pattern should have been out today. Vedbaek is still unreleased and I am so incredibly stressed out about it. It is sitting at roughly 85% - I still need to chart some things, do a photo shoot, and write an essay. The other two patterns are fully designed as well but need some love and attention. I would love nothing better than share them with you. Hang in there with me.

Right now? Life is messy and dirty. My partner & some close friends forced me to book proper time off (not just one day or a working holiday) at the end of this month. I am trying to make some changes to aspects of my work/life balance.

This is me: I am tired, sad, and a bit scared. I hope that isn't entirely off-putting. It's still all wrapped up in wool.

Painting with Stitches - Ann Kingstone's Stranded Knits

I don't often accept invitations to review books but when Ann asked me at Woolfest, I just couldn't say no. Ann Kingstone is a Yorkshire-based designer who has quietly turned into one of the UK's best-loved indie designers. I adored her Born & Bred book which looked at Yorkshire's place in the UK wool industry - the Wetwang jumper is a particular favourite of mine - so I knew I would want to take a look at Ann's new book.

Stranded Knits is all about colourwork. It is also all about demystifying colourwork: the book has an in-depth techniques section at the front with clear technical drawings. I particularly appreciate that Ann has included technical explanations for both Continental and English-style knitters. The techniques section won't substitute a really good colourwork workshop but it is a great tool for anyone sitting at home trying to figure out how to get their tension even and how to carry yarns. It also details how to steek and goes into colour theory - and it does so in Ann's customary friendly manner.

But let's look at some of the patterns.

William has caught a lot of people's attention. With motifs inspired by William Morris, the jumper is knitted top-down with very clear charts showing you how to 'trap' yarns across large swathes. It is one of the most immediate designs in the book and I've seen two William jumpers in the wild myself. The jumper is knitted in Rowan Tweed which is a lovely rustic, yet soft yarn.

Field Study is one of my favourites - it is knitted using just two colours of Rowan Felted Tweed (which means you have a big numbers of colour combinations to choose from!). It is absolutely stunning with its shift in contrast - you start out by using Duck Egg (the pale teal) as the background colour and Rage (the red) as the motif colour, but you swap halfway up the body. Visually this means you decide what you want to highlight - pear-shaped ladies can choose emphasise their shoulders; curvy ladies can choose to emphasise their waist etc. Choice of colour combination will determine a lot (I am still leaning towards a red/green combo but I'm predictable that way). It is a very clever design.

The construction is also terribly, terribly clever.

Carol Feller hosted a great discussion with Ann on how the shoulder shaping occurs. An absolute master-class in designing. The gist is this: you start by working the body bottom-up, then you knit the two sleeves bottom-up, and then knit a saddle-shoulder/continguous/short-row sleeve hybrid. It sounds complicated but like everything else in Stranded Knits, it is explained very well.

Finally, you can just hone your colourwork skills by making small things.

The book includes a lovely hat/gloves set (more on this in a second), an adorable slip-over for toddlers as well as a mug warmer and a tablet cover. Whenever I run colourwork workshops, I always tell my students to start out small - get used to stranding! It also means you can play around with colour a lot more. If you are planning on knitting the Hedgerow cardigan, why not start out by tackling the adore Mary Rose mug warmer?

As previously mentioned, all the patterns in this book use Rowan yarns.

I am a real champion of Rowan (disclosure: I have worked with them on many occasions) and it is so nice to see them endorse a strong UK indie designer like Ann. Rowan often gets a bad rep for not embracing Ravelry-style patterns - I think anyone saying that has not been taking a look at what Sarah Hatton has been doing , incidentally, nor paid attention to Rowan working with Kate Davies and Josh Bennett! - and here they are collaborating with Ann on a book that really pushes the boundaries from both a construction point-of-view and a pattern-writing point-of-view. It is a real joy to behold.

Oh yes, I did mention that hat/mittens set, didn't I? I just couldn't resist casting on the Pleiades mitts despite being snowed under with other work.

I am using Rowan Felted Tweed in Camel and Rage. I am actually really enjoying knitting this. The thumb shaping is terribly clever and the way the motifs line up are very, very clever too. I only have time to work on this project occasionally, but it is working up remarkably well. The chart is easy to work from and everything is laid out clearly. Such a pleasurable quick knit - the knitterly equivalent of nibbling a deliciously biscuit between meals.

And yes, that is Yorkshire brew in the cup.

Thank you, Ann, for giving me a copy of your book. You are a treasure and so is your Stranded Knits book.