Southwards Bound - Part 1

Mid-1990s I lived in London. The timing was impeccable; it was the year that Blur released Parklife, Pulp finally broke through with His'n'Hers, Manic Street Preachers released the seminal The Holy Bible, and Suede completed Dog Man Star (one of my all-time favourite albums to this day). I was on the periphery of all these things, but a brief moment in time I lived where a major cultural shift was gathering strength before sweeping away everything in its wake. It is so odd to return to London now because the London of those halcyon days no longer exists. I have been back many times since the 1990s and, every time I visit London now, it feels like the city is slipping further and further away. London still exists but its heart is now on the outskirts of the city.

Shades of grey in the Bloomsbury area

Pomp & circumstance in Hyde Park. I was walking back from an appointment at the embassy.

Assyrian stone relief; British Museum. These depictions of sheep are important to Indo-European linguists, by the way.

Early highlight: Soviet revolutionary ceramics at British Museum.

After spending less than two days in London chasing my own tail, meeting with embassy staff, and doing research in the British Museum, I left for Cambridgeshire where my good friend Joanne Scrace lives. Staying with her proved to be the perfect antidote to all the razzmatazz of the capital (sorry, had to get another Pulp reference in there).

It spooked me slightly how much this looks like where I grew up.

After staying with Joanne & her gorgeous family, my batteries were recharged and I went to teach Nordic Knitting at Cambridge's beautiful The Sheep Shop.

Beautiful display - The Sheep Shop was full of gorgeous samples.

Sarah of The Sheep Shop - full of warmth and personality.

I had a fabulous time teaching the class - the students were smart and asked on-the-nose questions. I am only sorry that I could not stay longer and get to know everyone better. Hopefully this won't be my last time teaching in Cambridge!

I'll leave my return to London and my second class for another blog post. I have much to share - including some details about an exciting KAL and a brand new design.

There & Back Again - Or, It Is Good To Be Home

If you are a knitter, you have friends no matter where you go. Last week I went to London & Cambridgeshire and I was so pleased to meet many new friends. I'm going to do a proper blog post about the workshops I taught, the yarn shops I visited, and the things that happened inbetween - but I am yet to unpack my suitcase and do my laundry.

I will be dealing with my inbox tomorrow - today is all about catching up with other things (and enjoying that coffee is 'on tap' once more - oh caffeine, how I have missed you).

It's good to be home.

If You Are Going to the Woods Today..

A short and sweet post from me. I have a proper knitting post lined up for tomorrow, but this one is an important one.

It is tick season in the Northern hemisphere. My eye was caught by this BBC article about the European Space Agency backing work on mapping Scottish tick hotspots. The article is pretty good but also carries a really unfortunate image of a bullseye rash.

Here's the low down.

Ticks are tiny arthropods who like to suck blood from humans and animals. They range in sizes - the young ones are tiny and the size of a pin head. Grown-up ticks have a characteristic light brown body. Most ticks are harmless and won't harm you or your animals. Unfortunately a small number carry a bacteria called Borrelia burgdoferi - this bacteria transmits Lyme Disease or Lyme borreliosis. And you really don't want to contract that.

How to Protect Yourself & Loved Ones from Tick Bites

• Don't walk through long grass or brush against foliage.
• Wear long trousers and long-sleeved shirts if you are outside. Tuck your trousers into your socks.
• Wear light-coloured clothes so any ticks crawling on you can easily be detected (remember some of them are tiny)
• Wear gloves when brushing yourself and your loved ones down before going inside
• Check for small black dots and full-grown brown bodies in dark, damp and moist places- i.e. behind your ears, in your hairline, armpits and bikini line.
• If you find a tick, you can try to remove it.

Remember that a tick bite does not mean you will automatically become ill! Don't panic but act responsibly.

So You May or May Not Have Been Bitten By a Tick

• If you develop flu-like symptoms over the next six months, go see a doctor.
• Symptoms of a Lyme borreliosis infection include rashes, headaches, facial paralysis, ear pain, fever, disorientation, joint pains etc.
• People go on about bullseye rashes being a key symptom - not everybody develops this rash!
• Lyme borreliosis is treatable with antibiotics and early intervention is key.
• Read more here. Google responsibly (there is a lot of awful information and hand-waving out there).

I was bitten in the summer of 1996 and know first-hand what a tick bite can do to you. I only sought medical help after several months of unexplained ailments - don't be as stupid and naive as me. Go out, enjoy nature and be smart about protecting yourself & loved ones.

Much love.

A Yorkshire Retreat

I don't think many hen nights turn into a knitting retreat, but it's the logical solution when every participant is a knitter. One of my best friends is getting married later this year and we all met up in Yorkshire for a weekend of knitting and relaxation. I had been to Yorkshire before for work, but I had never had a chance to spend time in a stunning landscape filled with textile heritage.

We took the train from Carlisle to Settle - to our great surprise (and delight) the train journey turned out to be spectacular. It runs past the Pennines and through the Yorkshire Dales.

Every station was a Victorian delight with ornate architecture and beautiful details. I can only recommend taking the train journey - it is absolutely stunning and I feel fortunate to have experienced it.

And there are sheep everywhere. I was particularly interested in seeing the varieties of sheep in the fields we passed. The Swaledale sheep is the official 'face' of the Yorkshire dales and I spotted a few on my train journey. I am not Deb Robson, so I could not identify all the little dots scampering around the fells but it was still great seeing so many varieties.

We had rented a house a few miles outside Settle. It was pretty much my dream house: Georgian proportions, a country kitchen (though I found cooking on an AGA fairly intimidating), a small conservatory with built-in book shelves and open fires in each of the living rooms. Did I mention the views?

This was the view from my bedroom (where I sat in the window seat as I took this picture). It looked like merino sheep in the cow-parsley/buttercup field. They fled as soon as I tried getting closer for a better view. Roses in the front garden and a beautiful back garden with views across the dale.

It was a bit too cold for me to sit outside and knit, but I was tempted! Once inside, the house offered many temptations..

.. but I stuck to my knitting mostly. I currently have three projects on the go - one that requires a lot of maths, one that requires a lot of concentration and, er, one that's 1 ply lace. I mainly worked on the latter as it seemed more straightforward given the high level of hilarity.

I did not move from my comfy chair most of the weekend, though I discovered just how bad I am at playing pool. The adjacent house had a ruby spaniel that loved cuddles, so time was spent doing that too. And copious amounts of tea, tea and tea. Cake was had from the interestingly-named local pub/bakery.

It was a lovely weekend. We took the train back to Carlisle yesterday.

And then a rail-replacement bus back to Glasgow (when I fell asleep - all that fresh country air!). I'm having the day off today as I'm oddly exhausted after my relaxing weekend away. While it was fun waltzing around a 19th country house for a few days, it's rather lovely to be home in my humble abode again. I'm down to London next week - when I pass Carlisle on my way down, I'll think fondly of this trip.

How To Pitch It Perfectly - Going From Big Asks To Favours

Sometimes I let my love of colour get the better of me. I have dug out my green coat (the one I only wear occasionally lest I wear it out) and I'm cheerfully pairing it with an orange knitting project. Colours feed my soul.

But I cannot live on colour and sunshine alone.

The First Lesson: The Difference Between Favours & Big Asks - And Why You Need To Know It

Recently I've received emails from very different people with an identical message: hey, I'm just going to ask you for a favour.. Favours are good and I like being able to help where I possibly can. I like introducing like-minded people to each other. I like being able to vouch for someone being fabulous. I like skimming a friend's magazine proposal before it's submitted. If I can help, I am happy to do so. But, do me a favour has taken a very strange turn. This past week I was asked if I could turn over the copyright of my most popular pattern to a publishing company I had to google (in return I'd  get .. a link to this blog!?). Could I share my email list of clients with someone wanting to work as a technical editor? Today I was asked to donate a substantial monetary-value amount of goods to an event to which I had not been invited (I actually queried this favour and I'll share the astounding reply in a second). I don't consider these requests favours - I consider these Big Asks.

Favours are reciprocal - Big Asks are not.

If you are sending an email, ask yourself if you are requesting a favour or a Big Ask. Do you have a prior relationship with the person you are contacting? Do you have mutual friends who can vouch for you? Is what you are requesting something of huge benefit to you but not to the other person?

Favours come with an expectation that at some point the asker will be in the position of helping you out with something. It is a mutual beneficiary situation: if I help a friend by proof-reading his article, he might lend me a place to sleep next time I pass through his town. If I introduce a friend to another friend - maybe one day one of them will introduce me to someone interesting. Sure I end up feeling great about helping out people, but I also know that I'll have an IOU in future reserve if I ever need it.

Big Asks come with nothing. I don't know the person asking. The request has come out of nowhere and typically the Big Ask would result in me handing over significant sources of income to complete strangers. In return? Frequently I am promised exposure in the vaguest terms possible - but we all know that is not a valid currency. Once I've helped out with the Big Ask, chances are that I'll either never heard from the asker again or I'll keep getting Big Asks until I have nothing left to give.

So, you have something you want to obtain - this can be anything from advice on how to pitch a submission to getting more clients or staging a successful event. How can you turn your Big Ask into a favour? The answer is surprisingly simple: ask in a way that will benefit you both. Examples:

• "I'd like all rights to your most popular pattern/photo/song!" = "Do you have a pattern/photo/song tucked away that you'd like to publish through us?"
• "I need a list of your clients/I need an introduction to XYZ" = "Hey, I am really interested in South American farming communities. Can you point me in the right direction? Awesome article on crop rotation, by the way. Do you know Crop Rotation Expert Phil? I'd love to introduce you guys"
• "I am hosting AN AWESOME EVENT OUT OF THE BLUE and I need 150 goodie bags!" = "Hi, I am currently planning an event focused on crop rotation practice. I was wondering how your schedule looks for next March and if you would be interested in hosting a panel on Peruvian popcorn plantations?"

See how rephrasing works? It's pretty cool, no? You are still asking for something, but you are starting a conversation that might lead somewhere really good.

The Second Lesson: Don't Sabotage Yourself and Your Project Before You Start

Remember I queried why I was being asked to donate to an event and not asked to work the event? I received this answer which floored me: Because you are too famous and therefore too expensive for us.

My pub landlord used to be in a Glasgow indie pop band - if I were arranging a local music festival, why shouldn't I ask him if he'd like to DJ or play a couple of tracks? At worst he'd be busy or outwith my budget - but if I didn't ask I would never know. Is he famous? I honestly hadn't heard of his band until I moved to Glasgow, but now I realise the band meant a lot to other local bands in the late 1990s. Fame is an exceptionally relative term - someone's famous musician is another person's pub landlord. And he still needs to pay bills.

Do not assume that something or someone is out of reach. That is not your decision to make.

Take all your knowledge about favours and Big Asks, and make a list. Who would be awesome to have on your team? Who could help turn your kick-ass idea into a kick-ass reality? Who would be a big draw for your event? Think big and reach out in the way we talked about earlier. You may get a couple of cold shoulders ("Okay, maybe asking Taylor Swift to headline Aberdour Festival was a bit ambitious..") but you will get responses from many awesome corners too. Remember, it is not up to you to decide if somebody wants to be on Team Awesome - but you'll never know if you don't approach them in a friendly way.

My Personal Lesson: It Is Not About Me. It Is About You.

It's been a really crap week so far with a lot of soul-destroying Something For Nothing emails in my inbox. Hey, am I too approachable? I have been turning down many Big Asks this week. Hey, am I not approachable enough? For every fifteen Big Asks, I get just one favour through and those fabulous emails are usually prefaced with a "hey, I know you are busy but I thought I'd drop you a line.."

And then it dawned on me, that all this has nothing to do with me. It's about people either not realising I exist (fame is an exceptionally relative term!), people thinking I'm too busy for them (they've made their decision without consulting me), or people thinking I cannot bring anything to the game (okay, okay, this one is about me and my poor knowledge of Peruvian popcorn farms). I can fret about looking unapproachable in my green coat and kitschy sunglasses - but that is who I am and my outfit has nothing to do with approachability. I have a contact form, people can get in touch on social media, and plenty of people come up to say hi when I am working at festivals or shops.

So, I'm going to continue be kick-ass at my job. I'll keep wearing my yellow shoes & my capes. I have some fantastic things in store over the next .. gulp .. eight months. And I hope to find far fewer Big Asks in my inbox and far more favours. Deal? Deal.

Flawed Shawls - Responses to Knitting as Lifestyle

Thank you so much for all the insightful and thoughtful comments to my piece on why I worry we are slowly killing off the craft revival. I am going to highlight a couple of responses and then, perhaps paradoxically, I am going to respond to my own post. Austen wrote about her own personal and professional experiences in Craft/Life and also linked to this fascinating blog post about similar(?) issues in food blogging (skip halfway down for the good bits). Heather took her cues from one of the many Twitter discussions and examined the representation of the Self in everyday knitting. Finally, Ellen wrote quite a meaty response in which she pondered knitting as a subculture.

I have been mulling over my own response.

I am not sure where knitting is heading as a community but I worry we are starting to talk way too much about ‘personal brands’ and ‘lifestyle’ instead of talking about the actual things we make. I love the act of making something - seeing something come into existence because my brain and hands made that thing happen - and I love seeing what other people make. Making is an act of story-telling and it is a story so much more powerful than any photo of me holding a branded 'limited-edition' purse with needles sticking out. No, the branded purse photo does not exist but it's the sort of thing I worry we will see emerging on social media a year from now.

(You don't see this happening? That's okay. I don't think I would have felt the urge to write all this if we were already in this place. Like most future predictions, this is all about the paths we choose to take right here, right now.)

So, let's talk more about making things. Make things you love, not because you think you should. Choose to make things because they will bring enjoyment to you in your life. Share the things you enjoy making and do so with pride. Making stuff is not a race and not a competition - everybody's life is different and that is fine. Make only that which is beautiful and useful to you at the pace you find most compatible with the rest of your life. And if making something sucks, it's okay to stop making it even if everybody else thinks it's awesome.

(And if you do not agree with me in any of this, that is sort of the point too.)

Yes, part of it also comes down to my personal struggle to think kind thoughts of myself. I have a strong streak of perfectionism in me and I never feel like anything I do has any merit (until six months later when I look back and am surprised by how nice something is). And this makes it tough to accept compliments. Louise once said something to me when I was having a bit of a wobble:

We are [all] like the shawl that gets admired and we cannot help but say - "Oh! but there is a hole here that you can barely see. I am showing you this because I made a mistake. Am I not a less accomplished knitter due to this flaw?"

This struck a chord with me because one of my pet peeves is when somebody comes up to me wearing a beautiful shawl they've knitted and then react to my compliment by pointing out all the places they've deviated from the pattern. I tell them to own the shawl they have made, to celebrate their accomplishments as a knitter and as a maker-of-things, and yet I do this knee-jerk self-effacement myself when people say nice things to me. Working on accepting compliments is on my list.

So, when I receive emails talking about "lifestyle branding strategies" - well, it weirds me out a bit. Partly because I am not sure why anybody would want lifestyle commandments from me and partly because I'm not really sure who I am. Life is an on-going process and we all contain multitudes - so why try to pin things down? Why not just throw ourselves into this wonderful mire we call life and try to muddle our way through? And maybe, just maybe, try to make sense of it all by making stuff (creating order from chaos!) and sharing our making efforts with strangers who may/may not become friends?

We are all in this together, flawed shawls and all.