Oh no - my knitting is outdated
The first two paragraphs arey a very long intro. If you want to read about my meagre progress with the lila knitted sweater and are interested in Kitchener stitch: skip and jump forward :-D
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I am outdated, outdated by my own knitting. Wow what an avowal. I must accept I will never be on vogue with my knitting. And you have every right to learn why. I think it is the concurrence of me loving beautiful designs and me being a slow crafter. Shiny pictures of beautiful women in grandiose landscapes who are wearing dresses blown up by a stormy breeze and kept warm by a knitted sweater trigger a kind of primal response from me. I want to re-enact this instantly. Means: I want to sew this dress and knit this sweater and believe this will transform me into this mysterious woman who perhaps stands at the beginning of an amazing adventure.
But pictures missing the women are also triggering my crafting reflex. It’s enough to show me some yarn photos – preferably hand dyed speckled yarn with pink and petrol – and I will start a new project. And then there is Instagram and Pinterest and (beware) Ravelry, not to mention all the amazing magazines and books full of patterns. I am helpless in the face of all this tempting clothes which are potentially only a click (of hook or needles) away. Only yesterday I meet shinysuperhero on instagram and not only is she an amazing designer, she was also super nice and helpful. And – yes you are guessing right – her designs are tempting me to again start another project, a funny and bright summer shirt, her Ellen Tee in intarsia technique.
So if I have so many modern, artful and amazing patterns at my fingertips, why am I outdated? Because I knit soooooo slooooowwwww (the many letters are mimicking me writing like a snail). I last year bought this wonderful new magazine fibremood (huhuhu dear owners of fibremood, don’t you want to pay me, I so often write lovely post about your designs 😂) and I started to knit the lila sweater. And I still knit, and knit and knit… as I knit several other lovely projects… And now if I look out of the window I see a bright big sun and if I look at the thermometer I see 20 degrees and upwards. Then my eyes wander to my unfinished lila sweater and I see a wonderful thick winter sweater without sleeves. If I would only knit this sweater from now on, I guess it would be ready for summer 😂😂. You understand now? My knitting is outdated.
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How to love and use your clothes
This may sound like fun to you but there is a tiny serious aspect to this post (tiny tiny, no fear). Some time ago I read a survey about how we react to our purchased clothes. The question of this survey was if there is a method to know in advance if you will wear the clothes you just bought. On a first glance this sounds a bit stupid, as one buys things to wear them or? But there are many people who have wardrobes full of clothes which they never use. And one sign this could happen to you is, if you do not wear the clothes within the next days of their purchase (I guess a wedding dress is an exception 😁) So, this applies to many of my outdated crafting projects. Some weeks ago I started to sew a wrap dress in a thick jeans-like fabric and perfect colors for autumn (yet it will be finished in spring) and I have several knitting projects I hope to finish in the next month which are appropriate for autumn and winter, but not for summer…
One possibility to overcome this problem would be to start clothes I want to wear in summer already in winter or autumn the year before… Are you doing this? Are you planning your handmade clothes in this way?
For me this is tough, as I am so tempted by pictures, colours and designs and I am not sure if it would be worth it to plan my hobby more. But I am highly interested in your handling.
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Finally, the lila sweater
Back to the beginning of my musing: the warm and autumnesk lila sweater. I finally finished front and back of this sweater and the next step is to close the shoulder seams. The pattern told me to cast of the life stitches of both shoulders together. Sadly the pattern didn’t told me how :-D I darkly remember two methods to cast of two rows of knitting together, the three needle bind of (which coincidentally @shanibeer describes detailed in her actual post) and the Kitchener stitch. I have chosen the latter. As I only did this once on a sock (which is still waiting for me to finish it partner) I hade to research again and stumbled about this YouTube video
The video is in German but with English subtitles. Her explanations are precise but I nevertheless made mistakes, because I misunderstood her. Firstly she explains the technique with ‚standard‘ western knitters in mind (which I am not) and secondly she advises to pull the thread strongly to close the knitting. I pulled a tiny bit too strong and created a puckered seam 😱😱😱 Not her mistake as she shows the technique very well on her video. And I may or may not had the same amount of stitches on both needles (the latter is indispensable for the Kitchener stitch)… I fumbled a bit and compensated my uneven stitchcount.
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The shoulder seam I worked is ok. I guess it looks better than a sewn seam would have looked, but it is far from perfect or invisible. I will practice the Kitchener stitch on my second shoulder and hopefully I will get a wonderful flat seam.
I guess I should then let the sweater rest some months, so that it will be finished in autumn and get worn directly. 😂
Thank you @crosheille for initiating and @muscara, @shanibeer, @marblely for hosting the #needleworkmonday. If you want to see more beautiful projects with yarn, fabric and most of all needles, follow @needleworkmonday. Or even better grab your needles and keyboard and join the #needleworkmonday community.
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I am knitting spring and summer items now; my stripey sweater is on its way, my turquoise lace cardigan is waiting for me and I have pulled out the other cotton and linen yarns from my stash. I have a wedding in August to plan for. Very soon it will be too hot to knit with wool and chunky yarns and anything not finished by then will join the two winter projects that are sleeping until the autumn. Meanwhile, I am still wrapped in my Rowan Cocoon cardigan that I finished in January because it is cold, in spite of the bright sunlight 😊😎😍
We are artists, we cannot be held to time and the seasons, we must go where the muse takes us!
Perhaps there is a biological reason that some yarn projects should hibernate 😁 But you seem to be on a good way with your projects. I am still in love with the turquoise lace cardigan. I loved everything, the fit, the colour and the pattern. I am looking forward to it (whenever it will be - no pressure)
What are you planning for the wedding? Something for yourself to wear or a present?
And your sentence
Wow, I think you accidentally (or intentionally) created a proverb. I think I need to borrow this, often 😂
I just thought, maybe I should switch ‚season‘ with ‚reason‘....
I hear you. Did I tell you about the sweater I started during the winter olympics? Well, I probably didn't because it hibernates somewhere in my wardrobe...
Regarding the kitchener stitch I use the video by Elizzza - I love her way of showing things, she makes me feel confident that I'll get it right :)
As I wrote to @shanibeer I guess there must be a biological reason that some projects need to hibernate - we are not to blame, we only help the projects to follow their biological urges 😂
I always forget Elizza... 💩 I follow her on facebook and like her writing and explanation style. But when I search for something/videos, I mostly take the first I find (stupid me).
But I guess the biggest problem in Kitchener stitch is my different knitting style. I will send you later a photo on discord of the second shoulder because I think the stitches are twisted (which would be logical as I knit combinations style...)
I had to laugh when I saw your comment about never wearing new clothes if you don’t wear them soon after purchasing! That is why if I don’t wear it, I put it on and sleep in it. I saw this tendency in my own life and found a solution. Maybe not applicable to all clothing but in my case most of what I wear.
Your sweater is beautiful! I’m a slow knitter too! I like the rhythm and meditative action. Of course, you know I use a machine a lot for speed, but still I lag when seaming and finishing.
No, or? Really? You sleep in new clothes? And I thought I am weird 😂😂💕 If I buy something new I mostly love it s hard, that I wear it instantly ( I change in the shop) This is sometimes a problem with my handmade items, as they need so much time...:-D
And with the knitting speed. Do you know Ginger Twist Studio? The shop owner not only has wonderful knitted garments, she also can knit at a speed I want to crawl ashamed into a closet. There is a short video about the shop and her hand-dyed yarn where you can see her knitting... At the first glance I thought it was filmed at double speed, but no, her breathing and all other movements are normal. She simply knits super fast.
And thank you so much for the compliment! This means a lot as I so admire your yarn and knitwork. 😍
I went to Ginger Twist from the link. So talented! I love that “come in for a squish”!
Yes the squish 💕 I have never had yarn from her, because it is very expensive to mail things between UK and Germany (because of the Brexit 💩) but I have read it is very nice and soft. Did you found the video which shows her knitting?
I looked for the video and can’t find it. It will probably make me feel inadequate. 😉
I didn’t know that those tariffs kicked in yet because the UK hasn’t really left yet. Sorry that you are separated from the Squish!
There's no hurry, @neumannsalva. I saw the intarsia work and it all looks wonderful - way beyond my capabilities but that doesn't stop me from piling future projects while the reality is that I need to continue to downsize ...
I am not sure if the intarsia is so complicated. I wrote the designer and she assured me it would be much easier than stranded knitting or other colorwork (I hate holding several threads in my hand). Did you visit her ravelry account? She has more beautiful projects (sorry for tempting you :-D)
I really like what you got: both the color of the yarn and the pattern. I do not agree with you that knitting is outdated - it is always fashionable !!! a thing of course may be irrelevant in a certain period of the year, for example, a sweater in summer. but if you want to go on holiday to Norway, this sweater will be very useful :))) You are right about shopping! my mom's neighbor's daughter bought 28 jeans for herself in one summer !!!!! I watched a sweater sample on the link that you gave in the post. I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that the color spot on the stomach will visually enlarge the stomach. I think in this model it will be difficult to look slim :))) but I am far from an expert in this area. I definitely need to try this suture connection! you write about it too. in the end you got it very well to connect the details! I am not a maximalist in such things, especially when you do something for the first time ;)
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If you stopped making stuff that can only be worn in certain seasons, you would not have this issue.... right? Lol, I always see things I want to do and then talk myself out of them. So at least you start the project!
I thought you would propose I should stop the seasons 😂 But I have to admit, all my knitting is made for cooler weather. I seldom contemplate knitted things for summer, as I would have to wash them every time I wear them and I don’t think there is anything I make that would endure this. So, you see I actually don‘t follow the seasons.... I just wanted my lila seater to be finished earlier 😆
And please don’t stop yourself from projects, I would love to see one of the vests or the tunic @kimmac found on you. You have such good eye for patterns, they would look beautiful not only on shawls or hats but also on clothes.
First let me say I love your unique style of taste! That lila sweater is quite an eye catcher, very unique style with the long widened sleeves and short waistline.
As I was reading your post my suggestion was going to be what you already mentioned...to knit out of season. But really if you look at it styles really don’t change all that drastically from year to year. Like this style of sweater will be in style for at least another year. On top of that I’ve noticed throughout the years that styles are just recycled. Every several years certain styles come back in the scene because we have ran out of new ones lol! All of the new styles are just Upcycled from old ones and remodified! So which ever year you decide to wear your handmade beauties, you will be in style ;)
The sweater is coming along beautifully, gorgeous work ~ 💗
I fully agree with your words. uniquely new that appeared in a fashion it is the lacerated clothes )))))
😉
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