#006 - FO's and Fibre Vibe

So many finished projects to discuss! We have one cardigan, two pairs of socks, and one slouchy beanie - which is a lot for me but will hopefully become the new norm. Of these four projects, one is for me and the other three are gifts.

Handy Dandy - 00:43

- Opposite Pole - 00:55

- Skandium - 10:29

- Quick Cable Slouch Hat - 17:54

- Stepping Stones - 22:37

Eye Candy - 27:01

Stat Chat - 35:00

Craft for Thought - 37:43

Heart Full of Craft - 47:56

Resources

Handy Dandy

It's really so unusual for me to have finished this many projects in a month, although a couple of them have been going for a while. Still, it feels like a lot and I'm pretty pleased and proud!

The biggest is my Opposite Pole cardigan, designed by Locatelli. This one caught my eye for it's reversible cables and new-to-me construction. As described in the video, it starts with a rectangle piece for the back and then a donut shape is worked around and connected to it leaving holes for the arms. You then pick up stitches in the armholes and knit down for the sleeves.

Notable for me is that I was able to include (almost) full length sleeves! This was something I didn't think would be possible when I first planned the project from stash yarn in one colour. Luckily, it turned out that I didn't have enough of that colour so had to include the one ball I had of another colour in the same yarn (Bendigo Woollen Mills, Luxury 10ply). I'm so happy with how this turned out using two colours! It is so comfortable and snuggly and warm.

The next biggest FO is the Skandium socks by General Hogbuffer. Again, this was knit from stash but, unlike the Opposite Pole above, it doesn't have quite as happy an ending. It was originally intended to be knit with the solid dark blue plus a variegated blues and whites to match the 'test' version I'd knit for myself. However, that test showed me that my choice of variegated yarn didn't have enough contrast against the solid so the pattern doesn't show up clearly. I thought I'd have just enough of a natural coloured sock yarn in my stash, but forgot to factor in that these socks for my partner would be larger than the socks for myself. The pattern had to be tweaked to accommodate the insufficient yarn quantity, which means the patterned heel and the overall effect of the transitioning-colour design was lost. But the pattern does show up beautifully! And my partner absolutely loves them, which is the most important thing.

My mum recently made a birthday request for a slouchy, cabled beanie with a pom pom - the third project in this episode's showcase. Together we chose the Quick Cable Slouch Hat by Azure Knits. This pattern had been whipped up for a class they were teaching (if I remember the notes correctly) so it didn't give gauge (yet). So it was a lucky thing that my mum wanted it knit in a yarn she knew I had and am pretty familiar with so that I could easily calculate how many stitches to cast on and what needles to use. It's a very simple pattern with a pretty crown. I may even make one for myself one day. The pom pom comes from LovelyLoopsDesigns on Etsy, and they have a handy solution for attaching their pom poms that I am totally going to use any time I have a pom pom from now on.

Last but not least are the Stepping Stones socks by Clara Parkes. These are my first socks in DK weight yarn and I am HOOKED. They are so incredibly quick to knit! Plus, the stitch pattern on these was so easy to memorise while still being interesting and simply beautiful. I particularly thought that the heel flap using two strands of yarn for extra cushion and durability was brilliant. This is the first pair in a matching gift set for another couple so I will definitely be knitting one more. But I can also see many, many more Stepping Stones' in my future...

Eye Candy

A hand-knit sweater is lying flat on a white surface. The sleeves are striped white and pale pink. The neck is white with a dark pink edge. The body is pale pink and has a dark pink flamingo head in the center. The flamingo head connects to a wide band of dark pink ruffles at the bottom hem. — Flamingo Frills Sweater - Jane Burns, © Deramores

This one should technically be in Handy Dandy as I cast it on the day before filming, but HD is big enough this month. Plus I had been eyeing this pretty persistently in the lead up to making it. It is designed by Jane Burns for Deramores and is called the Flamingo Frills Sweater.

Isn't it just adorable?! I'd been looking for a pattern that featured an animal with some kind of 3D element to match other 3D/textured animal sweaters I'd made for this family. And while I did umm and ahh about it for a while and consider other designs, this one really did stand out from the bunch. I mean, just look at those ruffles! The main reason for my hesitation in just going for it is that the intended recipient isn't necessarily the most feminine lil toddler. It is being knit in a very pink colourway and I can't recall ever seeing her in pink before. We shall see!

Stat Chat

As noted above, I really have been surprised and impressed with how many projects I've managed to finish this year. So I had a look back at my Ravelry challenges over the past few years to compare.

2018 = 8 FO's
2019 = 2 FO's
2020 = 4 FO's
2021 = 11 FO's

I really don't remember 2018 being that proficient a year, but I do also think they were mainly smaller projects. And that 2021 number is bound to get even higher... I hope

Craft for Thought

Have you ever not wanted to knit, not because you don't feel like it but more because you're just not feeling great and you don't want to put that feeling into your knitting?

It's certainly something that happens to me, and I have heard other fibre crafters mention it before. When I filmed this episode, I referred to this as fibre memory but then remembered that the term fibre memory already exists in reference to something else entirely. While editing, I decided it should be called fibre vibe, but now I want to call it fibre feelings. Whatever it is called, I'm a believer. But of course, the other camp also exists that can just knit (or crochet or whatever other craft) without any kind of belief that the fibre is imbibing the energy around it.

The reason this has been on my mind is that something happened recently that gave me reason to think there's some truth in it. In the early days of my Opposite Pole cardigan, I received some terrible news while knitting and after getting off the phone I made myself finish the row I was working on. Then I put it away and didn't do any knitting at all for a while. When I started up again, I didn't ever really link the news and how I was feeling with the project. And so it progressed through further knitting, frogging, and re-knitting. But then one day I reached a point where I was working on it and the grief washed over me. It still does from time to time, but not while I'm knitting. It's not really clear in my memory and I certainly didn't document any of this, but I recall looking at how far into the frogged yarn cake I was and thinking it seemed like I had reached the same section of yarn that I had been knitting when I received that call.

If anyone has any ideas around fibre feelings, whether or not you agree that it's real, or if you have any experiences that suggest that it's real, I'd be really interested in hearing about it. If it's something you'd be happy to share, please comment below or on the YouTube video, or message me directly.

Heart Full of Craft

Once again, allow me to marvel at all the things I've finished this year. I consider myself a slow knitter so it feels like a big deal. With four projects wrapped up in the last month, my gratitude is for time. Time available for knitting but also the time I've allowed myself to knit. I am not grateful for one of the reasons there has been so much time - lockdown life (although I am grateful that lockdowns allow us to keep the virus from spreading more than it would). But looking at it objectively, a lot of last year was also spent in lockdown and I didn't finish nearly as many projects. Part of this year's motivation to knit surely comes from the knitting vlogs I've started consuming, but without time they wouldn't be enough on their own to keep me so productive.