This episode is a deep dive into my test knit for the (yet to be released) MiniMint pattern by Natalie Sheldon. I go through all my colour and fibre deliberations, which resulted in 3 different versions of the sweater being started. There are also a number of recommendations that I want to share with all of you.
02:11 Handy Dandy - MiniMint test knit
09:16 - version 2
13:59 - version 3
30:19 Eyes and Ears
30:34 - KukieKnits
32:27 - Tiny Fibre Studio
42:43 - Other mentions
50:14 Heart Full of Craft
56:15 Thanks!
Transcript
Greetings knitting neighbours and crafty comrades. Thank you for tuning into this episode of Bobolog. Welcome to any returning viewers - I'm so glad that you're still joining me on my fibre journey and coming along for the ride. And to any new watchers and subscribers - I really appreciate you giving me a chance and I hope that you like what I have to say.
My name is Bobbie Olan and I am a knitter and fibre crafts explorer in Victoria, Australia. I live with my partner on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people and I would like to acknowledge them and pay my respects to their Elders past, present and future.
First of all, I just want to say that we have had a sick household this past week. My partner got quite sick last week and he's still getting over it. I am much more mild than he is, but I am definitely under the weather so this episode might be a bit rougher than my usual.
Housekeeping - if you want to follow up on any of the things that I mention in this episode - patterns, yarns, anything else I might talk about - I make an effort to put all of the links in the YouTube description below. So if you just open up the description, they should all be there. If anything is missing, please let me know. But hopefully I am on top of that. And also you can find me on Instagram - @PlatypusKnitting - and I'd also be very happy to have you as a friend on Ravelry where I am under my own name - BobbieOlan.
Handy Dandy
MiniMint test knit
So today is just going to be one big Handy Dandy, which is the MiniMint test knit which I believe I had mentioned in a previous episode. So it is designed by Natalie Sheldon of Remembrances Pottery and she made an adult size, all-over colourwork, Christmas pullover design. And then she has also now come out with - well it's not out yet - but she has made a version for... I think it's from six months up to... Oh, I didn't actually check what size it goes up to but maybe like I'll just say, child- I'll just say baby to child sizes. Clearly my foggy brain is going to make this a very messy episode for you.
Anyway, so both of those sweaters - the MerryMint and the MiniMint were designed so that you can make them using scrap yarn if you want to. So when I signed up for the test knit, I decided that I really did want to do that. So I went through my stash of fingering weight yarns and pulled out all of the ones that I had, pretty much, including all of my little leftover balls. So I pulled out all of my balls of fingering weight yarn that I have in my stash everything from little tiny bits of leftovers to whatever full skeins I had left. And then as I was matching up - or as I was selecting the colours, I realised that I couldn't use a lot of the solids that I had which- which are- which were mostly from Tarndwarncoort because they are not superwash yarns. And because I am making this jumper for a baby, I want it to be able to go in a washing machine. So that pretty much left me with sock yarns or baby acrylic yarns and a lot of them were variegated. So that was a bit of a challenge trying to put them together.
I did also have to use - or I chose to use - some acrylic mohair yarn, which isn't a baby yarn but because it's acrylic I'm hoping that it is still suitable for a baby. I have used it in baby projects before. I used it in the- in a marled pullover vest thing that I made earlier this year. But I wanted to use that one because that one had some really nice bright colours in there. In particular, it had a nice bright green and all of the other colours that I had were in pretty sort of darker, muted tones. So I wanted something in there that would give it a bit more vibrancy because it's for a kid and it should be happy and bright and fun and colourful.
So I have shown this before but this is the swatch that I made. And I made this on quite a few different needle sizes trying to get gauge. And I thought that this was enough of a colour play around for me to be able to put yarns together that I would be happy with.
So for example, this one here - this candy cane one here - some of the tone values are pretty similar in that- in the variegated skein to the red but I still feel like there was enough contrast to pair that variegated and that solid together. But then up here, these- these are using the same yarns, but then all of a sudden a grey appeared which is getting more lost in the red background. I was aware of that but I kind of just thought, 'I'm gonna go ahead with it.' I- Because I still think that the section with the oranges looks quite nice with the red, so I thought I'd still go- I'll still go ahead with it. Hopefully there won't be too much of the grey and and it will still work out.
And with all of the other colour plays that I had done as well, I thought that I was pretty set on how I would combine the colours.
Version 1
So I started making a version and I got up to the point where I had separated the sleeves and just started working on the body, and then I knew I wasn't happy with it. I knew I wasn't happy with how the candy cane bit looked because a lot more of the grey showed up. And a lot of the the pattern was- was lost. You couldn't really see it. And from when I had knitted that candy cane stripe bit through to... What am I trying to say?
I knew when I was making the candy cane section that I didn't like it. I knew that, but I felt like I had committed to it. But as I kept going, I just kept thinking, 'I'm not happy. I'm not happy with it. I don't like how it's turning out.' I'm just- Yeah, I wasn't- I wasn't happy with it. And I also wasn't 100% sure that the placement of the variegated blues underneath the colour was- collar was working. So I frogged it.
Version 2
I started a version two.
Actually, that's not true. I didn't frog it immediately. I started a version two because I wanted to put them side by side and compare and make sure that I really would prefer the next version that I made over the first version. So I made the version two and I put them side by side and I definitely did like the candy cane section better. But I didn't like - again - my placement of the variegated blues because I really like ribbing. I like how it looks and you just can't see it properly using the yarn that I used. It's just completely lost. And it's such a simple pattern to lose but I just feel like it- it just- it just didn't work. So that's right at the cost on. You cast on at the neck and you work top down. So I should have known really immediately that that wasn't working. But my intention was to fix the colours of the motifs further down. So that's what I was focusing on.
And then- So again, I separated for the sleeves. I started working down and I finished... I got up to one- I got one motif down from where you separate for the sleeves, which is - I swapped in - she- she has a few different motifs. So she has the pattern, but at the very bottom of it she says if you want to swap out charts for different ones, these are all the ones that are s- the same size, and these are all the ones that are same size, which is fantastic. So there's meant to be a pattern that's poinsettias, but I liked a snowflake one better that was the same size. So I put in a snowflake motif there. And then I wasn't happy with that. And I figured, okay, I'm not 100% happy with that. I'm not 100% happy with the colour- collar. So I'm just gonna start again. And at that point, I had ripped out version one because I knew I wasn't gonna go with version one. I didn't need it anymore. So I frogged version two, and it sort of made me realise how comfortable with frogging I am now.
So I don't know if it's because of the experience that I had with the Redford sweater, which I knit for my partner. So it's a men's sweater, so it's big. And I had knit pretty much the whole back piece - almost a whole back piece - and realised that my gauge was wrong and had to start again and I ripped all of that out. And- And then after that as well, there was a point where my crochet friend Hannah was saying that she there was a jumper that she had crocheted for herself, but she was like, it doesn't it doesn't fit her the way that she wants it to. And I was just saying, "Oh yeah, just rip it out. Just rip it out." I have no idea what she's actually done with it now.
But I feel like I've just gotten to a place in my- in my knitting, where it's just - if you're not happy with it, why would you keep it? And I understand, you know, you put all of this time into it, and it's 'lost time' in a sense. You can look at it like that, like you've put in all of the work and you don't want to sacrifice, you know, you don't want to lose that. But really for me, it's just if you're going to end up with something that you're not happy with, then it's not worth it. It's not worth it to put in all of the time to finish it. And it just is not it. It's not worth it full stop. That's it.
So I very happily and very easily ripped out both of those versions that I had done.
Version 3
And I started on a version three.
I have to say, one other thing that I wasn't happy with - with both versions one and two - is that the sections where there's the green - which is the mohair - they were getting paired with a baby acrylic yarn, which was a solid white colour. And because in my head I sorta had this idea that I shouldn't pair any variegated colours with another variegated colour - it should always be a variegated colour and a solid colour - and the only solid colour I had that was gonna give me the contrast that I needed for that greens-and-blues mohair yarn was this white acrylic yarn. But pairing acrylic and acrylic together in colourwork, it did not look great. It- It just wasn't holding together as well and filling up all of the gaps as well as wool does. But I thought, you know, I've committed to only using stash yarns, this is- this is what I have to work with. I've just got to go for it.
But somewhere along the way of making versions one and two, I did have to buy some white yarn for- I joined the dye group at my Guild - at the Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild. So you need yarn to dye when you go to the group which means- meets once a month.
Tea time.
So I didn't really have anything in my stash that I could bring to that so I had to buy some white yarn, and I bought some white fingering weight baby yarn that was 100% wool. And I was only thinking about the dye group when I chose that yarn, but when I went to rip out versions one and two of this jumper I realised that, 'Oh, I actually have - that yarn that I bought for the dye group is now part of my stash and I can use it.' So in version three I paired that white yarn with the- with the variegated greens and blues.
Yeah, sorry that I'm just a bit spacey and slow and mind wandering this episode. Brain fog. I'll- I'll just keep going, shall I?
Anyway, so yeah, so I think that that was much better. So I was now not only pairing always a solid with a variegated - I was also always pairing an acrylic yarn with a wool yarn. There were no more sections that had just acrylic and yeah. So I'm really happy with that for one thing. I think the way that I put the yarns together - like the order - as in, what's the background colour and what's the foreground colour - I feel like the way that they went together in the version three went a lot better.
And also when I went into it, I decided that I wanted to have an actual colour plan. Previously I had just gone, 'Okay, next up is this motif. I think that motif will work best in these colours, let's do it in those colours.' Whereas with version three, I decided, 'Okay, I'm just gonna focus on these colours.'
I eliminated that variegated blues because it just wasn't going to work. It had too much tonal difference within it, that I couldn't match it with any of the solids. It's got like really light blues that are almost white, and it's got really dark blues that are almost black, so it just couldn't be paired with anything. So I got rid of that. I had my colours set.
And I- I- I had a sense - or I mean, I could look at the pattern and I could see the order of the motifs so I could see how the charts would all go together, so which motifs would follow each other down the pattern. And with all of that information, I decided that I was gonna have a plan and my plan was: Dark blue for- for the edges for the like colour- collar; - these aren't hems, I was going to call them hems - for the cuffs; and for the hem. And that dark blue could also be used where an extra colour was needed to like break things up. Like for example, I used it in the section where you separate the sleeve... Yeah, so that dark blue for that.
And then looking at the order of all the patterns and my preferred colours for each of those, I was able to do it so that going from the top down and ignoring all of the blue sections, it was going to be grey; red; greens. I mean, it's not all greens, it's greens and blues. Grey, red, multicoloured. Grey, red, multicoloured. Grey, red, multicoloured. Grey, red, multicoloured - all the way down with just the dark blues where I needed to have an extra colour. And that worked out really well. I was so happy with how that turned out. I think that was really, really great. I was really happy with the colour plan. I feel like it made sense and I feel like it looked good. So- So that was the body of it.
But then when you get to the sleeves, it's planned out a bit differently. So the sleeves start with three of the same motif in succession. And how she has actually designed the pattern is that there are two different chart options for the sleeves so that your sleeves don't have to be matching. I decided that I did want them to be matching so I chose the charts that I like better.
And it is a bit of a shame because I'm knitting the 12 month size, which is of course one of the smallest sizes. It wasn't big enough for me to be able to go through all of the charts. And I had used most of the patterns already in the sweater. But because the sleeve is, you know, only this long and not this long, I couldn't put in a lot- a lot of- a lot of the charts that she had put together. I- You know- Just the different orders that they were in, the way that they interacted with with each other, I didn't really get to play around with that. So, you know, if I do ever get around to making the MerryMint for myself, then I will be able to put everything in which will be excellent.
But anyway- So this version, I wasn't able to go through everything. But I also couldn't have the same colour plan that I had previously because of how it starts with three of the same motif. And for a while I was thinking, 'Should I continue the colour plan with that?' Coz there's three motifs. I have- My colour plan was three different colours. Should I just keep going and do each- each of those motifs in the different colours in the same order coming down?
I decided I didn't like that and I'm glad that- that I went that route. So I just did - you know what, I can show it to you. Let me just show it to you.
Here it is. This is- This is- I have- I haven't- I've woven in all of my ends but I haven't trimmed them so let me just hide that. So there it is. That is my finished MiniMint sweater. It has gone through the washing machine and survived and it has been blocked. My gauge was a tiny bit off. But my measurements all worked out fine. It's slightly just a tiny bit wider than it should be. But- But it all worked out.
So there's the sleeve there. And I think it actually just worked out perfectly. I mean, it's not an exact match that this diamond section lines up completely with the diamond section on the body but it's pretty close. And I think- I think it looks really good.
I think- I'm also happy that I had swapped the- how I had the colours laid out for this snowflake. So in the version two one, I had the white as the background and I had the variegated colours forming the snowflake and I had felt like you couldn't really see it very clearly in that version. And also now looking at it, if I had kept it that way so that the white was the background and the snowflake was colourful, you wouldn't have the same kind of like contrast between these two sections as there is now. So I'm kind of really pleased with how that's just sort of worked out.
The- A couple of things for this pattern for me and my gauge and my way of doing things is when I made versions one and two, I had measured- I had been measuring as I went to make sure that I was matching the schematic. And for both of them the col- collar was coming out on the small side. And I also ended up knitting everything on the same size needle. So she has it so that - as usually happens - the ribbing is done on a smaller needle. For me and with my gauge, I was doing everything on the same needle size and the neck wasn't getting the circumference. I mean it would have if I had stretched it out, but just sitting as it is, it wasn't there.
So when I made this third version, I cast on the number of stitches and I did the ribbing in the next size up. And then in this grey stockinette section, I adjusted the [increases] so that I ended up with the right number of stitches to get it back to the size that I was actually knitting. And now the neck is the size that it should be. For my version, it doesn't- I feel like it doesn't look as nice. It- It looks too wide. The- Like, proportionally my versions one and two where I had done everything for the same pattern size, it looked right. This one looks too wide. So I am actually thinking about doing some tricky unpicking where the grey and the holly motif meet up and unravelling the whole grey section and somehow redoing it all in ribbing, just to sort of help it pull in a bit more and sit a bit nicer. So I might try that, I might not.
The only other thing - again for me and the way that I've done my colours is - I wish that I had picked up- I wish that I had done one row in the dark blue between the start of the sleeve and the bottom of the yoke here. So when you separate for the sleeves, you do do that in this- in a different colour yarn - showing you the back of it. So you get a line there, which isn't the clearest because it kind of matches the colours of the variegated that I've got there. But it would have been nice to have that distinction here as well. If I am feeling up to it before I have to send this off I may also do a tricky... I feel like I'm just making it really hard for myself, but I may do a tricky unpicking there and, you know, grafting, like- like knitting a row of the blue and grafting that there. I don't know, though.
I mean, I am happy with how it's turned out. The things that I would change about it are just more about like... like personal preferences for things. I don't think the recipient or their parents are gonna really mind or notice.
Anyway. So let's see, is that all that I wanted to say? I think that's it. I think that's all that I wanted to say about the MiniMint pattern. I have finished that ahead of the deadline. So I am not sure when the pattern is actually going to be released but at least not for another month. And I will let you know when that actually does come out.
Eyes and Ears
I have also been amassing a number of Eyes and Ears to share with you. I'll go through the new podcasts that I have been watching first - the new vlogs, podcasts, whatever you want to call them.
KukieKnits
The first one is KukieKnits. It is spelt K U K I E. I can't remember now how she pronounces it, but it makes me think of two things. It makes me think of cookie - like the food - and kooky, like you know, you can say that someone is- is kooky. Anyway, apparently that's a nickname that she's had forever so that's what she called her channel.
She is new. She only started it this year. So there are only a few episodes out there but she has a really vibrant personality. And I really like the way that she talks about her projects and she- she's she's great at talking about the yarns that she uses as well.
She does also seem to be an incredibly fast crafter. And I'm not just saying fast 'knitter'. She is definitely a fast knitter. I feel like she has a new finished jumper every single episode, but I'm sure I'm exaggerating that. But it looks like she's also really fast at cross stitch. And I may just be contrasting that with myself, who is a very slow cross stitcher and has been working on the same project for over a decade which is ridiculous. Yeah, so she's incredibly fast.
Yeah, so her name is Ira, by the way. Gosh, I'm doing really well here... Yes. So go- go check out her vlog. She's another Aussie.
Tiny Fibre Studio
Another one that I have started watching recently - which is a few years older so it has more content - is actually a spinning channel, not a knitting channel. So it is the Tiny Fibre Studio, who is Becks, and she is in the UK. She is also a knitter. And when she started her vlog, she had this idea of- she had this idea that she would only knit from her handspun that year, which was 2017. So I'm still going through her vlog.
I did watch her playlist, which is '51 Yarns' and is based off a book by Ply Magazine - by Jacey Boggs Faulkner of Ply Magazine - '51 Yarns to Spin Before You Cast Off.' So she was making that series in time with a spin-along that Ply Magazine was doing to coincide with that book coming out. She didn't get through all 51 yarns, which is such a shame. But I think I will probably get that book myself at some point because it seems like a nice one to have in your library.
But she- I really liked the way that she went through each of those. So she wasn't just doing like, 'Oh, this is- this week the theme is chain plying. Watch me chain play this yarn.' She- She talks about- Instead she talks about all of her experiences and what she knows about- about chain plying. And so she's really giving you like a lot of insight and information about- into what she knows about the subject. So I really appreciate that. There are some really good nuggets of information sprinkled throughout that one so I recommend that one as well.
I do also want to say there have been a few times this year where I've mentioned that I want to have a stash that I can play with and I want to have a stash that I feel more like I can just do whatever I want with, and I had always struggled with like how I was describing that. I wasn't- I was never really happy with saying, 'I just want a stash that I can play with,' because that wasn't exactly what I meant. But Becks talked about- There was one episode - I think in the '51 Yarns' series - where she talked about having a stash that reflected who she was as a knitter at that point in her life. And she said that and it was just like a light bulb moment for me. That is exactly what I actually I want - a stash that reflects who I am and the things that I actually want to be making and the things that I want to be working with.
And so my issue really is that right now, aside from some bigger sweater quantities that I have, there is a lot in my stash that aren't yarns that I necessarily really want to be working with. And sometimes I- I look at them and I sort of like make myself try and think, 'Okay, what can you use this for? What can you make with this so that it's just not in your stash anymore and you don't have to think about it again?'
And I go through this whole exercise, and I come up with options. But then I never make the things because I'm like, 'Okay, I've decided I'll probably make this thing with that yarn. But before I do that, why don't I actually knit something that I want to be knitting on?' So those things never get done and that yarn just sits in my stash forever and ever.
So I think the way that she said it is- is really what I mean. I feel like I need to- I probably just need to let go of some yarns and do a destash and- and all of that and then- and then- and then you know once I have a stash that I am happier to be working from then I'll be happier with my stash. And then maybe when I go to fibre festivals and yarn markets and things like that, it's not going to be such a stress and a struggle for me to pick up nice things because I have a clearer idea about what I'm buying for. So its the overall intention of my stash. Something like that, anyway. Yeah, that was I thought that was really good.
The Taylor Made Podcast
The third vlog that I want to recommend is another Aussie one and it's another fairly new one that doesn't have a lot of episodes. There are a few there. It is The Taylor Made Podcast, which is Sarah Taylor, and I love her. I think she's amazing.
So her vlog does talk a whole lot about knitting, but it's not just a knitting podcast. So she talks about- a bit about trying to live an intentional life, and she has a big project where she is converting a bus into like a livable home, and she lives off grid, and she has all of these really wonderful values around self sufficiency and sustainability and caring for the environment, and just- just all of these really wonderful aspirational values. And I find her so inspiring to watch and to listen to.
She has- She has a really beautiful voice as well. Like it's just soothing and calming but it's also- it's not like soothing and calming in a way that it's like- like meditative. I don't think it is. I don't know. It's just- It's her personality too. So the- just the way that she talks, I am so drawn to her and she like- she- in just the way that she naturally talks, she laughs a lot. And- And it's just- it makes me feel like she knows like, who she is, and she likes who she is, and she is happy with her life. And- And so she just finds reasons to laugh. And- And sometimes it's at herself, and sometimes you know it's- it's at other things that... I don't know. She just- It just makes me really happy.
It- It actually kind of made me think of - I think her name is Elizabeth Gilbert, the woman who wrote Eat, Pray, Love. I've listened to interviews with her and she kind of talks in the same way where it's just like her conversation is just really joyful, like she finds reasons to like laugh and there is just- just joy, like flooding out of her. And- And I sort of feel the same way about Sarah Taylor. Like she's- she's calm but she feels like full of life and she feels like happy and yeah. I highly, highly, highly, highly recommend watching her.
She also has- She also has started dyeing yarn using natural dyes, and I'm really trying to not buy yarn at the moment because I want to knit through stuff that I've got, and I- I want to buy yarn intentionally. I want to buy it with a purpose. But when I am next ready to buy yarn I am totally buying from her. One of her bases is Peruvian Highland wool, which is I believe the same that- I believe Cascade 220 is also Peruvian Highland wool. And I used that for the first time this year and I really enjoyed working with it. So I'm super keen on getting some of Sarah's naturally dyed Peruvian Highland.
Other mentions
And that is it for the vlog recommendations. There are just three other little things that I wanted to mention that I just thought oh ad- that I just... That I just wanted to put out there.
The first is that YouTube suggested a video for me which was on flax to linen. So it's- it shows this group in Victoria, Canada, who are dedicated to producing linen from flax in the traditional way. So it's a really interesting video. They go from planting the seeds to grow flax, to harvesting the plant, and the whole process. Everything that you have to do to prepare to wind up with a fibre that you can spin from and then, you know, weave and knit or whatever you want to do with it. I think it's amazing.
I have wondered in the past about, you know, how much work it would be if I wanted to- to do that myself because I- I- I have heard of people growing their own flax so that they can make their own linen. But I never really looked into how much of a process that would actually be and it is quite a process. It's very impressive and a lot of work. So I don't think I'll- I don't see myself doing that. At least not in the near future. I know that Jillian Eve has mentioned that she's growing some flax, so I'll be interested to see how she goes with that. But this is a really fascinating video showing the process if you ever do want to do it yourself. So that's really great.
The next video that I want to mention is from John Arbon Textiles - their channel. They- They're slowly putting out videos of talks from their Mill Open Weekend. I- I enjoy watching their their vlog as well. They're.. I just like their sense of humour. They're lots of fun.
But they had one recently which was a talk by Felicity Ford, who is KnitSonic. I want some of her books, which are kind of like helping you create like colourwork patterns from everyday inspirations. Things- I'm explaining it really badly because brain fog.
That- It's a really nice talk, talking about- about colour. It is called - I think she called it 'Overjoyed'- 'Overjoyed not Overwhelmed', which I thought was nice. And she has this nice story about eggs when she was wanting to become an oil painter as a kid. And yeah, I thought that she was- she was great to listen to and I've been wanting her books for a while and one day I'll get them. So yeah, that's the second video. That's all the video recommendation.
So I have- The last- very last thing that I want to mention is the other day, I went to the chemist to get some cold and flu medication for my partner - when he was still really sick and I was still fine - and while I was at the counter waiting to pay, a display of nail polish caught my eye. And it didn't catch my eye because it was like really pretty colours or something. It caught my eye because I spotted what the names of the colours were. So here's a photo of here. It had names like Knit Happens, Don't Fleece Me, Cardigang, Purls of Wisdom (spelt like knit and purl), all of these knitting related names and I was just so excited to see that because it's, yeah. I just thought that was like really really wonderful to come across.
And they're not expensive as well. They're $2.95 bottles of nail polish and vegan, Australian. And I totally- If I hadn't just- It's- Yeah.
So I don't wear a lot of nail polish. I have had the same bottles of nail polish since high school. So for like - how old am I now? For like around 20 years and I only just finished them up this year. So I bought some other- I bought new nail polish for the first time in forever this year. And I actually got a lot of like pastel colours. So the brand I got was Raww, which is another Australian vegan brand. These were more expensive. These are more than $3 a bottle, but I bought a few of those. And it'll probably be the same thing. These will probably last me for 20 years because I just forget to put it on a lot.
But then this knitting range of nail polish - it had a lot of those pastels too so I was just kicking myself thinking if I had waited to buy nail polish, I could have just like gotten all of those. But also I- there are some that I definitely would have been buying just for the names and not particularly the colours themselves.
But anyway, I looked it up and I found the website of the company who makes this nail polish and I couldn't find the knitting nail polishes on there. Maybe they will be up there by the time this episode goes live. Maybe they're just not planning to put it up on the website because they think it's a niche- more of a niche thing and they're just going to put it in shops or something. But I did find them on Instagram as well. And they did have a few posts talking about this new Knitty Gritty range of colours that they've got. So that was lots of fun. I'm gonna try to resist buying it because I don't need it and yeah. Yeah. So- So that's it.
Heart Full of Craft
One last segment which is Heart Full of Craft. And the- that same day when I went to the chemist to buy colds and flu I also went to Baker's Wife to pick up some pizza rolls. So on the high street near me, I had gone to the chemist and bought cold and flu. I had gone to a different chemist and bought some RATs. And then I went to the bakery to get some bread and my card was declined. The same card that I used at the two other shops.
Couldn't figure out why. I opened the app to see if they were doing maintenance or anything like that. And there was nothing so I tried again. It was still declined. I tried a different card which is for a different account but with the same bank and that was declined too. I don't have any other- I'm only with the one bank. Yeah, I was- I was completely baffled. But then, yeah, I didn't understand why. And I was just gonna say, "Look, don't worry, I won't get the pizza rolls. They're just pizza rolls. I'll sort out my card and I'll come back when I know that it's going to work or I'll just go take out cash or something." I was about to say all of that.
But then this other woman in the shop with her- with her daughter and her- her pram just offered to pay and I thought that was so generous and it was so nice. It's not like I was buying like an essential so it's not like I was really like in need. I just couldn't- my just- my card just wasn't working and she just paid for me and was just so generous. I was so overwhelmed and touched and I thanked her profusely and I kept you know thinking like, 'Oh my God, I wish I could like offer to buy her coffee or something is a thank you like, but what if my card gets declined again? I can't buy her coffee.' And- And I like- I didn't know what to do.
All I could say was just thank you a million times and then walk out and the whole way walking home - because I can just walk to the high street - the whole way walking home I was just thinking like, 'how can I have- like, I wish I could have like thanked her in a more tangible way.' Like- Like- I wish I had like, I don't know. Maybe I should have like, asked her name or I should have like, I don't know. I wish I had offered something more back because I was just so blown away by her generosity.
What I might do is next time I go to high street I might go to the bakery and ask if they can do one of those Pay It Forward type things. I've seen this thing at cafes - I don't know that I've ever seen it at cafes here in Australia, but I'd seen this online where there were a couple of cafes - I think in the US - that had a system where you could buy extra coffees. They had a thing that- it was called... I can't remember what it was called. But you could go and you could say like, "I'll- I'll have a coffee for myself and I'll also have coffee for blah blah blah," whatever they called it. It was some kind of like, you know, they paid for a coffee for someone else. So if someone comes in and can't afford to buy a coffee, they could- they could come in and be like, "Do you have any of- Do you have any coffees of-" whatever it's called. Like, basically that someone else has paid for and they can, the cafe's like, "Yeah, we've got, you know, we can give you a coffee." And it's like a Pay- like a Pay It Forward system, basically.
Anyway, I should have looked that up before I started recording but anyway yeah, I might see if they can do something like that. Like if I can just give money and- and be like the next you know, the next- this can go towards whoever comes in next or something like that. Because I feel like I want to give something back. It's not like I couldn't afford to get my pizza rolls. It was just that my- my cards weren't working for some reason.
Anyway. People can be really nice and generous. And that is my Heart Full of Craft. Nothing to do with craft but my heart is just so full from it that I couldn't not feature - feature? - that I couldn't not include it.
Thanks!
And that's really all that I have for today. There are other things that I would have loved to show you and talk about but I think I need to go take a nap.
Gosh. If you're still here, thank you for sticking around for this one. I hope that you've had a good time. Oh my gosh, I can't even... Oh, thank you. Thank you so much for sticking around if you're still here because I do not know what is going on. Yes. That's all. I'm just gonna- I'm just gonna- I'm gonna sign off. I hope you're all doing a lot better than I am. I guess I'll see you in a couple of weeks.
Fare thee well.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Resources
Mentions
KukieKnits vlog
Tiny Fibre Studio vlog
Flax to Linen video
Jillian Eve (YouTube channel)
Felicity Ford / KnitSonic
Colour by TBN (Knitty Gritty nail polish)
Raww cosmetics
Patterns (on Ravelry)
MerryMint by Natalie Sheldon
Bluebird Baby Vest by D. Lise
Redford by Julie Hoover, Brooklyn Tweed
Yarns (from my LYS, or on Ravelry)
Tarndwarncoort yarns from Polwarth sheep
The Maker's Corner, naturally dyed yarns
Cascade, 220