Birthday reflection #1

With the theme of my birthday to centre everything around, this episode looks at:

My life and luck over the past 12 months
Discovering knitting vlogs
Numbers on knitting
Patterns I love by Joji Locatelli
A start on the Opposite Pole cardigan
Gratitude for getaways

This second episode of Platypus Knitting was filmed towards the end of April, shortly after my birthday. Sadly, a few days after filming a personal situation arose which took up all of my time and energy over the next few weeks. After over a month's delay, I'm happy to finally bring you this belated entry - just be aware that if you're watching it soon after it's publication that any references to times and events will be incorrect.

Craft for Thought

An illustration of a chubby little platypus sitting on her hindquarters with her tail splayed out behind her. She is knitting a peacock green piece of fabric with the yarn trailing to a ball sitting in front of her. — Purl the Platypus

First of all, welcome to the Platypus Knitting mascot - Purl!

She was designed by the talented illustrator, Katie Alexander, and will be popping in out to drop some pearls of wisdom. Or actually, she will probably just be correcting me or finding the words I couldn't find in the moment of filming.

Thank you, Katie!

Welcome, Purl!

As I've filmed this episode just after my birthday it's a good opportunity to reflect back on the year that has been. This is something that I'd like to do yearly so next year should be a more familiar reflection for anyone who continues on this journey with me that long.

Needless to say, the pandemic over the past year has made it a very trying time for most people. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to say that it has been a comfortable and easy year for myself, my partner, and our immediate families. We have all stayed relatively healthy and have mostly been able to work from home. Towards the start of the pandemic while Melbourne was still in heavy lockdown mode, I did lose my Lolo on my mum's side. It was so difficult to not even be able to visit my mum and give her a hug, but thanks to modern technology we were able to view the service through live streaming and so in that way weren't completely isolated in our grief. But it wasn't Covid that took him away, so in saying that we all stayed relatively healthy I mean that Covid didn't enter our lives.

Regarding working from home, another point of luck for me is that I already have my own craft room that I was able to convert into an office. While this area becoming my workplace did affect my motivation to come and knit, it was only the desk I lost really. And I regained my knitting mojo towards the end of the year.

One other personal positive, in a sense, that came out of our lockdown is that I really came into my own as a hermit. Which sounds very strange to say but it's true! Always having been more of an introvert than an extrovert, being confined to home has made me really appreciate and acknowledge and embrace how much I really do like just being at home. Of course, I did still miss my family and friends. But I also gained a deeper appreciation of them and how much I value the few friends I have and don't need to be surrounded by a big group as I have often thought in the past.

Speaking of value, I also finally admitted that I had no real interest in maintaining an Etsy store and making products for sale. So goodbye to that unnecessary pressure, and so long Etsy! Although I will still go back to shop...

Back to picking up my needles again towards the end of 2020, this was very much thanks to the discovery of knitting vlogs. I've never been the type to sit and watch YouTube for hours, but in looking up lever knitting again I discovered Felicia Lo of the Taking Back Friday vlog. I was so drawn to her and felt such a connection that I had no choice but to go back and watch the whole vlog from the start. When I ran out of episodes, I started watching the Fruity Knitting podcast, which my aunt had recommended. Again, I had to watch from the very beginning and am still not up-to-date but this is the one that really made me feel like it was possible to start a vlog of my own. They do amazing interviews and have such valuable content but I think because they are Aussie and do most of the episodes on their couch, it made vlogging feel like an achievable goal. And I can't mention Fruity Knitting without saying how saddened I am by their news... My heart goes out to the family, and thank you for sharing the whole journey with us.

Thanks to these knitting vlogs, I really have had so much more motivation to knit (and to do so safely with all the stretches and ergonomic considerations I've learned so far). In fact, although we are only in April I have already reached my Ravelry Challenge of 6 finished projects for 2021 - a number I have failed to achieve the previous 2 years.

Which leads me to Stat Chat, although these numbers reflect the 12 months prior to my birthday and not Ravelry's challenge year.

5 knits started
+ 4 WIP's continued
- 6 FO's
= 3 UFO's

Eye Candy

Since this episode is all about my birthday, I'll be talking about 3 patterns from a designer that shares my birthday month - Joji Locatelli!

1. Madewell

I love this for the elbow patches. And as a short person with short arms, I really appreciate that the patches are created separately and attached wherever is most appropriate for you. It's also fun that the patch has a darned look, like you really did wear through the elbows.

2. Penelope

The body of this already looks so stylish with it's ribbed front bands and simplicity. But then check out that gorgeous addition of cables at the bottom! Aside from them being beautiful cables, I love that they're knit side-to-side.

3. Arbor Vitae

This one was published in Pom Pom Quarterly, issue 27, which I don't own. Lacking a copy and not sure what the copyright rules are for sharing photos on a vlog, there's no photo here. It's a sweater with a plain body, but then the yoke area is made up of simple cables that come down into tassels that form a wide V. Very pretty!

Handy Dandy

A woman with short black hair is holding forth a piece of knitting in progress. The knitting is a short, dark blue rectangle featuring cables and has circular knitting needles attached.

Last year during Joji's birthday sale, I purchased the pattern for the Opposite Pole cardigan. The first thing that caught my attention is that it features reversible cables, which I have never done but have been keen to try ever since learning they existed.

This cardigan also has a new-to-me construction in that it starts with a rectangular back piece, and then the bulk of the cardigan is worked as a kind of donut shape that is joined to the long ends of back piece as it is knit. The short ends are left unconnected, leaving two holes where the sleeves will be attached.

So far I've been sticking to my goal of knitting from my stash, and this project is no exception. It's being knit from Bendigo Woollen Mill's 'Luxury', which is 100% wool in 10ply. Although I originally bought 4 balls a long time ago, one was gifted to my aunt because I hadn't settled on a pattern and she was about to purchase the exact same yarn and colourway. She made a lovely cowl from the generous 200g ball. Now I'm just hoping I have enough to create the body so that this can at least be a vest.

Heart Full of Craft

The last item for this birthday themed episode is my gratitude for a holiday away. There are so many things to be grateful for in relation with this.

One is that we could actually go away for a holiday, albeit within the same state. Two is for the beautiful Australian landscape of flat lands, small mountains and autumn colours. Three is that we had actually planned this trip for an earlier time, but the place got booked up so fast we had to push it back - and the first available date turned out to be my birthday. Four is for the Kilnhouses accommodation we stayed in that was designed perfectly to enjoy the environment. Five is for the Visit Victoria travel scheme, which gave us a $200 voucher to enjoy regional Victoria. Six, which is last on this list but never last in my heart, is my wonderful partner who is always so fun and thoughtful and curious and loving.

And because this is still meant to be about knitting and crafting, I will say that our accommodation had the perfect window seat for knitting that had a view on the mountains - but I packed the wrong size knitting needles so couldn't take advantage of it for that purpose.