A bit about names--
Some of you have asked how I name my designs, so here are a few notes about each design and why it was given its particular name.
Miss Jane—Miss Jane Marple is the sleuth in several of Agatha Christie's world-famous murder mysteries. She's a “sweet old biddy’, who is “always knitting’ and frequently “draped in fluffy wool’. I thought she was just about as perfect a knitting patron saint as I could find.
Agatha Sweaterdress—since I borrowed one of her main characters, I felt it was only fitting that my first design should be named after Ms. Christie herself.
Beatrice Sweater—I was watching the gritty crime drama, “The Wire’ one evening and noticed how one of the female cops, Beatrice, was always so frumpily dressed. This is what I thought she might like to wear.
Nora Stole—this is named for my youngest daughter after she drew me a little design in crayon of the kind of shawl she wanted me to knit her. She required that it have leaves in it, so I chose the excellent lace pattern, Vine Leaves, and turned it into a beginning lace project.
Emmadora Stole—my sister-in-law was married on New Year's Eve and I needed something really special and unique to wear with my evening dress. She's always wanted to name her firstborn daughter Emmadora, so I thought it might bring some good luck to name the stole the same!
Violet Scarf—another collaboration with my youngest daughter, so I let her name this one. She chose to name it after Violet Baudelaire, the plucky and inventive older sister in “The Series of Unfortunate Events’ books by Lemony Snicket.
Finding inspiration in a small bookshop
I recently found myself in a used bookshop, the wonderful, old-fashioned kind where you can still find a treasure on almost every shelf. In this day and age of mega-Internet booksellers, it is a true delight to wander a small shop, resting your eyes on interesting or long-forgotten titles. This particular bookshop had a nice little collection of sewing, knitting, and handcraft books and I found a treasure in “Couture’ (edited by Ruth Lynam). “Couture’ is an engaging and exhaustive volume about the French haute couture industry with excellent chapters written by a variety of people involved in the couture world. There is a fascinating chapter written by the manager of an atelier which gives a unique insider´s view of how the business of fashion operated. I find the primary charm of this book is that it was published in 1972 and reflects on haute couture from the House of Worth until the late 1960s. The absence of the modern frenzy of fashion and couture is refreshing and I felt I was entering a wonderful world of elegant woman and amazingly gifted couturiers with all the people in-between.
In the same bookshop (it really was a wonderful shop!), I found a sweet and delightful book, “Painting as a Pastime’ by Winston Churchill. Churchill took up oil painting in his 40s during a particularly stressful time in his career. This book is so charming and so inspiring, that I must give an excerpt. For all of you knitters out there, just insert “knitting’ for “painting’ and I think you will heartily agree with Mr. Churchill:
“I have written in this way to show how varied are the delights which may be gained by those who enter hopefully and thoughtfully upon the pathway of painting; how enriched they will be in their daily vision, fortified in their independence, how happy in their leisure. Whether you feel that your soul is pleased with the conception or contemplation of harmonies, or that your mind is stimulated by the aspect of magnificent problems, or whether you are content to find fun in trying to observe and depict the jolly things you see, the vistas of possibility are limited only by the shortness of life. Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.’
Knitting Pep Talk
Miss Jane is a rather peppy person, but even she finds herself discouraged after tearing out yet another section of hard-won knitting or rewriting directions for the tenth time. So for all of you knitters who come to a spot where you wish you had someone to give you a little pep talk, here it is:
Dearest one (Miss Jane has an old friend who begins all correspondence this way and she finds the phrase very uplifting),
You are frustrated, you are discouraged. Yet again, you feel the crush of failure and you´re not sure you´ll get up again. You wonder and question if this is worth your time and energy when you cannot seem to make headway.
But, take heart, you are doing a wonderful thing and you must carry on. You are knitting and in the simple process of putting two wooden or steel needles together with a strand of yarn, you are joining a long and proud procession of people throughout history who have joined in the creative dance and tried to add one beautiful thing to this lovely old world. You will fail, you will rip out, you will start over. But every good thing is worth the work and every mistake will teach you more than the successes. You have the opportunity to build discipline and fortitude and these are mighty things to own. They are not easy, and they take patience and humility to acquire, but they are worth the having. Each stitch you knit, each row you complete, is moving you forward in both your skill and your patience. It is a delightful thing to be good at something, but it does not happen overnight. You will keep working and you will either complete this project, or lay it aside and choose another, but either way, you will keep working. You will do this day after day, month after month, year after year, and soon you will look back on your life and say, “I´m a good knitter!’ and join the ranks of people of skill.
So look again at your work and see not the mistakes or the frustrations, but see the shining and golden opportunity of becoming good at something. Tackle it again, or lay it aside for a time until you are ready, but do come back. And first and foremost, contemplate the gift you have been given—the gift of creating something beautiful with your own two hands.
Knit with joy!
Recommendations for New Knitters
Knitting can seem like a very overwhelming task when you first begin. Which yarn—fuzzy, thick, thin, variegated, or classic worsted (what is worsted, anyway)? Which needles--circular, bamboo, steel, glass, fancy or plain? What tools do I need? The attraction of the amazing variety of textiles you can create is dizzying. For those of you who like to flit hither and thither, sampling the delights, taking up one yarn, laying down another, you are in your native land and need no advice since you will eventually find your way. But for those who feel a little at sea and like a more organized approach, here are some suggestions:
Once you have one knitting project completed (even if it is the ever-popular beginner´s scarf), it can be very helpful to see if you have a particular size of yarn and needle that you like working with best. I did not discover this for years until I started looking back on my knitting and noticing that I was continually searching for the same weight yarn (and my favorite needle size was getting worn off at the tip!). It seemed that all of the projects I made in a particular weight of yarn always turned out and that I enjoyed the knitting the most. Once I discovered the yarn weight I liked best, I started focusing on techniques and garments that used this yarn to best advantage. It´s kind of like a painter deciding if he likes large canvases with big brushes, medium-sized landscapes with medium brushes, or miniatures with tiny brushes.
1.
Try the following three thicknesses of yarn and see which one you like working with best—worsted (approx. 4-5 sts to the inch), chunky (approx. 3 sts to the inch), and fingering, also called sportweight, (approx. 6-7 sts to the inch). Purchase one skein of each in a color and fiber you really like and knit a large gauge swatch—about 6 inches square. To work the swatch, cast on 36 sts for worsted, 24 sts for chunky, and 48 sts for fingering. For the first three rows, work in garter st, knitting every row. Next row (rightside row): K3, knit across to last 3 sts, K3. Next row (wrong side row): K3, purl across to last 3 sts, K3. Repeat these two rows until the gauge measures 4-6’ then work the last three rows as garter st (knitting every row). By working the K3 at the edges of the gauge swatch, you will produce a “frame’ around the knitting which will not only make it easier to measure because it keeps the knitting from curling, but it will make it easier to see the possibilities of the yarn because it looks more like a finished piece rather than a scrap of knitting.
2.
Now evaluate—did you like working with the chunky, worsted, or fingering weight better? Which size needle did you like best—the larger, medium, or smaller? Which felt best while you were working? Which seemed to “flow’ the best as you were knitting? Look at the swatch and see the fabric you´ve produced—which do you like the look of best? Do you like the way you can see the stitches of the chunky yarn in great detail or do you prefer the regularity of the fingering yarn? Do you like the worsted because it´s kind of in-between? Feel the swatch with your eyes closed and imagine wearing this fabric—which feels best? Pay attention to the kinds of fibers you choose—did you like wool, silk, cotton, blends, etc.?
3.
After answering the above questions, you´ll have a better idea of what kind of knitting you like. If you liked the chunky yarn, then choose a project with a chunky yarn and maybe some easy texture pattern like seed stitch or ribbing (your local yarnshop staff should be able to help with this). If you liked the worsted yarn, you might consider working something in cables (they are really not that hard and marvelously satisfying to work and then look at afterwards). If you like the fingering weight, then you might want to look at a simple lace pattern (see my Emmadora stole pattern—it´s a little heavier than fingering weight, but the detail is similar to what fingering yarn produces).
4.
Knit a project up in the yarn and needle size you liked best (even a really simple scarf will do) and see if you continue to like this weight and what the yarn does.
5.
Once you have one or two successful projects under your belt, it´s time to tackle techniques. Generally speaking, there is a great difference between American and European approaches to handcraft in that Americans tend to be very project-oriented and Europeans tend to be more technique-oriented. I think a middle ground is ideal—you want to complete some enjoyable projects, but you also want to keep an eye to your “technique toolkit’ and keep adding to it on a regular basis because this will broaden your knowledge and enjoyment of knitting over the long run. Some of the basic techniques include correct gauge swatching (this means a 4’ square gauge!), learning to measure your knitting correctly, and basic finishing techniques (blocking and seaming, including side seams, shoulder seams, and set-in sleeves). If your local yarnshop offers a finishing course—take it! I have seen more hand-knitted projects that were carefully and lovingly made and then finished in an ignorant manner, thereby ruining a perfectly good garment (of course, poorly finished garments can be taken apart, but it is time-consuming and you might need to read the Knitting Pep Talk once or twice to get through it!). Once you´ve got these Basics in your toolkit, it´s time to have some fun. Start looking around and try something that intrigues you—cables, lace knitting, intarsia, mosaic, Estonian, socks, top down garments, raglan garments, garments with a steek, Fair Isle, bags, felting—the sky´s the limit when it comes to knitting techniques and your mode of operation at this point is to challenge yourself and create something you´re really proud of. There are books on every knitting technique under the sun and most are pretty good (if you´re on a budget, check your local library—they usually have lots of knitting books and you can often put “holds’ on the newest releases). One technique may lead to another or you may find yourself quite happy to dabble away at the same technique because you are so dazzled by it. Don´t be concerned if you seem to have found your favorite type of knitting and that you´re not “branching out’—there´s much to be said for delving deeper and deeper into lace knitting or becoming an Estonian sock expert!
6.
If you´ve enjoyed everything thus far, then next in your knitting education is to take a peek at fashion. Now, some of us have a very poor opinion of fashion and when one considers the amount of trash these days that passes for fashion, I have to concur. But we all have to wear clothes (well, at least most of us do) and it can be very interesting to start studying garment construction, in particular knitwear. Look around on the street, in the grocery store, or the bowling alley (if you happen to find yourself in one) and notice what people are wearing. Your uncle´s Aran sweater he bought in Ireland, your mom´s favorite afghan (knit in horrible acrylic, but a really cool pattern), your brother´s Gap sweater that fits so great and seems to wear like iron. Learn to tell the difference between raglan and set-in sleeves, V-neck and scoop neck and remember what you like and dislike and keep it in mind for your next knitting project. If you´re enjoying this, find some fashion books and study a little more—it can be quite an interesting pursuit.
At this point, you really do not need any more advice and can consider yourself officially launched into the marvelous world of knitting and garment construction. So, grab those needles—you know what to do!