Knitting in Public

Last Saturday, June 14, was World Wide Knit in Public day.

I first heard of it this year, when I read about an event at Lettuce Knit in Toronto, organized by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, better know to blog readers as the Yarn Harlot. She and her friend, Rachel H., came up with a plan, and invited Franklin - artist, photographer and blogger at The Panopticon - to come to Toronto to take photos for his 1000 Knitters project.

At first, the very thought of a Knit in Public day made me giggle. I’ve been knitting pretty much forever (well, my forever) and have often carted my projects along with me everywhere from buses and subways to social gatherings. It never seemed like much of an event to me, it was just something that I did.

I was a little late coming to the on-line knitting scene. I missed out on the birth of knitting blogs. I had overlooked the existence of knitting podcasts. Not that I wasn’t on the internet, I was just distracted by all things quilting. When I did catch on, I discovered that a whole new world of knitting jargon had been born. And that knitting in public had been deemed not just a thing, but a thing that was acronym-worthy. KIP. Which always makes me think of kip, a British slang word for nap. As in “I’ve been knitting all afternoon, and now I could use a nice kip.”

So, when I heard about World Wide Knit in Public day, I wondered. Has this thing become so big that it needs its own day now? What’s the big deal? But then I learned that the point of WWKIP day is not to promote KIPping (yawn), but to bring knitters together to share in the love of a craft. Knitting is often done alone (although there are many Stitch ‘n’ Bitch groups and Knit Nights popping up all over). This is a day to encourage groups to organize events and gatherings and meet each other, knit together, and eat cupcakes. Who can argue with that?

In the end, I did attend the event at Lettuce Knit. I was happy to meet a couple of friends that I know from Ravelry, and to meet some other knitters and enjoy the homey atmosphere of Lettuce Knit, and the Kensington area of the city. I was honoured to be able to watch Franklin at work taking photographs. I even bought some yarn, and won some in a draw. All in all a very nice day, for which I give special thanks to Stephanie, Rachel H. and the owner of Lettuce Knit.

Lettuce Knit, World Wide Knit in Public Day, June 14, 2008.

Wharf ‘n’ Weave Top

Current knitting: I’m part way through knitting this summer top, which is really more like a vest that laces up the front. It’s a design by Ilga Leja, from Nova Scotia. I bought the pattern a few years ago in Halifax, at a nice yarn shop called The Loop Craft Cafe. The pattern calls for a dk or worsted weight yarn. For mine, I’ve picked a nice silk yarn called Estelle, in three colours: a natural cream, a heather green and a dark brown.

The stitch used is a simple slip stitch pattern that is really effective in blending the three colours. It’s easy, too, being mostly knits and slips, with a little bit of purl for good measure.

I love the way the slipped stitches pull the colours from one row to the next. I am currently working on the back (I decided for some reason to do back and sides separately (per the pattern), rather than all together without side seams. I’m not sure why, except that I haven’t knit a top for years, and thought I’d start slowly.) I recently finished the arm-hole shaping.

I think it’s looking quite nice, except that when I measure it, it’s about 2 inches smaller than it should be. I’m counting on the Goddess of Gauge to be good to me, and let the fabric grow during wet blocking like my gauge swatch did. I feel like I should be making some sort of offering at this point, to increase the odds of that happening.

One problem I had during the arm-hole shaping was keeping track of where in the stitch pattern I was on each row. I started out trying to figure it out in my head, then resorted to pencil and paper, writing out k k sl k sl k sl etc. and crossing out for each decreased stitch. It wasn’t until I’d finished that it dawned on me that I should have made a chart. I’m not used to knitting from charts yet, I’d always found them a little daunting until recently. So, it isn’t the first thing I think of doing for a pattern that comes as written out instructions. But this is definitely a place where a chart would have saved me from a lot of frustration. I am definitely going to make one for the neck shaping, and for the fronts.

As for the yarn, it’s pretty nice to work with, but it’s quite sticky on the needles. I started out using a bamboo circular needle and found it hard to move the stitches forward as I was knitting. I switched to an Addi Turbo circular and it made all the difference in the world. The yarn just moves along the needles like a charm, and the knitting has gone very smoothly ever since.

The pattern didn’t specify a circular needle for the straight stitching, but I found that the back was really too big to comfortably fit on straights. It also didn’t list the 3.5 mm needles for the garter stitch lace border. I didn’t know I needed them until I went to cast-on, when I was away in Florida and only carrying what I thought I needed. Oh well, I didn’t complain too much at having to find a yarn shop to buy needles. Lesson learned, though - it really does pay to actually skim through the pattern before starting (or packing the suitcase).

Socks and Blocks

I finally got down to some sewing last Saturday. I had a deadline - that usually helps with the motivation. I was making a quilt block as a contribution to a group quilt. I think it’s safe to post about it here, as the recipient would have no way of knowing that this was me, and the quilt was for her.

Anyway, it was a pretty simple, traditional block called Churn Dash. Nothing I haven’t made before. But I struggled with the first seam, ripped and restitched it twice, all the while wondering what was wrong with my sewing machine. And then I finally realized that I had the piping foot on it, which was causing no end of distortion in the seam. Once I changed the foot things improved, and the block got sewn.

The thing that made me sad, though, was the realization that if the piping foot was still on the machine it meant that I hadn’t used it since I finished sewing up the last of the kitchen chair cushion covers. That was at the end of January. That was three months ago! I haven’t sewn anything for three months! I must do something to fix that. Sewing makes me happy.

(I could post about the marathon that was the kitchen chair cushions, but that can wait for another day).

Anyway, I drove up to Uxbridge to drop off the block, and on the way home I stopped in at On The Lamb, the yarn shop on the lower level of the Tin Mill Restaurant. It’s a nice shop, with a very friendly owner. I wanted to pick up some more sizes of bamboo double pointed needles for sock knitting. But I couldn’t resist the lure of the yarn, and ended up buying a ball of very pretty sock yarn, SRK On Your Toes bamboo/nylon blend in a very pretty, summery colourway. Now, I know last post I said I wasn’t buying any stash yarn, but everyone knows that sock yarn doesn’t count. It’s like fat quarters. Small, useful and inexpensive. And, look at this, who could resist?

Each of the four plies is a different colour: pink, blue, yellow and grey.

Anyway, I finished my previous pair of socks, the black and grey that I posted about previously, so I need to start another pair. Although I’m working a gauge swatch for a pair of Cakewaffle Socks right now, so I guess they will come first. Then I want to make something light and lacy for summer.

Knitting also makes me happy.