For Want Of A Zipper........

................the race was lost.

Yes, despite my best efforts, I just couldn't manage to get that "Tomten" jacket finished in time for my parents departure back to the UK at 5pm on Sunday night. With the weekend packed full of events like 'The Little Guy's' first soccer game of the season and a tourist trip to the local Ice Caves, I just ran out of time.

I did try hard. I knit the final border up the front and around the hood on Friday night, which made a superb finish. My plan then was to sew in all the ends, stitch up the sleeve seams and then put in the 16" zipper. The problem was, I only had a 10" zip in my stash (it's a zip because I bought it in England and that's what we call them there.)

After Saturday morning's soccer game, I raced to my LYS in the vague hope that my friend might have a secret supply of zippers hidden away somewhere. No luck. Even the swift round of phonecalls she made to local quilting stores along my proposed route to the ice caves that afternoon, proved fruitless. Looking at my schedule, there was just no way that I could fit in a drive to the city, just to pick up a zipper and then get said zipper stitched correctly into the garment.

I gave up.

The jacket is rather on the large side, so there's plenty of growing room knitted into it, I reasoned. There really is no rush to get it off to my niece. Pride was also beginning to take over. Did I really want to rush the finishing touches on this project? Haste would only raise the odds of making a gargantuan mistake at the last hurdle. Did I really want to risk that?

The answer was "No!"

So where is the "Tomten" now? Sitting in my basket of WIP's. After all, when the pressure's off, what's a knitter to do?

Why, cast on for something new ofcourse. =)

PS. If you're in the UK, check out BBC2 at 8.45pm on Wed 16th Sept and see my cousin, James Bumpass, boning an oxtail on "Masterchef!"

A Relegated Knitter

Have you ever been out knit? You know, someone else nearby is constantly managing to create the most wonderful things and you're struggling to even pick up the needles. To start with it's mildly irritating, but after a few weeks it REALLY begins to grate.

Such is my situation now. For all of my good intentions, I managed only about an hour of free knitting time during my vacation. It just wasn't that kind of holiday. In fact, I was so pathetic that I couldn't even get my act together enough to knit in the car as we drove to Canada. In my haste to get everyone and everything safely stashed in the vehicle, I completely forgot to throw my knitting on to the front seat. Halfway to Vancouver, I turned round to see that DD2 was knitting on a fushia pink winter hat and grinning like the cat who got the cream!

So much for being a knitter with a capital "K". This summer I've turned into a pathetic excuse for a knitter. A knitter who is definitely a knitter with a small "k" and should really be considered a "nitter" with no "k" at all! If I was a soccer team I definitely wouldn't be first division material and would now have almost certainly been dropped from the division and perhaps even relegated to the bottom of the league. Yes, relegation is my new calling.

In fact, my only saving grace was that I did have the forethought to pack my knitting bag where I could find it for the return journey. What a godsend that turned out to be. Friday night at the US/Canadian border is no picnic, I can tell you. I was relieved to have the scarf to knit and the latest copy of "Interweave Knits" to browse through while we sat in line. Eventually, I decided to take pictures of the beautiful garden at the border, a decision that very nearly resulted in me getting left behind. I was just heading back to our vehicle when they waved our block of cars on to the front of the line. I rarely run in public (and for good reason) but the prospect of being left in Canada with no passport and no money was enough for me to attempt to emulate Usain Bolt, much to the amusement of my fellow travellers!

We waited over two hours just to have the pleasure of showing our green cards to a stern border patrolman, who asked whether we'd bought anything and got hit by one of P.A's "Er, wells?" This was not the time for a laid back, contemplative "Er, well?" His suspicion aroused, the border guard ducked his head back in time to hear that DD1 had "just bought a few clothes." Now anyone with half a brain would know that purchasing anything up there would have been pretty pointless. The clothing was so small that I could have dressed a doll with it and there wasn't a yarn store within miles of downtown (I did google them.) Add to that the fact that everything cost a lot more than it does here at home and you get my point. Unless they happened to be selling Quivit nextdoor to my hotel, then I wasn't going to be tempted by much.

In California last week, I managed an hour on my Kid's Keyhole Scarf. I console myself with the fact that it was the most complicated part, as I managed to make the 'keyhole' part while I was there. Still, I am definitely fodder for the "Knitter Relegation Squad" when it comes to airline travel. Yes, I confess, I was intimidated by airline security and so I packed my knitting in my suitcase. I like to travel light too, which means that I check my tiny, roll along suitcase and then watch the rest of my fellow travellers trying to shove theirs into the overhead lockers. It's actually rather amusing. Here in the US you can bring a handbag and a small case on to the plane. As a European, I'm used to travelling with a lot greater luggage restriction and frankly, the hassle of trying to fight other people for that locker space is just not worth it. While they're wrestling with their hand luggage, I have usually left the plane and am cruising into the terminal to retrieve my roll along from the baggage carousel. I arrive at my destination a whole lot calmer and less dishevelled.

Still, I haven't mastered the art yet of aeroplane knitting. What are the rules? How do you get needles and stitch holders past airport security? Do you just use bamboo for airline travel and are socks out of the question because the needles are so small and sharp?

To avoid relegation, I think I need to know!

I'd Love To Knit, But....................

Now I know that this is the same picture that I posted on Monday, but don't worry, you're not having a Groundhog Day experience. It is the same picture because, to put it simply, I have not knitted a stitch since Sunday!

I know, it's beyond comprehension isn't it. How on earth am I managing to survive, you're thinking? Well, I have to tell you, I'M HANGING ON BY A THREAD! (excuse the pun.)

The withdrawal symptoms started yesterday. I swear that I was shaking uncontrollably as I got out of the car in the afternoon, although that could have had something to do with my 'car-crazed' teen who was driving. This first week of Driver's Ed has completely taken over my life. Never have I needed to knit so much and yet never have I been so strapped for time.

To relieve my stress, I've been compelled to paint The Little Guy's bedroom. This project is coming along famously, it's just the assortment of toys and trash that his room has disgorged that's the problem. Climbing over an extra nightstand, three boxes of stuffed animals and a model aeroplane to get into my bed every night does nothing to quieten the mind at the end of a long day. I fall asleep aching and exhausted dreaming of traffic cones and kids in diapers driving high speed vehicles.

Fully aware of my present state of mind, DD2 has wisely suggested that we wait until the painting is done before we begin our Swallowtail Shawl KAL. Thank goodness someone is talking sense right now. It's certainly uplifting to have a pal who understands your pain; someone who doesn't Cast On in front of you; someone who is sensitive enough to take their own knitting to a babysitting gig and afterwards refrain from proudly showing you how much they've accomplished.

Although she's only been knitting for a year, DD2's become an amazingly astute knitter. Somehow she just seems to know when to usher me up to my room, place my knitting bag at my feet and say;

"Here, Mum. Knit!"

Still Into Lace

Hours Remaining........ 25hrs 00mins

It's all go. I haven't wanted to pick up my needles for the past 24hrs. I must be ill. I need to pick up my needles if only for the meditative therapy, but I just can't face it right now. Maybe I need to start a garter stitch scarf or something? An eco wool blanket like The Yarn Harlot's making might do the trick I suppose, although a garter stitch blanket does seem rather a large project to undertake when I'm (hopefully) just in a rut.

Maybe it's too much lace, after all I have just knitted my Lace Ribbed Top (photos to come when I stand still long enough to get someone to take some.) It's turned out great I can tell, because DD2 has already suggested that if it doesn't fit me she'll have it! Honestly, if she can't get her hands on my yarn before it's made, she'll try to afterwards. I'm thinking of having a T-shirt printed with "Hands Off My Hanks!" emblazoned on it.

Anyway, we do have growth in the bathroom curtain department. I am seriously wishing that I'd cast on about half as many stitches when I began, as the window is not very wide and I could have got away with a lot less. I've been tempted to frog, but then I think of my night with Daniel Craig and the will to continue returns. There are just too many memories wrapped up in this now. I also have the most enormous ball of yarn to use so I need to really make a dent in it if only to reduce the need for future storage.

DD2 and I are also planning our first summer Knit-A-Long (KAL). We are hoping to tackle Evelyn Clark's Swallowtail Lace Shawl. Feel free to join us if you want to, but I warn you we're slow! In preparation we have raided our stash and come up with some Knit Picks Shadow which we have wound ready to go. I will be using a deep red colour called "Hot Rod" and SusieLusie (DD2) is going for the "Spring Green". Let's hope we'll both still be into lace when (if) we finish.

Hours remaining........24hrs 30 mins

Knitting - An Extreme Sport?

I'm suffering. It started when I woke up yesterday, the niggling ache at the base of my spine. Then, in less than 12hrs, my body went from age 43 to age 93! Honestly, aside from the clothing (I am still youthful in some aspects,) I wouldn't look out of place behind one of those zimmerframes with the off-road wheels that seem to be all the rage amongst the elderly these days.

I haven't a clue what I've done this time, but sometimes this just happens. The family are being their usual sympathetic selves (I don't think!) and P.A. even suggested that I may have injured my back by doing TOO MUCH KNITTING.

Now where on earth did he get that one from? Since when was knitting considered an extreme sport? Let's face it, the way I look right now, people are bound to assume that I've either been basejumping, ice climbing or free running (Parkour) not cleaning my house (although that feels like an extreme sport at times) and knitting a summer top.

However, on further investigation I have discovered that knitting does bear some resemblance to a hard core sport. Wikipedia says that extreme sports "often involve speed, height, high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear or spectacular stunts." I think that just about covers knitting, don't you?

Take speed for example. Some knitters can knit so fast that their needles just become a blur. Hazel Tindell and Miriam Tegels are the world's fastest knitters. Take a look at this!

Then there's "height". Seeing as there are, at this moment, hundreds of Nepalese women handknitting products for small handicraft companies right there in the Himalayas, I think they've pretty well got the height issue covered. Plus, there's all of those Peruvian knitters creating knitted masterpieces at altitude too. Height? Yup, we knitters have that one sussed!

Now "the high level of physical exertion" aspect is slightly more subjective, don't you think? We're all different. A high level for one is just a walk in the park to another. But, if you qualify physical exertion by number of injuries, I think we can also take on the best of them there too. The fact that we even have to consider ergonomics when it comes to knitting, shows that we're right up there with cycling , basejumping (ergonomic bags are a must) and kite surfing.

"Highly specialized gear" - well, this one's obvious, just look at all the needles out there. Cable needles, square ones, circulars, different lengths and thicknesses of each, you really can't get more 'specialized' in the equipment department than that. As for "stunts", well C6B,C6F looks pretty impressive to me not to mention the art of double knitting. The greatest knitting stunt I've ever seen was someone knitting two socks at once, but one inside the other. (Peacework Magazine had a good article on this back in January.)

So, on reflection, I think P.A. may have been on to something when he put my back troubles down to my fibre fascination. Knitting could be said to be a specialized, urban athletic pursuit, although I put my back troubles down to the consequences of childbirth. Having had three children without the aid of medical intervention, well that really is an extreme sport!

The Mist Lace Scarf And The Cat

Well, here it is, my lace scarf. I just have to sew in the ends and take some decent photos of it.

It blocked up really well thanks to the Knit Picks wires and pins and as for the blocking mats, well, they are marvellous. It takes a while to get rid of that nasty chemical smell that you get with new foam, but if you can get past that, then the tiles themselves are great. I particularly love the fact that I can put them together according to the shape of my piece. In this case I made my blocking board 2 tiles deep and 5 long. I bought two boxes of them rather than one, just to be sure that I could easily block larger projects (each set contains nine 12" mats.) They slotted together beautifully and the pins slipped effortlessly into the foam.

The blocking took place in my bedroom. Having spent so much time on this scarf, I just had to find a place where the yarn could do its thing without the risk of a cat or child accidently destroying it.

My cat, Oliver, has often been tempted. Unattended yarn is like a red rag to a bull with him. I once caught him sneaking up on a pair of Two-At-A-Time socks. When I sprinted across the room yelling at him to "Get Off!" he panicked (wouldn't you?) and took off, catching the yarn around his neck and dragging my "work-in-progress" with him. Cat and knitter could be seen tearing around the house yarn and swear words flying. I finally cornered him in the front room. He looked innocently up at me with a heel flap dangling from his ear. As he resembles the ginger cat in "Shrek," you can picture the look he gave me. "Hard luck, cat," I thought, "if you had the voice of Antonio Banderas, I might fall for your charm, but not this time. I'm not so easily taken in."

Somehow I managed to retrieve my socks from my manic moggy. Actually, I think he was just as relieved as I was. Getting caught up in a mass of fiber and needles was proving to be less fun than he'd anticipated, I think. He looked at me as if I'd saved him from a terrible fate and then slinked off to lay in the sun for a while. Miraculously not a stitch was loss.

Since then I've had to be far more vigilant when Oliver is anywhere near my knitting (yes, he's named after that cuddly little kitten from the Disney animated movie, but he's about as far from that image now as a cat could possibly get.) Even leaping up to answer the phone can mean that when I return I get halfway through the next row to find the yarn has been gently gnawed through in my absense. Obviously blocking lace requires a room with a closed door and if necessary a full blown barricade.

When I took pictures of my work he 'pretended' to protect it.

When I started to block he positioned himself at the top of the stairs in a nonchalent fashion.......................but watched everything!

Somehow the scarf survived and therefore so did he, but the battle lines have been drawn.

Animal Antics

Well, I'm at the frog pond with my "Monkeys" already! I know, I've barely started, but being the dunderhead that I am I got so caught up in knitting the lace pattern that I forgot that I should be doing the sole in stockinette. Yes, I have 5 rounds of lace on both the top and bottom of the foot. That'll teach me to knit late at night when I'm tired!

So, 'Rip-it', 'Rip-it' was a regular mumble last night as I moaned, grumbled and frogged back to the start of my lace pattern. It sure isn't 'easy being green', as the most famous frog of all time would say.

Green was definitely a colour that was on my radar yesterday. While running errands in the next town, I just happened to be close enough to the yarn store where I bought my Noro Kureyon back in the fog bound days of last Autumn (it became "Sea Urchin.") Naturally, I popped in, signed up as a preferred customer and came away with this gorgeous local sock yarn to gift to a friend.

I think I'll direct her to Cookie A's "Monkey" pattern too and see what animal antics she comes up with!

The Ergonomics of Knitting

I was reading a blog comment recently from a knitter who suffers from Repetitive Stress Injury. She was saying how important it is for her to rest and care for her hands and arms so that she can still enjoy her favourite craft. It got me thinking.

RSI is a very common modern day ailment. Since the advent of the computer, more and more people have become subject to movements that are so repetitive that they eventually cause pain and injury. As knitters, we are also open to injury. Knitting requires us to make the same movements with our hands again and again to create our garments. We often sit for long periods of time with heavy amounts of fabric hanging from our hands too. Over time this can lead to pain, not just in our hands and elbows, but in our backs and shoulders. If we are not aware of what we are doing, then it can lead us to a life of immense pain and even surgery.

So, how do we look after ourselves so that we can enjoy our craft well into our twilight years?

I found a number of interesting articles on this subject when I started surfing the internet:

Knittingabout.com had lots of good tips in this piece;

Accidental Yarnover has some valuable ideas here;

And there's a great discussion of this subject here at Knitters Review.

My conclusion is that it's very important to:

a) Get your posture right. Sit comfortably with both feet on the ground and make sure you have adequate lighting.

b) Relax!!!

c) Take regular breaks, setting a timer as a reminder if necessary

d) Keep your joints warm - use wristwarmers or salve to help

e) Use circular needles whenever possible as they easily hold the weight of the fabric in your lap rather than your hands

f) Work on a variety of projects using different sized needles.

The last one is my particular favourite. I aways knew there was a good reason why I have so many WIP's!!

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Have you got any tips or tricks you'd like to share? E-mail me at the above address or leave a message in the comments. Thanks.

Historical Beginnings

It would appear that I'm a cottage knitter. You know, one of those old-English, working class, country folk who knitted practical items out of necessity rather than desire. Not that I knit out of necessity, you understand, although you could say that when someone really gets into knitting, the practice of it could be classed as a necessity! No, what I'm referring to is the way I hold my needles.

I've always been a bit embarrassed about the way I hold my knitting needles. You see, nothing's changed for me in that department since I was 8yrs old. I hold both needles in the palms of my hands in a rather inelegant fashion and expend a lot of energy letting go of the right one to wind the yarn around the tip to make the stitch. During my travels, I've become aware of several different ways of knitting that seem to be so much more refined...... and fast; the Continental style, started in Germany, the Peruvian techniques and even the pencil-holding style that is often taught as the English 'thrower' method of knitting.

Reading the first few chapters of Richard Rutt's excellent book, "A History of Hand Knitting", I've discovered that the English style that we know and love ( and which I don't do) was first introduced to Britain during the Victorian era when knitting moved from being a cottage craft to an artistic pastime performed by "ladies". In order to exhibit their hands to their best advantage, these women started to hold their right hand needle like a pencil. This was said to make the exercise of knitting appear more delicate and refined, allowing the little finger of the right hand to be crooked just like they did when drinking tea.

Although it's a bit of a blow to discover that my knitting technique is less than refined, I have been immensely comforted by the fact that it does in fact date from pre-Victorian times. Rather than being the method left over from starting my craft at the tender age of 8, I am truely excited to discover instead that I am a living relic (when it comes to my knitting style at least!) What was good enough for the Shetlanders for centuries is good enough for me.

I will henceforth hold my head high and my needles just the way I've always done!

Christmas Spirit

Every year in Norway the televison channels broadcast their children's advent calendar. It's a series of programmes screened in 24 episodes, one for each day of December right up until Christmas Eve. This year NRK1 is showing "Jul I Blåfjell."

My children loved this show. The eldest was just 7yrs old when it was first screened back in 1999 and since then December isn't December for her without all the blånisse (the mountain elves.) Before we left Norway we bought the series on DVD, so now here we are in America watching "Blåfjell." DD1 can be found stretched out in front of the TV every night (she's very tall now, so takes up a lot more space than she did when she was 7) watching the 'julekalender.'

We have introduced her little brother to it as well. Although he no longer understands everything, he is now beginning to sing along to some of the songs and we translate the story for him when he gets confused. Last week, he was so excited about Blåfjell, that he just had to run and find the blue elf hat and sweater that I had made him when he was about three. Thankfully, it is oversize so still fitted after a fashion.

The sequel to this show is called "Månetoppen" and features some red elves who live on the farms below the blue mountain. Several years ago, I also made him a special red hat and sweater from a pattern published to promote that t.v. show too. Last weekend my Little Guy insisted on slipping into that outfit as well!

It's wonderful to see how much our knitted items can enhance every area of our lives. We knit a lot for every day use and don't think that it's such a big deal, but it really is. Seeing the delight on my son's face as he wore items that I'd made for him years ago, but that he associates with a special ocassion, made me realise that what I do is not just 'knitting.' We have it in our power to create memories with our knitted items. This is my legacy. Provided the moths don't get them or they aren't lost, the items I make for people and the spirit in which they are made, are what I will leave behind.

Anyway, enough of that. Not to be outdone, here are the pictures of the finished Tretta hat too. I've had a lot of compliments on it, so even although the yarn was slightly thicker than recommended, I'm finding it perfect for our more northerly climate.

Fiber Fanatic

I seem to be getting overexcited! I don't know what it is: the time of year, pending election or just my mood, but I seem to have so many projects either on the go or queued.

It's ridiculous. I'm passionately pursuing yarn as if I'm an addict (I'm not, am I??!!). I have so many knitting books on loan from the library that hubby has started looking at me with a "don't-mind-her-she's-one-skein-short-of-a-bag" sort of expression on his face and I'm perusing knitting magazines and websites like a woman possessed. Suddenly my thirst is unquenchable.

Then I wonder why I have no time for knitting!

It's not as if I'm exactly overrun with hours in the day to complete my projects anyway. With three active children and an absent spouse (he travels), I have more than enough to do just holding hearth and home together and trying to get to grips with American culture. To be struck down by sweaty palms and a racing heart just by the sight of the latest copy of "Interweave Knits" is really more than a woman can bear.

I need therapy!

I'd better go and cast on. After all knitting really is the best therapy I know.