Woolful and a repost about imperfection!

So rather than today's I Made This, I have some news, and a repost!

The news is that I was lucky enough to chat with Ashley Yousling of Woolful for her podcast recently and it went up yesterday! You can listen to it here. I'm featured alongside the lovely Karen from Fringe Association, whose blog I featured way back in the very early days of this blog. Fringe is one of my favourite blogs, always informative and inspiring. And Ashley's podcast is wonderful. If you haven't heard it yet you can get them all from iTunes or from her blog. I feel really lucky to be included in such fine company!

Karen on the left and me on the right.

The repost today is of a post that was originally called Perfection in Imperfection, and I wanted to highlight it because I thought it went along well with the podcast. I Made This will be back next week but in a way this repost is really an old version of I Made This from me (I kicked off the series with this post). There are so many more of you reading now than there were a year and a half ago, so many of you may not have seen it.  

This quilt is one of the things that I am most proud of, and not because it is perfect. Rather it is because of all I learned and also because I love it. Everytime I see it it makes me happy and reminds me that I am able to create stuff I love with really simple techniques.

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So I finished a single bed quilt - it's the sample for the Anatomy of a Quilt class we were running - and after that will live out it's life on my spare bed. It's not perfect. Nor is it what I hoped or thought it would be when I started. But I really really love it!

Which has lead to a very photo heavy post!! Apologies. 

I had this idea when I started it. I had some gorgeous linen from Tessuti* - over two metres of it in fact. It is such a simple beautiful pattern that I didn't want to cut it up - I reckon it would have gone against the laws of nature.

*If you are ever looking for gorgeous linen then check out Tessuti - just stunning!! 

So a whole cloth quilt was the only way forward. I wanted super simple but without too much quilting as I still wanted the linen to be able to move and wrinkle. Nothing better than wrinkled linen. The spare room it was made for is a simple space so i wanted something that would fit. 

I had been practicing my hand quilting by making a few baby quilts for my smallest girl child and I really wanted to try something bigger. That said I didn't have time (and maybe not the courage yet?)  to handquilt the whole thing. So what to do. I haven't come across many quilts that use handquilting and machine quilting in the one quilt but I thought I would give it a try. My idea was some feature quilting in the middle and then machine quilting in off-white around it, so you would see the impression of the quilting lines but they would be played down. I used organic cotton batting which meant I could leave the quilting lines to about 5/6inches apart. Having the quilting lines so far apart meant I got to keep my favourite linen characteristic - wrinkles!!

There are so many issues with this quilt - which is going to make it a great teaching piece - sooo many issues....

But I really want to focus on how much I love it. The fact that it doesn't need to be perfect to be perfect. That it can be beautiful without being perfect. The fact that I learnt so many many things while making it. Things that I actually already knew in theory but I now have tangible proof of. Gotta love some in-your-face mistakes to help you really learn.

It was also a good reminder that even though your initial idea might not work - this looks nothing like what I planned - it can turn out even better. 

Have you had mistakes that turn out better than the original idea?? 

Felicia

Around the Traps -#4 the really good stuff!

So a few random things I am loving over the last few weeks. Really loving!

A Course
The first is that I have seen that Christine's online Pitch Perfect course is running through Squam for a second time. I paid to do this course last year as I was planning to approach some magazines about some of the things we talk about on this here blog (I haven't got around to it yet but maybe someday!) And even though I am yet to write a single pitch, I got so much out of it! It definitely isn't a writing course - it is a pitching course - that is made very clear from the outset.  And while I agree that we weren't learning how to write, I do think the course made me a much more thoughtful writer. The aim of the course is to teach you how to write the perfect query letter to get your writing published. But for me though, the biggest thing I took away from the course was a new way of thinking; about planning your article (or in my case blog post), about the article's structure and about the audience you are writing for. This course material was one of those things that once learned, can never be unlearned. I really loved it. If you do any kind of writing then this is worth a look. 

Some Collections
Two new collections that have been released in the last few weeks that I totally love are;

1. Anthology II from the lovely Carrie (who I have featured on the blog before because I love her!). This collection is pretty perfect. She is a bit of a genius for all the reasons I mentioned in my post about her. 
2. Quince&Co have just released a collection called Home that I am just a little obsessed with. I adore this and this and this. All of them have joined my queue. But sadly not a single one of them is on #mymakinglist2015. Yet.

Pattern is Theolie and the yarn is Juno Alice Sock.

A Knitalong
The lovely Kylie (who until recently worked at the lovely Sunspun) has started a summer knitalong to use up those special single skeins of yarn that are sitting there waiting for the perfect project. I've cast on a shawl using yarn I've been saving for who-knows-how-long for who-knows-what (I could also add a who-knows-why to this). There is a rav group  and a hashtag #summerofthesingleskein. Many of you probably have something lying around just begging to be used?? 

A List
Finally I came across this wonderful fantabulous list posted by While She Naps entitled the 20 podcasts to listen to while you're crafting. I love finding new podcasts; always good to mix it up and find something fresh. I have only just started to go through the list but I am totally loving Alec. Abby mentions This American Life in passing (it's not on the list), and while I don't want to tell you what to do, I need to say that even if you don't listen to it very often (or ever!) you must check out this week's. The episode is called Batman and it will change your perception about the world forever! I made the fella listen to it because it was just that good and he came up to me going "ohmygodfeliciahowamazing". "I know mate, I know!" He is British - so this is big big praise. 

Enjoy lovely people. I'll see you Monday with some knitting tips.

Felicia x

Around The Traps #3 - Recycling Yarn

I spoke yesterday on Stash Less about how restrictions can make some projects sing. So today I thought I could post you to some inspiration around the same topic.

People using recycled yarn.

Grid Junky - Jerome Sevilla who is a super inspiring maker who I came across on etsy (I think?) some time ago. He exclusively uses recycled yarn for his projects and his knitting is gorgeous. He shows his process to harvest yarn on Tumblr. He documents his projects in a really inspiring and helpful way. Jerome's designs have a really unique feel to them which he talks about a little bit in last week's brand new Woolful podcast (which you should really have a listen too!) this week and was so interesting. 

The Better Sweater project - although this isn't updated that often, I love the outcomes of this project. I'm really hoping she continues to document her process as I find her garments so wearable. It makes me want to not be so lazy and go yarn harvesting.  

Here is a post about the How To Recycle Yarn and a second How To Recycle Yarn post and a third.

And after you have listened to last week's Woolful podcast you should have a listen to Jules of Woollen Flower, who is one of our super special teachers at The Craft Sessions (and Jacqui Fink of Little Dandelion) in this weeks episode. I haven't heard it yet - it will have to wait until tomorrow as it is ridiculous o'clock - but I can't wait. 

Felicia x

Around the Traps - Baby Sweaters

It's baby season around here (not for me) which means baby knitting. Nothing more fun that that. So I thought I would do a little roundup of some of my favourite/new go-to patterns for baby knitting.

Starting with the sweater in the photos. It comes from the book Lullaby Knits. While I wouldn't say this book was for beginners (as the gauge information tends to be fairly confusing which could lead to some wacky results) I do think this sweater and others in the book are gorgeous! This sweater ranks as one of my favourite baby knits ever.

Cabled Cardy from Lullaby Knits

Other new/exciting to me baby patterns are:

The whole range from Paelas - which is a collaboration between three women in Norway. Check out their individual instagram feeds which you can find from their About page. So beautiful. I am particularly taken by the Flash top and know I need one for one of my girls.

The I've-never-made-it-but-always-meant-to Baby Fairisle Cardigan from Purl Soho. I saw a version of this a little while ago that I can't get out of my head. I was thinking that maybe I should make a version with the scraps of my colourwork cardy - just need to find a mother that doesn't mind semi-scratchy wool for her small person. 

The Pebble Vest by Nikol Lohr - possibly the most practically useful baby knit ever. I finally got around to putting the buttons on one I made ages ago and sent it along to a baby this week. 

Silver Fox by Lisa Chemery - I love the fit on this little cardy and the icord edging. I might take out a few of the details when I made it to make it a smidge simpler.

Another similar pattern is super sweet Eole by the lovely Nadia of IttyBitty. I saw one of these in real life of Amy of Sunspun's little girl recently. So gorgeous! 

I'm still totally obsessed by this bonnet here (which I have made a few times) and this cardy here. Classic knits that are super fun to knit - I will be making them again. 

And while I could keep going I'm going to stop soon - but what list would be complete without the Immie Tee by Carrie Bostick Hoge and Clara by Karin Vestergaard Methiesen

Alrighty….stopping now. Tell me your favourites. I would love some new ideas!

Felicia x

Part 2 - Knitting Tips and Tricks - Sleeves and Yarn

So this really should be an Around the Traps style post as I am just pointing you to resources by other smart people. However, many moons ago before I went travelling and broke my camera, I started this series with a Part 1 - Knitting Tips and Tricks and thought I should continue in that vein. 

And do I have tips and tricks for you. I LOVE these. You must go and check them out.

Sleeves

I often get asked about sleeves, along the lines of "what is the best way to knit them"? I want to give you an answer but the answer may be a little unsatisfying - and that is "whatever way you choose" or "whatever way is comfortable for you". You really do need to try them all out and your choice may change over time or depending on the project.

The main methods for sleeve knitting are

• double pointed needles
• knitting them flat and seaming them
• magic loop
• small circulars or little needles
• knitting with two circulars 

In the past I have altered nearly every single pattern to be able to knit sleeves how I want. Traditionally for me that meant knitting sleeves flat and seaming them, even with a seamless garment. I didn't like knitting little tubes. But then I met Georgie and she quietly (in that lovely way of hers) convinced me to give small circular needles another try.

Small circular needles are small 30cm circulars (or sometimes even smaller) with bent tips. I use the Addi ones. I did hate them but have come to see that actually, with a little practice, they are actually very speedy. I ALWAY need to go up a needle size with little needles though as my gauge tends to get tighter - which makes sense if you think about how they are knit. Because the stitches are held in a small tube rather than stretched a bit on normal needles, the yarn between stitches is pulled a little tighter, and this leads to tighter knitting. 

When choosing the method to suit you, consider that everybody has their own knitting quirks; different styles, different hands, different levels of finger flexibility. So what you might find comfortable and comforting I might not. You really do need to try all styles - and try them more than once. It takes a little while to get used to and comfortable with a new style. 

Georgie talks about options for different ways to knit sleeves in this post. She also gives her amazing way for picking up underarm stitches in this other post.

Towards the bottom of the post Georgie mentions that in the very next round, after the round where you have picked up your stitches, you need to do a ssk and a k2tog. You do these at the join between the new underarm stitches and the existing sleeve stitches, to close the gap. You do a ssk when you get to the end of your existing sleeve stitches, knitting one of the sleeve stitches you were holding on waste yarn together with one of the new underarm stitches. You follow that up with a k2tog when you get to the last of the new underarm stitches, which closes the gap between the underarm stitches and the existing sleeve stitches. 

You will love this underarm. It has no gaps and looks great. I use it on every top down seamless pattern I make now. 

Yarn

So yesterday I was talking about how materials matter. How 100% wool does not equal 100% wool in all cases. I know this is a tricky subject when you are a new/intermediate knitter as there are all these new words and who knows what they all mean?

Have I got the podcast for you - two podcasts actually. There is a podcast called Knit FM by Hannah Fettig and Pam Allen and it is a true wealth of information. They cover Yarn - Part 1 and Yarn - Part 2. Get stuck in - if you are even vaguely interested in yarn you will love it. I just love Pam's voice. She sounds so lovely you will want to give her a hug - or maybe that's just me? 

One final thing today - A small few-but-mighty of you took me up on my Stash Less Ripping Challenge. I'm going to send a little something to the brave Libby who ripped out this lovely cabled cardy. Yay Libby!

See you Friday x

Felicia