The non post.

So sorry guys - no post on knitting! First the car broke down, and now I've got some bug, so I need to go to bed and finish the post for Monday. So as a total filler here are a few more retreat photos.

I'm thinking about the retreat a lot this week as we are almost there with this year's class list. I need to lock down one or two more classes, and then we can call it DONE!! The list will be posted in March - so a little while yet, but rest assured that we are all busy making samples and writing descriptions and taking pretty photos. I can't wait to share it with you all. x

I Made This - Brienne Moody

I Made This is a weekly blog series that features makers from around the world and aims to talk about the things we are proud of; of the objects we make that have meaning to us and the journey we take to make them.

This week's I Made This comes to us all the way from Minnesota in the US of A. I met the lovely Brienne a couple of years ago when I was lucky enough to share a cabin with a few years ago at Squam. I'm totally in love with her style and her willingness to experiment and make stuff up. Brienne has such an incredible way of putting things together. She shares her successes (and her not-so-sucesses) at her blog By Brienne, she has an etsy shop and you can find her on instagram at @bemoody. 

Two of the super women I met at Squam a few years ago. Brienne is the smiler on the right!

I made this deer last June. I remember the weekend that I made it - it was very rainy. We had hiked in the morning over many slippery, mossy rocks. We had an early lunch that included a bit of wine. When we got home, still encouraged by the morning walk and by the wine, I settled in and began to work on this deer alongside my daughter.

I make mostly garments and handbags but I’ve always been drawn to soft sculpture. Over the years I’ve learned to appreciate a professionally finished seam and a well-fitting, handmade dress. I sew on my machine every day and I have knitting in my hands at all times. In fact, as I write this, all I can think of is my unfinished sweater sitting just inches away from my fingers...

I’m most inspired, though, by the things that show the hand that made them. But I don’t do “hand making” as much as I like. So the deer was a stretch for me. It is all hand-sewn and is made in such a way that the hand sewing is featured. There is no hiding your mistakes. I did all of the stitching and my daughter did all of the stuffing.

The children were so eager to get her in their hands that I allowed them to play with her for several days undressed and with one leg.

I think that her knitted shawl is backwards. Her left leg keeps falling off. I didn’t do the knots correctly when I finished a section. Still - she is the thing that I am most proud of making. And whenever I unearth her from under a pile of dress-ups or when my daughter clips her into an empty carseat to keep her safe on the road, I am reminded of the work that I did to animate her. And of the afternoon spent together with my daughter greedily stuffing her limbs. 

I love her so much that I made a boy version of her this fall to give to my son for Christmas. And I have two babies stowed away to be given as a Valentines day treat. Thank you for having me, dear readers. May your next crafty stretch become your new obsession:)

Inspired or discouraged?

So we have talked about it in passing, over numerous posts, in the last year or two. About the ability for the things we see on the internet, instagram and pinterest to be encouraging and inspiring versus sometimes being deflating and discouraging. And I guess I just wanted to ask directly for your experiences and how this affects your making. Do you get affected by it, or does what you see just inspire you to try new things? Does it affect what you then post pictures of? 

I created the retreat (and this space) to start to chat about people's fears and head stuff (including my own!) around craft. To that end I really want this space to be encouraging rather than discouraging. I started I Made This as part of that process and often talk about my many mistakes on the path to learning my craft. I'm truly hopeful that I have hit the mark, making you feel more capable and able to try and tackle things that you think are a bit above your current skill set. Or even just to feel you can make something you think is beautiful with the skills that you already have.

But maybe I haven't…?

One area I do struggle with this, is instagram. As hard as I try to post my everyday making, it is still the pretty 40sq cm of the making I end up posting, rather than the rest of the super messy sewing room. I think I end up using instagram more as a place for the pretty I can see, in the midst of the chaos. Like an online visual inspiration diary to look back on when I'm feeling overwhelmed by the constant mess.* I think I use it now as a way to feel like I have achieved something (other than tidying up tiny bits of paper and toy animals) in my day. As in "look I made a sock!". I'm not just a washer of dishes. I am a sock maker…..hmmm. 

The only tidy 40sq cm in my sewing room this morning. It made me happy in an isn't-it-ironic kinda way because the photo looked so calm. And in that tiny 40cm and that tiny moment there was a bit of calm. 

Love to hear your thoughts on this one. What do you see or read that encourages you and inspires you? What deflates you? Does your making change based on what you see?

Felicia x

*Why are small humans so messy!

PS. I mentioned on Friday that I was going to post a knitting tip post today, but it hasn't happened - apologies! While I was searching for a good youtube link to link to, I couldn't find what I was looking for. So I did an impromptu video tonight (when I should have been making dinner for the kids - jaffles anyone?) to go with the post but have now got a little stuck trying to upload it to my new youtube account. So it will have to wait until Friday - apologies.

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

I Made This - Martine Lynch

I Made This is a weekly blog series that features makers from around the world and aims to talk about the things we are proud of; of the objects we make that have meaning to us and the journey we take to make them.

I ended last year with an I Made This from my good friend Jenn, and I am going to start the year with another good friend of mine Martine. And there is a reason why I want to share their stories. Both of them are newbie crafters and have only been making for the last two years. Which is part of why I find them so inspiring. Neither of them has years of crafty experience under their belts and so they totally have the newfound joy of making for themselves. They are finding their feet, sorting through their stuff and finding their confidence. It is a total privilege to watch. They show that you can be at the start of your crafty life AND make amazingly beautiful stuff that makes your heart sing.  

Martine on the road trip from Melbourne to Darwin - 6am in Kings Canyon. 

It turns out that my first knitted sweater, coincidentally my first knitted garment for my boy, feels amazingly special. He is SO chuffed, and I'm chuffed for him, and for me.

Knitting it was a twelve month marathon in the making. Casting on occurred while on a beach holiday last year, and I happened to bind off and sew in the ends sitting at the same table, twelve months later. It's kind of ridiculous but the learning has been incredible. 

Before I talk more about the sweater I want to give a little backdrop to my story, and let you into my thinking. I started knitting two short years ago with the loving encouragement of our dear friend Felicia. For a good ten months I sat in awe of her ability to make such beautiful things. It is only through her "of course you can do it" motto, that pushed me from knitting kilometers of garter stitch into knitting garments that I like, and that my children would wear. I now have made several cardigans for my two girls, starting off with easier capped sleeves, progressing to full sleeves and then to lace. Totally fun when you have a 'master' at your finger tips and a small community of makers in your mix.  Learning craft together, and benefiting from this new found love, as our hands make. For the first time in years, I have felt dizzy excitement over something that I created. Sounds kinda sad? It's not. I have a lot to be grateful for in my world, but this feeling is different. Even though so far the final products are worn by others, everything about the making is for me, Martine. It's not about the role of mother, social worker, or wife. Just, ME! 

Back to the sweater. This project is different to the cardigans for a few reasons. The knitting was kick-started on a Thelma and Louise style car trip from Melbourne to Darwin, where I got to be me for the first time since having kids, and then came with me on our family holiday in Darwin. Not long after that trip, my trusted master went on a lengthy family sojourn for six months and I had to work the tricky bits out alone. I had to sit with how I process things and work out ways of breaking through my expectations, my fear of making mistakes, my frustration in still being a learner, procrastination...ugh. 

So, here's what happened. I got stuck when I had to start the shoulders. What the hell was I supposed to do with those floppy ends? How was I to sew them down to create create arm holes and an envelope neck? The designer assumed I knew. My first strategy was to put the project down and distract myself with making two cardigans. My poor boy, he was so understanding, he knew I was stuck. I then got sick of not knowing and googled everything I could, read what felt like hundreds of blog posts etc. Then I had that light bulb moment, when I realised that I had to let go of the fear, and actually just give it go. So - lesson 1- often it doesn't make sense until you are doing it. Big. Then I read the pattern again and she did tell me how to do it.  I just wasn't ready to trust that I could do it. Very big moment.

From here I was OK. I just worked through each challenge. I did the first armhole three times. I did the whole arm twice because I somehow lost a ball of yarn and had to rethink colours. I redid the short rows on the second sleeve.

Then one final stumble - I started beating myself up over the time. "By the time I finish it will be summer" and the realisation that I have worked through so much and "it might not even fit him by winter". The filthy mood this created slowed the jumper down again. l processed these thoughts quietly and then woke up one morning early in December and decided I would finish it regardless  - "if it doesn't fit, I'm pulling it". BANG. Liberating - lesson 2 - I know how to do it now so why not. Feelings of exhilaration came once I got over this hurdle, because it meant completion.  

Who would have thought that in making stuff you get to know yourself better?

The good news is it does fit, and even has some room for growth. His comment was "mum, I really love it! I can't believe how nice it is."

The chosen pattern, is 'Softly (you)' by Solenn Couix-Loarer, the yarn is Rowan Felted Tweed DK in Clay for the main body and Seafarer for the stripes and sleeves.