What's On My Needles - A Big Ol' Catch Up Post

Each Week (more or less), I'll share a quick (or sometimes not quick) snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

It's been nearly two weeks since I last checked in with you about what I'm working on. I've had a couple of weeks farmsitting for the lovely Nan Bray, who has a property in Tasmania with a big flock of merino. She makes incredible, soft yarn (superfine merino - to be exact) that is a joy to knit with. Whilst I was there, she said "take a skein each day" - and obviously I could not resist that offer! 

I decided to go with a skein of Hawthorn (the red colour) to make a hat for Brittany (we're doing a trade, and as promised, I'm crafting a post on that later, because I love a good trade!). I used the Petawawa Toque pattern, by Goodnight, Day, which creates a really lovely hat, but since she doesn't list gauge or anything like that, it's a little hard to know what you're in for. So, I knitted this on one size down from the recommended needle size, because this is 8 ply wool (Aussie wool lingo throws me for a loop), which is a little bit smaller than the worsted weight this hat called for. 

I have a tiny head, so when I make things for other people, I try them on as I go, and if I'm swimming in them, I assume it's probably a good fit. (Maybe this is not a very good method). I finished this hat, and it looked really bloody big, but I thought, hey - let's just block it and see. WOAH - now, when I blocked it, it got even bigger - so big that it was big on my partner's head (for reference, we often joke that my head is roughly half the size of size). So, I did what every good knitter (and I am NOT normally a "good" knitter) would do - I ripped it back. Actually, I ripped back about 1.5 inches off the crown and reshaped the crown. I blocked it again and - viola, a wearable hat (see below) - a bit big on me, so juuuuuust right for Brittany. Success!  

Now, since I was on a farm (and what else does one do when on a wool farm?) - I knitted a lot. After blocking Brittany's hat, I blocked a few others - one that I just had been too lazy to block originally (the Petawawa in turmeric dyed yarn I made for myself last year), a Classic Cuffed Hat for Edie, and a Boyfriend Hat for Brittany. 

There's more where all that came from, but I'll save it for next week's post. I've got a lot to say about that knit! 

Thanks for reading.

xx

Ani 

What My 2015 Really Looked Like

You know that "#bestnine2015" thing that was going around instagram recently? Mine is above. I posted it up with some caption like "linen, knitting, beach. I like it", but I instantly felt fraudulent. I thought, "all of those images are from the last 4 months of the year". What you didn't see in those photos - the bulk of 2015 in terms of time - was a lot of stuff, stuff that's probably not so fun to see in cute little squares on social media.

You didn't see that for over a year I was incredibly unhappy in my job, I left the office in tears more times than I'd like to admit. That it took me that entire year to work up the courage to resign from a job that was hurting my relationships, my self-worth, in spite of having great colleagues, and working toward a cause I believe in. 

You didn't see the heartache I felt living across the world from my family. Whilst I am incredibly grateful for the support and love I get from my partner in Australia, going over 2.5 years without seeing my siblings was pretty heartbreaking. My parents, whilst healthy and strong, are aging, and I don't get to see or speak to them as often as I would like. That's on my mind every single day. 

You didn't see that I struggled to find friends in Australia. That I often used social media as a crutch, and other times used it to carve a niche to help find those friends, albeit sometimes virtual. 

When I look back on 2015, though, it's not so much all that crap that I remember, although it's certainly present in my memory. What I remember is the newly formed strong friendships, the knitting workshops, the "knit nites", the slow weekends spent lounging around the park with a frisbee and friends, my first solo trip (to Tassie), the farm party send-off for my best friend, my first time going back to the US since moving to Australia, meeting my sister's partner, seeing my brother at University being all grown up with a strong build and a deep voice, navigating a fifth year of partnership with Narayan.

When I look back, I think I needed all the hurt and downright crappy times of 2015 to embrace (and honestly just recognise) the good stuff that happened that year. All that has propelled me forward into 2016 with an open heart, lots of passion, and even more gratitude for this life. 

What's On My Needles - Better Late Than Never

Each Week, I'll share a quick (or sometimes not quick) snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

have porch, have comfy slippers, will knit

Normally, I try to make this a weekly post (every Thursday, so far), but last week went awry when I was invited on a 4-day backpacking trip, leaving on Thursday - not that I'm complaining. 

I've just finished up a "Boyfriend Hat", which turned out well, despite my annoyance with the pattern (see previous post for details). That hat is destined for a friend in the states, just as soon as I finish up the other hat I've promised her! I'll post a photo of tht once it's blocked and ready to go - maybe we can even convince her to take one of it on :) 

I then picked up my needles to work on a Classic Cuffed Hat as a (belated) holiday present for my mate Edie. After about 10 attempts at the tubular cast on (which I love, but really seem to struggle with), I got moving and worked on the 1x1 ribbing for the brim on the first couple of days of the backpacking trip, and then on the car ride home, I worked a couple of inches of the body. 

I just managed to finish the hat two nights ago, soak it, and get the blocking started to hand it off to Edie before she heads back to the mainland. She tried it on yesterday morning and - kaboom! - it fits, high five emoji. 

That's what's been on my needles, how about you guys? 

xx

What's On My Needles - 24th Dec 2015

Each Week, I'll share a quick (or sometimes not quick) snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

This week, I've been making a bit of progress on a Boyfriend Hat - a pattern I've been eyeing on Purl Bee for some time. It's for a friend (for a trade actually! more on that later) so I've gone about it in a methodical way - swatching, measuring, etc. Let me tell you, though, it hasn't been my favourite to knit. You need to cast on 160 stitches, and I had to cast on about 8 times before getting it right. Pro tip: place stitch markers every 20 stitches to save yourself from attempting to count 160 stitches at once, only to get lost several times, and end up with 156 on one count, 161 the next - ya feel me? 

Now, of course, as I'm 6 inches into it, I find a whole slew of critiques of the pattern, from knitters whose opinions I value and trust, like Jen of Grainline Studio, amongst others. Mostly, people have found that the sizing seems off - too big. Fortunately, I cast on a size smaller than I wanted the hat to be, because my gauge is a tiny bit looser than called for, and now that I've read these critiques, I'll stop my hat a bit shorter than written in the pattern before I start the decrease rows. So far, the hat is big on me, but I have a head the size of a pea, so I'm not too concerned. What I do really like about it is the tight 1x1 rib (not to knit, because that's a pain - literally) is how dense the fabric is, and how warm it will be. Makes me feel good to know that I'm knitting up a nice warm hat for a shepherdess! 

Other than the hat I've been working on, I've been doing some non-knitting fibre related things. This year, as gifts for the holidays, I wanted to make things that would be simple, cost-effective, natural, and most importantly, useful for my friends and family. After being gifted some madder root dyed linen by a lovely friend and talented maker living in Perth, and learning about the properties of lavender as a moth repellent, I had a lightbulb moment. So, I set about making some of these sachets, which are simple to make, and have a number of uses - including keeping your clothes smelling fresh, protecting your woolens from moths, or for keeping under your pillow to help you relax and sleep easily. I'm really excited to write up little instructional tags to go with these and give them as holiday gifts to friends.

What's on your needle(s) this holiday season?

xx

Learning As I Go - On Self-Acceptance

The 'Learning As I Go' series invites you to take a peek behind the curtain. Each month, I'll be posting thoughts on life, crafting, pursuing passions, and the messes I make along the way. I hope you'll join me on this journey of mine.

For the first post in this series, I wanted to talk about something I find difficult to talk about. Silly as that may sound, my hope is that in sharing this, however inarticulately, it might help others on their journey with self-acceptance, wherever they may be .

Now, let me tell you, I am far from being all "I love me, I love myself, I don't need anybody else" (sorry for the ridiculous reference there), but I'm getting better at accepting the parts of myself I used to feel really ashamed of. 

I think it started in high school, my being cognisant of my difference, that is. I didn't really feel like going out, partying, drinking. And at first I think it stemmed from this weird place of judgement. I think I liked feeling "above" people for not partaking in activities I saw as bad or unhealthy. And this stemmed from my school environment - 200 of the same students, more or less, for 12 years. I couldn't break out of this "goodie-two-shoes-stick-up-her-ass" image people had in their heads. So that's what I was - a goodie-goodie. But I wasn't feeling myself that whole time.

Fast-forward to university, and things were feeling a bit better. I found like-minded friends, strong, athletic, tender women who raised each other up. But still, there was this nagging feeling. Every Friday and Saturday night, my co-op would boom with loud music, friends and acquaintances would run down the hallways, screaming til the wee hours of the morning. And sure, there were times that I was that person. My face painted, high heels on, I was running up and down the halls, dancing til my feet felt like they were going to fall off. 

But something about that never felt right. I would often drag myself to parties, only to leave 30 minutes later, feeling deflated and honestly just sad. I'd pity myself and reflect on how "boring" I was, how different I felt to everyone else my age. I'd try to shake it off and poke fun at myself, saying I was an 80-year-old in a 21-year-old's body - but I'd mostly say that just to make the joke before someone else could. 

There was one night that I had a moment of peace with it all. I was walking down "frat row" - the street that had all of the sororities and fraternities (aka party central) - as it was the fastest route from my co-op to my partner's house. I looked around at all the people, drunk and stumbling, giggling and singing. I'd just finished performing at an African Dance concert, and I was feeling alive. And in that space of contentment, I thought maybe I'm more like everyone else than I had believed. Maybe we're just all looking for ways to have fun, ways to be happy. And for me, that's dancing in an ensemble, knitting alone on my couch, singing in my shower. And for others, that's dancing the night away, imbibing, living wildly. And we're both right. Neither of us is doing things wrong, we're all just trying things on to see what fits us. 

Maybe we're all just learning as we go. 

xx

What's on My Needles (Or Rather, What Isn't) - 17th Dec 2015

Each Week, I'll share a quick snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

Once again, I find myself with a lack of knitting project progress to share here, mostly because I'm trying to rest my wrists, but also because I've been struggling to motivate myself to knit. Does anyone else find that when they take a hiatus from knitting the urge to knit begins to subside a bit? Maybe that's just me. I find it a bit sad - I love that bizarre urge I have to knit the majority of the time, it makes me feel a bit empty when it's not there. 

Now, to explain this week's "What's On My Needles (Or Rather, What Isn't)"  or alternatively, "What Was Previously on my Needle(s) and Now Is Gone". I started working on this little patchwork pillow thing a couple of weeks ago, rather improvisationally, because I don't know what the hell I'm doing, so I'm just making it up, and I clearly don't have the patience to make a pattern or anything like that. I basically just started sewing pieces together and adding more on as I went, more or less keeping a straight line of fabric at the top and thinking it would roughly be the shape of a pillowcase. 

I decided after doing the bulk of the sewing on a machine, courtesy of the babes over at Bobbin and Ink (the communal sewing space where I rent a machine, and get lots of kind feedback and help, even when I've totally screwed something up), I would do some of the final sewing by hand in the park. So I popped it all in my handy little Field Bag - needles, thread, pins, and headed over to the park. I sewed in the sun with This American Life playing in the background, it was all a very nice affair. 

Now somehow, I woke up yesterday morning and it's nowhere to be found. I scoured my room, scoured the friend's house we went to after dinner that night, nowhere. And I got really bummed out; this little project - a practice of improvisation, trying not to give a f**k that the seams were wonky, a practice in being patient and kind to myself- was abruptly ended. I never got to see it fully formed, as a pillow, never got to show it off as one of my first sewn pieces - "that I hand dyed with avocado pits and skins and other plant materials!" (I hear myself exclaiming that)

At first I just felt sorry for myself, then I began resenting that feeling, that such a simple and silly object could make me sad. It made me think of all the unnecessary want and greed that comes with owning things, the consumerist mindset that I think can even be applied to objects you make yourself. The more I think about it, though, the more I think it's not so much the loss of the object, but of what the pieces represented - the newly formed friendship with Laura, who let me into her home after meeting me once, made me delicious snacks, and let me dye this old ripped up pillowcase with her, the kindness of the ladies at Bobbin and Ink, forever practicing patience with me, even when I've followed none of the sewing rules and made a huge mess, the excitement of a sewn object becoming a part of my "fibre arts" repertoire. The half-finished pillowcase was a representation of many good things that have come into my life recently, of the luck I've had with finding such incredible people, and the gratitude I have for them. 

Maybe the picture here is enough to remember what it meant, maybe the act of writing this out did just that. And maybe, just maybe, some nice fibre artist will find it on the street and give it some much needed love. 

xx

Ani

What's on My Needles - 10th Dec 2015

Each Week, I'll share a quick snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

Whilst not technically "on my needles", because I've finished it now, I blocked the Roku Hat - By OlgaJazzy , which is a really well-designed and quick knit. I needed to learn the long tail tubular cast on method - which pretty much made me tear my hair out, but in the end I finally figured it out (I think) and I really like the way it makes the cast on edge of the hat look. 

Other than the Roku, I've been attempting to rest my hands and wrists, as I'm noticing a bit of pain in my wrists and the fleshy bit between my thumb and index finger (which completely terrifies me). So, instead, I've been working on finishing up the weave that became a "community weave" at a recent picnic I attended. 

What's On My Needles - 2 Dec 2015

Each Week, I'll share a quick snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

I'm working up a classic beanie for a special lady in my life who is a surfer (mermaid) and I thought these colours were just perfect for her. Also, I kind of want a beanie that has a hole for my top knot, 'cause why not? 

I've just cast on a new hat for another special lady, more on that next week!

xx

Ani 

What's On My Needles - 27 Nov 2015

Each Week, I'll share a quick snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

This week, I'm working on the linen cardigan I've been attempting to design for some time now. It's slow-going an I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of frogging, re-designing and starting again. 

I also finished a crop top halter I've been messing around with for a couple of weeks. Only problem is that it doesn't fit the person it was intended for - back to the drawing board. 

That's what's on my needles this week. What are you working on?

xx

Ani 

Welcome to the Close Knit Blog

Welcome to the Close Knit blog. It's funny you should find yourself here. Funny because I always swore I would never become a blogger. It seemed like everything that needed saying had already been said, and with all the noise on the internet, why should I have to add to it?

But here I find myself needing a space to showcase the incredible talent, generosity, kindness, and authenticity of the fibre community. Needing a space to document the journey I'm on - a love affair with knitting and a constant desire to learn more about the fibre arts.  A space to be honest and transparent about my craft triumphs and failures, the materials I use, and attempts at being "sustainable". 

I plan to write a few ongoing series, a weekly "What's on my needles" to show what I'm working on each week (which might be nothing some weeks), a monthly "Learning As I Go" series, to be open with my heart about my journey of just being alive, and a fortnightly (maybe even weekly!) interview series with amazing fibre artists and educators from around the world - this may even take the form of a podcast. (stay tuned!) 

I hope you'll find something here that resonates with you, and I'm truly excited to share this part of myself with you. 

xx

Ani