Why Hannah Knits (From Freelance Writer to Full-Time Fiber Addict)

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! Between my consulting work and chronic fatigue syndrome, I've been feeling pretty run down and uninspired. But even though I haven't been writing (my own stuff...I do plenty of writing for others), I've been knitting a lot! And when I'm not knitting, I can usually be found reading about knitting, talking about knitting, buying yarn/needles/books for knitting, designing ideas for future knitting projects, or (lately) learning to spin on a drop spindle.

It's a strange thing, having CFIDS/FM and longing to knit all of the time. For one thing, it's a lesson in patience and self-control, because when I knit too much my wrists and hands start to hurt quite a bit. People with CFIDS/FM are very prone to carpal tunnel syndrome (or repetitive stress syndrome). Nevertheless, I reach for my needles as often as I can, using any and all methods for preventing hand and wrist pain. What IS it about this particular fiber arts technique that so easily turns into an obsession?

Well, there's the shopping, of course, which appeals to material girls and capitalists. I guess I fall into those categories from time to time. I sure intend to fall into them during the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this year! But there's more to knitting than hoarding yarn and pattern books/magazines.

For me, it started with the ugliest pink yarn and some Boye aluminum 14" U.S.10 needles. And a pretty good little "teach yourself how to knit" booklet--all of which I bought at Joann Fabrics by Coventry Mall near Pottstown, Pa. I had just left one of the best jobs I ever had, working as a reporter on the police beat.

I covered three counties with more than a dozen police departments. God, it was fun! Murders, drug raids, and the like. And running around with CMERT (Chester and Montgomery Emergency Response Team, the tri-county region's "SWAT" unit). The cops were so incredibly nice to me, and I enjoyed every minute I spent working with them, talking with them, and writing their amazing stories.

But nothing lasts forever. I fell in love and lost my "edge" and became less interested in running out into the darkness where who-knew-what might happen. Suddenly I really cared about being alive and well, much more than I had before I met my one -and-only. Also, my health started to suffer, probably from the continual adrenaline generated by my job and by some other icky stuff going on in my life at the time. I had surgery to remove my gall bladder, developed an ulcer, and just generally felt horrible all the time. Of course, no one in that area is likely to diagnose patients with CFIDS/FM--it's too out of the ordinary. I needed a fabulous D.C. physician (Dr. Alan Pocinki) to finally, and definitively, do that.

Another paper offered me a job, making about 30% more money, so I accepted it and left my beloved beat (which has suffered at the hands of questionable successors ever since, in my opinion). But I hated working at the new paper, with its silent newsroom and surly staff. And even more, I HATED working a municipal beat. It was awful and boring. Every time the scanner started to buzz, I'd long to run out and cover the police beat, but it wasn't mine to cover. After two weeks of long commutes and depressing workdays, I thankfully quit.

So here I was, a writer out of work. Chris, my husband, suggested I finally move into full-time freelancing, which we'd both talked about doing. At first it was hard, building structure into my days, trying to find work and develop stories. On one of my earliest assignments I managed to total my pickup truck while crossing an icy bridge, injuring my previously injured neck. This left me not only out of work, but without transportation, as well. Dark times.

One day, though, Chris told me to take his car. He never let anyone drive it--it was almost brand new at the time. But he urged me to take it and go out, to have some fun... So I did. And then I did it again, and again. Until, one day, I found myself in Joann Fabrics (I've always loved textiles) holding some pink yarn, cold needles, and a knitting book. I had about $10 that day--enough to cover my purchases.

I took them home and, about two days later, began teaching myself how to knit. At first it was hard... all of my fingers felt like left thumbs, the needles seemed to fight back, and the yarn wouldn't stay where I needed it to stay. But I managed to cast on and to knit a few rows of garter stitch. After that, the bag of knitting stuff sat untouched for about two months.

My freelancing started to pick up and I did a lot of reading in my spare time. This was fine for a while, but as the weeks wore on I started to realize that my whole life was about words. Reading words, writing words, talking words. It was depressing. I knew I needed to do something that was the polar opposite of writing (I already worked out for more than an hour every day, so I was looking for something less strenuous). After a few crying spells I found myself reaching for the knitting bag again, determined to give it another try.

With the book opened to the page where I'd left off, I picked up the needles and continued knitting my garter stitch strip. But something wasn't right... when I did what the book said, my stitches looked strange, not like before. I studied the stitches and the photos and suddenly it dawned on me--I had instinctively picked up the yarn in my left hand instead of my right. Since I've always been pretty ambidextrous, it wasn't a shock. Actually, it was more of a revelation: I was a Continental Knitter!

That was it. I was off and knitting and never really looked back. Of course there were times when I did more and times when I did less, but I was well and truly hooked, despite the fact that the only yarn available in the area came from WalMart and Joann's. But I made the best of it, and churned out "Lion Brand Homespun" scarves with the best of 'em. It wasn't until we moved to D.C. that I finally got to shop in a real live yarn store...

(Story to be continued another day.)

To get the image of that original skein of pink acrylic yarn out of my head, I'll post some pictures of two of my favorite, long-finished knitting projects. These are among the very few I've actually kept for myself and worn (and worn, and worn)...

This is Katja (and Maggie in the background), wearing a scarf I knit out of the most beautiful variegated shade of Bunny, from Tahki/Stacy Charles:


And here is my first pair of fingerless gloves (one of my favorite items to make). The pattern was in Vogue Knitting's K.1 magazine. They recommended Lion Brand Microspun, which actually IS nice and soft and drapey, but I made these in a really luscious eggplant color from Karabella 8:


So, there you have it. A new post. And another one due sooner than you might think... Thanks for reading, and for passing along word of this blog to other knitters and fiber lovers! And, hey, feel free to comment! It's pretty quiet, writing here all by myself...

Why Hannah Knits (From Freelance Writer to Full-Time Fiber Addict)

My First Fulled (felted) Bag: Mag-Knits Sophie purse in Unikat yarn

I never really "got" the whole fulling/felting thing.

Some people say they knitted and felted one item and were absolutely hooked, couldn't stop felting everything they made, or making things that called for felting. The fact that it was becoming the "in" thing to do, bordering on a fad, is what made me hesitate to try a fulled-purse (or anything) pattern. But a friend's cute red bag changed my mind, and I finally gave in.

Well, I have to say I love this bag. And I LOVE the Unikat yarn, both to work with and in terms of the colors they offer. MagKnits' "Sophie" purse pattern is wonderful... chic without being too complicated or overdone.

And in the end, isn't that what chic really means? Some people say, "It's all in the details." And that may be true. But I like to keep details to a minimum and let the design and the yarn speak for themselves.

Here's how it turned out, after felting and blocking (shown, of course, with Maggie, who almost never plays with my yarn while I'm knitting!):



So in the end, I think my opinion on fulling (felting is actually what you do to unspun fibers) is that it's lovely for certain patterns. I can imagine the fulled vest in Sally Melville's Purl Stitch book, for example, would be cozy and would look great on my husband. And who knows, I may come across (or design) another pattern for something that needs to be fulled.

In other words, I like it. Fulling is fun, and the results look great. But I'm not likely to become a fulling fiend, throwing all of my hand knits into the washing machine. Unless I make something with a hideous mistake (like a hole) that needs to be covered up!

My First Fulled (felted) Bag: Mag-Knits Sophie purse in Unikat yarn

Hand-made Knitting Bag (photo!)

In my first posting, I wrote about a knitting bag I made that had received a lot of compliments. Here's a picture of the bag, with Maggie alongside...



And here's a close-up shot of the inside of the bag; you can see how I created the buttoned yarn-feeder...



Since I made this bag, I've bought pounds of different fabrics, so I can make more. That way I can have my knitting with me all the time without looking like a bag lady...

Hand-made Knitting Bag (photo!)

And here they are!

Here's a picture of the gloves I knit for my sister, from AlterKnits... I think they turned out really well! (In fact, I'd like to keep them... but I've mentioned that before, haven't I?)

And here they are!

Wrist warmers and AlterKnits gloves (I'm still hanging on to them)

For those of us in cold-but-not-Arctic climates, can anything beat the wrist warmer? I mean really, you feel warm because your pulse points are covered, AND you can knit, to boot. Also...

I really do have to say that I LOVE the AlterKnits lace-up gloves... the ones in Manos del Uruguay with the Hanna Silk ribbon ties? The pair I made for my sister is STILL sitting in my kitchen waiting to be mailed out to her (for Christmas--hah!). But they're so pretty that I want to keep them. And they feel all nice and scrunchy. Yum. This is a great pattern.

Next I'm going to try the Irish Hiking Wrist Warmers that I found on "Wine and Needles" (http://wineandneedles.blogspot.com/2004/12/wrist-warmer-pattern.html). Fun blog (from a fellow Californian) and a VERY nice pattern, but I want to alter it so I can knit in the round (I detest seaming...), so I'll let you know how that goes and what changes I needed to make, if any.

Photos are coming soon. Really. (We just moved and I haven't unearthed my camera yet.) Then you'll see how gorgeous those AlterKnits gloves are! (And can "ooh and aah" over my handmade "boudoir" knitting bag. I'd love to design more and sell these online--I know other knitters would like them, since I use mine all the time and get tons of compliments on it).

Until later... time to wake up the napping husband and feed the circling cats. THEN I am going to work on a design for a throw rug knitted out of twine I got at the hardware store...I found some that came in natural AND a great forest green. If it works out, I'll post the pattern here.

Wrist warmers and AlterKnits gloves (I'm still hanging on to them)

Knitting Podcasts, AlterKnits Gloves, and Knitted (British) Monkeys

I love to knit. And I love to read about knitting. But unfortunately I can't do both at the same time. That's why I was so excited to find knitting podcasts (and, because I'm not always up on techno-stuff) to realize I could listen to them on my laptop.

My first foray into podcast land was Knitcast. Marie Irshad's production is smooth and professional. Her interviews are well thought out and insightful, and it's clear she loves doing what she does. My only question is: Marie, where do you get the time and money to travel around talking to all these cool people?

Soon after, I listened to Knitting Newscast. It's a little on the rough side... I know she's new at this and am sure she'll improve over time. In fact, if you listen to Episode 1 and compare it with the latest episode, you can see it's getting a little better. My best advice for Rhonda: Please start the show when the show starts, instead of introducing the show and then going on and on about "other stuff" before you get to the point. People are tuning in to hear about knitting. So don't be afraid to get more in-depth and BE the Expert! (Marie's great at that part...)

I've listened to a few others, too. Some good, some so-so, some pretty bad. But almost all of them beat knitting in silence. And since we swore off of Comcast (their D.C. packages are CRAP!) when we moved last month, my choices are limited radio channels, our incredible jazz collection (now on the external hard drive, thanks to my husband's efforts!), silence (sometimes it really IS golden), or knitting podcasts. So when I feel in need of knitting company, I choose the podcasts and knit "among friends."

So here's a warm "Thank you!" to everyone putting in the time and effort to entertain us as we knit/crochet. Hopefully, if I figure out how to do it, I'll join you one day.

***

I finished the lace-up gloves from AlterKnits! They're a gift for my sister, Sarah (Christmas... "Late" is a family tradition). I'll try to upload a photo of them soon. I love these gloves! And they were fun to knit. It will be hard to part with them, but I know Sarah will love them.

I also started, and almost finished, the MagKnits Sophie bag. I'm using Unikat yarn, which I picked up in Cape May, NJ. Wonderful colors! Like a Turkish rug. I don't know if I'll actually carry this as a purse or use it as a knitting bag. Probably the latter, since I'm not prone to carrying striped purses. But if I like how it looks once it's felted, I may knit one up in a solid. However, it's almost Spring... Can you carry a knitted bag in Spring/Summer? Or is that like wearing white after Labor Day? Hmmm.

Since I ripped out part of my AlterKnits tubular scarf and then regretted it, I cast another one on. This time I used size 9 needles, though. I like the "hole-ier" fabric. Instead of lavender I used a yummy raspberry shade (Rowan Kidsilk Haze).

AND--it was a busy knitting weekend--I also swatched the cute Monkey from Simply Knitting magazine (from the UK). He was in one of the first few issues, and my monkey-loving husband decided he wanted one. I usually don't like knitted toys, but this one really IS cute, so he'll be done as soon as my Sophie bag is felted.

Well, I'm off to figure out once and for all how to post photos to my blog. How sad is that?

Knitting Podcasts, AlterKnits Gloves, and Knitted (British) Monkeys

Welcome to Knit*Six

When I picked up my first pair of knitting needles and a skein of pink yarn the color of cotton candy (at the time, when I lived far, far away from real yarn stores, that harsh acrylic stuff didn't seem so bad...), I never dreamed I'd become so completely obsessed with textiles. I'd always thought of myself as "a writer." That was my art. But lately--perhaps because I write for a living--I've found myself getting my writing out of the way so I can get back to my real passion.

Textiles have always delighted me. And while sewing never drew me in the way knitting has, I often find myself drooling over bolts of yummy woolens and silks in fabric stores and drawing on my sewing abilities to enhance my knitting. For example, I can't imagine knitting a bag and not lining it... What would happen to my pen, or to a stray hair pin that I might happen to slip into the bag when I let my hair down (!)? So, no matter how tightly knitted or crocheted, I will always line my bags. I also happen to like zippers (for the same reasons), which makes having at least a semi-skillful sewing ability essential.

Just a few weeks ago, I dropped into my local yarn store (Stitch DC in Georgetown), and bought a little KnowKnits bag to hold my small knitting project (a VERY conservative navy-blue fisherman's cap my husband requested).

Here's Chris, wearing the cap, next to Maggie--it's a Karabella pattern:



So, anyway... Nothing can fall out of the KnowKnits bag (a little lime-green parachute cloth bundle) once the drawstring was closed, and it's lightweight and easy to carry. Not only that, it has a yarn-guide inside, which helps feel the yarn directly from the ball and through the bag's opening. I loved it. But somewhere in my mind, I started to realize how simple it could be to make something equally as useful, but prettier.

Several days later, a knitter showed me her Lantern Moon silk project bag. It was literally a lunchbag with handles--no drawstring, no lining...just a simple little bag that could almost hold a bottle of wine. Within a few seconds I'd memorized the construction.

So, that night, I went to work. Out came some Asian-inspired pink brocade (not real silk, unfortunately) and some slippery black lining material. I hacked the fabric into strips on my lap and started sewing, adding seam-binding tape when the fabric began to fray. I also used the binding tape to create a little button-down loop that serves as a yarn guide. Finally, wondering if and how to close the bag, I came across some spare yards of mint green satin ribbon I'd saved from Amazon's wrapping job on a birthday gift I'd received. A few stitches and some thin black ribbon later, the bag was done.


(You can also check out the new photos I posted on 2/19.)

So far, every knitter who sees my this bag loves it (I don't know why, but it reminds me of lingerie and feathered-mule slippers). The yarn guide works perfectly. The seams are smooth. The closure protects what's inside. And, best of all, it looks like a pricey little purse when I carry it on my wrist. The conservative hat lived in the bag until it was finished. Then a lace-weight mohair wrap. (See "This is your brain on mohair...") Now, the bag houses a pair of gloves I'm knitting as a (belated) Christmas present for my sister.

But best of all... One day I happened to carry the lime-green parachute bag I'd bought into my LYS. (Of course, since I was nearby, I had to stop in and "browse.") After only a couple of minutes, the person who'd sold me the green bag noticed I wasn't carrying the one I'd made, and exclaimed: "Oh, no! You're carrying the wrong one!" No compliment could have been sweeter.

Welcome to Knit*Six