Studio Notes

Thinking just about knitting for the moment, pushing aside all thoughts of spinning, weaving and diverse arts, 2008 was all about the sock. I may have knit more hats, but I had the most fun knitting socks.

I know I’m not going to finish any more projects this year, so here’s the official count of what I’ve knitted to completion since picking up the needles again in August:

4 hats
3 pairs of socks
2 scarves
2 amulet bags
2 bibs
1 catnip mouse

There are a few projects that are still on the needles.

2 pairs of socks
1 scarf
1 tote bag
1 hat

And 1 sweater. Maybe. I haven’t decided whether to give up on the sweater or not. I don’t really like the feel of the yarn, and I need to rip back quite a few rows because I forgot a decrease. I might just weave something from the yarn instead, and spend time knitting things I enjoy.

I call myself a reawakened knitter. I knit as a child, because I wanted to do everything creative that my mother did. At college, my long red wool scarf was my signature style, a blazing accent in my otherwise black wardrobe. I knit a lot in those four years, from mittens to afghans. I learned that by keeping my hands busy, I was able to listen deeply to my professors and retain what they said. I drifted away from knitting, busy with my career and my life. Shallow times.

The Rinebeck years, starting in the mid 1990′s, brought me back to fiber, as a spinner and weaver. My mother reawakened to knitting, so I had an outlet for my handspun. I picked up the needles again in 2006 and got half-way through a scarf before stepping into the role of my mother’s caregiver. Let me tell you, it’s not like you would imagine it to be. No long hours of knitting while she rested. I was managing the household, staff, endless doctors’ appointments, and so many hospital visits. She kept on knitting, until the last few days of her life.

I finished that scarf from 2006 back in August, and started knitting socks. Knitting is the only way that I can meditate. I have to keep my hands busy so that I can still my mind. Although I enjoy the social aspect of knitting circles and spinning guilds, there is nothing like an hour of quiet knitting. No thoughts. Only stitches.

See? I finished Nina’s socks and gave them to her this evening. Not because it’s Christmas or Chanukah. Simply because they are done. They are knit in a simple lacy rib using the 6 Stitches Per Inch Sock pattern in Ann Budd’s Getting Started Knitting Socks. The yarn is Noro Silk Garden Sock.

Gregory’s socks are off to a good start. Hopefully he will have them before winter is over. The pattern is Harris Tweed by Ali Green, and the yarn is Silkie Socks that Rock in the Corbie colourway. This yarn is marvelous. It’s silky and soft, and has good elasticity.

I have a half dozen skeins of sock yarn from Rhinebeck. The next pair is going to be for me.

Some things are worth struggling with acrylic yarn. These are caps for newborns, my contribution to Knit One Save One.  The deadline has been extended to the end of January, so there’s still plenty of time to knit one.

All the information, including some simple patterns, is available for download. Just click the link above and start knitting!  The hearts of gold cap doesn’t have a pattern.  I made it up as I went along.

Are you knitting for a good cause?  Tell us about it!