Fairytale Knitalong

I've taken the next step in knitting obsession and joined a Knitalong with the Fairy and Folk Tale Group on Ravelry. Each season they pick a fairytale and them their KAL to match. The Autumn KAL revolves around the Scottish Ballad "Tam Lim". I'd never heard of it before but there are many variations (here's just one). I recommend you read it but here's my poor summary anyway.

Tam Lin extracts a tithe from all those who pass his well - be it a kirtle or a maidenhaid. One maid discovers his story - Tam Lin was a knight taken by the Faery Queen and destined to be their next sacrifice. She determines to rescue him and must hold onto him while the fairies change him into various animals before returning him to human form. She hides him under her green mantle, thereby breaking the hold the fairies have on him.

It's exciting to experience a new fairy tale, and I've always had a vague interest in the Celtic stories. The group have recommended some fiction variants so I'll be borrowing them from the library. The green kirtle and mantle are strong symbols in the story but I think I'll try a slightly less ambitious project - a green "Branching Out" scarf like GreenKri's one here.

Progress Bar

Feeling very proud of myself as I have managed to add a Ravelry Work in Progress bar. The instructions on the wiki were very straight forward. Bless xml Blogger layouts!

Circling the point

I planned my first foray into circular knitting to be legwarmers in a lovely wine boucle. Lots of preparation went into this - finding a pattern on Ravelry, purchasing some gorgeous Touche boucle at the Darling Harbour Craft Show, waiting ages for my knitpicks order to come in. Finally all the material was assembled. I watched the knittinghelp.com tutorial on knitting with two cable circulars a couple of times, assembled my beautiful new Knitpick harmony tips, and got started.

And got very tangled very quickly.

When I gave it some thought, I realised that learning a new knitting skill while using expensive mohair/marino boucle is a bad idea. The dark colour and loops made it very hard to see what I was doing, and I didn't really want to ruin my lovely wool by ripping it out several times. After all that planning, it was back to the drawing board.

So today I cast some good ol' Lincraft acrylic 8ply onto my harmony tips. The result won't be as classy as the boucle, but I won't shed too many tears if it goes wrong. It's much easier to see what I'm doing and where I'm up to in the rib stitch the new pattern starts with. Plus it was a humbling reminder that it's always good to learn a new skill with some basic, cheap yarn!

Nearly done with all the gifts

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Originally uploaded by jedi_enna

I'm looking forward to finishing all my gifts for others and starting a jumper, legwarmers or scarf for myself. Here's a photo of a friend's birthday present on my legs - I was tempted to keep them for myself! I also have some sewing to do - I have to adjust my new bellydancing costume in time for a performance in a few weeks. I'd much rather knit - I hate handsewing. :( By the time I get to my jumper it will probably be summer. Sigh.

Rosewood

I am in love with rosewood knitting needles. I just visited Sydney's Tapestrycraft sale and the rosewood needles were 75% off. So instead of coming home with some cheapie bamboos from Lincraft, I now have 3 beautiful pairs of rosewood needles. Dark, beautifully polished and smooooth....so smooth to touch.

I don't know that I would ever buy them full price (over $30 AUS each, ouch!) but by golly if they are on sale again I would buy more. The salesgirl told me that she inherited her knitting needles from her grandmother, and these rosewood needles are the sort that could indeed be heirlooms. What a lovely thought, to pass down knitting needles.

I can't ever imagine buying plastic or aluminium needles again. It's going to be bamboo or wood for me.

Knitting vs Sewing

Before I started knitting, I thought that sewing must be ten times easier. Surely it mast be faster to cut a pattern and sew a few seams than to create whole fabric from scratch right?

And maybe it is when you're equipped with a sewing room with your machine already out and a big table for cutting. But trust me, when sewing involves clearing the floor to cut because your tiny round table won't fit the material and plus you have to drag the machine out of the bottom of the closet, it starts to look much more arduous. And I HATE pinning pieces together. I hate it a lot.

So knitting starts to look much more attractive. You can pick it up and put it down, it fits into a carry bag, it doesn't involve spreading things all over the house (although my husband would beg to differ). You can knit for 5 minutes or half an hour rather than having to set aside a whole day for a project.

So ultimately it's no surprise that I tend to get my knitting projects done much quicker than my sewing projects. And to think I dreamed of taking up quilting....

Knitting for others

I seem to be much better at knitting small gifts for others than I am at knitting anything for myself.

The main reason behind this is that I enjoy giving, especially if it's something in which I've invested time and thought. Plus knitted gifts are (mostly) decorative AND practical, especially this time of year. Scarves, gloves, wraps - they don't just sit on a shelf waiting for dusting (hopefully!). They can be worn, taken out about, used and abused endlessly.

I have to say though that I am always nervous about making something that the receiver will like. So I have a habit of asking what they want, offering them a few patterns and choices of wool. It's good because I'm often surprised by the final choice. I may start off by planning a brown wrap and end up knitting green fingerless gloves. I don't mind because then there's more chance of the gift being used. In this consumerist age I REALLY don't like the pointless gift.

Another reason I enjoy knitting for others is my preference for working to deadlines. Projects without at definite timeframe languish under the bed or in my craft basket. Knowing whose birthday is coming up helps me to prioritise my queue and follow through when it gets to the boring end of the job (sewing things up etc).

I really do need a purpose to complete a project. That's why the sewing machine I was given wasn't used until I started bellydancing - suddenly I had a reason to sew (purchased costumes are expensive) and a deadline for finishing projects. I think my mum was very relieved when that sewing machine started getting some use (again - practical gift giving!)

So there you are. My reasons for knitting reflect my inner tendencies - to work to specific goals within a specific timeframe. I should give this post to my boss as a reflection on my working habits!