Crazy for Ewe
Knitting and your style guideposts
During one of our live calls last week in Club Crazy for Ewe, we were talking about what we like to wear and how we like to look. This is a topic that’s always on my mind, because my goal is to help you build a handknit wardrobe full of things you love to wear. But in order to do that, you have to be ruthless about what you choose to knit.
Here are 5 not-so-great reasons knitters choose a pattern
Sheep and cattle
My mother loved the grocery store, as much for the social interaction as anything, and we always went to the Safeway in Camp Washington, near Fairfax, Virginia. She liked that store especially because of Bob Hall, the butcher. Mr. Hall was a huge red-faced man with hands as big as chuck roasts. He wore a white paper cap and a bloody apron, and he always seemed to be honing a giant knife. He would make a great show of using his razor sharp blade to cut the hairs right off his arm. It was an impressive, if unsanitary, demonstration that made quite an impression on me. He taught my mother
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10 knitting lessons from my dog trainer
Last week I hired a dog trainer. After Malcolm nearly broke my finger chasing something, and his baby sister, Charlie trips me every time we go out the door, I realized that we all needed training. Malcolm and Charlie are both Sheepadoodles. If you’re not familiar with the breed, just picture the cutest dog you’ve ever seen times ten. Half sheep dog and half standard poodle, they look like muppets with a silky shaggy tuxedo coat and the soulful eyes of Paul Newman. Here they are being all cute and stuff.
They look like Muppets, but they are, in fact, strong, smart, stubborn furry little monsters with a mind of their own and a decided tendency to want things their way. Hence the trainer. I love them both with a white hot passion. The dogs,
What to use when - how to substitute yarns in your knitting projects
In book club last week, we had a super interesting discussion about Klara and the Sun. Klara’s an Artificial Friend, an AF, an advanced robot doll whose purpose is to pal around with Josie, a thirteen-year-old girl. Josie’s very ill, and her mother is so worried about losing her, that she investigates the concept of replacing her daughter with an AF designed to look just like Josie. But looking alike isn’t really enough, is it? It’s about their personality. What makes them laugh or cry? How do they respond in different situations? Klara, we find, is a storehouse of just such information about Josie, and Klara’s database can be downloaded to create a nearly perfect replica of not just Josie’s appearance, but
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In praise of boring knits
“This is a great sweater,” I overheard a knitter say in the shop last week, “but it’s sooo boring to knit. Miles and miles of stockinette. Gah! I could never do it. I’d be so bored.”
“I like miles and miles of stockinette,” another said, admitting sheepishly, “I like boring knits.”
Standing at the register, I couldn’t stop myself from butting into the conversation, “I like boring knits too.” I offered. The stockinette-lover beamed at me. It’s true
Knitting the floral trend for fall 2021
Rowan is featuring a glorious collection of everything I love most about Kaffe Fassett in Say it with Flowers. The motifs are familiar timeless classics - Persian Poppy, Turkish Carnation, and Damask Rose, to name a few. Rowan has given Fassett the freedom to design not only the garments, but an entire palette of Felted Tweed to enhance the existing Felted Tweed color range and provide the additional tones to make the designs sing.
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Noro Madara - a sleeper of a yarn
In high school, my twins, Katie and Johnny, had entirely different friend groups, so they didn’t socialize together that much. But one year, a boy a grade ahead of Johnny invited him to a Halloween party. Johnny was pretty sure he wouldn’t know very many people there, so he asked his sister to go with him. Katie wasn’t at all jazzed about the idea, but she wasn’t doing anything, so she deigned to go. Afterwards, Katie said it had been one of the best parties she’d ever been to. She admitted that she’d figured it would be a bunch of boring guys standing around awkwardly, but she said they’d had cool decorations, they’d played good music, and that the kids were all really nice and fun to talk to. She added, “I guess it was so much fun because I wasn’t expecting anything
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Creating a hand-knit wardrobe
In June I had lunch with Barbara, the new head of tourism for St. Mary’s County. She and I had chatted briefly over the course of several months when she attended the LBA meetings. She knew I owned the yarn store in town, and said that I should make an effort to wear the things I knit. “It would be great advertisement for you,” she offered.
I was like, “What do you mean?”
She thought for a minute and said, “Well, I guess I did move here in the spring,
The power of color
We had a lovely knitter in the shop some years ago looking to knit for a basic sweater. “Top down,” she said, “with a round neck and long sleeves,” and added, “Preferably worsted weight.” Ginni found her a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern for a basic top-down sweater with a jewel neck and long sleeves. And what do you know--worsted weight. Perfect, huh?
The knitter looked at the pattern and slowly shook her head, “No, this one is not right.”
Unflustered, Ginni said, “Ok, so I can find you a pattern that is right, can you tell me what it is about this one that is not right?”
It's okay to take a knitting break
Did you get a puppy during the pandemic? A lot of people did. At least that’s what my friend, Norma said. She’s a vet, and she said that she has spent almost all of every day for the last year seeing new puppies. Of course. We’re home more, and we have time for a puppy. What could be nicer?
Other people started knitting. Some started knitting again. They learned a while ago and were regulars in the shop and then they weren’t. And now they are
Knitting for real women, not paper dolls
As a little girl I played with paper dolls. First little Betsy McCall from the back of my mother’s magazine, and then with those more luxurious ones the dolls printed on actual cardboard. I’d sit on my bedroom floor, legs wide, hunched over the books with safety scissors that were never quite sharp enough or pointed enough. My little hands were too clumsy to do a neat job, and there would be white bits clinging to the edges. Sometimes I’d go too close, ruining the illusion once the clothes were on. Worse, was when I’d lop off one of the folding tabs that held the clothes on the doll, or even one of the doll’s hands. You can see why I did not grow up to be a surgeon. Paper dolls were easy. Nice
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Intarsia -- a knitting trend that's here to stay
What do you think of when you hear the word trendy? I think of fleeting fads and foolish looks that you’d be embarrassed to have worn years later. Being trendy, however, is very different from an awareness of fashion trends. Unlike fads, fashion trends are more general developments and changes in the way people dress. Developing slowly over time, fashion trends often become more or less permanent. Even those of us who cling to a fierce sense of personal style can incorporate aspects of fashion trends into our wardrobe.
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