No ordinary cardigan

Oh do not be deceived my friends.  This may look like quite an ordinary little cardigan but it is much more than it seems.  This cardigan represents the beginning of knitting freedom for this knitter.

Until now, I have pretty much been a pattern follower to the letter, using the recommended yarn - even choosing the same colour.  My problem is that if I am looking at a pattern in say, a foresty-green colour, (which I generally like), then it will be the colour that draws me in as much as the actual garment design.  Which can be pretty limiting because if that same pattern was in a hot pink (which I am not fond of, not even generally) then there's a fair chance I won't give the pattern a second look.  I seem to lack the imagination required to picture that design in foresty-green.  My brain just doesn't work that way - perhaps I am too literal.

What my brain can do though, is dream up a picture, from scratch, of something I would like to make.  And thanks to my new found best friend, knitting guru, Elizabeth Zimmermann and her Knitting Workshop book, I can work out how to make it. For instance, this April I decided I wanted to knit a cardigan for Jovanka for Winter.  So I thought about it for a few days and over time I came up with the design I wanted.  I sketched it down, got approval from the little madam herself (Jovanka that is, not Elizabeth), whisked her off to the local yarn shop and left her to choose her yarn (she chose a Woolganic pure wool 8ply) in a shade of orange which reminds me that I must, must, must get those pumpkin seeds planted this weekend.

Following the guidelines EZ gave, I cast on and got knitting, doing the back and fronts all in one on circular needles.  The sleeves were also done on circulars so there are no seams.  The sleeves were integrated when I reached the yoke and then it was just matter of decreasing to the neckline, knitting the moss stitch collar, casting off and then grafting a dozen stitches under each arm to join these stitches to the body.  I loved doing the calculations for each step rather than relying blindly on a pattern and hoping that it would fit.  I knew that this would fit because it was based on measurements I had taken so I felt like I had more control over the whole thing (and I do like to be in control).  I also loved learning new techniques and skills along the way so that I feel I am a much better knitter than when I began this piece.

What Elizabeth Zimmermann has given the knitting world (in case you've not come across her books), is a series of calculations which allow you to knit up a jumper or a jacket or a cardigan without a written pattern, provided you know a few measurements of the intended wearer.  It is surely the most practical advice I've been given in 35 years of knitting and has given me the freedom to design what I want to knit, without having to hunt around for a pattern that matches the picture I have in my head.  With that freedom has come the courage to have a go and if things don't work out as I expect then it is a lesson learned.  It's the kind of courage I see in my children as they go about their business of exploring the world around them and the kind of courage and imagination that seems to be discouraged as we grow up; the kind that tells Jovanka that she can choose five completely different buttons from the button box if she wants (and she did). Yes it's safer and easier to follow a pattern.  You know for sure what you're going to end up with, more or less.  But for this little knitter at least, it's not half as much fun!

And now, if you're seeking some inspiration, why not pop in and have a look at Our Creative Spaces, where crafters share their work with the world.  You will see this little number, along with a whole lot of other crafting wonder. I just had a peek and there is some beauty to behold there.

My Creative Space - Crafters Starteritis

Preface:  Aside from my infrequent ramblings to the blogosphere, I also keep a journal which listens to all the unwindings going on in my head.  I came across this one from May and thought I might share it with you here.....

Friday 20th May 2011
Today I have Crafters Starteritis ADHD.  Onset began last night as I was waiting for sleep.  Ideas spinning in my head.  Good ones!  This morning, first thing, I drew them down before they slipped away.

It began with the thought that Ari's handknit socks needed new feet.  So I'm thinking the best way to approach this - cut off the foot - don't worry about unravelling. So then what can I do with the offcut?  Could it be put to any use?  And what about those big brown woolly socks I cut up to make elbow warmers from the legs?  Aha!  Slice the feet through and use the resulting fabric (which is felted from washing anyway) as insulation in an oven mitt - a pair!  Perfect.  Then thinking about how it peeves me to keep throwing out socks - odd ones, holey ones.  Don't want to make a sock snake.  Oh!  Got it!  Cut them into rings.  Knot the rings together to make a rope.  Braid them and sew into a mat.  Then thinking about knitting 'cause I just bought some cool cotton/bamboo mix yarn - multicolour orange, pink, yellow.  Pants for Marta?  Bought it for a dishcloth.  Is it wrong if the baby's pants match the dishcloth?  Well, maybe use a different colourway for each if this yarn kits up well.  But maybe cotton is too stretchy for pants on a soon-to-be crawling baby.  What about some dark grey 4 ply longies with pink stripes.  So pretty.  Oh, the choices!!!

So today the dishes have been piling up because all I want to do is MAKE SOMETHING but can't decide what to start with.  Cut up a few socks from the odd sock basket to trial and it works well, looks good and I think will be a good bath mat.  Move on to the next thing.  Laid eyes on a length of fabric I bought for a doona cover.  Looking through the cupboard for good contrast fabrics.  Found lots of pieces for pants for Marta and a skirt for me (or crazy trousers).  Still looking for contrast fabric.  Move on to the box in the hallway (the one set aside to take to the op-shop).  Nothing there but found some more pieces I liked for other projects so kept those pieces out.  Move on to the cupboards in the back room.  Nope, not there either but remembered I wanted to look for some fabric for a table topper for Jovanka's bedside.  Pulled out a few options for her to choose from.  Oh - and there's the flannelette for p.j's for them all.  Pull out a pile for them to choose from.  Interrupt their play.  They must CHOOSE NOW!!!!  Choices made.  Move on.  A game of Jenga on the loungeroom floor with them all.  Marta happily clacking a couple of blocks together.  Another game.  Dinner on.  My goodness the kitchen's a mess. Hmmm.  Think I have some p.j. patterns.  I'll just go and look.  Perfect.  Boys size 8 for David and I can adjust for Ari.  Girls size 1-4 for both girls.  Excellent.  Won't need to make my own patterns after all.  Blow!  Can't cut anything out now.  Dinner nearly ready.  Table's a mess.  Dishes all over the bench.  Marta will soon need attention from her Mama. Make a quick salad.  Thoughts spinning in my head.  Write it all down.  So!  Nothing started.  Fabric out for a dozen or more projects but no time or space to do anything RIGHT NOW!  It's my own SPACE-TIME continuum whatever that is.  SPACE, TIME and ENERGY.  It's a rare opportunity to have all three at once!

Dinner time but the table is still covered so it's dinner in the loungeroom watching Masterchef.  Oh well.  It's Friday....

My Creative Space.......my what???!!!!!!!

Please....ahem......excuse me.......Just a moment while I  pick    myself     up.....humph....off the floor and dust myself off, which could take a while since the floors are so horribly....well, lets not mention the floors.  However, I was down there laughing mirthlessly at seeing the words "my" and "space" in the same sentence.  And as for the word "creative"?  Well!!  The only creative things going on around here lately have been finding 'creative' ways to ignore the gathering debris under the kitchen table and 'interesting and delightful' new ways to step over the mess everywhere else in the house because if I bent over to pick anything up I was rewarded with a massive pain ripping through my skull.

You see, a rascally flu virus took up residence in our house two weeks ago and settled in.  I could tell it was planning to stay for a while because it unpacked all its' bags, put everything neatly into the drawers and carefully placed a photo of its' family next to the bed.  So I have had to spend the better part of each day and night looking after the dratted thing, bringing it cups of chamomile tea / hot soup / cooling water / fresh juicy fruit, filling up the hot water bottle, soothing its'distressing cries when the nightmare inducing fevers hit, keeping a supply of clean hankies on hand.  It really has been the most ridiculously over-demanding house guest one could imagine and one we will not be sorry to say goodbye to. 

Some flues, in comparison, seem relatively meek and well behaved.  They settle gently over the household, lay you low for a day or two and then they are on their way.  If it were possible to choose ones flu virus, I would certainly be selecting one of these little numbers, perhaps in a nice shade of turquoise.  But our visitor has been nothing but greedy, violent and completely lacking in manners.   It landed suddenly (obviously uninvited), smacked us all about the head and neck, tied our shoe-laces together and roughly knocked us over, stuffed our heads with cotton wool and our noses with glue then applied tight torniques around our brains, lit bonfires in our throats and then sat back in our best chair, put its feet up on the table and demanded service.

You will understand then, why the idea of having had any "my space" in the last two weeks seems not only laughable but cryable (is there such a word?).  Throw the concept of creativity into the mix and I will be throwing myself on the floor once more, in a fit of sobbing this time for all of that lost opportunity.  Actually, I just had a quick look around me and there isn't really enough uncluttered floor space to throw myself on.  I could do myself an injury.  It would have to be a very well calculated throw, taking into account bits of furniture, baskets of wool, piles of paper, childrens toys that have snuck into what really is supposed to be "my space",  and a metal filing tray that doesn't know where it belongs.

Although it has been a tough two weeks, it hasn't been all bad.  I did make a sufficient recovery after one week to mow the disastrously overgrown back lawn and tidy up the yard which had become so bad I didn't like going out there anymore.  I'm pretty sure it set back a full recovery by a few days but I think it may have been worth it.  So nice to be able to walk outside and not feel like crying.  It has also given us time to watch...are you ready for it?......a Little House on the Prairie DVD set I bought months ago but haven't been able to sit long enough to watch.  The children are loving it, just as I did thirty odd years ago and join me in exclaiming at how nasty and horrible Nellie Olson is, not to mention her mother Harriet.  Oooohhhhh, just the thought of them...!!  I'm quietly hoping that some of Laura Ingles' work ethic will rub off on the children, along with some of Charles and Caroline's wholesome-ness. 

Another positive to come out of it is that our visitor has shown the children that they can find within themselves the strength to fight.  Some took to the challenge more readily and with more strength than others.  Jovanka has amazed me with her resilience and quiet determination.  She didn't want medicine (which I keep on hand as a last resort) even when she was in the grip of fever and could barely walk.  She lay silently on the couch with her pillow, her blanket and her favourite soft toy and stared off into space while her body did what it needed to do.  The following day she was up and about, still tired, but ready to get on with things.  The boys were, well....let's just say, they needed rather more help but they have both found their way through and we have had a biology lesson along the way on viruses, antibodies, blood circulation etc, etc.

At this point in my (aiming for) regular "Creative Space" posts I usually zip off and link into the Our Creative Spaces site to share what I've done with other crafters there.  I think I'll spare them this one but it's always worth a visit there anyway to see what everyone else has been up to.  And now that we're on the mend, I'm feeling open to a little inspiration.  Care to join me?  Just click here and we'll be on our way.

Hope your house-guests are of the welcome variety.

My Creative Space- almost matching socks

A few weeks ago...ah......four to be exact, I proudly put up a picture of this half finished sock, confident that by the following week I would be able to add a picture of the completed pair.  Well.......um......now I feel like a student having to explain why their homework has not been handed in on time.  You see, we went away on a little holiday to Warburton to play in the snow for a week,

then we got home and there was a LOT of washing to be done and then there was Jovankas' third birthday and David designed a special cake which was sufficiently complex enough as to require a practice run but it all turned out splendidly and here it is:

Davids' Chocolate crepe, choc mousse, strawberry layer cake with a chocolate dome.

and then I needed a little rest and finally I got to sit down for a couple of evenings and finish these things off and here they are.

I did actually finish the first sock before we went away.  Jovanka was so excited she put it on, hot off the needles and proceeded to wear it with any other sock she laid her hands on.  Before I had even begun the second sock, this first one had already been on adventures.  It went on holidays with us so she at least had one nice warm foot when she was playing in the snow.  It went for a walk in the shallow edges of the upper Yarra River near where we were staying, and then it went in the not so shallow edges and got soaking wet.  It then got mixed in with the rest of the river sodden clothing and put in the washing machine and dryer

(uh-oh).  Consequently it is a little out of shape and slightly baggy - it's the one on the left. 

 A little aside here, it is a constant curiosity to me that I can say something to the children like "If you go any deeper in the water, your boots will fill up and you'll have wet feet" - fine in summer, not so good on a cold winters day, then they walk in deeper water, get boots full of water, soggy socks and cold, wet feet and then look at me as if to say "Why didn't you keep us out of the deep water?  Why didn't you tell us?  Now I've got wet feet and they're cold and how am I going to walk home like this?"

So now with the socks finished, I can get on with the cardi I started for Jovanka in May.  At this current rate of progress it should be ready in a couple of years.  Good thing she has a little sister to grow into it.

My Creative Space - socks for Jovanka

I found this great site called Our Creative Spaces where crafters can link to, each Thursday, with a picture of whatever they've been working on over the week.  For me, who hasn't picked up so much as a knitting needle for a couple of weeks, it has been a good motivator to get on and DO something again.  I found that I was also getting a bit antsy which is exactly what happens when I go for a while without doing any creative 'work'. 

So, out of desperation just to get started on something I picked up the ball of wool that was sitting on top of the heap in my basket, selected a set of DPNs close enough in size to match the ply and cast on 48 stitches for my favourite sock pattern.  And aaaahhhhhhhh sweet relief.  Liken this to going without a cup of tea for a stretch (or coffee, or whatever fuels your day) and then taking that first sweet sip.  Mmmmmm.

The beauty of this particular pattern is that I have knitted it up so many times for each of the children that I don't have to think about it too much - just get on with it amidst everything else that is going on around me.  And the self-patterning wool makes it look much more impressive than it actually is.  All I have to do is just keep on knitting.  Around and around and around.  This time I am adding in a little bit of shaping at the ankles for a better fit.  I wasn't sure what the standard way is - probably there is no standard way, just lots of possibilities (and I didn't want to interrupt my knitting to get up and look at a pattern) so I started decreasing one stitch every second row for a while until it looked about right.

I'm up to the heel of the first sock so far.  This is usually where I do reach for the pattern but, again, I didn't want to interrupt the knitting to get the pattern which was in another room so I am winging it and it seems to be working okay.  I have written down what I've done so I can do the same again for another sock because, as much as I tell myself that I will remember it, I know that I won't.  Check in next Thursday to see if it worked!