From the fascinating history of Gansey sweaters to yarn shop discoveries in Barcelona and London—and even a game-changing lint remover—these are the random bits that have filled my knitting notebook lately.
I am a novice knitter at best. But the tradition of. Knitting is what spoke to me. There is no one item that has to be made, although my first project was a knitted christening gown for my son. All three grandchildren wore it for their christening days. Our fourth grand child is due any minute and I hope she will wear it as well.
What I love about knitting is it works my brain and when I am the most confused and then work it out, it makes me feel like I am defying age related mental decline. Lol.
I had a psychology professor that when speaking about the brain always said: “ if you don’t use it, you lose it.” So you are absolutely right thinking that you can defy mental decline through knitting! Learning a new language or skill makes your brain create connections that it would otherwise not do.
Update Cecilia Marie born Dec 28. Four grand kids will keep me young as well!! Also next knitting project. Is a fair isle hat and a lacy scarf pattern.
I have mixed feelings about fiber pill removers. Yes, it feels good to cut or brush all those pills away but I swear all those cut ends of fibers just pill more easily and the pilling escalates. I’m thinking about rubbing a fabric softener dryer sheet on a sleeve I’ve depilled to see if it prevents new pills from forming.
I have a couple of tools I can’t function without: rubber grippers from ChiaGoo to tighten/loosen interchangeable needles, the “Wanda” hook/point needle in 3 mm from Lacis to use as a cable needle, pick-up needle, and repair needle, and the On the Go notion kit from Thread & Maple. There is room for the rubber grippers and repair hook in the On the Go, which comes with stitch markers, tapestry needles a scissors in a tiny package. I’ve been thinking about putting a grommet in the OTG so I can attach a retractable measuring tape and all my must-have notions would be in one package.
Ohhh I never thought about the fibers pilling even more after being cut, but makes sense. I love your story of the OTG. I am also super particular about my notions pouches. I even wrote about it in one of my first posts. Haha! Thank you for sharing your tools with me, it’s always great to learn what others love. X
I learned to knit when I was about 9 yrs. old. (I am 68 yrs. now) My best friend’s mother taught the two of us. (She —the mother—was aware I had lost my own mother a couple of years prior.). I have been knitting on & off ever since.
When I met my (former) husband & fell in love I decided I wanted to knit a Fisherman sweater for him. We were both proud of our Irish/American heritage & so this knitting challenge appealed to me. I waited until we were engaged to do this as I did not want to invest the hours (& hours & hours!) it would take for a boyfriend (i.e. no commitment 😂) . I finished it & it did look great on him & I did love doing all of the cable & various stitches, but —-sadly—- it got left behind in a move across country!😢
Oh no!! Do you have pictures at least? I made my boyfriend a hand knit sweater for xmas in 2023 and the dry cleaning company mistakenly washed it and felt it. Feels almost worse than leaving it behind.
I would love to know did you make the boyfriend a navy fisherman rib? As I am trying to find the right yarn to make one, but also my husband hates wool, breaks out/allergic. So difficult to find the right yarn but for the brioche stitch.
I am a novice knitter at best. But the tradition of. Knitting is what spoke to me. There is no one item that has to be made, although my first project was a knitted christening gown for my son. All three grandchildren wore it for their christening days. Our fourth grand child is due any minute and I hope she will wear it as well.
What I love about knitting is it works my brain and when I am the most confused and then work it out, it makes me feel like I am defying age related mental decline. Lol.
I had a psychology professor that when speaking about the brain always said: “ if you don’t use it, you lose it.” So you are absolutely right thinking that you can defy mental decline through knitting! Learning a new language or skill makes your brain create connections that it would otherwise not do.
Update Cecilia Marie born Dec 28. Four grand kids will keep me young as well!! Also next knitting project. Is a fair isle hat and a lacy scarf pattern.
I have mixed feelings about fiber pill removers. Yes, it feels good to cut or brush all those pills away but I swear all those cut ends of fibers just pill more easily and the pilling escalates. I’m thinking about rubbing a fabric softener dryer sheet on a sleeve I’ve depilled to see if it prevents new pills from forming.
I have a couple of tools I can’t function without: rubber grippers from ChiaGoo to tighten/loosen interchangeable needles, the “Wanda” hook/point needle in 3 mm from Lacis to use as a cable needle, pick-up needle, and repair needle, and the On the Go notion kit from Thread & Maple. There is room for the rubber grippers and repair hook in the On the Go, which comes with stitch markers, tapestry needles a scissors in a tiny package. I’ve been thinking about putting a grommet in the OTG so I can attach a retractable measuring tape and all my must-have notions would be in one package.
Ohhh I never thought about the fibers pilling even more after being cut, but makes sense. I love your story of the OTG. I am also super particular about my notions pouches. I even wrote about it in one of my first posts. Haha! Thank you for sharing your tools with me, it’s always great to learn what others love. X
I learned to knit when I was about 9 yrs. old. (I am 68 yrs. now) My best friend’s mother taught the two of us. (She —the mother—was aware I had lost my own mother a couple of years prior.). I have been knitting on & off ever since.
When I met my (former) husband & fell in love I decided I wanted to knit a Fisherman sweater for him. We were both proud of our Irish/American heritage & so this knitting challenge appealed to me. I waited until we were engaged to do this as I did not want to invest the hours (& hours & hours!) it would take for a boyfriend (i.e. no commitment 😂) . I finished it & it did look great on him & I did love doing all of the cable & various stitches, but —-sadly—- it got left behind in a move across country!😢
Oh no!! Do you have pictures at least? I made my boyfriend a hand knit sweater for xmas in 2023 and the dry cleaning company mistakenly washed it and felt it. Feels almost worse than leaving it behind.
I was about to say something about crafters and their supply's and I remembered that I'm waiting for some art supply's
Just found your Substack and am gobbling up your posts! Thank you 🧶
Oh thank you for reading!! Makes me really happy :)
Wild and wooly- east london!
I would love to know did you make the boyfriend a navy fisherman rib? As I am trying to find the right yarn to make one, but also my husband hates wool, breaks out/allergic. So difficult to find the right yarn but for the brioche stitch.
I’m working on it! Stay tuned!