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Although I’ve been knitting since 2012, I haven’t actually focused very much on improving the quality of my craft recently. I learned fair isle a few years ago, but other than that, I think my ability is basically the same as it was 8 years ago - despite being fairly prolific in my output.
I consider myself fairly advanced - I can knit lace, fair isle, cables - and ladder down to fix a mistake many rows back too. I’ve made blankets, socks, soft toys, scarves, and jumpers galore. But my ribbing is sloppy, and you can plainly see where I’ve woven in my ends. I’m noticing uneven tension and fit issues - garments too big, too small, or too imperfect. Knitting doesn’t have to be perfect, I know - but I feel like my skills have stagnated, and I could be better than this if I just applied myself a little better.
I just added tags to all my blog posts and gallery projects that I consider “incentivised”, i.e. I received the pattern or fabric for free in exchange for pattern testing or content creation.
This all made me think very hard about why I do it, and whether creating this sort of content is at odds with my views about the web (marketing makes the web bad, etc.), so to think it through, I wrote out a piece on the topic of incentivised content.
I’ve published it as a page, rather than a blog post, as I’m using pages to present my stance on something. Blog posts are a point in time. But my stance might change, and if so, I’ll update the page.
I usually make a few new year’s resolutions, and forget them by the end of January. This year, I’ve decided to go all in on one really difficult target: I’m going to try to read 52 books this year.
This is a crazy target for me. My highest ever book count was 37, and that was years ago, when I was hyperfixated on the very concept of reading. I’ve not been like that in recent years. Last year, I read 10 books, and two of them I had to finish in audiobook form because my concentration was so shot. (No slight on audiobooks as a form of reading - but personally it’s a last resort.)
For Christmas I made my husband this super cosy pullover with the Helen’s Closet Jackson Pullover pattern, in this HILARIOUS fur-backed sweatshirting from Minerva. It’s such a fantastic print, there was no chance of me not buying it. Look at those cool bears dressed like James Dean!
This is actually my fourth time sewing the pattern, but I’ve never done the same view/size combo twice - as it’s so versatile I’ve used it for different applications each time. And that’s not even including the hoodie expansion pack that I just noticed they released (which I’m very tempted by).
Knitting Christmas gifts is a lovely thoughtful idea that should fill you with generous Christmas spirit. But oh my goodness, you have to give yourself enough time!
Unfortunately, I’m no stranger to knitting on a deadline. It’s not my favourite way to knit, but boy, it helps me get stuff done. I started this one with three weeks to go - so I intentionally picked a simple pattern to maximise my chances of finishing it in time. I’m pleased with my choice - the On the Porch Blanket by Fifty Four Ten Studio. Even though it’s clear from the photo what needs to be done, I bought the pattern as I wanted the simplest smoothest route to success. Incidentally, I’d say it’s a great pattern for beginners as it’s really clearly written!
For the fashion design course I’m taking, I designed, drafted, fitted and created a summer top. And I’m so proud of it! Summer might be a distant memory, but I just rediscovered my notes about the process of creating this, and I had to share.
The Design
I started with a sketch, vaguely inspired by some silhouettes I saw earlier in the summer. I iterated on a few ideas, but ultimately landed on this empire-band peplum top. I wanted something that would be a fun challenge to draft, and I was really into under-bust gathering at the time.
⚠ Geek content ahead! ⚠
This post is about geeky tech stuff.
If you're not into that, maybe skip this one! (What's this?)
If you're not into that, maybe skip this one! (What's this?)
One of the key features I wanted to build for this website was a custom gallery. I previously had a basic one on Wordpress - it was entirely manually managed through their visual block editor. Huge hassle, and very slow and awkward. Eventually I did actually build a database-driven Wordpress plugin to automate it, which turned into a custom page type, but then before I ever put it live, I got fed up with Wordpress and decided to leave the whole ecosystem.
On the other hand, building my gallery in Hugo has been pretty straight forward. The gallery was one of the first things I did in Hugo, so I was learning the tool as I went, and yet it still came together rather quickly! And that’s also considering that I spent ages faffing around with the stylesheets.
I’ve nearly finished re-knitting the Loki jumper by Istex Lopi - and when I say re-knitting, I mean I am making the same jumper in the same colours for the same person. Not because I am crazy, but because I knitted the first one as a present for my husband for our wool wedding anniversary (7th), and he loved it, and then I absentmindedly put through too many spin cycles in the washing machine, and it shrank.
I was absolutely heartbroken, I tell you. It was one of the loveliest things I’d ever made, and it was the first jumper I’d ever finished knitting for him - after literally three failed attempts at another pattern over the years. So I promised him another, in whatever colours he wanted. He asked for a replica of the original. Which is nice, because it means I chose well the first time!