Heroes 3KCBWDAY3

How could anyone have just a single hero in such a diverse craft as knitting, practised by so many different types of people?  There are cutting edge knitters, knitters whose interests lie in structure, those who love vintage and those who just love the comfort of knitting and knitted clothes.  My knitting heroes divide into three groups, family, stars and the experts

Family? two people, one who taught and encouraged me to knit,  and one who wrapped me and mine in the warmth of her knitting love.  Beginning with my grandmother, because you have to start with your first teacher don't you? I remember red, some old red yarn and a pair of short red plastic needles with black button ends and Gran repeating 'in, over, off' into my left ear.

Apart from a brief flirtation with Phildar yarns in the middle 70s when, living in France, I did not pick up the pointy sticks again until expecting my first baby, and encouraged by the frenzy of knitting the news pitched my mother in law into, I made a few tiny hats. But MIL did so much more. She made a perfect shetland shawl, every sort of baby clothing (and ne'er a lemon yellow lacy matinee jacket in sight) and she went on to supply jumpers, cardigans, dresses and even a toddlers coat! But it's the shawl that I remember her for, I tell the full story here

I'm sorry there is no photographic evidence of the 'red thing'

Stars?  About the same time as I was knitting baby hats Kaffe Fassett burst on the scene.

All that colour and pattern (and knots and leftovers!) At the same time my mother was learning to spin and experimenting with vegetable dyes. I asked her to spin and dye the yarn for a sweater with an all over design of poppies, cream with two shades of red and two of green. I'm afraid to say neither of us was up to this particular challenge and the half knitted sweater languished in my craft basket for years and eventually got thrown out (much to my regret now)

Lastly the Experts and this brings me to about three years ago. A new interest in knitting and a discovery. There are serious crafts women out there! The Yarn Harlot who writes so wittily and sensitively, Erica Knight who deigns such elegant and contemporary things (that cause squeals of delight when given as presents). Then there is the queen, Elizabeth Zimmerman

What can I say? A woman who can see a garment in rows and stitches. I have just finished my first baby surprise jacket, every stitch, every increase and decrease a marvel. And once done, flip the thing you have made over (it looks like a giant flatfish) and voila! It's a baby jacket. And i-cord (does this really mean idiot cord or did Ez get there before Steve Jobs?) I intend to finish off as many of my future projects with an i-cord.

She writes so well too, sometimes with an acid tongue (perhaps she did mean idiot cord!). She died in 1999 but her books and work live on through the work of The School House Press. Now that's true immortality

'Pass by the synthetic department, then, with your nose in the air’

Elizabeth Zimmermann not sparing her contempt for synthetic yarns in The Knitters Almanac 1972

xx

c

The Yarn Harlot, "IT" and the sock marathon

The sock marathon began, in my imagination, in September. 

It didn't quite work out as I had hoped.  

I am not alone.  Like any self respecting knitter I pay homage to The Yarn Harlot and read her blog.  I am also catching up with her back catalogue by reading The Secret Life of a Knitter.  She writes about the knitting madness that all passionate knitters recognise.  

There is no greater madness than what The Harlot describes in  her chapter  on "IT" which is about her annual good intentions to knit a Christmas present for each of her nearest and dearest.  She describes six phases, I leave you to read them but it is enough to say that phase 1 consists of writing a huge list of projects, telling herself there is plenty of time and phase 6 is "IT" when she looses all sense of time, knits through the night, neglects her family shamefully and is still knitting into Christmas morning.

Once or twice in the Autumn I did mention that I was knitting for Christmas, particularly here and here but I did not tell you the true extent of it THERE WAS MORE.  I planned to knit a pair of socks for each man in the family, with a fairisle pattern that reflected their interests.  There were to be garden spades, cannons, a design like this "@@@" and something transport related  all patterns marching around the tops of socks knitted in charcoal grey Rowan Cashsoft 4ply.  Big soft socks to wear over ordinary ones from M&S, inside safety  boots that they all have to wear from time to time at work.

You can't have too many socks

But can you try and knit too many?

I did finish the shrug for The Little Model and the sweater for my father.  I even got the shawl made, although after blocking it was so huge I renamed it a throw and you have seen the quilt.  Then I struck the diversion that was Fenton

By the time I had finished the Fenton project there was two weeks, three pairs of cashmere mittens and four pairs of socks left on the to do list.  I made and posted the mittens to my three girlfriends first, after all the socks only needed to be ready and wrapped by 11am on Christmas morning.

It was when I took my knitting to bed, working on the first of 4 pairs of socks into the wee small hours, picking them up again as soon as I woke that I came to a decision.  I would not descend into the knitting frenzy, ever more to be called "IT" where I imagined there were 26 hours in a day and no need for sleep.  I would complete just the first pair, the rest of the yarn could go back into stash and I would begin earlier next year.

It was the transport related socks I completed for DS1 who does things with signals and points on the London Underground.  He is also someone who understands my minor obsessions, having the odd one himself  (he is currently building a mini photographic studio in the garage for stop-motion photography)

He loved the socks and suggested he might even sit with his trousers rolled up at site meetings.  

To avoid impending "IT" in 2012 I should be starting now but I'm not - yet.

xx

c

PS the socks were worn for the first time on site Saturday 4 February