Favorite Stuff for Knitting and Yarny Goodness

I've been thinking a lot lately about simplifying everything. Life feels so complicated sometimes, and simplifying where I can just makes sense. Simplifying means different things to different people. To me, it means getting things out of the way that are keeping me from feeling comfortable in my own space and being able to get things done easily and as effortlessly as possible.

With this goal in mind, I went through my bathroom and got rid of expired products, stuff I knew I was never going to use, old makeup, etc., etc.. I need to do this in my kitchen. Like, big time. How many measuring cups does one person need? Apparently I think I need ALL of the measuring cups. Same with wooden spoons and tongs.

This got me thinking about my craft supplies, including my knitting supplies. I'm much more hesitant to get rid of craft and art supplies than I am with pretty much anything else. They don't go bad! I have them well-organized! Don't touch my watercolor paper! STEP AWAY FROM THE YARN!

So here's the thing. I have found that there are some things I really can't live without when it comes to knitting and yarn.

1. Yarn

I know: DUH!  I often say my real hobby is collecting yarn, and I just happen to also knit a lot. Do not ask me to cull my yarn stash, because it will not happen. I love all of my yarn. Also: I am a yarn snob. If it's mostly acrylic, I won't touch it. I just don't like the way acrylic feels. I prefer natural fibers, with a real focus on protein fibers (wool, alpaca, mohair, cashmere, silk). I don't own a lot of cotton or linen, though I do have times when I enjoy working with those. I have my stash very well organized and inventoried. I can pretty easily put my hands on the yarn I'm looking for without too much digging. Over the summer, I even made labels for my yarn containers to make locating what I need even easier!

2. Knitting Needles

This is another duh, but hear me out. Every knitter has their favorite knitting needles, right? But we have a tendency--at least I do--to collect many different kinds of needles. At one point, I had lots of nickel-plated needles, bamboo needles, and other wooden needles. Several years ago, I found out I'm highly allergic to nickel, so I got rid of all of my nickel-plated needles. A couple of weeks ago, I realized I still have a lot of needles I just avoid because I don't like their join or their tips aren't pointy enough. So, I pulled out the needles I avoid and put them in a small box. My favorite needles are Knitter's Pride Symfonie Dreamz fixed circulars or interchangeable. I love the join. I love how pointy they are. I love the smoothness of the finish. Yes, they still have a little metal on them, but I can live with it because that part is usually covered with yarn. My point to all of this: I have reduced my needle collection down to just what I enjoy using, which makes my life easier. I also moved from a hanging circular needle holder in an armoire to zipped binder pouches in a glittery pink binder. I even made labels for the pouches with my Cricut. It's super fun, and I have my needles right next to where I do most of my knitting. Simplify!!!

3. Ball Winder and Swift

I know many knitters who don't own ball winders or swifts, and they are perfectly happy with life. I have three ball winders. Two are the classic plastic ball winder you see at most yarn shops. They are small and portable and easy to use. The other is a larger metal ball winder that winds large balls. The descriptions says "up to 10 oz," but I've wound larger balls without any problem. I love this ball winder and highly recommend it. I have it set up on my secondary craft table at all times.  The swift I own is the classic wooden swift (this link isn't the exact one I have, but it's darn close), but the metal and plastic ones are probably fine for at-home use.

4. Stitch Markers

In my years of teaching knitting, I've discovered that I'm maybe a bit pickier about stitch markers than most knitters. I really prefer the thin, rigid plastic discs, which I used to get from River Knits and now can't find online, so I can't give you a link. Instead, I'll give you a photo.

I'm also a sucker for pretty beaded stitch markers. I don't usually enjoy using them as much because they're a little fiddly for me, but they are pretty. So I use them sometimes. I really love this TARDIS set I got from Brenda and Heather Yarns at the Fiber Event.

One kind of stitch marker I absolutely cannot live without is a locking stitch marker that looks like a plastic safety pin. I use these so much! In fact, I just ordered this off-brand collection of 300 of them from Amazon. We'll see how they hold up. I rarely use this as on-needle markers. Instead, I use them to mark my place. I tend to be a row-counter, especially when it comes to matching sleeves or socks or mittens--anything that comes in twos. So it's not uncommon for a sleeve to look like this:

This project (Boxy by Joji Locatelli)  has 5 different skeins of handpainted yarns. So, I marked my transition rows and "solid" rows. I couldn't have done this without these amazing locking markers.

I know you're saying, "But what about split ring markers?"  Answer: I hate them. They fall out way too easily. I will admit that I have a few, but I only use them once in a great while. Like if I see a mistake that needs to be fixed on the next row, I'll put a spit ring marker on the spot to mark it temporarily. Otherwise. No. I don't like them. I also strongly dislike rubbery stitch markers that can stretch or bend or stick to my needles. Oh! One more thing: I mostly use small gauge needles (I don't like working with anything much over a US7), so I prefer smaller stitch markers too. I hate using a large stitch marker on a small needle.

Using the right stitch markers for ME makes my knitting life easier! Once you find something that works for you, it's perfectly fine to stick with it and be a curmudgeon about it, like I am with stitch markers.

5. Susan Bates Silvalume Handi Tool

This little guy is so handy. I've used it to pick up stitches, make a chain for a provisional cast on, work Emily Ocker's cast on, fix a pulled stitch, fix a snag on a finished garment, and more.  I've linked you to Amazon, but if you have a local yarn shop, check there. Amazon has these marked up a lot, and you can probably get it at your LYS for less than $2.

6. Apps for my iPad and iPhone (also available for Android devices)

KnitCompanion is, hands down, the most necessary app in my life. You can have all of my other apps. I have to have KnitCompanion. It's free to download and try, but it's 100% worth the $14.99 per year subscription rate. I never use paper patterns anymore. Everything is in KnitCompanion. In KC, I can set up charts, row-by-row instructions, take notes, easily refer to abbreviations and other necessary information, and so much more. It also helps familiarize me with a pattern before I cast on, which is always a good thing.

Sortly is an inventory app that I've found extremely useful for keeping track of my yarn stash (along with other collections like fabric, sewing patterns...and I just realized I could use it to keep track of knitting magazines, books, patterns, pattern booklets, etc.!). I'm kinda weird in that I like having an easily navigable inventory of stuff that I collect. So much so that I'm actually looking forward to working with my husband to inventory his vacuum tubes and possibly other components. So, why do I like having a yarn inventory on my phone? When I'm shopping for yarn, I can check to see what I already have, including colors and dye lots. I have photos for everything, which makes it easier to find other yarns that might coordinate. It also helps when I find a pattern I love because I can see if I already have yarn that will work for it. Now for the sort-of down side: Sortly has a monthly subscription price of $4.99 if you want to enter more than 100 items. To me, it's worth it because I keep track of more than just my yarn, and I'll be expanding to add other inventories as well. [Edited to add: Sortly has recently changed their subscriptions, and the $4.99/mo option is no longer available. As a legacy user, I can continue at that rate. If I weren't a legacy user, I would not sign up with Sortly now. I will likely be searching for a different app. Eventually, I'm sure they will discontinue the legacy support.] Umm..yes, I also maintain my yarn inventory in Ravelry and in Excel. Why do you ask?

Apps for listening to stuff. Amazon Music, Downcast, Audible, Chirp, Hoopla, and Libby. Those are my six most-used listening apps. Amazon Music is (duh) for music. Downcast is a podcast app. I know many are happy with the native podcast app on their iPhones, but I wasn't. I've been using Downcast for years and love it. Audible and Chirp are audiobook apps. Hoopla and Libby are apps that work with my local library to borrow audiobooks. I don't watch a lot of TV, so while the others in my house are watching TV, I'm usually listening to a podcast or audiobook.

7. Ravelry

I almost didn't add this here because it's such an obvious thing, but I figured if I added yarn and needles, I better add Ravelry.  I use Ravelry for so much, I don't know how I existed before...well, I do. I had lots of binders full of patterns, project notes, yarn inventories... you get the picture. So much paper!  Enter Ravelry: I can buy PDF patterns and open them in KnitCompanion for use. I can sell my own patterns (to enable me to buy more patterns by other designers). I can keep track of all of my projects. I can look up projects done by other people to see how they look, if they ran into any problems, or if they made any alterations. I can connect with other knitters who might have similar interests to mine. Doctor Who? Yep. Animal Crossing? Yep. Curling? Yep. You name it, there's probably a group for it!

I know someone is probably wondering how I feel about Ravelry since they made their anti-racism policy change on June 23. I fully support it. Trump and his administration have proven themselves to be highly supportive of white supremacy. Regardless of your own personal beliefs, support of the Trump administration is undoubtedly support for white supremacy. You may not consider yourself a white supremacist or a racist, but you are certainly supporting them if you support him. So, I support Ravelry, and that's that.

8. A Good Lamp

It doesn't have to be an expensive lamp, but I need good lighting when I'm knitting anything much more complicated than stockinette or garter stitch. Yes, I have a simple stockinette project just for movie theater knitting.  At home, I have this lamp from IKEA clamped to the end table. (I actually have an older version of this.) I can shine it directly at my knitting so the rest of the room can be dark, which is how my family likes it for watching TV or playing video games. And I use a bulb with relatively low lumens. I think what I'm using now is an LED that roughly equal to a 25W or 40W incandescent bulb.

9. A Supportive Spouse/Partner/Housemate

I cannot stress this enough. There are times when all of the floor space in our bedroom is taken up by blocking shawls, or the kitchen and dining table are inaccessible all weekend because I'm dyeing, or we have to turn down an invitation because it's the same day as The Fiber Event, or any other number of things related to yarn. My husband is fully supportive. Why? Because he has his own interests and side hustles that affect our life together, so he gets it! I have plenty of friends whose partners are not as supportive. They won't allow them to have a large yarn stash. They complain if there are knitting projects left on the coffee table. They expect to be able to use the kitchen to prepare a meal. (😉Yes, we can use our kitchen to prepare meals....just not while I'm dyeing...) I guess what I'm saying is this: My husband makes my life easier by being supportive of my interests and activities.


So there you have it: the nine things I can't live without that all work together to make my life easier, simpler, and much better.

PS: I'm planning a big announcement Friday, so be sure to check back!! 

Yarny Fun

Many of you know that I enjoy (and have even taught classes about) dyeing with Kool Aid. A few weeks ago, I decided to play around a little bit with Kool Aid again. I had some white worsted weight and fingering weight yarn, and I wanted to try dyeing some true self-striping and gradient yarns. There are a handful of ways to accomplish this, but I decided the knitting blanks would be a fun way to play. So, I ordered a hand-crank, 40-needle knitting machine from Amazon. (For some reason, I haven't taken a picture of it....) It's a finicky little tool, but once I got it figured out, I was off to the races! I made four 50g tubes of fingering, one 100g tube of fingering, and two 100g tubes of worsted. I laid them out on my kitchen table, mixed up my Kool Aid, and had some fun. 

The picture below of my yarn steaming might look pretty familiar to those of you who attended the River Knits Retreat a couple of years ago.

After steaming and drying them, I decided I wanted them in skein format (even though you can knit directly from the blank). I'm blessed with a dad who is an amazing woodworker, and he made me a skein winder so I wouldn't have to use a niddy-noddy!

This fabulous tool makes winding skeins go so much faster! But look at how kinky they are!

 
A little soak and hanging to dry straightened them right out. Below, from top to bottom: two 100g skeins of worsted in self striping cool and warm colors, respectively; two 50g skeins of self-striping fingering weight (shown above on the table); two 50g skeins of fingering dyed in rainbow gradients; one 100g skein of fingering dyed in a long rainbow gradient. 

Y'all. This was so much fun! But I found myself wondering what kinds of effects I could get if I had "real dye." Note: Kool Aid is a real dye. It dyes yarn beautifully and safely, but it does have some limitations. There are a limited number of colors, and color mixing to expand the pallet is disappointing. For example, if you mix cherry (red) and mixed berry (blue), you won't get purple. The red will take up very quickly, and the blue won't take up much at all.  

So, I went to Bluprint (formerly Craftsy Unlimited) and watched a couple of classes. Professional Yarn Dyeing at Home and Next Steps in Yarn Dyeing were both very helpful. Last weekend, I dyed some mini skeins (that I made with my awesome skein winder!), and you guys? I'm in love.
 

I took this basket of bare yarn (the grey ones have stellina in them! SPARKLES!!!), and dyed tons of samples, playing with color mixing, depth of shade, and fiber content.

Pure colors in jars in a water bath, ready to steam:

Mixed colors, after steaming:

Sparkle yarn, ready to steam:

Here's the same basket, filled with all of my little sample skeins.

Now I have some ideas for how I want to do some full skeins and projects I'd like to knit with them. Guess how I'm going to spend my weekend!

River Knits Closing; Gaea Creations hoping to continue

As you likely know, River Knits is closing its doors forever on July 3. Many people have asked me if I plan to continue teaching knitting classes. I would very much like to continue, and I'm exploring some options for locations.  The only classes I will be teaching in July and August are the currently-running Year Long Afghan classes. I hope to have a few fall classes, though, starting in September. If you would like to stay in the loop via email, you can sign up here:  https://mailchi.mp/835c9ff01859/gaeacreations.  I've also created a Gaea Creations Facebook page where I'll post updates. I promise I'm better at keeping my knitting students updated than I am at updating this blog. :)

Finding my Inner Artist

One of the things I've always wanted to do is paint. I've done craft painting in the past, and I've enjoyed a couple of evenings at Painting with a Twist. (That's a super fun way to spend a couple of hours! I highly recommend it!) But I've never really explored painting much. I didn't even take an art class in high school.

So, after my first Painting with a Twist experience just after Christmas, I went to Craftsy and purchased a couple of painting classes. And didn't watch them until about three weeks ago. Because I'm a weirdo like that. So I went to the craft store and picked up a table-top easel, some paints, and a couple of canvases.

This is my little work space in my bedroom. The table was purchased by my grandparents when they got married in 1940! I love it, and it gets covered with a vinyl tablecloth when I'm crafting.


I also checked out a bunch of books from the library. In one of them, the author mentioned her "art journal." I wondered what that was, so I Googled it.

Holy crap.

How have I not heard of art journaling until now?! This is some seriously inspiring, creative, amazing stuff! So back to the library's website I go and find a bunch of e-books about art journaling. Then, back to the craft store for more supplies.

I actually made two more trips after this one because I kept reading about things I wanted to try!

Saturday, I spent a good portion of the day painting and working on my first art journal page. I painted one canvas, and my mom instantly claimed it, saying it would look great in her bedroom. Moms are supposed to do that, right?

I thought it seemed sort of childish, but I had fun doing it, and it loosened me up. I also spent this time learning how to tell my inner critic/fear to shut the hell up. It didn't really matter what I made. I just wanted to follow my heart and keep my brain out of it. I showed it to an acquaintance and she said it reminded her of Matisse. That made me feel pretty good. Not gonna lie.

Once that was completed, I turned my attention to my new art journal. I had already covered one page with gesso to prepare it for acrylics. (It's a watercolor pad.) I had an idea in my head of what I wanted it to look like. I knew I wanted to make the earth in the center using the same painting technique I had learned when painting the background of the dandelion painting (above) at Painting With a Twist.

It gives the feeling of "the world" without having to be too exact. I was pretty pleased with it. My daughter later suggested that I could have used a large round stencil to have a more even edge around the circle. But, I like the unevenness of it.

Then I used red and yellow to paint the rest of the background and walked away for a while to allow it to dry.  My intention was to use a black pen to draw and write the words, but when I saw the fully dried background I changed my mind. Enter: metallic gold paint pen.

It was so much fun, and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I'm looking forward to spending some more time with my art supplies. This weekend, I'll be experimenting with watercolors. I've also decided to take a couple of art classes at our local community center starting in April. I'm really excited about all the possibilities that are laid out before me!

Mosaic

Have I ever mentioned how much I love mosaic knitting? It's freaking brilliant. You create this amazing colorwork, but only use one color at a time, slipping the stitches you want to be in the opposite color. It can be done on garter or stockinette stitch, so the possibilities are endless. It just so happens I'm wearing mosaic socks today.

Pattern: Masonry by Kate Gilbert. Yarn: Cascade Yarns Heritage in Marine and Crystal Palace Yarns Sausalito in Big Sur.

I also have a mosaic cowl on the needles.

Pattern: Earth Weave Cowl by Kim Sequeira. Yarn: Cascade 220 in various colors.


Now I'm eyeing the Optimist Shawl by Lisa Hannes.  Here are the colors (Cascade Heritage again) I'm planning to use. Don't they just scream "OPTIMISM!!!"  I love light, bright, happy colors.

I'll very likely start that one this weekend.

What knitting techniques are you particularly fond of? What techniques would you like to learn?

Resolutions

Hi Everyone!  (Ha! See how I said that like someone is actually reading this?)

So, here's what's going on in my life right now: a week before Christmas, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. It sucks. I was shocked. My A1C levels had never been elevated before. Now, suddenly, they were high enough to make me diabetic. I tried not to think about it too much because it was Christmas! But, I knew that as soon as the holidays were over, I needed to make some major changes.

Enter New Year's Resolutions. I didn't resolve to lose weight. I didn't resolve to exercise. I didn't resolve to overhaul my life. I resolved to do just one thing: DO WHAT'S RIGHT FOR ME. In ALL things. Not just for my physical health, but for all of me. My mental and emotional health. My need to be creative. My life. I'm not setting specific resolutions. Instead, I am making decisions as I go using that one resolution as a guiding light: do what's right for me.

So far, it's working for me. I'm spending more time with friends. I've started painting a bit. I've drastically reduced the amount of time I spend on social media. I've started seeking out unbiased news sources. I've almost entirely eliminated excess sugar from my diet. (Seriously: I used to eat Apple Jacks for breakfast. Every day. There's a damn lot of sugar there, which resulted in me wanting sugar the rest of the day. Switching breakfasts to a protein-packed, delicious breakfast sandwich drastically reduced my sugar cravings.) I've started loving my body exactly as it is. I'm not worried about losing weight. I'm done focusing on that. DONE. (It's really quite liberating to say that.) If it happens, great. If not, that's fine too. As long as I know I'm doing what's right for me, that's all that matters.

So here I am, determined to live my best life. Determined to do what's right for me in all things. You should watch and see what happens. Part of my plan is to write more here. I'll still talk a lot about knitting and my other creative endeavors, but there might be some more personal stuff too. Stick around. Let's see what I do.

Reinventions

Wow....I can't believe it's been nearly a year since I last wrote. I mean, I knew it had been a long time....

But, do you smell that? Take a deep breath. Let it fill your being. It's change. Change is in the air, and that means it's time for reinvention.

I turned 42 a few days ago. My daughter is heading to college in less than a week. My son starts high school next week. My life is about to change a lot. That makes this the perfect time to reexamine my life and what I want from it. Who am I? (A creative being who wants to spend all of her time making things.) What do I want to be when I grow up? (Well, I don't want to grow up....and I'm not sure what I want to be, but I don't see myself staying where I am forever.) What do I want out of life? (Happiness, joy, surprise, wonder, a little bit of comfort, love.) How do I get that? (By working toward it every day.) But how?

That's the big question, isn't it? HOW?

About a month ago, I started a pretty amazing journey toward self-discovery, self-acceptance, and self-love. I was feeling down a lot. I was so overwhelmed with this feeling of inadequacy and a lack of desire to really DO anything. I felt like there was an enormous amount of negativity coming at me from every direction.....so many words and so much energy that wasn't positive. And it reflected in me. I was wearing a lot of black, not making a lot of effort to look nice, and not really caring about any of it. I wasn't knitting or really creating at all. I'd come home from work, put in my earbuds to listen to an audiobook and play Yahtzee with Buddies or puzzle games on my iPhone or iPad. It wasn't good. (Note: I'm not saying these are bad things to do. They just weren't good FOR ME.)

So, a month or so ago, I decided I needed to do something to get myself out of this funk. I went with a bit of advice from Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. In her book, she says that you need to be attractive for creativity. You can't lay around in pajamas you've had on for 3 days and hair that hasn't been washed in longer and expect the magic to come. You have to make an effort.

I remembered seeing a link to something called Dressing Your Truth on Pinterest. So, I went digging. Turns out I pinned that link more than a year ago. LOL! I read more about it and thought, "Well, this sounds like fun, so I'll just do it and see where it goes." (Please know that this is not a commercial for DYT. I'm just sharing my experience.)

I started watching the Energy Profiling videos and knew right away that I'm a Type 1. I mean, it's not even possible I could be anything else. It describes everything about me when I'm not trying to be someone I'm not: optimistic, happy, bright, bubbly, positive, expressive, outgoing, youthful. Even so, I watched the rest of the videos.... I felt a slight connection with all of the Types, but I'm so obviously a Type 1. Then I read Dressing Your Truth; Discover Your Type of Beauty by Carol Tuttle (creator of DYT).  Yep! Definitely a Type 1.

Then, I ponied up and bought the DYT course. (I'm going to tell you about it, but this isn't really the important part of what's happening in my life...it just supports it.)  I wasn't thrilled with the color pallet for a Type 1. Bright, sunshiny yellow is the signature color....I had literally never worn yellow in my life because I had been told it would be a terrible color for me. Tints were the name of the game (which means any pure color that has had white added to it). I always thought I preferred rich, deep, dark colors. Then I started cleaning out my closet. Ruthlessly.

Here's the before:



Really awful, right? So many clothes, many which weren't being worn ever. What a mess. (Also, yes, I realize I'm blessed with a giant walk-in closet. In this picture, you are seeing a bit less than half of it. Hubby uses the other half.)

Here are the after pics:
 

































Pretty amazing, right? (I need to recover my chair with a Type 1 fabric...) And there is NO BLACK. (Items that look black in the picture are actually either navy blue or dark chocolate brown.)

Anyway, I was really really ruthless. I took out 3 trash bags full of clothes for Goodwill, along with several pairs of shoes. I will admit that I kept a laundry basket of clothes I wasn't quite ready to part with yet...but it's now been a couple of weeks, and I don't miss those clothes at all. They will likely be on their way out of the house soon. (If you've done DYT and you are a Type 4 who wears a 14/16 top and 18/20 bottom, I probably have some great black stuff for you.)

After cleaning out my closet, I went shopping. End of season clearance is the bomb. I had so much fun!! I don't remember ever having this much fun shopping for clothes! I was able to quickly pick things that followed the Type 1 guidelines. And guess what! They all looked great on me!! I even tried on YELLOW and LOVED IT!!!  

Here's the really amazing thing: DYT has a "5 compliment guarantee." They promise that you will receive at least 5 compliments in the first 30 days of dressing your truth. I had that many on the first day. Seriously. And even the way complete strangers responded to me changed (possibly because my way of responding to them changed).  I don't even know how to describe how wonderful it was/is.  I smile at people, and they smile back. I feel like before, I would smile but no one would respond, and I was just invisible. But maybe it's hard not to smile back at someone who is wearing a bright, sunshiny yellow blouse and turquoise jewelry. :) 

So, while changing the way I dress and present myself to the world physically was a wonderful and much-needed step in my life, it was just the tip of the iceberg. I've been immersing myself in the Living Your Truth way of living. I'm currently trying to figure out my secondary Energy Type. I thought it was Type 4, but I'm not so sure.... But, I'm also learning more about my dominant Type 1 Energy. I'm learning that so much of what I've seen as my weaknesses are really my strengths. Yes, I'm optimistic and maybe a little naively so, but I bring hope and joy. Yes, I'm chatty and bubbly, but I bring people together and try to include everyone. I look in the mirror now and I see beauty and light and joy, not flaws that I used to see. I literally look in the mirror and see hearts and stars and circles in my features and think, "Wow! I am beautiful!" It's a really nice change.

My husband (in classic Type 2 fashion) didn't really say anything until I said, "So, you may have noticed that I've been dressing differently." Then he opened up and said that yes, he'd noticed and that he'd also noticed that I seem more present than I have in a while. I told him I was tired of looking and feeling like a schlump. He said, "Well, first, you never looked like a schlump." Bless his heart. I think that's what we call unconditional love. Why don't we love ourselves unconditionally? Why is that so hard?? I believe that by living my truth, I'm finally figuring out how to give myself some of that good stuff!



That's probably the last time you'll hear me rave about DYT. Henceforth, you get to witness my reinvention. Don't worry, there will still be knitting and sewing....but I might add some other things as inspiration strikes. I'm becoming more confident every day. Stay tuned!!!