Cladonia Colours

Melissa at Espace Tricot also knit up a gorgeous version of Kirsten Kapur’s Cladonia shawl. The shawl is designed to use two contrasting colours in the main body, alternating to make fine stripes. Some knitters have chosen to knit it entirely in one solid colour, but here Melissa has chosen two colourways that are “close” but still visibly distinct. It makes for a beautiful shawl with kind of an undulating colour effect. A great variation on contrasting stripes.

And here’s a subtle and gorgeous version, knit by Ittybitty in Switzerland… it’s a mix of Koigu’s KPM and our Tough Love Sock in Cypress.

So many knitters on Ravelry mentioned that this was a super easy knit… so I added it to the queue and realized it’s #92 in the list of things to knit. Might need to spend a little time culling the queue.

Hawthorne at Espace Tricot

It’s a new year and time to start new things… including new knitting projects. Espace Tricot, a wonderful yarn shop in Montreal, is hosting a Knit-along starting January 19th in their shop and they chose our Superwash Worsted for their Hawthorne project.

Hawthorne by Susanna IC is a stunning and versatile shawl / wrap / scarf which can be worn many different ways. Knitted in one piece, it begins with the lace edge followed by garter-stitch short rows. The store sample is knit using SweetGeorgia Yarns 100% Superwash Merino. Pattern can be purchased online.

What new project are you starting this year?

Grace’s Handspun Scarf

We loooove when people stop by the studio to show us what they’ve made. Grace, on of our long-time club members, came to pick up her Fibre Club package yesterday and was wearing the most awesome scarf. It’s handspun from our BFL+Silk fibre in Maple and navajo-plied to keep the colours clear and distinct. I believe she said the pattern was one of Yarn Harlot’s… oh here it is: Yarn Harlot’s One-Row Scarf. If you’re on Ravelry, you can see Grace’s original handspun yarn here. Beautiful!!

Little Branches

Just a tiny little post… this shawl was meant to be a bridesmaids gift for my maid of honour, Michelle, but I was just too slow and it ended up being her birthday (2 days ago) gift. I designed it after an Estonian lace stitch pattern, a twig or double-twig pattern, and knit it up in Merino Silk Fine. Coastal blue is a great colour for her and hopefully it goes with other things in her closet.

Michelle is awesome and she found this wonderful TED talk about Nature, Beauty and Gratitude that I just wanted to share.

Better Than Perfect, Mighty Ugly

I just woke up to see Kim Werker on the Breakfast Television show where she gave a little preview of what she is doing this weekend (actually starting today) at the One of a Kind Show in Vancouver. See, Kim leads workshops on “confronting creative demons, pushing creative expression & gettin’ crafty in new and unusual ways. Embrace the ugly.”

The concept is brilliant. What would feel better than trying to be perfect? Ahhhh… freedom to be creative, peace in your heart and trusting your true self. No more fear of failure. It would feel so good not to be so self-critical or judgemental or overwhelmed by your own expectations. It would be so therapeutic, as Kim says.

So these “Mighty Ugly” workshops lead people through a creative exercise in making something that’s supposed to be ugly. It’s freeing. It’s a sigh of relief, not having to fit anyone’s exacting standards (especially your own). Because when you start with the goal of making something ugly, you can’t go anywhere but up. It’s about “celebrating the benefits of failure so we’re not so afraid of doing big things.”

I’ve heard other knitters say the same thing, so I know I’m not alone… that when you spend way too much time surfing Ravelry, you start to feel overwhelmed by how awesome everyone else’s projects are. You feel intense pressure to also be awesome, somehow. You set up irrational beliefs that you are not good enough. You become disheartened and fear starting larger, more complex projects because you fear not being able to succeed or produce a finished object. Then because you feel like you have nothing to show, you feel like a failure. Oh, it’s a bad trip that never ends.

If you can relate, maybe take a break from that last minute gift knitting craziness and visit Kim at the One of a Kind Show starting today and indulge in a bit of craft therapy.