Feeling slightly smug

It's feeling much more wintery this weekend (apparently snow is heading for a large swathe of the country and it's expected to get down to -3 in London tonight). Last night I walked over to the Commercial Tavern to meet some friends and, since I'm always cold, I wrapped up to fight the chill. Thanks to a Stitch n Bitch hat (one of the first things I ever made), my Guy Fawkes Hoodie (see posts below) and a long and chunky scarf, I was seriously snug in a handmade heaven.

Snug and, I admit, a little smug. The latter came from the looks people gave me as they walked past me. They weren't really looking at me, exactly, but appeared to be focused on the scarf and I can only describe the look as one of envy:

It's a huge beast of a thing, knitted in 2 skeins of Rowan Plaid which I bought last year from Cucumber Patch (they still have a few colours left) and, when muffled up to the ears, it's an arctic winner (not to mention probably the simplest thing it's possible to knit). Knitting's not looking like such a crazy, grandma type hobby now, is it?

But fear not, the gods will ensure that I fall over / drop the contents of my bag all over the bus / throw a red sock into my white laundry etc etc in the near future, to put me back in my place...

Stash-tastic

A couple of days ago I had 40 (yes, really) skeins of yarn delivered to me at work. A guy there on work experience cast a quizzical (though, to be fair, non-judgmental) look and a co-worker kindly explained "She knits".

I bounded through the office, gleefully hugging the squishy stash of Jamieson's Heather Aran, with the added bonus that it had been on sale at a $1 a skein (I know, that should be a pound sign but this keyboard has a mind of its own and normally the fact that it likes to swap symbols and keys around with wild abandon wouldn't be an issue, I simply hunt for the schizophrenic key that has decided to become a pound sign, but in this instance it has eluded me - as far as I can tell no key, no combination of shift-influenced keys, no F5/alt/del wizardry can induce any of these keys into producing a pound sign. My computer tends to run a little hot and the prospect of it spontaneously combusting is not outside the realm of possibility, so I am loathe to antagonise it. I simply mutter under my breath, become increasingly frustrated and call it HAL when I think it's not listening. And don't even get me started on my non-existent modem signal...)

Sorry. A Rant appears to have snuck in there (isn't snuck a marvellous word?). Back to the good stuff.

So the lovely Jamieson's in Fern (a brighter green than the name suggests) and Fresco (a daft name for a great shade of greyish moss green) is destined for the festive season. One batch will be the sweater project for this year (not telling for whom) and the other well, to be honest, I'm plotting how I can syphon off most of it for an entirely selfish idea for me. Fortunately, I reckon there's enough for me to make several presents and then use the rest in a guilt-free woolfest for myself.

Naturally, my colleagues were a little bemused by my excitement so thank god for the Hoxton Knitters (that's the Hoxton-based knitting night, not some group of people I've claimed in a weird bout of self-promotion) who could share in my joy at the woolly yumminess and delight in my thrifty find. My family are kindly tolerant of my obssession and have no problem with knitting but nevertheless they don't knit and therefore they don't get it. Same with my friends at work. Which is fine, it's just so nice to spend some time with friendly folk who do get it. These are people who, when you're talking about how nice it would be to have money and not have to work, agree that the best part would be all the time you would have to knit. And you can say it and no one looks at you like you're slightly barmy. Instead they all nod enthusiastically and join in the wool-based fantasy.

They also understand the fact that you can never have enough yarn. It doesn't matter that I have 12 huge balls of tweed in three different colourways waiting to be used. Or a couple of balls of alpaca. Or a huge amount of Rowanspun that I should really frog from an ugly half-finished sweater and put to better use. A good analogy for non-knitters (or at least female ones) would be shoes - same principle applies: there's no such thing as too many.

So, if you do not knit, imagine you have just found the perfect pair of killer heels, and they fit you exactly, and they match your favourite dress, and they give you legs the length of Erin O'Connor's, and they were on SALE.

And now you can share in my joy at 40 skeins of yarn.

Knitting - An Introduction

To get things rolling, I reckon I should start with what I know best and what most people find a little weird – I knit.

I get a lot of strange reactions to this confession. Most of them are positive but usually they’re a little baffled too. People treat knitting like some kind of alchemy; a secret, ancient ritual they don’t understand – kind of like hopscotch. The only secret about it is that it’s really not that hard. So here are some ideas to get you started:

The classic knitting bible these days is Stitch ‘n’ Bitch, which I can highly recommend as a place to start. If you want help from a person, rather than a book, pop into your local yarn store (yes, you do have one somewhere, trust me). In London there’s the wonderful Loop, where I feel like I’m in one of those retro sweet shops with jars of coloured goodies everywhere; or the charming and helpful I Knit. Both run classes from the shop and I Knit is also a well-known knitting group that meets in a pub each week. Pop along, say hello, and some kind soul will show you how to work the needles.

Supplies can easily be found online – the fabulous Texere stocks anything to do with fibre, so if you want to knit, weave, spin, make rugs or paper this is a one-stop-shop, but there are loads of others out there.

If you're looking for patterns there are freebies over at Knitty and an endless choice of magazines and books from places like Rowan and Interweave. (Although remember, any pattern free or otherwise, is still someone else's design so you can't sell it or the garment you make from it - respect the copyright, people).

And if you need a little inspiration take a look at the fantastic Keep and Share. Ethically sourced, carbon-neutral, beautifully handmade, designer knitwear. I’m still saving my pennies for one of these beauties. Sigh. So if you thought knitwear was only about matching Arran sweaters, this should put that myth to rest. All the way over in New York you’ll find Brooklyn Tweed, proving that knitting isn’t just for girls. His Cobblestone Sweater is probably the best knitted gift I’ve made and his yarn photography makes me drool – just beautiful.

Once the knitting bug catches you, find a fellow obsessive in the Yarn Harlot. This Canadian author always makes me chuckle and her talks all over the States give you an idea of just how many knitters are out there…

And finally, once you are One of Us, head on over to Ravelry and prepare to be amazed. Sort of like MySpace for knitting.

Knitting will be a recurring theme here in Hoxton Towers, so why not give it a go? I’ll be posting some of my very own patterns too, once I get my camera working…