{ Mu'Mu }

Knitting :: The beginning, The Middle, and The End

A day in the life of a skein of yarn in our house. Quickly and enthusiastically balled up and on the needles before you can blink.

The recent cold weather had me thinking of winter woollens earlier than normal this year. Usually it isn't til mid September or later before I start scouring Ravelry for hat and mitten patterns, but here we are at the tail end of August with the first of the winter knits already off the needles! I like to think this makes me ahead of the game... hm..

And the photo shoot? The midget had very definite plans of standing with his flag. His England flag. He was very insistent about it and styled it in his own unique way.

And now, to stay ahead of the game, I still have a whole skein left to make mittens and gators - matchy matchy...

High Hopes

Whenever I start a new knitting project I have high hopes that it will knit up quickly. I have high hopes it will fit. I have high hopes I enjoy the process.

Two weeks in and I'm only this far done....

I love the colour. I love the yarn. I love the pattern.

Someone tell me why I never pick these needles up??

Decisions, decisions

Such awful decision-making times.... yellow, blue, black.... *sigh* it's a burden, really.

Luckily, I have my very own button-chooser who likes to help his Mama by rummaging through the button jars and finding juuuuust the right one.

What would I do without him?

Simple Pleasures :: a few new things

:: New books.

:: Mustard Yarn. Again.

:: Making plans.

:: Thoughts of knitting.

And nervous breakdowns aside, good friends both real and virtual, who keep me afloat.

Knitting Roll

Whilst it has been too hot for knitting for the last few weeks, one thing I have done is make my needles a comfy place to rest a while.

Using upholstery weight fabric (remember the box?) and batting I quilted a sturdy roll strong enough to take the weight of all the needles I have accrued over the years. I also took some plain canvas and stamped a range of sizes in millimetres to sew onto each pocket. Sewing top and bottom this left a gap for cable needles to be hung through creating a place for all sizes.

It is so so easy now to find what I want, without having to rummage. I can't wait to be able to get back to the rhythm of knitting again; I miss my yarn!

Knitting Back to Sanity

Last week I couldn't settle; I felt a little disjointed. I was post-curl-up-in-fetal-position ill, not fully well, not fully ill and I was presented with a house of week-long funk - the mess that had amassed whilst I whimpered in bed. You know how it is - you take your eye off the ball for one second and when you look back it looks like someone has broken into your home.

I didn't feel like I was 'home'; I felt like I had been dropped from outer-space into some weird students' digs where all the stuff looked like it was mine yet it wasn't my house.

Wandering aimlessly for a place to 'settle', a little voice quietly nudged me to get some needles and some yarn and start to knit. Anything. I dug around a little and found some beautiful cotton yarn gifted to me by a wonderful friend which I was saving to knit the babes a vest each. Perfect. Digging out the needles and pattern I sat down and cast on, and within an instant I was 'back'. Within a split-second I suddenly felt at peace, like I remembered deep in my soul where home was. It was the deep sigh your soul exhales as you stand on your prayer mat ready for salah. Food for the weary soul which has found a watering hole.

And for that one, sweet, peaceful moment I was truly grateful for this creative aspect of life - that which connects us, heals us and beautifies our existence - that element which creates a space that we call 'home'.

After only a short while I was fully centred, calmed and soothed and Mama was back in business.

Panic Over

I'm knitting again!

White Flag ::

I'm going to take a few days off blogging due to illness and busy-ness. Hopefully when I've shaken this bug which feels like someone has stuck knitting needles in my ears and then decided to commit GBH, I'll be able to share what's been going on.

Until then the Doctor says I have to stay in bed eating bonbons and chocolate chip icecream doing nothing more strenuous than knitting.

I might have made that up. Illness or no illness I have a lot of digging to do this week!

The Long Weekend :: Inside & Out

New yarn, new pattern, new needles, new fabric, new ideas. Inside has been quite productive these last few days. But it has been outside where most of the work has been going on...

Planting, tending, and digging, oh my - the digging. The allotment is taking all our energies this week. And it is a satisfying work, working together, working in this season and preparing for the next, planning for a harvest which is months away.

There is something very meaningful and dignified about working the land.

And you? What games did you play this weekend?

My Little Take-along Friend

Lots of outdoor play means ::

Lots of oudoor knitting!!

On the benches, watching my babes use all that energy, I steal five little minutes all for myself and melt into a little pool of calm.

"MUM!! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO TAKE PICTURES OF US NOT YOUR KNITTING!!"

Uh, yeah. Maybe next time...

On the Sticks

The new yarn from Calana Crafts didn't take too long to make it's way onto some sticks. I was just itching to get going with it. Settled on a pattern for a shawl, reduced the size of needles from 9mm to 3mm and am knitting up a shawl-cum-cowl for the neck {details on Ravelry insha'allah}.

Have I told you how much I love this yarn?

I do. A lot. Yellow and teal? Oh my.

"Because I Really Love Yarn"

And really, can you blame me?? I love this new yarn from Calana Crafts. It currently is my absolute favourite and I just stare at it and smile, and paw it and smile, and hug it and smile and rub it against my face and purr, and smile. Oh my. Teal, and grey and mustard? *Fans self* Totally a colour high for me. This is a special special yarn and I am saving it for a special pattern.

And so to you answer you, my dear son, "Why do I take pictures of wool all the time??", it's because I really love yarn.

The Biggest Ball of Yarn - ever

After taking (a well earned, IMO!) break from knitting for over a month, burned out from a mammoth none-stop knitfest over winter, I redeemed myself last week somewhat by buying the biggest ball of yarn I have ever, ever seen (almost 900 yards!) and cast on for not one, but TWO vests - for the boys.

The pattern is free on Ravelry and I ditched the call for cable in favour of speedy knitting instead. I am crossing my fingers - last time I knit this I managed to make the head opening big enough only for someone with a head the size of a peanut. I am a bit nervous about whether these will be finished unscathed.

I don't have high hopes, so wish me luck. The weekend will hopefully see the finished results.

:S

Still Knitting

Carry on...

Hot off the sticks, straight on the legs

Variations of colour on the leg-warmer theme have been quickly cascading off the needles recently. And I have no shortage of people who have quickly claimed a pair for themselves - seriously, I don't remember the last thing I knit that stayed mine!

These make great arm-warmers too, and once I get my act together a pattern on Ravelry to follow? Oh alright then insha'allah.

Stay warm, people!

On the benches...

As Winter play gets colder, there's only one thing for a Mama to do...

Get comfy on the benches with yarn and knitting needles (and a hot drink).

Log Cabin Blanket

If you have been reading me for a while, and if you possess a beady eye, you would have seen this blanket popping up in several photos throughout 2009.

Started in either March or February it has been a loooong knit; not because it was a hard knit, but because it was a boring one.

It starts off OK, but then the lines get longer, and the picking up stitches becomes more labourious, and you begin to find more interesting things to make... you know how it is. Suddenly your new project becomes a UFO. Add to that the outdoors work of summer and the withering of the need for warm blankets, and, well, let's just say I'm surprised I made it this far.

In hindsight I should have  knit blocks (like a patchwork). It would have made the piece more interesting, and probably quicker to knit up and finish.

I tried to keep the 'log cabin-ness' of the piece by using a traditional red centre that one would use in traditional quilted patchwork, and including both light and dark sides, rather than simply knitting whatever colour came to mind. I think on the whole that worked.

But I don't know if this blanket will ever be officially 'finished' - it is always tempting to keep adding one more line, make it just that little bit bigger, oh and the weaving in of ends - Hmmm - that's going to take one looooong day of boring work I think.

But for now I am happy to say it's big enough to be used as a cosy blanket for the coming winter. And with temperatures nose-diving and huddling up on the sofa with books totally necessary, I think I timed it just about right masha'allah.

Making Our Way in Winter :: 4 :: Warm up with Wool

Crafters from the Outer Hebrides

I toyed with the idea of keeping this find all to myself. But that just wouldn't be right. Good things should be shared - and good handmade things? Well they are worth shouting from the rooftops, I'd say...

A while back I stumbled upon Scalpay Linen blog - you might have seen it in the sidebar. It held a fascination for me - blogging from the Outer Hebrides from real weavers and spinners - from a woman who makes Harris Tweed for crying out loud! In a world full of crafty bloggers who blow their own trumpet for sewing two lines together, here at last was a real craftwoman to put all others to shame - spinning wool from her own flock, weaving linen and tweed - grappling mountain lions with her bare hands, ripping sinew out with her bare teeth to use as thread before going back to her real farm house croft thing to start a real fire with maybe flint and sticks  because there is no electricity.

I might be lying about the mountain lion thing. Anyway along with her own shop on Etsy Sheila also linked to the store I bought this yarn from - Calana Crafts (blog HERE). And it is a gem.

There seems such a concentration of crafters from these wonderful places; in a world that seems to be getting faster and increasingly more meaningless, dislocating people from the land, their families, even their ownselves, it is a real treasure trove to find people still weaving by hand, who still live in the place they and their family were born, keeping ancient crafts alive. I wonder if they realise how amazing their lifestyle is? How lucky they are?

And I think we, as UK crafters, have a duty in some respect, to support homegrown crafters too. The plight of  Harris Tweed in recent years has shown how little importance we in Britain place on our own heritage - if these people were in any other country I am sure they would have received World Heritage status by now and received some form of grants to ensure their survival. It is an indictment of our society when some arse like Brian Haggas can undo aeon of tradition based on nothing more than spurious market forecasting. {Spurious because evidently the man is a complete dick. Allegedly.}

Many of us have taken a pledge to support Handmade, but taking it one step further, how about supporting Homegrown Handmade? And not just homegrown, but Heritage Homegrown Handmade (that's a lot of H's)?

The yarn is gorgeous (I say that about yarn a lot, I know) and I fully intend to go back when my bank manager allows, and RAID the entire store for my stash. All of it. Mine.

But that would be greedy, and so I share the link with you all. All I ask is that you leave me some, OK?

And when Scalpay gets the Harris Tweed in that's mine too. Just saying.

A little bit of sunshine to keep those winter blues away... support Heritage Homegrown Handmade!

I have this chair

Yes, that's really how this blog post begins - 'I have this chair'.

Bear with me as I try to find an angle for a post which attempts to be upbeat and perky when really what I want to do is hibernate under my quilts and blankets and wait for spring. Or Judgement Day. Either or. Not bothered.

So I have this chair which I thrifted sometime ago. It was one of those times I had to go back to the store the next day to get it, because I couldn't get it out of my head even though I couldn't put my finger on why. I just had to have it. The deal was clinched when my eldest announced:: Mum - this chair says 'get a cup of tea and snuggle up with your boys and talk about trains' - its snuggly. Yes he really said that. And how could I refuse. I knew what he meant - he meant 'cosy'. And I'm all for snuggly and cosy. It's what I'm about.

What I didn't like was the colour all too much - I mean, the colour was OK it just didn't fit nicely with the blue of our sitting room. I've been trying to disguise it and adorn it many different ways but nothing seems to look right.

I don't have the skill to upholster it myself and I'd have to auction a kidney to be able to afford someone else do it for me. So it stays like this - thrifted, colour unco-ordinated and jazzed up with quilts and blankets.

I'd say it fits right it with everything else in this place.

Already it's my favourite place in the house - comfortable, warm, the right height to reach for my teacup and best of all? Great for knitting in as the babes play.

Oh yes, it's seen a LOT of knitting in it's short Mu'Mu life. And now if you could all send me 'thrifting well wishes' for the sofa of my dreams (instead of the reality of my worst nightmares which is our current offering), perhaps this sitting room can be THE place for sitting with a cup of tea as we all talk about the important stuff in life - you know - trains, cars, David Attenborough programmes, things like that - cosily.

Knitting fo' Real

From this::

To THIS::

I am ready to knit fo' REAL. Yes several (five) hats have been knit already. Yes gators (two) have come off the sticks. Yes fingerless mitts (one) have been completed, but people I have felt the chill and my primal brain took over and decided this is WAR. My body has suddenly remember the bone-chilling cold of last Winter and now mama is on a mission to tie a scarf around the world.

I am talking more hats, gloves, mittens, legwarmers, shawls, blankets, socks, possibly sweaters - anything ANYTHING that makes this little family survive until Spring (yes I live up a mountain with no running water and only Elk for company....not).

Are you with me? OK, let's synchronise watches aaaaaaand....

GO! GO! GO!

So let's see now how many projects on sticks :: six

How many more to go :: several hundred.

It's OK. I can do this. We're surviving winter and having fun at the same time; it's all good....

Talk amongst yourselves... I may be a while... if anyone needs me I'll over on Ravelry. For six months.

Days Indoors

As we start to move slowly but steadily into Autumn we find ourselves spending more and more time together indoors.

Each season comes with it's own rhythm, it's own pulse.

We feel the contraction of the end of summer, we start to find our way back into our home, readying for a season of cosiness insha'allah.

It involves a lot of play, and a lot of craft.

And sometimes on the good days, we do both at the same time!

Enjoy your weekend!

Weekend Snapshots

1:: Making

2 :: Baking

3 :: Bonding

4 :: Chillin'

5 :: Knitting

6 :: Sitting

What was your weekend like?

Ramadan 6th :: Cast on, feet up, zone out

And with every stitch a dhikr, needles can also be a tasbih!

Spin Me A Yarn

Can there be a more beautiful and delicious sight than that of good quality yarn in a well made hank? No, there cannot, I am sorry but you are wrong. Yarn in a hank is MUCH more beautiful than watching your babes sleep, or looking at free chocolate.

There can be no greater relaxation than knitting. It just zones me out.

But one thing I HATE WITH A PASSION??! It would be winding that beautiful damn hank of yarn into a ball before I can knit it. Hate hate hate that. Why? Because it involves outstretched legs that get stamped on by my children, bound feet which are prime tickling targets, and tired hands; and such an inner rage blows out of proportion as I waste a good 20 minutes getting the yarn into a workable form. Irritable? Yeah.

So imagine my delight last year when I find a vintage wool winder for sale!!

I was stupidly excited - something old, pretty and really really useful? Score! But although my tired hands were now free from pain, I still had the outstretched leg torture and it was starting to grate on my nerves a little. It was starting to impact on yarn buying as I just couldn't face the winding debacle. I know!! Terrible!

I knew I needed one of these  and just look how happy hers made her. And so patiently I kept waiting to find one in one of my thrifty treasure hunts.

It never happened.

So like all good crafters I bought one from China. Problem solved.

Can there be anything more beautiful than a hank of yarn? Yes. There can. And that's a cake of yarn make in less than a minute.

And the good thing is that I can now resume yarn buying ....(and that might the moral of this tale)

The Man From Del Monte - he say "YES" ... or... The Shawl is FINISHED

And I think I've decided I'm not really a shawl person after all. Hey ho.

What I Love :: Yarn, and the friends who give me it

Can you believe that ALL that was a gift?? Me either. Some days the mail is soooo good!

Now I think a little wander over on Ravelry might be called for...

Simple Pleasures :: Colours in my life

One stitch at a time

Needles? 3.25mm.
Say What? Exactly. Teeny tiny. Might as well be knitting on toothpicks
Knitting? Summer shawl
For whom? Me, of course!
Started? Mid April
End in sight? Holy Mother of God, none that I can see
Colour? Tealy green
Material? Cotton
Stitches? Sixteen thousand million, and still casting on
Swear words used? Not many, but the urge to stick needles in eyeballs has surfaced.
Lesson learned? We've invented machines for things like this now. Move on.
Next project? On the sticks right now!



Will you ever learn? Never.