My Life in Yarn

My Life in Yarn

Boot Toppers, from"Gifted" by Mags Kandis, copyright 2010

There's something about the process of knitting that connects us. It's a communal craft.  When I take a project somewhere I become instantly approachable.  Children want to touch the yarn and adults always seem to either have fond memories of a family member knitting or they want to try it themselves.  Sitting in a coffee shop with a project  instantly attracts people.  I'd recommend it for anyone feeling a little isolated.  You won't lack for company very long!  You may even end up with an informal knitting circle and a whole new group of friends. 

Craftsmanship is critical to a finished product but my mother also taught me one of my personal tenants of belief.  The beauty of handwork is in its imperfection. I love this concept and I value it in my own art.  Be sure to keep it in mind with this project.  The little balls I make are very irregular and hang a bit unevenly off the garland.  I tie a knot at the top of each bobble to make it hang better.  Even spacing and careful placement when you hang it will give it a bit of polish.

The knitting tradition is strong in my family. Mom taught me to knit when I was nine in Minnesota.  It's a very practical thing up there but I didn't return to it until I started a family.  It was fun making little sweaters and booties while I waited for my first child to be born. I quit for a number of years, but  once the kids got older I got into the habit of  pulling out the yarn around Thanksgiving and tucking it away sometime at the end of January.  It's a comfort when the nights are long.  They don't usually get too chilly here in California but we're pretty spoiled. Everyone enjoys cashmere, right?

I remember my Irish grandmother, Elizabeth Dunn Green, sitting with yards of creamy wool knitting dozens of fisherman's knit sweaters for her seven children and their spouses. They were a prolific bunch.  My family of six was considered small.  Several of my  cousins grew up in families of eight to ten so she stayed busy with that for decades. 

The jury is out on when and why Aran sweaters became popular.  This article speculates that the sweaters and the stories of long lost fishermen behind them may have been popularized by women in Ireland who wanted to commercialize their craft.  I say go sisters!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aran_jumper 

My mini-stash

My other grandmother, Sheila White Nickelsen, left me her knitting needles when she died.  They were a treasure for many years.  Last Christmas I gave them to my daughter Laura.  Grandma Nickelsen knitted beautiful Christmas stockings for me and my siblings when we were children and I was happy to continue the tradition for my own little family.

I'm in a very busy time of life as a self-employed artist and businesswoman so I thought I was finished with the needles for a while.  It's turned out that years of a cyclical habit are hard to break.  I've gone back to my yarn stash to make a few little goodies for gift-giving.  It's more satisfying than going to a mall and gives me some needed down time.  

Here's a fast and pretty pattern you can use to deck your halls!

Bobble Garland

As a treat I thought I'd leave you with directions for a simple bobble garland that is actually crocheted.  Here's a photo of a couple of the finished pieces hung in my living room.  They are quite charming and easy to make.

Yarn bobble garland

Start with a medium weight yarn and a crochet hook that is sized to work with it.  The yarn I chose is a medium weight wool.  To figure out the size hook you need look at the chart on the side of the information sleeve which will look something like this:  

The hook symbol to right shows the size hook (H-8, 5mm) recommended 
for use with the yarn.  Ask a salesperson for help with reading the label if
you need it.  Don't be afraid to ask a fellow shopper for suggestions. If they 
don't know or want to shop on their own just be sensitive to that!  

Start by making a simple chain of about five stitches.  Join those into a circle. The links below will help with some important basics:  http://crochet.about.com/od/learntocrochet/ss/Chain_Stitch.htm

http://crochet.about.com/od/crochetstitches/ss/join-with-a-slip-stitch-to-form-a-ring.htm

Then I start working into the stitches of the circle.  It quickly becomes a knotted up ball.  This is good.  It's probably messy unless you really know what you're doing.  For the rest of us, just keep looping back into the ball until it's the size you want and there aren't large loops hanging off of it.  If there are, just wrap some yarn around it and secure it with another loop from the hook.  

Pat yourself on the back and imagine being a little nine year old learning under the watchful eyes of a patient craftswoman.  Channel the words,  "The beauty of handwork is in its imperfections" and enjoy. If it's really "bad" you can always just hang the tangle of yarn!  If someone asks just tell them it's a postmodern installation.  It deals with the concept of traditional methods of homemaking and the modern woman.  Ha!  Take that!

For this chain I left an 18" length of yarn to begin and worked so that there are 10" between bobbles.  You'll need about 6-8" of yarn to work into each ball so leave 18" between each ball before you work your way down the chain.  

Sample of finished garland

For another way to do this, use 100% wool and construct the very messy bobbles. Cut them free from the chain.  Wash them in hot water and be sure they are agitated (moved around, not annoyed...) while they are in the water.  That's what actually causes the wool to felt.  Dry them in the dryer and you'll have little felted balls.  You can stitch them to a length of yarn with a tapestry needle.  You'll get a similar effect.  It looks very pretty garlanded as I show in my photo or wrapped around a small tree.  Enjoy your down time and go back to read the last paragraph from a very literal perspective for a huge laugh!   I won't even begin to try and edit that one.  Finis! Joyeux Noel!