Knitting Requires Patience But Also Other Lessons...

"It takes balls to knit"  - Steve Malcom

(Keep Calm and Cast On - Good Advice for Knitters)

Rainbow Phone Cosy
Photography by Zoë Bull
Pattern from Cute & Easy Knits (Fiona Gable)

It's taken two months to complete my latest knitting project.
I have been knitting recently from Cute and Easy Knitting by Fiona Gable, a book a received from a friend last Christmas.

It is ironic really, a book with such a name can present a difficult knit right near the beginning. I'm not selling this to you well, am I?  But it is actually a great book! I made my green ladybird mug cosy from here and I had always wanted to create a mug cosy. The next move was to create a phone cosy.

Once I got into the swing of things, I could agree that the pattern was quite easy, and it is often by experience that harder tasks can begin to ease from we grow in confidence. For example, I found myself on the second half of the pattern barely using the book at all. The hardest element I had found was the cable stitch down the centre of both halves.

The green mug cosy had more of a traditional cable stitch but this one is slightly different. There is a lot of ribbing going on within the creation of the cable stitch as well as a pesky tehcnique called p1tbl. Now, what on earth does that mean? I could be talking about Algebra.

Well, the abbreviations are always at the front of knitting books but I had to look this one up nonetheless.

P1 ~ Purl    (simples!)
tbl ~ ?         Huh?


It simply means Purl 1 Through the Back Loop.

Since February, at least I have been knitting this phone cosy and restarted several times simply because I got this stitch incorrect; and it makes all the difference.


I found this fantastic video which simply set me right and I could eventually knitting the phone cosy I had been dreaming of. I hope it helps any level of knitter get the hang of this stitch, and according to the video, 'this isn't a stitch used often', so there is no need to panic too much

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GIpzQRn37o

- Knitting Help: Purl Through The Back Loop by Very Pink Knits 


So in pictures, here is how I got on:

Referring to the book

Starting off...

Both sides complete!

Stitching together

Good Advice for Knitters...

'Always knit in adequate light. It is much easier to work either bright daylight or good task lighting' - Erika Knight

Photography by Zoë Bull
Hipstamatic App for iPod Touch

One other reason why I started this blog was because it was at a time where I couldn't knit very much and I wanted to express my creative frustration about knitting. However, the reason I couldn't knit, or had to limit myself knitting was because of a beginners mistake.

No, it's not about the uneven tension these days or loosing my place, it's about how I was knitting in low light and not really being aware of how much that would matter. I normally knit with 4.5mm needles and when I get going I can knit a lot at time. When I knitted my mug cosy, I used 5mm needles, they were really long but I could see well and I could knit as much and as often as I wanted. Then I knitted with 3.25 mm needles. (These are all UK sizes)

I won't tell you what I'm creating, but you can see here how thin this wool is in comparison to the thicker sizes. The spectrum of colour was even more of an attractive trait for this project and sometimes I just like to wake up, put my lamp on, punch myself up in bed and go, go, go. When I had a spare minute I would sit on my floor and knit, knit, knit.

Sometimes my mum would come in 'It's a bit dark in here', which I disagreed to, but that was only because my eyes were used to it. I will mention now, that I have not been knitting in pitch black. I would knit in day time, but there wasn't much sun coming into my room at that time.

And because I was enjoying myself so much with this new project, I pushed, and I pushed…my sight until my head really complained with a massive headache. This headache from pushing myself for about a week, last a further three weeks and is just about leaving.

Straining your eyes is not a good idea. I thought going to the opticians would save me and maybe it was a sign I needed glasses. No, my eyes were perfect. 'Just take plenty of breaks.' they advised. I have got admit I was quite disappointed and had to learn the hard way. I couldn't watch tv for long, or look at a screen, phone or computer, and it just wasn't fun and it just wasn't worth it what I had been through.

For the past couple of days I have been coaxing myself back into my colourful project, but taking a row at a time and just completing two rows within a session and being fine with that. It came to mind that I had two pairs of spare needles that weren't in use. I decided to find some projects in my knitting books that used 5mm or 4mm needles, and I did.

Why did I do this? Well, my eyes and head don't hurt half as bad hurt when with 4mm and I feel more at home with it. It doesn't mean to say that I am going to abandon my 3mm needle project but that it will just take a little longer and will be more of an achievement when I have finished it.

So far I have knitted 22 rows of my colourful project and this is the third time I have had to re-do it. There is probably about 60+ in total. If it means starting again at times, then so be it.

I am never into the idea of working on two projects at once, but in this case it makes quite a lot of sense to have two different knitting projects - quick, easy and fast and slow and fiddily with patience required.

I'll be posting them up when each of them are done and photographed.

Just remember having that extra light on can make such a difference and won't have to interrupt you creative projects.

Happy Knitting!

Zoë

My History of Knitting

'I found knitting helped calm my thoughts. While I was knitting and putting my stitches in order, it was easier to put my own mind in order' - Keep Calm and Cast On

'White Beard'
My First Knit

I have mentioned recently in My Whispers of Wisdom about how I took to knitting during the 2012 olympics and used the 'Inspire a generation' tagline for my own development - not just for sport.

I had been in a bad place with anxiety and I had read how knitting is good for relaxation and promotes mindfulness that cancels out worries and stress. So, I decided to give it a go. 

I didn't know what I was going to knit and I wasn't too bothered about it either, I just wanted to practice. I bought some 4mm (UK) needles and 50g wool to match and worked with my mum to understand casting on and the simple knit stitch. 

First I was slow, and then I got a bit faster. Sometimes I lost count and rows where longer than others, tension uneven. But I kept at it as I watched the cross-country cyclists and Rebecca Adlington and Tom Daley in the pool, and found it all very exciting. Their motivation spurred my motivation, and by the time the main olympics had finished, the Paralympics gave me that extra push, and then my first knitting creation had been complete. An uneven white beard-like thing. Nonetheless I was proud of it. 

Several balls of wool later, I had completed the same type of thing, but had moved on to knit and purl, which again, slowed me down to begin with and when I learnt the method and I got faster again. 

That September, I found out my sister was having her first baby and I wanted to knit something for it. I didn't yet have a knitting book or bag, as those came that Christmas; so I thought simple. A patchwork blanket. I had made one of those for my Art GCSE but in the form of textiles and appliqué sewing, so knitting one in simple knit stitch shouldn't be a problem. I gave myself 9 months. 

My brother-in-law is a London-Irish rugby fan so it shaped my criteria in forms of coloured wool, but it was still unknown whether my nephew was going to be a nephew..or a niece. 

I got to work anyway when was living in London at my student halls and my knitting kept me occupied  on those quiet nights in. Green, white, green, white (they are the London-Irish colours) and I got my tension in 20X20 stitches and it was looking really great.

May 2013 was soon on it's way and I needed to add some more rows, which meant 10+ more squares. I hadn't realised then, that I had to stitch the squares together, which luckily I found how in my first knitting book Knitty Gritty by Aneeta Patel.

I didn't finish it on time but I made sure I took my time so it was ready for my sister and nephew.

Here it is:

 So if you have wanted to start knitting, just go for it. Buy some wool of a fun colour, of just in plain white like I did, visit a tutorial on YouTube, purchase a book or talk to someone who knows about the initial stitches and cast off, you're away! Even with the simplest of stitches you can create great things.

Happy Knitting,

Zoë 

Happy Knitting - Introduction Post

'When I sit down to knit especially during lunch hours, I have to do an internal switching of gears in order to focus solely on knitting. It's refreshing to concentrate totally on just one thing, especially something that is creative. Knowing that this total focus leads to productivity helps me bring that level of concentration to other things' - Keep Calm and Cast On




Welcome to A Journey of String.
I'm Zoë and I have been a blogger for five years. As an all round creative person, I have many outlets which I enjoy writing about. I love sharing my journey of becoming of a photographer, writing about my observations of life and sharing a bit of my wisdom every now and then. So far I have done this through several of my blogs:

In My Depth of Field - Photography

 My Whispers of Wisdom - General



Throughout these blogs I have been increasingly mentioning my knitting and incorporating what I have learnt into still-life experiences in photography and using knitting as a form of a metaphor to use in life. In my latest post of In My Depth of Field, I have uploaded my first mug cosy that I have ever made and taken it on my photography still-life table. The idea was to help me record what I make and build up my photography skills at the same time.

However, since I have uploaded it, I have been starting to feel that as I want to focus on portraiture for now, that the still-life in the knitting department would be more suited to a blog on it's own. Then, I can upload as many projects I like but using photography, in this case, as a secondary form. It also came to mind that I will have an knitting audience and a photography audience to cater for and I mixing them up too much is understandably confusing.

So, the birth of Journey of String is born.

I call my blog this because knitting is like a journey, and throughout my posts I will begin to talk about why and how you can start incorporating it into your life like I have.

I hope you enjoy my blog, and happy knitting.


Zoë