Crafting Connection
A long time ago, in a world completely different from our own (last summer,) I began to knit a hat. I carefully selected and photographed the colorways, and even shared them on Instagram so all could see what a beautiful hat I was going to knit. I tucked everything into a large handmade project bag, even brought the hat-to-be on a family trip and worked on it. I finished the hat, washed, blocked and stored it to be ready for winter. I wore that intricately beautiful hat many times when the weather did, indeed, turn cold. What I haven’t done, though, is share the finished product with you.
Nice project bag from Toad Hollow!
I had a grand idea of what to say about the hat, but the blog post never got written. On a rather warm day, I took that hat out to my garage to photograph and produced a few clever pictures, but they never got shared. I suppose I got busy (oh hell, of course I did!), but even so, I can’t explain why I never got around to to truly finishing the hat, which for me, involves the whole process of creating, uploading, and sharing the pictures and stories of my project.
A handknit is so much more than a craft project. It is a record of a coming together of all the humans involved in every step, a collection of visions. An infusion of perspectives and moods. One thing I’ve heard from indie dyers over and again is how much they love seeing what we make with their yarns, and I love the part where I get to show them the finished piece, closing that creative loop. For some reason, it took me forever to put this hat back out…but I’m glad now. Because the words I’d planned to accompany it matter more now than they did forever ago when I started (last summer!), before the lives of the majority of the people in our world got interrupted by a tiny virus.
This hat. It’s the Saudade Pattern by Ysolda Teague. Have you seen her colorwork hats? I’m in love with the intricacy of every single one of them. I’m relatively new to colorwork, so carrying this many colors was a challenge (and if you look closely, you can see the beginning of the row where the colors jog a bit and the tension’s not quite right.)
I love Ysolda’s work. She brings such professionalism to every product she releases, yet she is still there, inseparable from her designs. The fact that she often models her own designs helps us knitters literally to see the face of the human who has conceived of a unique way to bring colored string together—that we can implement with our own (well-washed) hands.
And the colors. It’s no surprise how much I love working with yarns hand-dyed by humans I can connect to; I talk about that all the time here. I was fortunate to be able to purchase two of the yarns in person at a trunk show, getting to actually hug Shobha of Serendipitous Wool, you know, back when we could do that. I already had a pale pink yarn with dark pink speckles called “Brigitte” and dyed by Kemper of JunkYarn, which I’d won in what might be the best Make-A-Long ever, the yearly “New to You” MAL hosted by Liz & Leanne from the Cocktail Hour at the Coop podcast. This skein was among the many cool things I won. It was donated by the amazing Denise, AKA EarthTonesGirl, AKA the No Fear Sock Knitting Diva. (She doesn’t call herself a diva, as far as I know, but I think she’s hella awesome, because teaching people to knit socks is the kind of thing superheroes do.)
So, yeah, where was I? That light pink yarn. It needed a friend, which I found in Shobha’s “Winter Rose,” a dark pink yarn accented with light pink speckles that seemed as if it had been dyed to match “Brigitte” on purpose! I mean, really, look at that:
But at the trunk show, I was tempted by this stunning piece of hand-dyed lusciousness:
Meet “Golden Earth.” (Actually, you’ve met it before in my Neverwhere Shawl.) This colorway is that woman who steals the attention of everyone in the room the moment she enters, because she is that captivating. There’s something so intriguing about this yarn that’s not quite gold, but not quite lime, definitely not mere yellow… Really, it’s one of my favorite yarns ever and I’m enjoying sprinkling it throughout multiple color work projects, because it makes such a perfect small accent.
Don’t those flecks of gold look amazing?!
As it turns out, “Golden Earth” also looks amazing with “Winter Rose.” (I suspect the cool undertones have something to do with it.) And photographing these yarns against my gray floor made me realize how well a dark gray would complement them, so I turned to my stash of leftover sock yarns and pulled out a cool little BFL dyed by Linda of Kettle Yarn co.
Linda is a Canadian now living in England. Through Kettle Yarn Co., Linda promotes sustainability and animal welfare through the yarns she sources, emphasizing wearability. And she has some fabulous collaborations with top-notch designers for projects that will stand the test of time. Ysolda is also based across the pond (from my perspective,) in Edinburgh, and I love how she clearly values the team of people she works with, as well as the community she works for. Shobha and Kemper, both in the States, have each in their way prioritized inclusivity through their businesses. And I can’t say enough about the ways Denise, Liz, and Leanne support knitters in facing their crafting fears, because sometimes knitting that first pair of socks (or a colorwork hat!) helps a knitter develop confidence that they can use to tackle bigger things.
All the people involved in this project, hailing from different places, representing different cultures and different perspectives…they’re all in this hat that I hold. I’m immensely proud to bring together all these powerful voices into one garment, made with love, by my hands. To me, it represents what our world needs right now, because the solutions to global problems have to be solved not as citizens of different countries, not as supporters of different political parties, not as members of different generations, but as humans of Earth. This hat is human connection in physical, crafted form.
“When things get tough, this is what you should do: Make good art. I’m serious.”
I have been washing and storing away my handknits this week, seeing as how Spring is here and I’m spending lots of extra time at home anyway… and as I washed my Saudade Hat, I had a fun idea. (Not that I’m the only one with a KnitALong idea right now, but hey.) Many self-employed makers have lost major sources of income as springtime festivals and trunk shows have been cancelled. We all know that buying yarn and notions from these makers can help support them in this rough situation, and if that’s financially feasible for you, please treat yourself. (I’ve always claimed to be a Professional Yarn Enabler™.)
But as much as we all would love to save the whole freaking world by buying yarn, we can’t buy it all (unfortunately.) And, some are being hit hard financially by this virus in other ways, so supporting others financially is difficult when you’re struggling yourself. We can all still support each other through our making, though, by giving shout outs to all the humans involved in our projects. Gaye Glasspie (AKA GGMadeIt) says, “ Do you know how many patterns/designers I discovered because someone shared? How many indie dyers I have fallen in love with because someone else shared? … There’s power in your keyboard.”
With that in mind, welcome to the Crafting Connection Knit-A-Long. The idea is that the actual Knit-A-Long part is totally FREE, because it focuses on bringing attention to the designers, dyers, and notions-makers whose work is stitched into our finished projects.
Here’s what you do: go through your yarn leftovers and select some gorgeous ones from dyers you love (especially if they’re dyers who’ve lost revenue due to event cancellations!) Combine two or more together to create a small colorwork* project. Hats are perfect for this, because a colorwork hat uses such small amounts of each yarn! Choose a pattern, cast on, and get to the sharing! See how many yarns you can combine, even, and make sure that you post on social media often, each time sharing something you love about the yarn or pattern, or the handmade notion you’re using, giving as much love as you can to the indie makers behind your project. I know that hearing from you will be a bright spot in their days.
Use the tag #CraftingConnectionKAL to make it easy to follow along. And to give everyone plenty of time, the KAL will wrap up July 1, 2020. (I’ve extended the date—I reserve the right to move it again if it seems wiser not to go to the post office!)
* Colorwork means more than just stranded knitting by the way. This can be stripes or any other way of using multiple yarns in a project. But, if you’d like to learn stranded knitting, it’s a great time!
I will put up a an entry post on my Instagram (@orangejeanius) in June, for those who want to be considered for a prize. (You can support the KAL without entering, just use the hashtag!) I’m working on putting a small prize package together right now, but I don’t know what kind of access everyone has to being able to get out and ship things, sooo… I’ll show you that part later. Keep an eye out on my Instagram.
Are you in? Tell us about it in the comments what you plan to make, linking all the info you can! Don’t forget the #CraftingConnectionKAL hashtag on Instagram!
Update: I have a prize package to show you!!!
One skein of single-ply merino fingering yarn in the DFW Fiber Fest Colorway from Moondrake Co.
A set of hand-crafted stamped metal stitch markers with by Birdie Parker.
A hand-sewn pouch featuring an original print from HomeRow Fiber Co.
Stay tuned for more prizes!
I’ll start us off!
I’m going to knit the Northport Hat by Amy Miller, using (clockwise from left) “Thalisa” dyed by Adria of Onyx Fiber Arts, “Silver Lining” dyed by Terra of Mitchell’s Creations, “Wednesday” by Carolyn of Swift Yarns, and “Tonks’ Hair” by Rachel of Six and Seven Fiber, all dyers who’ve been featured on the Yarnscaping Blog. Get to know them here on my blog and follow the links to check out their work!
To close this off, here’s a couple places to look for indie makers who’ve been hit hard by COVID-19:
Indie Support Project by @cameoyarns
@supportindiedyers on Instagram
@bewitchedpigments has posted many great dyers on her Instagram feed, as well.
It’s my hope that we can use our craft and social media to help bring us together as a community right now, to remember how interconnected we all are, and how much even the little things matter.