We all have different coping mechanisms. I have found that sometimes they fail and we don’t even realize it. The other day I picked up a knitting project that lay abandoned for several weeks and Gordon said, “I’m so glad you’re knitting again. That’s a thing you do, and you suddenly stopped.”
The last time I received yarn was in January, for my birthday. The last time I bought yarn… I don’t remember. I bought some ribbon yarn for a purse, but it doesn’t really count. I just didn’t feel like buying yarn or looking at it or knitting.
I woke up yesterday with a burning need to buy some yarn.
What does this mean? Does this mean I am getting more stressed and things are getting worse or does this mean I am returning back to normal and things are getting better?
What yarn should I buy? I haven’t checked any of yarn newsletters in months. I haven’t logged into Ravelry in months. I don’t even know what to do anymore. What is everyone knitting?
A reader’s shawl!! Well… I am crocheting it with my Tuesday, 10am Crafty Chat group through NYPL. Yay virtual programming!
I got yarn for many many projects so I don’t need more yarn. I still pop by the local sellers an check out what they have… and you know how that goes. I have so many patterns book marked (so sneaky with free patterns https://www.garnstudio.com/) that I could knit from now and until my arms fall off and not be done.
I don’t knit much during the summer but once it gets cooler I snuggle up in one of my shawls (like these https://www.christel-seyfarth.com/webshop-overview-i-news?Kollektion=SHAWLS+knit+kits) and start up again.
I’m a quilter, so I know the stash mentality well. For the first time in almost a year, I HAD to have some fabric last week, and I needed a couple hours in my sewing room when it came last Friday. I like to think that means things are getting back to normal stress. The kind of stress that lets you know you are alive but not the overwhelming kind that makes you want to curl up and retreat.
Hope you will share what you make with your want to have yarn!
I just bought yarn for a sweater and cowl for me, and am working on a blanket for grandkid2. He wants blue. All blue. *snooze*. But mine is red, black and gray block sweater. ????
My take is you’re better, so able to do more than hide your head. Love the knitting posts. This is what got me back into knitting!
i am knitting the ribbed crop top i saw on the blog a few months ago for my teen. and of course socks…
Finishing a lap throw for my legs when the AC is on. I get cold with the blast of cold air, but at over 90* it’s necessary. So a small throw it is.
I just signed up for The Knitting Circle mystery knit along on fb. So far I have received instructions on needle size and length and how much yarn to purchase.
I have never done this so I am looking forward to it. In between reading Hidden Legacy series. Really enjoying the series. Would love another Kate Daniels world book.
My sister and I bought a membership in this mill and the yarn and Fiber is amazing and addicting.
https://www.jarbon.com/
Knitting socks, stranded mittens and a lace patterned shawlette, then a pair of mitts to match. Plus weaving tea towels. ???? The procrastinate-knitting is strong right now. (I keep the socks stashed in the car for waiting on people) ????
I actually just wrote a blog post about this! I picked 3 small-ish projects for this summer: Christmas stocking, holiday ornaments (for any holiday) & an Ugly Christmas Hat.
When I’m too stressed, I stop knitting. Maybe picking up knitting again is a sign of things improving.
I call it Pandemic Blah. I lost interest in a lot but I am starting to look for something new to do. Maybe watercolor..
I’ve been knitting baby booties using the free “baby uggs” pattern from the internet. Can do a bootie a night and they’re cute and stay on. Satisfying!
Have you ever made it into Austin Creative ReUse? They’re coming out of lock down and they have yarns. Sometimes really cheap, sometimes stupidly expensive, but interesting odds and ends of someone’s leftovers. You should check them out!
Sounds like getting back to normal; at least, Gordon seems to think so.
I just started crochet about 6 months ago. I wanted to make a tire cover for the spare on the back of my camper. Now I am tackling a lacy top to go over tank tops… I think I have bit off more than I can chew. I do love hearing about your projects and yarns.
I went into knitting doldrums soon after shutdowns last year – only knitted a winter warmup for my grandniece. Started to knit again recently. One of my charity groups is knitting afghan squares for teenage kids in foster care, just started my seventh square. Still knitting hats for the homeless. Also knitting some baby things for the daughter in law of a friend, who is now pregnant after successive miscarriages, and for our church choir director, expecting their first. I have not bought yarn in a long time, either. Really need to use what I have.
Who is pregnant, sorry…..
I fixed it for you 🙂
That’s me too! Normally I’m always making something, but lately I’ve been in kind of a funk and worried about business and all that, and I realized it’s been months since I’ve felt inspired to craft something. This has happened before though, and sooner or later I always find something that gets me excited. I feel like this spring /the start of summer has been a very distracting one for Texas as a whole though.
I don’t have any knit suggestions, but maybe a trip to Hill Country Weavers might inspire? Or one of their group knit social classes?
I am currently knitting a purple blanket using cascade 220 super wash.
I think it means things are getting more normal. When your hind brain thinks you are in danger it doesn’t want to be distracted by anything that isn’t needed for survival. Knitting isn’t life, so gets put aside. However, now you have Kid 1 situated, a project you needed to finish done, and your house repaired. Along with the vaccinations helping get the pandemic under control (though care is still needed), the level of stress has gone down to a more manageable level. Yarn is important again.
I like the Darn Good Yarn company–Most of their yarns are made from recycled sari silk (loom ends from weaving which would otherwise end up in landfills) and they give their workers in India and Pakistan living wages.
I would suggest that yarn cravings are a sign of return to normal! Happy knitting!
While there has been some angst, many of us still enjoy and rely on Ravelry, so always best to form your own opinion.
I have also struggled with knitting this year. It seems easier to collapse on the sofa with a good book. Maybe line up Hidden Legacy for a 6th re-read? I have only managed to finish two things this year so far (a fair isle vest for my husband – https://knitigatingcircumstances.com/2021/04/25/ursula-waistcoat/ – and a linen tee for me – https://knitigatingcircumstances.com/2021/06/06/tin-roof-in-linen/ -which I managed to knit from yarn that had been in my stash for many years). My plan for the rest of the year is colour! I’ve got two very bright things on the needles and one more waiting to cast on. I’m so happy to hear you have picked up the needles again! That’s a good sign.
Ravelry has free preemie patterns on their website. I came across them when I was looking for preemie sewing patterns. There is a local charity that I sew doll clothes for and it occurred to me that they might need actual tiny baby clothes. I found a nice raglan sleeve gown that will work for a preemie or a doll. I suspect a preemie crossover sweater would work up quickly.
I am finishing the most boring top I have ever knitted because I am tired to see it lying unfinished in my basket. It’s pretty but oh, so boring.
Also, I started a shawl, which is both pretty and not boring. So there is that.
My sister lace knits because if the pattern is too simple she loses interest and her mind. She once did a plain stockinette hooded sweater for a baby and proclaimed it the most boring project ever…until she attempted a ten stitch blanket.
Do you also crochet? I just finished a toiletpaper hat. It’s for a friend who bought an old camper van. She really wanted such a roll cover and I said I’ll give it a try. ????????
Whenever I need comfort yarn, I order something with possum fur from New Zealand. I used to be able to buy the yarn while visiting, but I switched jobs and now don’t get paid trips to NZ 🙁
Possums are an invasive species in NZ and kill many native birds. Culling the possum population is difficult and expensive, so turning their fur into yarn is a both a boost to the economy and a way to get rid of a pest. The yarn is sooooooo soft and very lustrous. I really cannot emphasize how soft this yarn is. And warm.
For a first-time buy, I’d recommend trying Outlaw Yarn. They ship to the US and the colors are great. Machine washable if you like to treat your knits that way. There are plenty of other brands and tons of indie dyers as well. But Outlaw is a good place to start.
Not a knitter but I really want to buy some material don’t even have any idea on what to make just want to look at new stuff ????
My current works in progress are a blanket for one of my nieces and a baby blanket for a baby due in September. Both will be Christmas presents. Baby blanket is cotton from my stash sugar and cream violet stripes and the adult blanket is Bernat yarn also from my stash.
I got Covid Maine Coon Kittens. So, my knitting is curtailed until they’re past the point of attacking the yarn????
I’m a beginning knitter, but I’ve been making blankets during the pandemic. I dislike counting and following a pattern, but making a blanket is easy enough for me to do without a pattern, so I’ve made …5? Working on a 6th. I guess I’ll need to find a place to donate them soon. ????♀️
I’m knitting a shawl (Stormy Sky pattern) for a dear friend. Double stranded of Vintage Rose (Camel and Silk) and Purity (Alpaca and Silk). The yarn is from Expression Fiber Arts. It’s pricey but I buy on sale. The camel and silk was too difficult on my hands but adding the alpaca and silk made it easier to knit. I will use this pattern again because the stitches are easy to knit but not boring and so pretty. That’s my criteria nowadays.
Shawl photo
Working on Espace Tricot’s Campfire Cozy. Takes any worsted weight yarn. Easy to set down and pick up. My goal had been to have it done before the weather got too warm. Classic fail. Now my goal is to have it finished before it gets too cold. ????
My coping mechanism is cross stitch thread and patterns Hubby says I now have enough to last until I am 145 (we won’t tell him I just ordered more) Enjoy
your knitting I know how relaxing and de stressing it can be
Wendy
Hi, I am knitting socks. I am participating in online Summer Sock Camp 2021 with the Crazy Sock Lady. Check it out on Ravelry or her podcast. I am slower than many people,
due to a darn full time job.
Janis
I’ve picked up my knitting again recently, too! I was surprisingly apathetic about it in 2020 – I did a few projects out of a sense of obligation, but wasn’t really EXCITED about it. I started crocheting a temperature afghan at the beginning of the year (one square per day, representing the lowest and highest temperature that day), but it was almost a non-project just because it’s such a small blip in my days.
About three months ago, kind of out of the blue, I suddenly had a burning desire to KNIT SOMETHING. I started the Knights Who Say Knit MKAL by Lyrical Knits (hilariously themed around Monty Python and the Holy Grail), and am now also finally knitting up The Crown Wools pattern by Casapinka (I bought a kit for it, solely because the yarn was SO GORGEOUS, about four years ago). I started and almost finished a Sockhead hat during jury duty last week. And I keep trying to work on my Leo Scarf (a Jade Starmore design/Alice Starmore yarns) but it’s such a detailed chart I have to have uninterrupted time and that just never seems to happen these days… I just signed up to test knit a sock pattern that I’m pretty excited about, too!
Hi Ilona! I go through this as well. Sometimes I’ll be in a mood to buy yarn or to knit/crochet something and that will last a few weeks up to a few months. Then I will have no desire to see anything yarn related for a few weeks. For me, it has to do with the fact that crocheting/knitting is sometimes frustrating when I do it all the time and I need a break. It’s not because I don’t love it because I do, it’s just a cycle that I go through. For me to love it again, I need a break every once in a while.
When you woke up with that need to buy yarn, I hope that means you’re not stressed and you feel you are returning to whatever your “normal” was. Buying yarn always makes me happy regardless and I hope it’s the same for you.
Have you every looked on Etsy to find patterns? I find the most beautiful patterns there.
My local yarn store https://www.crazyforewe.com/ is where I buy most of my yarn if I am buying it in person. The owner sends out a newsletter and I’ve been wanting to try this yarn: https://www.crazyforewe.com/products/kelbourne-mojave?_pos=1&_sid=6cf694391&_ss=r It is a cotton linen blend that seems great for summer tees, tanks and light weight sweaters. I think I will try something like this soon: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/keane-wonder
Hope you are okay and happy yarn buying!!!
I can totally understand you. I have strictly forbidden myself to buy more yarn until my stash is dramatically redused.
I started again after three years with a project which I frogged the first time. It’s the Sweater Mystic Glance from knitting delight. Hopefully I will pull through this time.
So good luck for all our knitting projects
I don’t knit, but a friend of mine does. To make a long story short, she remodeled her craft room, turning one of the closets with the huge folding doors into a storage space. When she give me the penny tour, it was only one room so not worth the usual nickel tour, I walked up to the closet and opened the door. Holy shit! It was filled floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with yarn. Yea, she said, I won’t be buying any yarn for the rest of this life time…LOL. To be honest it wasn’t all for knitting, she also weaves, but still…..thought you’d appreciate it.
I’m learning to knit, so it’s just potholders for me right now!
I’ve been spinning more than knitting lately so if you need some handspun yarn, I’ll be happy to send you some. I’ve recently cast on a harvest cardigan from tin can knits out of Camilla Fiber Company.
I vote for being better!
I am an artist, not a knitter, but I do know how to do a basic stitch.
I inherited my great grandmother’s knitting needles and decided to knit a wee mat for one of my miniature pieces.
It makes me smile.
I don’t knit, I sew. Last week I made a nice simple baby quilt.
It was awesome to start and finish a project in 2 days!
Going to the fabric store on Friday!!!
I’ve been knitting with friends. Finishing up my first big lace shawl, the horizon deluxe or whatever Hobbi named it. It’s a diamond lace repeat that was good for getting my head around reading lace charts.
The other day I showed my knitting friends pictures of the Lace Eater Shawl on Ravelry saying how much I’d like to be able to knit it. It’s beautiful, so everyone decided they also want to make it.
The pattern is 14 pages long with various charts as it evolves. I’ve gotten a really pretty wine colored Morino/Silk/Yak blend yarn. I also think we’re all crazy and none of us has done anything so advanced, but here we are. It will probably take us all the next 6 months to make it, if not longer.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-lace-eater
Slip stitch and mosaic seem to be big lately. That and the lotus flower stitch (with the ridiculously overpriced beanie pattern). I’m seeing alot more attention on local yarns (stuff that hasn’t been shipped across oceans). Knit Picks has its new High Desert yarn that I really want to play with, and I get some yarn now and then from Mountain Meadow Wool, a mill in Wyoming I visited with my mom when I went to visit once. I do a fair chunk of my own dyeing though (Knit Picks SW and Alpaca for a baby blanket most recently!) so I’m not entirely sure what all is the big thing in yarn these days.
Fingerless mitts, solid colors from the stash I bought to do colorwork with, plain 1×1 rib, a few beads on the backs of the hands. I’ll be taking them to the next craft night we have to share them around.
(btw, there is no asterisk in the name or email box today; gremlin?)
We moved to a new house and new state right before Covid. By the time the house was fixed up and I was ready to look for a new job, Covid hit, so I decided it was better to stay at home. Hubby was able to teach remotely, so I spent my time cooking, cleaning and obsessing over the news. Unbelievably, I was too stressed out to knit. Finally in the fall I felt okay enough to start knitting again. I worked on baby blankets and a Little Cotton Rabbits bear for a little girl down the street who was remote learning. Now I’m working on a college tiger mascot for my daughter who will be going back to college in the fall. It’s been a rough year. I’d say your stress is decreasing if you’re ready to knit again.
https://images4-f.ravelrycache.com/uploads/cagillam/778962190/73A75259-B8E9-4E6B-9B0D-8E3692C69822_small2.jpeg
Need? Think “Want!”. My view on this sort of thing is that as long as the person can afford to splurge a bit, they should go for it. It can brighten up a day and helps stimulate the economy. It just shouldn’t be done to excess. For example, my nail polish collection keeps expanding. It still fits in a drawer so I’m not going to limit myself just yet.
You may not need the yarn, but if it makes you happy to add to your collection that’s a good thing. You seem very sensible about not overdoing things so a modest splurge shouldn’t be a problem. Happy shopping!
I just started knitting again myself, after taking a 2 year hiatus. I’m making a hat out of some Knit Picks Elegance that I already had, in a delicious plum color. It feels good to have yarn and needles in my hands rather than a phone.
I’m not a knitter but I am an avid gardener. Going through the same thing. Spring hits and I buy plants like crazy. Then summer kicks in and i have to struggle to get my latest plants in the ground. I think of combinations to fill my planters and gardens. I love different pallets this year I’ve been focused on hot pallets for annuals. Blood red & hot pink geraniums fill their planters. Mixed planters red pentas, giant blue salvia, white frost diamond with silver dichondra. Bright orange gerbera daisies with more red geraniums,deep purple verbena. Then there are the pots of Boston, maidenhair and royal ferns on my shaded patio along with mixes of dwarf hosta. I have large planters with young weeping japanese maples interplanted with more dwarf hosta and brass buttons. Then there are the roses, assortment of herbs, carnivorous plants, dwarf mock orange, azaleas, slender deutzia, iris and daylilies. I used to have pots of orchids but bringing them inside during the cold months is just way too much temptation for the cats.
Washcloths
I crochet hats. Pretty quick gratification, especially baby ones. I don’t get where all the Ravelry distress is coming from, I thought it was political? I still love it. I love taking bits and pieces from different patterns and making something that works for me.
Here’s my WIP for the last few months- almost done, just the ribbing around the neck and arms and blocking! This is only my second “fitted” piece, and I had to make adjustments to the pattern https://ravel.me/viceroy-3 to fit my proportions. Fingers crossed!