Learning from Experience

Other people's, in this case. Both sons have moved house recently, and seeing them battling with the sheer quantity of stuff each of them had accumulated over just a few years in relatively small houses, made us think about the amount of junk we have after 25 years in a (too) big house. I've already de-stashed a lot of my books, but that was just a drop in the ocean. I happened to read a post on a blog about tackling decluttering 15 minutes at a time, one room at a time, and we decided that was a good approach. Two of us working together = 30 minutes, and we'd be better motivated - and tougher about getting rid of stuff - working together. So last week we started with the bathrooms, on the grounds that there wasn't much in there, so it was an easy start. And there wasn't much - apart from an embarrassingly large collection of out-of-date over-the-counter medications, which had to be disposed of, together with some tired towels, grubby loofahs, etc.  This week was the turn of our bedroom, which was a somewhat larger task: indeed, had we stuck to 15 minutes a day, we'd still be on the second chest of drawers. But, like emptying the dishwasher, once we'd started we had to finish, so we tackled it one item of furniture per day. After a week, we have dozen bin bags heading for the charity shop, another dozen destined for the dump, empty  space in our wardrobes, and drawers we can actually close. It feels good!  Next week is very full of grandparenting, including a sleepover and a Race for Life, so we will tackle the hall and porch.  Despite this frenetic (?) activity, some needlework has been done. The endless gold glove has ended: I haven't measured it yet, but I think it's getting on for 4 metres to the end of its longest tail - or tentacle, it does tend to grab things. I was going to photograph it outside today, as it's outgrown the stairs, but as it's raining I decided not to bother.

  The tapestry weaving for beginners sample has also been finished. I need to work on my selvedges, but despite appearances the beginning is the same width as the end, which must be a first for my weaving.

And the long heralded, much restarted upside down glove has reached the cuff. Working out how to get the pattern to work in reverse involved a lot of standing on my head. (I lie, I turned the book upside down, but it was almost as confusing.)

I think this will be another long one, but I need to think about how I want to finish it off, which will involve experiments with samples of the fabric, bleach and matches. But not all at the same time.     

The Third Glove

Although I haven't yet finished the long, tatty glove, I decided it was too unwieldy for working on outside the privacy of my own home. I found some Aran cotton I've had for a long time (no idea why I bought it, but that's the story of my life.) I was going to use my usual (adapted from an old pattern book, 39 stitch, 5mm needles, wrist to finger) pattern. It comes out a bit big for me, but slightly over life size seems right. I use a waste yarn cast on, knit the hand bit, then pick up from the waste yarn and knit the cuff in the opposite direction. This allows me to go on knitting till the yarn runs out, which is a metaphor for life. Maybe. But. (There is always a but.) The original design has a twisted stitch pattern on it. I thought it was a cable pattern, and I didn't fancy working a cable pattern on what could turn into a 2-3 metre long glove - but when I looked properly it isn't a cable, and twisted stitches would be OK. Maybe. (There is always a maybe.) So, on Wednesday, while we were waiting in at the Cheese Minor's new house (again) for the Openreach man to turn up (he actually did this time!),  I cast on my 39 stitches, worked a few rows - and realised that the twisted stitch design would look different above and below the join. I would have to knit it from the finger tips down. I've done that many times before, but I find making separate finger and thumb tubes and then joining them together irritating, so I don't usually do it. Time for Plan B - but not that day. On Thursday, back at Cheese Minor Mansion, in the time between shopping and going to pick up the VHC from Nursery, I cast on for the thumb, and knitted 2.5 inches of stocking stitch. Well, approximately 2.5 inches, I didn't have a tape measure, but it fits my thumb. Then I cast on for the little finger. The fingers have the twisted stitch pattern on them, but I started it merrily, and it was easy to pick up. I was nearly at the end of the little finger (no measuring here, just a set number of pattern repeats) when I realised that I had made a mistake, about 5 rows from the beginning. Easier to pull the whole lot back and start again. But not that day. No photo, just imagine an unpatterned, slightly large, cream Aran thumb... We will be back at Cheese Minor Mansion on Monday, waiting in for an IKEA delivery this time, so I will have another go then. (Unlike Openreach, IKEA have told Mr Cheese Minor when they will be arriving, but somehow '10.16' has a precision which does not encourage confidence.) I had hoped to show you a photograph of the long tatty glove, finished, but it isn't, so I can't. Here it is unfinished.  

You can see how little yarn there is left though, so if I can just stop procrastinating (drinking tea, writing blog posts, doing a bit of weaving, playing Patience...) I could finish it easily. Part of the problem is that it is on 15mm needles which I find hard to hold, plus the yarn and the needles are slippery, so they keep parting company. Which is good, because I want it to look tatty, but irritating.  However, the major problem is that I am bored with it. Three or four metres of purse stitch can do that to you. You may have noticed the mention of weaving. As I couldn't get to Jilly Edwards' class on tapestry weaving at Walford last month, I joined a couple of friends in a teach ourselves day on Tuesday. (Made a  nice change from waiting in for people.) Fortunately C. had attended a class and knew about complicated stuff like twining and half hitches, so we sat in her very covetable workroom and played. This is mine, although I've added a bit more since then. I made the mistake of taking a fairly restricted range of threads, and wish I'd taken something a bit more interesting than wool, but it was a good learning experience, in good company, on a lovely day. 

  (I've just noticed how that diagonal stripe bottom right goes with the carpet!)   I shall resist the temptation to pick it up again, and stick to my knitting. (That's the weaving, not the carpet...)

 

Still here ...

and still knitting.  

 

Another very long glove, gradually and intentionally disintegrating. 

 

I know how it feels. It's been a long week.

You need hands...

Wensleydale and I keep saying to each other 'Next week, when things get back to normal...' I think we've been saying it all year, and so far, they haven't. Last week, you may remember, the Cheese Minors went on holiday. And so did we. The calm before the storm, as it turned out. This week they moved house. And so did we. Well, we helped with their house move. Granddad helped with plumbing, taking down cupboards, dismantling stuff etc. and I kept Babybel, the VHC and the dog out from under everyone else's feet. As it was a lovely day, this meant going out in the sunshine and watching them play. I think I drew the long straw.  Everything went as well as could be expected, given the trauma that moving house always is, and that Babybel was a bit off colour. Their new house is lovely, and a great improvement on their old one, in my opinion, although, of course, when we left yesterday, it was at that 'it gets worse before it gets better' stage that follows the removal men's departure, and precedes you having had the time to unpack. The new house being within walking distance of a chip shop was a definite plus. Next week will still not be 'normal' whatever that is, as we have changed our grandparenting days so we can be 'in', but at their house, for deliveries and BT engineers. Around all this chaos, I did manage to fit in some knitting. The wine-soaked glove dried out and has grown a bit - it is joining in the competition for the world's longest.  

  I also tried some sewing. I decided that I ought to have a go at making a sewn glove, so I Googled it. I read all the instructions for making your own pattern. Then I bought one. Then I procrastinated.  Next, as the pattern was very insistent on using stretchy fabric, I went through the stash for some stretchy fabric. This was not a bad thing, as I ended up throwing out a bin bag full of stuff I will never use. I also found:

1. some white stretch velvet, bought because there was a fashion for doing things with stretch velvet. I can't remember what the fashion was (it may have involved transfer dyes) but I still have the stretch velvet. 
2. some flesh tone cotton jersey, bought when I made dolls, and
3. 2 metres of white cotton jersey, bought for who knows what. 

I thought about using the flesh, but went with the white , because there was more of it if I made mistakes. Then I procrastinated. Finally, on Thursday, I ordered myself to get started.  I made mistakes. The major one was having the idea in the first place.  I am sure all my readers are skilful glove makers. Look on my works, ye mighty, and laugh.  

 

It is easier to list what went right than what went wrong.

 

What went right? Nothing. Knitting gloves may take longer than sewing them, (though the endless resewing of the finger seams, which had become shredded when they disappeared down the hole in the needle plate, took half a lifetime) but it is a damn sight easier.

 

But then - I decided, despite being tempted towards long term procrastination, to do what I had decided to do with this glove, after  seeing Shelly Goldsmith's 'Dark Time' at the Contemporary Craft Centre at Farnham last weekend.

 

 

I wanted to add an image. So I scanned my hand, again, flipped the image, printed it on to transfer paper, cut it round the rather blurry edges and ironed it onto the glove.

 

And I rather like it. The transfer wasn't perfect,, and the image tore when I straightened out the glove, but I like the effect of that. 

 

So? More experiments. These gloves are not going to be worn - that was the theme I started with about 2 months and 27 new ideas ago - so they don't have to be made properly. Which means I can play with different materials, different construction techniques, perhaps even transfer photos/scans onto knitted gloves. 

 

time to start procrastinating about all these new ideas...