by Tash
Finally, Knitsch yarns has officially lifted off and entered the great wide world of wool.
Craft2.0 was the best fun – there was plenty of attaching names to faces, and as per usual it was a struggle not to spend all my money on the gorgeous goodies made by the other crafters. Thank you so much to everyone who came along, being able to wax lyrical about a shared passion is really what it’s all about.
Mama (right) and I (left) with our table of deliciousness and some lovely yarnies
This week the focus is on getting the online shop live, just for you. If you pop along and subscribe to the e-newsletter, anyone on that list will be the first to know when our woolly goodies are ready and waiting.
by Tash
Would you like a sneaky peak? Would ya? Hmm? Hmm?
Top to bottom: Punky, Mystery Machine, Chelsea, Cherry Ripe, Paua
We’re dyeing with all cylinders blazing in preparation for Craft2.0. My poor fingers are getting rope burn from twisting skeins…
by Tash
Grey’s Anatomy has got to be my favourite series du jour. It serves as fantastic therapy – it makes you laugh, and cry – perfect for releasing pent up emotions.
In one episode, Nurse Rose says to McDreamy “I am an imperfect person”. Boy I love that line. It rings so true – I am an imperfect person. I’m also a very imperfect crafter, and skill improvement is up there on this year’s to do list.
One goal is to get the hang of fair isle.
Endpaper mitts is the project, and yep, there are mistakes, but I feel they tell a story, and so shall leave them in. The mitts are for me – happily a selfish knitter – and the mistakes remind me that sometimes my incredibly high standards require a bit of extra practice to reach. It’s ok to be imperfect.
(Knit in Knitsch Yarns ‘Chelsea’ and ‘Silver Lining’)
by Tash
I am obsessed with green.
My favourite colour is yellow – bright, sunshiny, happy. Nothing can be sad with yellow, really.
But green, damn that green.
I have quite the collection of orange yarn – it started in London. About the same time as the green obsession. It seemed that every skein of yarn that found itself in my hand was either green or orange.
The problem with that is, every dye colour I dream up, a spot of green sneaks in. Oh, I think, if i do this, and this and this, and then what else will go with it…oh, i know, green!
And then do you think it is easy to achieve that subtle shade of emerald? Or the iridescent colour of a beer bottle? oh no. No. Green has to be one of the frigging trickiest colours to get just so.
The moral of the story is: if you like green, Knitsch is for you. You may look forward to enjoying the benefits of my misery!
by Tash
Over the past couple of weeks great trouble has been afoot – a misbehaving yarn skeiner.
The skeiner originates from the Artisan Lace asset list, and was lovingly built by my Grandfather. However, it was build with bits and bobs and some clever engineering, and was looking a tad worse for wear. Also, there was a problem: it winds gossamer and lace weight perfectly, but supertwist merino has a tendency to, well, twist when it is wound on the skeiner.
Frustrating.
So after lots of trial and error, plenty of brow-furrowing, the boy and I spent an afternoon fixing it. We had to add new eyelets in order to create more tension, and so rebuilt the entire cone holding section. After a couple of hours, and lots of testing, we were pretty proud with the results. There are still a couple niggly bits but winding ten skeins at once is infinitely more satisfying than one at a time by hand!
Besides that, I have been rather on the unwell side of late. After finally giving in and going to the doctor, apparently it was a bug. A two week long one. Feeling 100% again still seems like a fairytale, and there is plenty of brainstorming as to how to regain previous energy. The resolution to abandon coffee has completely fizzled – it is certainly less enjoyable than it used to be but it is the one thing that gives a bit oomph to the day. Lucky there are plenty of other exciting woolly things going on to keep plodding along…
