FO: rambling vine socks

Thanks for all your comments on the last post. I've been tracing through comments on other blogs too, and a few threads on ravelry. All interesting stuff. I was contemplating a follow-up post musing on the politics of fantasy, but I really should be channeling such energies into my thesis. Instead, I'll go with an unexcused celebration of one of my personal indulgences, and show off an FO.

It'll be winging its way to a friend as fast as Royal Mail will carry it, along with pattern and yarn for the second sock and some other bobbly-themed goodies (e.g. some beaded icord).

Pattern: My own, based very loosely on Martin Storey's Rambling Rose ("inspired" I think is the term). The vine motif starts at the toe, and grows as you knit, winding itself up the side of your ankle. I'm thinking of developing it further; making it a bit more complex. If I do it again, I'll use a crisper, lighter yarn so its easier to photograph (in real life it looks lovely, but dark colours, fuzz and blogging are not a good mix).

Yarn: Wensleydale Longwool 4ply. I wanted a very English yarn, as my pal's in the US. It's very warm and soft, and apparently it wears pretty well. The fuzz gives it a really yummy, mossy look - a very sniffable yarn.

political point

Erqsome's recent post pointed me to this wonderfully thoughtful review of 'the domestic in drag' (i.e. much of the knit, sewing and baking blogosphere, Nigella...). I think Ashley, in her comment there, has it spot on - its not that craft is a feminist issue, its that celebrations of 'the gentle art of domesticity' raise questions of class.

I stopped reading Yarnstorm a while back because her celebration of a particular form of upper-middle-class life bugged me a bit. Similarly, I start screaming at the telly when Nigella says things like 'If you only have the one oven'. I'm not necessarily judging them, class can largely be a cultural thing - they happened to choose a slightly different life from mine. I do have my personal opinions on recycling, state education and (ahem) use of the British Library which at times various 'domestics in drag' have inflamed. But I tend to choose to keep them relatively personal. This is partly because I tend to think direct confrontation isn't always the best form of political action, but also because I know my craft blog is a heavily filtered version of my life, only really showing parts of me as they mix with knitting (and occasionally baking and sewing, the knitblogosphere having intersected with other domestic crafts). This is a window into my life, as it is to others. But it is just a single perspective. I assume the same is true of Yarnstorm et al, and wouldn't think it fair to criticise directly.

Still, the economics of craft is something we should think about more. Just as Nigella preaches that a little of what you fancy does you good, yet has taken it to a rather sickening degree in her latest series (I don't think compulsive eating is healthy - for you, society and the planet), piles and piles of yarn stash are to me, a symbol of over-consumption. Just because its handmade doesn't mean it isn't capitalism. That doesn't necessarily make it wrong, I'm not preaching anti- or pro- any particular ideology. I just want to emphasise that craft is economic, and therefore political in more ways than one.

I don't think I know the right or true way on any of this though - this post is a mix of things I happen to be thinking and ideas that are at the front of my mind. I'd be interested to know what others think.

learn from my stupidity

When you leave your handknit socks for the winter, don't just leave them at the bottom of your washing pile thinking "yay, I don't need to wash them for six months". Dirty socks attract moths a lot more easily.


Yeah, that is my middle finger sticking out of the hole - the munching, flying little beasties. I've washed the socks anyway, and once they're dry I'll see if I can darn the hole, but it's pretty big. In my some of my favourite socks, too (the lovemeknots). Next spring, I'll remember to wash them all, carefully fold them and put them away securely. Possibly sealed. For the time being, I'm remaining vigilant, and Kirsty invested in a few anti-moth herb sachets (which are strong-smelling, and I haven't stopped sneezing since she opened them up, but at least won't make the flat stink of mothballs).

paddle power

On saturday we took the Paddlesteamer from Tower Bridge to Whitstable (my pic here). It went right down the Themes, then out to the sea, via Southend. You could walk around the middle of the boat to see the steam engine at work and take a peak out of portholes to see the paddles go round and round. Plus, I wasn't the only person knitting on deck. All very exciting. Slightly cold too, which allowed some re-discovery of FO's gone by.


One the left side, a slightly better shot of my squirrelly mittens. On the right, Marcus is wearing a pair of mitten-topped gloves I made ages ago, pre-blog (loosely based on the broadstreet pattern). They've lasted really well, he wears them all the time. Marcus also caught me engaging in some sneaky yarn sniffing.


A 'ps' for ravelry users: I'm a stupid person and had "messaging" switched off for a load of last week. So if you messaged me, friended me or left a comment and didn't get a reply, give me a poke.

I'm in

I'm on ravelry, my username is slippedstitch if you want to be friends. For those who aren't on it yet, it chiefly a way of combining a super-organised knitting notebook (what you've done, what's in your stash, what you might do next, stuff you've seen you like) with the folksonomies of web2.0. It does this very well.

So, with the prompt to organise myself provided by ravelry, I got around to photographing my current WIP (above) - a top called 'bottoms up'. In contrast to the webiness of ravelry, this is from a 'dead tree' publication: the first edition of Yarn Forward. It's a lightweight, relatively glam top (think Orangina); check out pigwotknits' wip of a long-sleeved one. It's my own design, but I did a smaller size for the magazine and wanted one to fit me. I bought the yarn ages ago (Euroflax linen) and hoped to have it done by summer, but other projects kept coming up.

The pattern starts off in the 1x1 twisted rib shown, then gradually flattens out to more and more stocking stitch, growing further with eyelets around the shoulders (all shaping's done by change in stitch pattern). Originally designed in a light pink cotton, the eyelets emerging from horizontal lines of twisted rib were inspired by bubbles in a champagne cocktail. But in this green, I think it'll be more like light coming through tree-tops. We shall see. I was going to do it in a champagne colour, but fell in love with this emerald.

I also photographed all my currently stashed yarn. All these photos are all links to flickr, where I've made notes on each yarn.