Boundaries and putting yourself first

It’s been a busy and exciting week as I launched my new knit-along - the Boundaries Blanket KAL and the dedicated facebook group has been humming as we have all been discussing yarn choices, colours and of course, a few personal boundaries.

Week 1 went out on Wednesday (20th Nov) and as it’s going to be a relaxed bi-weekly KAL there’s still plenty of time to join in if you wanted to (you can find the pattern here). I know that some people have signed up but intend to save the patterns and make a start on them in that lovely relaxed Twixtmas period between Christmas and New Year, which seems like a fine plan to me.

I’ve been really encouraged by the positive response to the KAL and so many people have taken the trouble to get in touch and say how much it has resonated with them. One theme that has struck me throughout these comments is the number of people saying that either they don’t usually do KALs, or that once joined they rarely stick to them.

And it dawned on me - as indeed it had dawned on some of those who contacted me that this is just another example of where boundaries can be drawn. All too often we allow ourselves to put aside what we really want to work on, in favour of something for someone else. Whether it’s a birthday gift for a friend that we think we ‘have to’ knit, or a pair of socks for that relative that we just can’t say no to. 

Even though we might be happy to oblige, there’s often a small part us, tucked away that feels secretly resentful or, at the very least it feels neglected and not listened too.

By doing the opposite, picking a project that we really want to work on. Picking something that really speaks to us - whether it’s the yarn, the colour or the rhythmic pattern what we are really doing is putting ourselves first. Telling that small part of us that we really do matter - as much as, if not more than the cold footed uncle who would really like some socks. 

Of course, it’s nice to knit for others but it’s so easy to fall into the guilt trap of only knitting for others, or somehow feeling guilty for knitting for ourselves - but that’s a topic for a whole other blog post.

For now, why not just grab a favourite beverage, your yarn and needles and relax - making something just for you. At the risk of sounding like a cliched cosmetic advert - you really are worth it.

Boundaries - and a new KAL

It’s an odd start to a knitting post to be talking about Boundaries, but please bear with me. I promise it will make sense soon.

It’s only in recent years that I’ve started to learn about boundaries - what they are and why we need them. mainly because I didn’t have any. I would say yes to everyone who asked (regardless of what else I had to do) and always put my own needs and wants last - the joys of being a born people-pleaser. The upshot of course that when you don’t have firm boundaries, you end up running around in ever decreasing circles and getting increasingly stressed.

In the last year or two I've started to learn about boundaries and how to implement them in my daily life to protect my energy, my time and my mental health. My favourite one so far is saying no to things I don't want to do - rather than soldiering on with a sense of weary martyrdom.

In my knitting life - inbetween projects I’ve been working on a series of blanket squares. Each one with a different stitch pattern. Originally I was swatching for a few new projects but the idea sort of got away from me and became a project of it’s very own. Each square has a seed stitch border - a boundary of sorts - and that got me thinking…

As I've been knitting each square I've been thinking about boundaries and how I can use them to help improve my mental health and the idea started to form for a KAL.

Each week, a new blanket square. A stitch pattern and a suggestion for a boundary or self care practice you might like to try in your own day to day. They would add up to a 12 square (4 by 3) lap blanket and some handy self-care tools to have up your sleeve for tricky days.

The pattern will be going on sale later in the week - with the pre-KAL information and a provisional start date of Wed 20th November, but I'd love to know what you think of this so far? Feedback so far has been that a biweekly KAL might be more achievable - without the pressure of a weekly update and I’d love to know how you feel about that.

Either way, watch this space, or make sure you are signed up to my newsletter so you’ll the the first to know when it goes on sale.

Revisiting old patterns - old friends

Do you ever knit a pattern more than once? Do you have an old favourite that you like to knit over and again or are you of the ‘so many patterns, so little time’ school of thought.

I usually waver in the direction of the latter. Between designs and knitting for myself and family I rarely have the time or the inclination to revisit old patterns. But just recently i found myself doing just that.

I had a lovely skein of self stripe - this is Witchy from London House Yarns - and i wanted to knit something just a little bit more complex than a plain vanilla sock. But not too complex that I’d take the emphasis away from the lovely seasonal colours. Then I remembered an old design of mine and thought it would be fun to re-knit it.

The Expresso sock was named, partly because the original colourway was Cafe au Lait (from the now no-longer-dyeing Berry Colorful Yarnings). That made me think of coffee and the habit my lovely Nana had of referring to an Espresso as an Expresso. In her mind it was an Expresso and nothing would dissuade her. That seemed apt, as this combination of infrequent cables really made the sock zip along - adding to the self stripe fun.

Do stripy socks really go faster? I’m not sure but all I can say is that I cast this on just to do the toe yesterday - and despite my best intentions to finish a sweater WIP I’m already at the heel.

And just for fun - this pattern will be free until midnight Wednesday Oct 23rd (GMT).

Just use code EXPRESSO

The Coffee Break Cowl

Coffee Break Cowl

It's September, I've had my first pumpkin flavoured beverage from a certain coffee chain and I'm in a distinctly autumnal frame of mind.

At this time of the year my thoughts start turning to cosy knits and I find it impossible to resist the lure of a good rustic coloured, worsted weight yarn. At any other time of year I'm all about the blues and greys, but as soon as the leaves start to turn I need something warmer in colour on the needles.

The Coffee Break Cowl is so named because indeed I did knit it over several long coffee dates with myself - part of my new post-holiday self care routine. It's an easy to remember textured pattern knit flat and then seamed at the end. One skein (100g worsted/DK) is more than enough to make a simple cowl but if you have 2 skeins you could make a longer one which can be looped once more around the neck for extra cosiness.

There's an early bird discount running from now until midnight (GMT) on 16.09.19 - just head to the Ravelry page and use the code COFFEEEB (note the third E in there) and the 25% will automatically be deducted at checkout.

PIN FOR LATER

A new thing

The Blanket of Exacting Requirements, as I have named it is done, off the needles and blocking as I type. I’m really pleased with it and my son (who has aforementioned requirements) is mightily pleased too. This is my first time using West Yorkshire Spinners Colourlab DK for a blanket - having taken the decision earlier in the year to refrain from using acrylic yarns from now on - and I have to say that I love everything about it.

The colour range is good, it’s an impressively all-British produced yarn and it retails for under £7 per 100g. I know this reads a bit like an advert and I apologise but really, I promise I haven’t been paid to promote this yarn. I just really like it.

Whenever you mention knitting with pure wool though the issue of price always rears it’s head, with the assumptions that pure wool is expensive and impractical for blankets. So I thought I would do a little road-test and report back on this blanket at intervals so you can see how it is holding up. I have two boys and an equal number of cats and so knits in our household are very much used and abused.

As for price. I used approx 7 balls of this yarn in various colours which equates to less than £50 for the whole project (7 x £6.95). It’s absolutely not the cheapest yarn available but for something that will be used and loved for years that’s a price point that I’m very comfortable with. Price isn’t something we often speak about in relation to our finished objects. We talk about yardage and colours used but actual hard cash is frequently overlooked in our discussions.

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Knitting a square in the round

Fuss Free baby blanket knit in West Yorkshire Spinners ColourLab DK

There’s a lot to be said for knitting a square blanket in the round, rather than knitting it flat. I don’t know about you and I’m fairly sure it defies the laws of physics but I’m convinced that a square knit flat takes far, far longer than one knit in the round.

At some point when I have three-quarters of  a square I always start doing a heck of a lot of measuring, certain that after these last few rows I will have knit enough. Or if all else fails I start trying to convince myself that everyone really wants a wide, short rectangular blanket rather than a square one. Obviously they don’t - it would just look weird and exactly like you’d given up three quarters of the way through but such are the tales I try to tell my inner knitter.

Instead I find that if you knit a blanket in the round it’s all bunched up on your needles and you can keep knitting and knitting, through films, kids playparks and all manner of events. It’s easier on the hands and (if you are doing stocking stitch) there’s the added benefit of no purling. It does mean of course that it’s harder to spread it out for photographic/measuring purposes but you can’t have everything and I’d rather just keep knitting so that the eventual size is a happy surprise when I finally bind it off.

If you’d like to try knitting a blanket in the round, as with everything there is more than one way to go about it.

Knit a central square - this is my favourite method and one I come back to time and time again. In my Fuss Free Baby Blanket (a free download on my website) it starts with a central garter stitch square. You then keep the live stitches on the needle, place a marker and pick up the same number of stitches along each of the 3 sides - adding a marker at each corner. You then alternate a mitered increase round with a plain round building up the square from the centre out. Easy peasy. You can add stripes or whatever takes your fancy make the most of fuss free, portable knitting.

The other option is to start with a small number of central stitches - usually on DPNs - and build the increases from there. This can be a bit more fiddly but is perfectly straightforward to master. My basic recipe for this is as follows:

Cast on 8 sts and divide equally across 4 DPNs

Rnd 1: kfb in each st (8 sts inc)

Rnd 2: k

Rnd 3: *kfb, k to last st on DPN, kfb. Rep from * 3 more times (8 sts inc)

Rnd 4: k

Rep rnds 3 and 4 - each increase round adds 8 sts. Once you have sufficient sts you can switch to a circular needle. I like to switch to a 60cm cable once I have about 80sts in total. It might be a bit tight for the first few rounds but as you add more stitches it soon becomes easier.

Two ways of achieving the same result, but both with the nifty feature of avoiding the tedium of an “almost there” blanket knit flat.