Beating FOMO: Or "What to do when you can't go to a knitting festival"

FOMO - It is real and can really drag you down.

Fear of Missing Out is so common, especially since so much of our life is online and nowhere is this more apparent than when there is a big yarn show or event that is taking place - and you can’t go. Obviously, it isn’t possible to go to every show and obviously, you hope that everyone there has a wonderful and woolly time, but a tiny part of you wants to curl up with a box of tissues and cry because you can’t be joining them.

And so it is with Edinburgh this year. My favourite ever knitting festival and the one thing I write in my new calendar before anything else. But this year events conspired against us and my husband took the chance to have a world-class surgeon operate on his knee and hopefully restore him back to many years of fell-walking fitness.

So now I find myself with a free day on Saturday 8th March when I had planned to be sky high on yarn fumes instead.

I thought I would come up with a few top tips to help soothe you if you are experiencing similar feelings of FOMO this weekend:

1. Visit your LYS or plan an outing to an LYS near you. The yarn fumes will be there just the same - only maybe not so overpowering.

2. Better still, rope in a few like-minded friends. Add some cake (gin is optional) and you could have the start of a cracking alternative party.

3. Delve deep into your stash in search of treasure.

4. Cast on for a special new project

5. Share in the experience by following your friends online and via social media - a double edged sword this one. But cake (and gin) will help and you will get to experience the stash acquisition without the pain to your credit card.

6. You could even offer a virtual shopper service to your firends who are there - removed from the yarn fumes you are likely to be more rational and thus could advise on crucial yarn related choices.

If you have some time over the weekend why not join us in the #festivalathome fun over on the Everyday Knitter Facebook group or on Instagram/Twitter. Just use the hashtag #festivalathome and let us know how you will be enjoying your festival free weekend.

When swatching is a pleasure

There are times when swatching is a genuine pleasure rather than a chore and never more so then when you are getting your mitts on some brand new yarn to road test.

Samite is a new and permanent addition to the Blacker Yarns range and is an exciting blend of Blue-faced Leicester, Shetland, Gotland and 20% silk. It is a fabulous 3ply yarn which is woollen spun to keep its bounce and add strength that you don't normally find in silk blended yarns. Because there is a blend of dark and light fibres this adds great depth of colour and little nupps of silk add texture and interest to the finished fabric.

I knit my swatch in plain stocking stitch to see what the smooth fabric would look like and I was so impressed by how it knit up and how it blocked. The yarn has a beautifully light hand but yet has a little bit of woolly toothiness which makes it a real delight to work with. On 3mm needles I got a gauge of 21st and 28 rows to 4" and the resulting light and airy fabric would work well for a light summer cardigan maybe.

I knit a Peasy cardigan a few years ago using Rowan Felted Tweed and it strikes me that this would make a most excellent subsitute, maybe with just a little bit of adjustment for maths gauge. A colourwork yolked cardigan or sweater would also work really well with this yarn - the only difficulty might be in choosing your colours.

The 15 shades are beautiful - as you would expect from Blacker Yarns - and they all work wonderfully well together. And the names! Who wouldn't want to work with yarns named Aspen's Shiver or Tide of Dreams.

The yarn is having its debut at Edinburgh Yarn Festival and there is sure to be a lot of interest in it. But the lovely folk at Blacker yarns are keen to reassure people that this is a permanent addition to the range and will be available for general purchase in the very near future.

Life isn't always pretty

And sometimes, socks aren't either.

I am showing you a 'warts and all' photo today to show that sometimes socks don't always work out how you imagine. I was trying out a new way of doing an afterthought heel - the Smooth Operator heel by Susan B Anderson and I think it's safe to say that I'll be going back to my normal afterthought heel method in future. 

I like the idea of adding in an extra row or two of waste yarn to give more wiggle room when picking up stitches but overall I found the heel directions as written to give a much looser heel than I normally have. So much so that the front of the sock is a little too wide too.

No matter, the joy of an afterthought heel us that you can rip it out and redo it. But I might leave this one until the end before fixing it. I'd like to compare the two heels side by side and see what makes one work for me whilst the other doesn't.

Anyway, this is such delightfully cheery yarn that I'm happy to knit on it over and over again. Bright, clear stripes never fail to make me smile. Even when the end result is a little wibbly.

Spring has sprung

Not many words today but a heck of a lot of gorgeous spring-like colour. I'm not normally one for knitting with the seasons and I don't tend to make conscious choices of colour but sometimes the right yarn crosses your path and it is just pure serendipity.

This gorgeous fresh green from Countess Ablaze (via the new Classics Society subscription club) is sheer heaven.

Vibrant tonal greens which practically sing at you. It reminds me alternately of fresh green grapes and zingy limes and is a total pleasure to knit with.

I  cast on for another version of a new shawl pattern I will be releasing at Edinburgh Yarn Festival. The Fuss Free Festival Shawl pattern will be available from the lovely ladies at the Little Grey Girl and Fluph Shop when you purchase their exclusive Edinburgh wares. The ideal shawl that you can just drop everything and cast on. Perfect for when you are at a festival and want to get your special yarn on the needles right away.

Look out for more details in the coming days.

Learning new tricks

The thing about a comfort zone is that it's comfortable there. It requires not too much thought and you can just relax and enjoy your knitting. Moving out of your comfort zone - Hmmm - not so much.

Thus it was this weekend when I decided to try a new-to-me heel. The Smooth Operator heel by Susan B Anderson. The pattern is written cuff down and she has you place 3 rows of waste yarn for the heel, working on for 2-3 inches before going back and working an afterthought heel. Unusually for me I decided to follow the pattern completely and herein lies my mistake. I am so used to working an afterthought heel (my way) that I can do it practically in my sleep with all manner of domestic distractions going on around me. 

Trying to follow unfamiliar instructions whilst dealing with Sunday afternoon homework dramas was, inevitably a recipe for disaster. Tears (mine), frustration (again mine) and a burnt dinner later I realised something. a) I really (really) hatred using waste yarn for an afterthought heel and b) when trying to learn new tricks make sure you have the house to yourself.

Still, the benefit of an afterthought heel is that you can just rip it out and redo ithe. I'll just need some coffee first.

A stripy Sunday morning

It really does feel as though Spring is on the way now. The lighter mornings are such a boost after the dark grey days of February and, sitting here with a coffee and my sock before the rest of the house wakes up feels like such a treat.

Self striping yarn really is a miracle - especially when it comes in such happiness inducing colours as this West Yorkshire Spinners yarn. Even a minor mishap such as having to reknit half of the leg (note to self - even if you think you are picking up the 2.5mm needle tips, check with the gauge) can't dent my enthusiasm for this sock.

The observant among you will notice that I'm forgoing my usual toe-up sock method and working cuff down for a change. I've been looking for an excuse to try the Susan B Anderson Smooth Operator heel and this seems as good a time as any. I'm sure there is a way of adapting it for toe-up but for now I'm happy to work through the cuff down directions as written. A few more inches and I should be ready to put the waste yarn in for the heel.