DesigKnit

It’s that time again, suddenly – time to check off another year. 2012 was a year of change for us; both Branden and I started new jobs, and we moved again (twice). Both of us got one year older (funny how that works). As of last week we’re both in our 30’s. Neither of us is particularly attached to our age, so there’s no sense of loss or midlife crisis looming…just a sense of surprise that time really is passing quickly. We celebrated our tenth anniversary this month, and are now busy plotting the next 50 years. Earlier this month, I was “elected” to take on some family-related responsibilities now that we are back in the state, and am struggling a bit to figure out exactly what that will mean in our lives, and to build edges that define what we will and won’t do. We’ve made many new friends this year, and reunited with some old ones. I lost one friend to cancer last week, after two years of hoping that he’d beat it. Good things and bad things, large things and small things, one after another, somehow all piling up to make a life.

I can’t say I’m sorry to see this year go, nor am I particularly anxious to put it behind me. It is time to move on, though, I think. I don’t know exactly what I’m hoping for in 2013…I generally prefer take things as they come rather than making expectations for a new year before it arrives. A little more quiet, perhaps.

I do like to set some general intentions for my crafting, though. These aren’t goals or resolutions; just directions I want to explore. For this year, I’d like to weave more. These past few months have been so full of things to think about and process through that knitting has been too quiet an activity at times; too much room to think, not enough feeling of progress to pull me in. Even this process knitter grows impatient sometimes, and more product right now would be good. Weaving goes quickly and can be either mindless or very challenging; I think this will be an important part of my crafting in 2013.

Of course, I don’t intend to leave knitting behind, either. I really enjoyed the colorwork in the Fall Colors sweater, and have a tickle at the back of my mind that says there may be more colorwork to come this year. I don’t know what it will be yet, but the seed is there, waiting for the right time to send out shoots.

I have always loved simple knit designs with lace inserts or small details to make them special. This may be a year of exploring those ideas, working toward clothes that are easily worn to work.

I think that I will also continue pushing into ever-finer gauge knitting. This might seem counterintuitive, given my current want for quick progress, but I really am finding that I like fine gauge knits better for some things, work clothes foremost among them.

Along with all the yarn, there are piles of wool in my closet, just waiting to be spun. I hope to turn at least one of them into a sweater by the end of the year, and to finish the spinning for Branden’s Blue Eyes sweater very soon.

I’ve been saying this for a while now, but I think this may also be the year of the drum carder. At this point, the decision is made as to which carder it will be; it’s just a matter of waiting until the moment is right.

I am also hoping to get my workload to a point where I can begin reawakening Desigknit over the months to come. We have a basement here, and though it’s not ideal as a dye studio, it will work well enough. We need to reclaim my tools from our friends’ garage, but I am hoping to be dyeing again soon. I am still pondering what form the business side of things will take this time around, but I’m looking forward to playing with color again in the near future.

There are so many things to look forward to, so many projects to put on the list, but I think that this is enough for now. I may get to all of them, or perhaps to none at all. Only the new year will tell.

What’s on your list for 2013?

After the crazy month that December has been this year, it feels really good to be finishing off 2012 with a long weekend at home with no plans whatsoever. There are some books hoping to be read, some yarn hoping to be knit, maybe some cookies to be baked and some weaving to be done, but there is nothing on the schedule (except tentative and nebulous plans to see The Hobbit this weekend if we find ourselves overwhelmed with all this free time).

I’m not sure what will come of it (if anything), but I’m glad that there are at least a couple of days of calm in here before the new year and new semester begin again. Hope you’ve all enjoyed your holiday celebrations, and that you’re also finding a little time to unwind as 2012 draws to a close.

I mentioned in my last post that I wound a new warp for the loom. Last weekend, I stole a few minutes between grading exams and did some sampling. It always amazes me how different the same pattern looks when woven with different yarns.

The light yarns are showing up the best in this photo, but they really toned down the colors in my warp yarn.  You can still see a little bit of the vertical striping, but it’s pretty subdued. I wanted something that would highlight the warp instead, so I decided to go with a dark gray background color, shown second from the top in the photo above. The flower pattern is less dominant, but the colors show up nicely. When it’s viewed from the right angle, the colors really pop. I wove a couple of repeats yesterday, and I think it’s going to work well, though the pattern isn’t as bold as what you see with the pale yarn in the bottom of the picture.

This is an overshot pattern, which means that you weave with two different colors and alternate between pattern rows and plain rows. It takes a bit of thinking to keep your place in the pattern, but it does make for an interesting fabric.

I also finished another bobbin for Branden’s sweater yarn. That meant that I had enough to ply again, so today I plied off three fat skeins of handspun.

I’m about half way done with the spinning now, so this should be ready to cast on early in the new year.

Of course, the exact cast on date will depend on my progress on my latest Briar Rose sweater (which desperately needs a name). I’ve only been able to knit a few mornings on the train in the past couple of weeks, so it’s progressing pretty slowly, though you can really see the texture starting to pop out.

Tomorrow is the last day of class; then there’s one week of review (i.e. lots of office hours), and the final next Tuesday. It’ll take 2-3 days to grade that, and then I’m home free for winter break. I am determined to take a few days completely off between Christmas and New Years’, and then it’s on to prep for next semester. Still, the between-semesters time should be quieter, so I’m looking forward to getting some real crafting time in there somewhere. Soon!