How the Knitted Chokers Came to Be (+ Learn to Make Your Own)

I designed Close Knit to be a freeform thing - I didn't want to commit to making a certain product, or anything, I decided instead to have side jobs to keep up an income so that I could afford to be a little playful and meandering with this little business.

It's lead me to so many good things - a blog post series turned into a podcast, my flexible work schedule that lets me attend handspinners guild meetings on thursday mornings, and now I've begun learning (and getting addicted to) spinning. 

There have been so many tiny, serendipitous things that have happened that have led me to where I am now with Close Knit, and I'm loving the surprises and exciting opportunities that have come out of them.

The knitted chokers/necklaces are one such story.

I have promised my partner a friendship bracelet for many years (sorry, bub!) and I've also promised for the last year and a half that I'll felt patches onto the jumper that used to belong to my papa back in day (the elbows are just gaping holes now). So I finally got around to picking up some roving from the handspinners guild shop and I picked up two, one dark grey and one navy, not sure which one would go with his jumper. 

I took them home and realised the grey was totally clashing - so I nixed that idea and figured, well, now I've got this grey cloud of fluff to practice spinning with! I started spinning it up and made a few tiny skeins, no more than 10g each - real tiny. I plied them up, washed them and turned them into my first few skeins of handspun which I proudly brought to the guild meeting for "show and tell". 

Then I was like, what do I do with all these tiny skeins? they're not really enough to make something out of. So I remembered that I had promised a friendship bracelet to my partner for literally years and set about making one. I knitted it up and thought I'd make it a bit bigger than my own wrist to accommodate his - but when I finished it it looked pretty long. I held it up to my neck for comparison, and then I was like, wait a minute, could I knit chokers?

So i tied it up in a little bow at the back and started wearing it around. I was pretty pleased.

I wore it home and immediately my housemates all exclaimed that they wanted one, too. That gave me the needed validation that these were fun/kinda cool so I kept knitting them.

They are all handspun wool (usually Australian grown merino) - spun either by me or a friend in the states who sent me some little skeins to play with - and then they're handknit by me. Because of the nature of handspun, they're all one-of-a-kind! They're tiny labours of love and what I like the most about them is that I only feel joy/excitement when spinning and knitting small things - so they're full of good vibes, too. 

If you're in the marker for a knitted necklace - let me know, let's make that happen! 

OR if you wanna make your own and you live in Hobart - come to my workshop next Tuesday night, 7th June 2016 7pm-9pm at the State Cinema in North Hobart. To register a spot email hello@shippinglane.com - tix are $35 and include a hot beverage, knitting needles and wool that's been handspun by me! Hope to see you there. 

And in case you're wondering, I did end up making my partner his friendship bracelet in the end ;) 

What's On My Needles - Knit-A-Long Edition

Each Week (more or less), I'll share a quick (or sometimes not quick) snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

If you follow me over on instagram, you'll already know about this,  but in case you don't - here's the lowdown. My BFF (best friend in fibre, or best friend forever, either is cool with me) Kate  and I met up in Boston last year and went on an unintentional yarn crawl, because what else would happen when two fibre nerds meet IRL for the first time? We're both mad for non-superwash wools, and neither of us had tried knitting socks before, so we picked up a couple skeins of Quince and Co finch - in the heathered colour "caspian", because of course we would pick the same colour. But really, we picked the colour because we wanted something neutral but not too light that they'd get too grimey. These are socks, afterall.

So here we are, a solid 8 months later (whoops) finally getting around to knitting our first pair of socks together. We wanted to try this together because we have a habit of starting projects and ripping our hair out over them and then giving up (sometimes). So we figured that if we did them together, there would be enough moral support to keep us going - solid logic, right?

Then we figured that if we were struggling to work up the courage to knit our first pair of socks, there are probably a bunch of other folks out there, too. So we made it a little Knit-A-Long. We're calling it the Pen Pal Sock KAL - cuz how cute, that rhymes, and it describes our friendship. And we're using the hashtags #penpalsockkal and #firstsocks.

We technically started the 1st of May, and I'm saying techincally here because I haven't even finished swatching yet, so please feel free to join us at any time. Oh, and my good internet friend Joanne had a great term for what this KAL will probably be, the #worldsslowestkal - which is cool with me because, hey, knitting shouldn't make you feel anxiety or pressured, right? (I'll be honest, I sometimes feel that, but I'm trying to relax about the whole thing - it is only knitting, afterall). 

So get amongst it by knitting your own pair of socks - any socks will do - will doing the BFF socks by Cookie A  and we're leaving out the cables because Jen Beeman is a goddess and her pair were absurdly good. Knit as fast or as slow as you want, 'cause we're not here to judge, just cheer you on. 

xx

Ani 

What's On My Needles - The Making of a Sweater

Each Week, I'll share a quick (or sometimes not quick) snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

Well hey there- I seem to have taken a (rather unintentional) hiatus from posting "what's on my needles". But it's never too late to share, right?  I thought I'd take this time to do a little "start to finish" kind of post to show you the process of skein to sweater, since I finished my Agnes Pullover a couple of (cough) months ago. 

I've since worn Agnes on hikes, to the shops, to the farmers' market. She's a good companion. Nice and cozy warm. And pockets. Bloody pockets. Love 'em. 

That's what was on my needles in Jan/Feb - now I'm working on a cowl (more on that soon), a shawl (also more on that soon), and some sewing/quilting/spinning to break things up a little. 

Open for Commissions :: A Mindful Making Ethos

Lately, I've been working on commissioned pieces, for trade, or for money, just on a small scale. I wanted to let you know that I'm available to knit custom pieces for you (for money, or trade). I also wanted to take this chance to express why I am choosing to primarily create custom work. 

When I first conceived of Close Knit, I was stubborn about knitting items for sale. I thought, "there's no way I could possibly make a living from that", "I'd get arthritis", and "it would kill the joy of knitting for me, if I became a production line of hats (or insert other thing here)". So I went about laying the foundation of Close Knit with the intention of only designing, teaching, providing resources, etc - I wasn't planning to knit except to design and also for selfish projects. 

I still believe in most of what I thought then. I'm not prepared to knit 30, 100, 1000 of the same garment - no matter how much I like the design. There aren't enough hours in the day, and my hands are too prone to soreness that I just don't want to risk it. And the more I've thought about this, the more resolute I've become.

Close Knit is an exercise in mindful making. I was trying to think of a way to describe my practice, my ethos -- I didn't want to use a term that felt wishy washy to me, like sustainable, and I wanted my practice to encompass so much more than that. When I am making, I like to take my time, and be intentional. Some questions that I (try to) ask myself before starting a project are, do I need this? is it beautiful? are the materials sourced as well as they could be? (I try to take into account environmental impact and human/social impact, which can be hard) is it something that will get a lot of wear? To me, this line of questioning is the crux of mindful making. Though at the same time, I make because it feels good, because I love it - I don't necessarily NEED that 10th beanie, but the process of creating is such a pure expression of joy to me that it would feel wrong not to honour that. (and for the record, sometimes I make totally bizarre stuff that no one would wear, and that's kind of just part of the process that I'm learning to accept) 

That feeds into my decision to work on commissioned and (primarily) one-of-a-kind pieces. I want to get that chance to work on a special design for someone - made exactly as they want it to be. Is this the fastest way to get something done? No way. Is it going to be cheap? Not really. It will take me a lot of time, and it will cost more than a garment you could get at a big box store. But that's why it's so important. I want to use these commissions as a practice for myself in slowing down, and a practice for the recipient in (hopefully) loving and treasuring an item that was made just for them, with love and dedication. And that's also why I'm open to trades and discussion. I want to continue valuing my time, and sometimes this means with money (because rent and bills sadly won't pay themselves), but I want to have an open practice around this that includes trades, payment plans, collaborations. 

If you have a piece in mind that you'd like knit for you, please get in touch: hello@closeknit.com.au - let's chat and make something work! 

xx

Ani 

The Super Simple Beanie Pattern (Free Download) + A Shop Update

You might have noticed that I've been doing a bit of swapping around over here (or you probably didn't, and that's cool too!), so I wanted to pop the Super Simple Beanie up for you in this post to download, and let you know that my patterns from now on (free and paid) will be available through the link at the top navigation (Pattern Shop), which takes you to my Ravelry store! Not on Ravelry? It's free to join and there are tons of patterns. Not into Ravelry? Get in touch and we'll sort something out! 

Click HERE to download your free Super Simple Beanie Pattern. 

Enjoy!

xx

Ani

Thoughts On Sweater Knitting - The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Each Week (more or less), I'll share a quick (or sometimes not quick) snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

A couple of weeks ago, I was farmsitting up at Nan's, and I knew I needed a big project to work on. I'd been eyeballing the Lila pullover for some time, and just needed a sweater's quantity of wool. That's where Nan came in - generously letting me take some luscious White Gum for this sweater (!!). Marlee of Have Company happened to be on the same wave length as I was, so we started our sweaters around the same time and kept each other up-to-date on progress using our lil' hashtag #crosspacificknitclub. 

It was a fun and eye-opening process - knitting this sweater, making mistakes, slowly fixing them, seeing Marlee's sweater progress, loving her sweater, suddenly feeling very inferior and slow. It was a process in self-care and weird competitive vibes for sure.

The anxiety and jealousy vibes I was feeling made me ashamed. I didn't want to feel these things, because knitting a sweater shouldn't invoke those feelings, and Marlee had been nothing but incredible supportive the whole way through (read: ALL the moral support when I was majorly confused about short rows and concerned I'd made a sweater for a giant).

So I stepped back from the sweater for a day or two, mostly because my hands were starting to hurt (early onset arthritis, anyone?), and took a little time to reflect on those feelings. I think they stem from a really deep-seated desire I feel to compete, to be instantly gratified, and get validation on the interwebs. The more I took a hard look at those feelings, the more ridiculous they started to seem. And when I finally verbalised them to a friend, I realised how utterly useless they were. Since I'd gotten my petty feelings out in the open, I could actually move into making this sweater happen, and do it with focus and good intentions. 

After that, I finished knitting it, was feeling pretty happy with it, and then went to block it (because, ya know, trying to be a "good" knitter"). Then the shit hit the fan because it looked as though it had stretched waaaay out. So there I was, on the bathroom floor scrunching and squeezing and hoping it wasn't 7 sizes too big. And it took over 2 days to dry, so I was a hot mess for 2 days wondering if I'd just made a sweater for a pregnant human. 

Turns out I was overreacting and it was a pretty good fit afterall. 

Lessons learned - try to be less critical of myself when knitting (even if I'm slow AF), trust in the magic of blocking, and trust in the magic of internet friendship and KALs (knit-a-longs) to keep you honest, grounded, and supported. Oh, and grey is remarkably challenging to photograph - that was the other (much less profound) lesson learned.

xx

Ani 

What's On My Needles - A Big Ol' Catch Up Post

Each Week (more or less), I'll share a quick (or sometimes not quick) snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

It's been nearly two weeks since I last checked in with you about what I'm working on. I've had a couple of weeks farmsitting for the lovely Nan Bray, who has a property in Tasmania with a big flock of merino. She makes incredible, soft yarn (superfine merino - to be exact) that is a joy to knit with. Whilst I was there, she said "take a skein each day" - and obviously I could not resist that offer! 

I decided to go with a skein of Hawthorn (the red colour) to make a hat for Brittany (we're doing a trade, and as promised, I'm crafting a post on that later, because I love a good trade!). I used the Petawawa Toque pattern, by Goodnight, Day, which creates a really lovely hat, but since she doesn't list gauge or anything like that, it's a little hard to know what you're in for. So, I knitted this on one size down from the recommended needle size, because this is 8 ply wool (Aussie wool lingo throws me for a loop), which is a little bit smaller than the worsted weight this hat called for. 

I have a tiny head, so when I make things for other people, I try them on as I go, and if I'm swimming in them, I assume it's probably a good fit. (Maybe this is not a very good method). I finished this hat, and it looked really bloody big, but I thought, hey - let's just block it and see. WOAH - now, when I blocked it, it got even bigger - so big that it was big on my partner's head (for reference, we often joke that my head is roughly half the size of size). So, I did what every good knitter (and I am NOT normally a "good" knitter) would do - I ripped it back. Actually, I ripped back about 1.5 inches off the crown and reshaped the crown. I blocked it again and - viola, a wearable hat (see below) - a bit big on me, so juuuuuust right for Brittany. Success!  

Now, since I was on a farm (and what else does one do when on a wool farm?) - I knitted a lot. After blocking Brittany's hat, I blocked a few others - one that I just had been too lazy to block originally (the Petawawa in turmeric dyed yarn I made for myself last year), a Classic Cuffed Hat for Edie, and a Boyfriend Hat for Brittany. 

There's more where all that came from, but I'll save it for next week's post. I've got a lot to say about that knit! 

Thanks for reading.

xx

Ani 

What's On My Needles - Better Late Than Never

Each Week, I'll share a quick (or sometimes not quick) snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

have porch, have comfy slippers, will knit

Normally, I try to make this a weekly post (every Thursday, so far), but last week went awry when I was invited on a 4-day backpacking trip, leaving on Thursday - not that I'm complaining. 

I've just finished up a "Boyfriend Hat", which turned out well, despite my annoyance with the pattern (see previous post for details). That hat is destined for a friend in the states, just as soon as I finish up the other hat I've promised her! I'll post a photo of tht once it's blocked and ready to go - maybe we can even convince her to take one of it on :) 

I then picked up my needles to work on a Classic Cuffed Hat as a (belated) holiday present for my mate Edie. After about 10 attempts at the tubular cast on (which I love, but really seem to struggle with), I got moving and worked on the 1x1 ribbing for the brim on the first couple of days of the backpacking trip, and then on the car ride home, I worked a couple of inches of the body. 

I just managed to finish the hat two nights ago, soak it, and get the blocking started to hand it off to Edie before she heads back to the mainland. She tried it on yesterday morning and - kaboom! - it fits, high five emoji. 

That's what's been on my needles, how about you guys? 

xx

What's On My Needles - 24th Dec 2015

Each Week, I'll share a quick (or sometimes not quick) snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

This week, I've been making a bit of progress on a Boyfriend Hat - a pattern I've been eyeing on Purl Bee for some time. It's for a friend (for a trade actually! more on that later) so I've gone about it in a methodical way - swatching, measuring, etc. Let me tell you, though, it hasn't been my favourite to knit. You need to cast on 160 stitches, and I had to cast on about 8 times before getting it right. Pro tip: place stitch markers every 20 stitches to save yourself from attempting to count 160 stitches at once, only to get lost several times, and end up with 156 on one count, 161 the next - ya feel me? 

Now, of course, as I'm 6 inches into it, I find a whole slew of critiques of the pattern, from knitters whose opinions I value and trust, like Jen of Grainline Studio, amongst others. Mostly, people have found that the sizing seems off - too big. Fortunately, I cast on a size smaller than I wanted the hat to be, because my gauge is a tiny bit looser than called for, and now that I've read these critiques, I'll stop my hat a bit shorter than written in the pattern before I start the decrease rows. So far, the hat is big on me, but I have a head the size of a pea, so I'm not too concerned. What I do really like about it is the tight 1x1 rib (not to knit, because that's a pain - literally) is how dense the fabric is, and how warm it will be. Makes me feel good to know that I'm knitting up a nice warm hat for a shepherdess! 

Other than the hat I've been working on, I've been doing some non-knitting fibre related things. This year, as gifts for the holidays, I wanted to make things that would be simple, cost-effective, natural, and most importantly, useful for my friends and family. After being gifted some madder root dyed linen by a lovely friend and talented maker living in Perth, and learning about the properties of lavender as a moth repellent, I had a lightbulb moment. So, I set about making some of these sachets, which are simple to make, and have a number of uses - including keeping your clothes smelling fresh, protecting your woolens from moths, or for keeping under your pillow to help you relax and sleep easily. I'm really excited to write up little instructional tags to go with these and give them as holiday gifts to friends.

What's on your needle(s) this holiday season?

xx

What's on My Needles - 10th Dec 2015

Each Week, I'll share a quick snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

Whilst not technically "on my needles", because I've finished it now, I blocked the Roku Hat - By OlgaJazzy , which is a really well-designed and quick knit. I needed to learn the long tail tubular cast on method - which pretty much made me tear my hair out, but in the end I finally figured it out (I think) and I really like the way it makes the cast on edge of the hat look. 

Other than the Roku, I've been attempting to rest my hands and wrists, as I'm noticing a bit of pain in my wrists and the fleshy bit between my thumb and index finger (which completely terrifies me). So, instead, I've been working on finishing up the weave that became a "community weave" at a recent picnic I attended. 

What's On My Needles - 2 Dec 2015

Each Week, I'll share a quick snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

I'm working up a classic beanie for a special lady in my life who is a surfer (mermaid) and I thought these colours were just perfect for her. Also, I kind of want a beanie that has a hole for my top knot, 'cause why not? 

I've just cast on a new hat for another special lady, more on that next week!

xx

Ani 

What's On My Needles - 27 Nov 2015

Each Week, I'll share a quick snippet of what I'm currently working on, no matter how small (or rough) it is. 

This week, I'm working on the linen cardigan I've been attempting to design for some time now. It's slow-going an I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of frogging, re-designing and starting again. 

I also finished a crop top halter I've been messing around with for a couple of weeks. Only problem is that it doesn't fit the person it was intended for - back to the drawing board. 

That's what's on my needles this week. What are you working on?

xx

Ani