Friday, January 29, 2010

Knitting Ecology

The biological definition of ecology is "the relationships and interactions of living organisms with each other and their environment". Ecology is my field of study but I have discovered it is also my philosophy. There are many types of ecology; biological: population, community, landscape, field, behavioural, animal, plant, soil etc. and also anthropological: human ecology and cultural ecology.

I propose a new category: Knitting Ecology.

You see, knitters are connected through time and space, with other knitters, with the animals and plants from which fibres are collected, with people who craft the tools we use to knit and spin. Even the fabric itself is made of interconnected loops of yarn. Knitting, to me, is all about relationships and interconnections.

Knitting brings people together across time because it is such an ancient art form with a long and varied history. It also connects generations: my grandmother, my mother and me, and also to my niece (since I have no children yet). The connections are in the teaching and in the heirlooms and patterns passed down. My grandmother taught me to knit in 2005. My mother, before she passed away, crocheted me afghan. I will knit things for my children, and my nieces and nephews, and teach them to knit.

Knitting also provides a way to connect spiritually. One can take on knitting as a mindful meditative activity, or one can use knitting to comfort and pray for others, like in the knitting of Prayer Shawls. I'm part of a prayer shawl knitting group at my church and I know that the shawls bring great comfort to those who receive them.

Knitting can also cross cultures. A Korean woman from my knitting group was having trouble reading an english lace pattern, so I helped her understand the pattern visually, with no need for language.

Knitting can connect you to the resources you use. I used yarn from handspun yarn from Sheeples for my sweater. I visited alpaca farms and made new friends there. (I've talked a lot about the things I'm knitting for WillowWind.) Through that knitting I feel connected to the natural world and the fibre I'm using because I've met the animals who produce it as well as the people who tend them. I also ordered a spindle from Jenkins Turkish Spindles, which is made from a so-called "weed tree" in their part of the world, the big leaf maple. I felt good about my decision to stay away from the rare exotic woods and use a sustainably harvested wood source instead.


Finally knitting bridges space, both geographical and emotional. I have a friend who lives far away and I wasn't able to visit her when she had her daughter, so I knit her something to stay connected. Recently I found out that my mother-in-law, whom I've never met or spoken to, has been knitting all her life. Knitting provided a way for us to connect.

Knitting can mean so many things to so many people but to me, the connections are what makes the craft truly meaningful.

Happy knitting :)

Saturday, January 9, 2010

mmmmmm woolly goodness

My fibre from The Sweet Sheep arrived yesterday!!!!


It's is so incredibly amazing. The colour. The texture.


There's merino, merino-bamboo, merino-tencel, blue-faced leicester, and falkland. Variety is the spice of life!


So I picked some merino (the stuff on the far left in the first photo) and...

I think something really clicked for me last night! It's SO much fun. It's going to be a 2-ply.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Happy New Year!

Well it's 2010, and it's the middle of another cold Manitoba winter. What is a girl to do? Knit of course! And maybe a little spinning...

I was to busy knitting Christmas gifts (and studying!) to blog in December. But I'm ringing in the new year with small finished item:

An iPod cozy for the iPod touch I got for Christmas!!
I made it from yarn I spun on my spindle!!! YAAAAA!

I also got a new camera, with which I took these yarny photos :)


(Mirasol Miski, for an Incognito neckwarmer that hubby insisted I make for him)


(A lace shawlette I'm working on. Laminaria. Malabrigo baby lace. Mmmmmm.)

Also the alpaca knitting is going along smoothly. I'm making a little something special for my alpaca farm buddies. Shhhhh it's a secret!



I ordered some hand-dyed fibre from the Sweet Sheep. If this keeps up I might have to change the name of my blog to something like: allison's everything-to-do-with-woolly-goodness addiction...

I may also have to add hand-dyeing to the list of fibre-y things. I got some baby alpaca lace at the Woolly Bullies xmas swap that is calling my to dye it a lovely raspberry red!!! hmmm maybe some cheerful kool-aid will make me feel like it's summer...