Back to Knitting

 Knitting Break

I've had a five week knitting break since my hand surgery.  

I still have some swelling and soreness in my fingers
and palm where my two incisions are.  

I wasn't quite sure when I would be ready to pick up
the needles again.  

Then the other day, I was at JoAnns and saw a display of

ergonomic products for crafters. 

 Anxious to get back to knitting, 

I bought a pair of Crafter's Comfort Gloves. 

I thought they would be perfect 

for my surgery-hand to help me get back to knitting again.

For the record,

 I did get the "go-ahead" from my physical therapist to knit.

She said "just be sure to set the timer!".

 Ready to Knit

So yesterday, I picked up the needles and began a new project.

As much as I wanted to return to my lovely
Louisa Harding projects,

I felt it best to begin with a basic knit project
since I don't have full range of motion yet with my fingers and hand.

Due to stiffness and soreness...

I wore my new Crafter's Comfort Gloves.

Well, you know the saying...

"fits like a glove".

Well, these sure do!

The compression glove felt comforting on my surgery hand 

and made my incision/palm area feel protected as I knit.

The comfort glove box says they give relief for:

arthritis, hand pain and swelling.  

I was so happy to get back to knitting.

I must say though,

it was not with out moderate pain.

but I did manage to knit a few rounds.

I can report though,

 that after wearing the crafter's compression gloves, 

knitting and doing my hand exercises afterwards,

my hand felt pretty good.  

So, I'm thinking now that a bit of knitting everyday will be good

physical therapy for my fingers and hand now.

And yes, I will set the timer!

Comfort Gloves

I highly recommend Crafter's Comfort Gloves.

They are designed in the USA by an Orthorpedic Surgeon.

They are made of stretchy cotton/spandex and 

provide mild compression and support for knitting.

They provide pain relief to help us crafters keep doing what we love to do!  

I can't wait to put them on again today 

and knit a few rounds! 

Therapy

Recovery Therapy

These days, 

knitting books are my therapy.

My hand is recovering well from my surgery

 which was just one week ago.

I am finding it quite difficult to be idle, though.

It seems, 

that when you can't knit...

all you want to do is,

knit!

I think it will be about a month before I can knit again.  

In the meantime, 

the best therapy is turning out to be knitting books.

I'm enjoying going through my "dog-eared" knitting books 

and planning my next projects.  

I'm also finding my down time 

a perfect opportunity to treat myself to a few new books.

Delicia

At the top of my book list is Louisa Harding's 

new spring/summer pattern book

  Aster .

My Ravelry pen pal Teresa in England has 

 agreed to join me for a knit-along  

with Louisa's gorgeous new Delicia scarf

from the Aster book.

The Delicia scarf is knit in Louisa's luxurious silk yarns,

Mulberry and her new Mulberry Hand Beaded yarn. 

Teresa has a jump start on me and has already ordered her yarns.  

So, now I'm off to find my book and yarns.

Planning such a beautiful new spring project...

is perfect therapy.

(Delicia scarf image from Louisa Harding's Aster book,
 photo credit: Stephen Jessup.)

Idle Hands

Knitting Break

I haven't been knitting much these days

due to tremendous finger pain.

I attributed my pain to

too much knitting at Christmas time or perhaps tendinitis. 

Unfortunately, my pain did not go way.

Eventually I was diagnosed with ganglion cysts 

on my right index and middle finger 

tendon sheaths.

(Hmmm, do you think this could be caused from

too much knitting and
too much time on the computer mouse?)

I'm having hand surgery tomorrow.

Since I'm right handed,

I will be out of commission for awhile.

I hope to be back in a few weeks.

(In the photo:  On my needles:  Louisa Harding Divine Lace Scarf in Rowan Kidsilk Haze
and stitch marker by Mae Soren from Knitique, A Yarn Boutique.)

Pretty Knits

Pretty Knits

I love Pretty Knits!

Pretty Knits is a knitting book by Susan Cropper, the American owner of the popular yarn store Loop in London.  

Pretty Knits was published back in October, 2007.  Once I saw the cover...I knew I had to have it!  The book's cover features Louisa Harding's pretty and romantic Cameo Shawl. 

The Cameo Shawl is by far my favorite project in the book.  I am happy to report that I am finally going to cast on for my Cameo Shawl.   My version is in beautiful blue Louisa Harding yarns that I stashed quite a while back.  I'm so glad I bought my blue yarns when I spotted them because now they are discontinued colors or yarns.

My advice:  If you fall in love with a project like I did for the Cameo Shawl, I highly recommend buying the yarns and stashing them.  (Yes, I have a huge Louisa Harding yarn stash and my husband doesn't mind!)

How I found the shop Loop

Loop in London

I love magazines. 

I have discovered so many wonderful places in the world, travel tips, decorating ideas, fabulous products, incredible restaurants and favorite recipes from magazines.

Some of my favorite magazines are from Britain.  I love English decorating magazines the most.  I found out about Loop in London in an article in the November, 2005 issue of Homes & Antiques.  I tore the article out and put it in my London file.  That write-up led to a great day out of London to visit Loop and the Camden Passage Antique Market. 

Loop

(The Original Shop)

I love Loop!

I'm a lucky American knitter to have visited Loop.  It was in May, 2006.  Back then, Loop was in it's original tiny shop tucked back on a quaint curvy street in Camden Passage in London's Islington. I remember the day so well.  I was like a kid in a candy store that day at Loop.  It was the first real yarn shop I had ever been in.  Back then I was still shopping for yarn at the big box craft stores...I hadn't discovered the wonderful world of local yarn stores yet!

Shopping at Loop in London was the real start of my true love for yarn and knitting.  Loop set me on my quest to find fabulous yarn shops in the States.  And it was while visiting my local yarn shops back home that I discovered designer Louisa Harding.  Louisa's beautiful books drew me back into knitting and inspired me to take knitting lessons so I could knit her lovely designs.

I am so thrilled where my knitting journey has taken me since that day I visited Loop... 

and I'm pretty excited to finally cast on for my Cameo Shawl! 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day

Thank you to all the Mothers,

Grandmothers

and Great Grandmothers who have taught us to knit!

My G.G. taught me to knit!

Knitting Tool Kit Bags

My Great Grandmother's pretty rose 1950's knitting tool kit

along side my modern day version by Cath Kidston.

My First Knit

This is the first piece that I knit with the help of my G.G. at 8 years old. Based on the snaps, I believe this little garment was intended for my Barbie doll!

My Great Grandmother

taught me to knit when I was 8 years old!

My G.G. (Great Grandmother) taught me to knit when I was 8 years old. I only knit with her for a few years because she passed away when I was ten.

I did not really knit again until in my forties. I know understand what an influence she had on me and my love for knitting. As a young girl of ten, I saved her knitting scraps, supplies, Boye metal needles and her crochet hooks and packed them away.

Awhile back I unpacked that box of my G.G's needlework supplies. I had forgotten about her pretty rose knitting tool kit filled with her tiny crochet hooks, tape measure and markers. What a coincidence that today I use a pretty rose bag for my tool kit, too. In my tool kit is my G.G.'s #00 Boye crochet hook...I use it whenever I need to pick up a dropped knit stitch.

I am so grateful that my G.G. taught me to knit.

My Knitting Story, Part 3

Knitting Lessons

My goal was to become a proper knitter. I had a gorgeous stash of yarn from England of which I was oblivious to the exchange rate when I bought it. I needed to get knitting and I was still paralyzed.

I spent the greater part of 2007 leisurely exploring yarn stores within a 50 mile radius of where I live in the Sacramento region. I soon discovered that becoming a better knitter is not as easy as it sounds.

For me, British comedian Tracey Ullman sums it up best in her book Knit 2 Together. Tracy tells her knitting story something like this "that being British, everyone just expects that you know how to knit properly because you learned it from your Mum". For years Tracey only knit simple scarves. I was the same way. And although I am not British, I was struck with that same feeling as Tracey when you walk into a yarn shop, they presume you already know how to knit and it is rather embarrassing if you don't. I call this a bit of "knitting snobbery" if you will.

In 2007, I summoned up the courage to take a knitting class at a nearby LYS (local yarn store). I was excited. I felt I was finally on my way to becoming a better knitter! I remember signing up for the class. I told the yarn store clerk that I was a pretty good basic knitter. Peering at me from behind the counter, she piped up and asked me if I knew how to purl? I admitted I wasn't sure or perhaps I had forgotten. She curtly told me "then you are not knitter if you don't know how to purl". Boy, was I deflated!

I paid for the class and quickly called my friend Pamela who has been knitting since she was a teenager. Pamela gave me a quick refresher course on purling so I would be ready for my knitting class.

I survived the knitting class and learned how to make a simple roll brim hat in the round. I was so excited to finally knit something other than a garter stitch scarf. I went on to take another class on lace knitting and learned how to do the "feather and fan" stitch. I was building new skills but I was still hoping to find a fun shop more like Loop.

Knitique, Elk Grove, CA

My Favorite LYS

(Local Yarn Store)

I finally found that shop like Loop.

In January 2008 I stopped in Knitique in Elk Grove, CA. The store was adorable. Not, too, big of a shop. Cozy describes it best. It had a cheerful "girlie" pink color theme that just made you feel good when you walked in.

I was welcomed by a friendly woman that told me all about the shop and it's owner, Danielle. There was a big knitting table in the back where ladies were chatting...I mean knitting. I left the shop, anxious to come back to take a class or two. It wasn't the closest knitting store to my home but I had a feeling this was the LYS for me!

I remember the moment I met Knitique's owner Danielle, I knew I found my shop! She is adorable just like her shop. Now that I know her, I like to say that she is warm and fuzzy just like the yarn she sells. She is the best knitter and teacher I know. She has been knitting her entire life and loves knitting. Her love for yarn and knitting is contagious. She also loves England and Paris, just like me. Now I just have to get her to plan a London/Paris knitting tour!

So thanks to Danielle and Knitique I now can do more now than just knit and purl.

For the record, I am slowly knitting up that gorgeous yarn that I brought back from England. I am no longer a paralyzed knitter.

The best part of my knitting story is that I have become a better knitter! My Great Grandmother G.G. and my Grandma Margaret would be so proud of me. Their knitting legacies live on through me and my love for knitting!

...more to come!

My Knitting Story, Part 2

I learned to knit in the late 1960's!

My knitting story has about a 30 year hiatus. (I wish it didn't!)

I did not pick up knitting needles again until Christmas of 2004 when I was 44yrs old. There was a tremendous resurgence in knitting and fabulous yarn choices were available.

Back then fancy fur scarves were all the rage. My Mother admired them and I decided that I could knit her one. I was also house bound with an ankle injury so knitting proved to be perfect therapy. I joined the fancy fur scarf craze and knit my scarves with Lion Brand Fancy Fur from my local Michaels craft store. My Mother was thrilled with her frilly, fluffy scarves!

I soon gave up the Fancy Fur scarf trend and was ready to move on to nicer quality yarns. Before I knew it, I was researching yarn companies on the Internet. I was naturally drawn to English yarn companies like Rowan and Colinette.

In 2006 my real passion for yarn and knitting began. My husband and I had been married in Scotland in 2001 and were vacationing in England every year. On our 2006 trip, I was armed with a list of stores and a shopping list for yarn and patterns. And yes, I brought an empty suitcase along for this shopping spree!

Loop, Islington, England

My favorite London yarn shop!

2006 is also a very significant date in my knitting story. That is the year that I started my ever-growing yarn stash. (Back then I didn't even know what a yarn stash was!)

Loop in Islington (a suburb of London) really hooked me back into knitting. I found out about Loop in a British magazine called Homes & Antiques. There was a wonderful article on the shop and it's owner Susan Cropper (author of Pretty Knits) who just happens to be an American! Thanks to that article, I found Loop.

Loop is a darling, quaint shop on a narrow curvy side street in Islington. We had been to Islington before to it's Camden Market for it's antique flea market on Wednesdays. For this journey, my husband brought a book (thank goodness) along with him to read. He sat out front of Loop reading while I spent hours inside shopping!

At Loop I felt like a kid in a candy store. There were yummy colors and flavors of yarn squeezed in every nook and cranny in this tiny little shop. I fell in love with Colinette Point Five wool yarn, (hand dyed from Wales) in variegated turquoise blue shades. I had never been to a yarn store like this. This was not your English grandmother's knitting shop. Loop was cheery, colorful and had a very "hip" vibe. I was energized about knitting!

It was also at Loop that I discovered Be Sweet Yarns by Nadine Curtis, also a fellow American. Draped around the store were colorful Be Sweet Magic Scarves made from just one Magic Ball of yarn. With a Magic Ball, big needles and the simple garter stitch, one could produce a designer-style scarf with little effort. This was my kind of knitting! Buy gorgeous yarn and let the yarn do all the work. I loved this magical ball of yarn!

I also bought yarn at London's famous Liberty Department Store. (For the record... I also have a thing for Liberty's famous print scarves!) At Liberty, I discovered the Haberdashery Department filled with best selection of Rowan yarns that I had ever seen!

I returned home from that London trip with a suitcase full of wonderful yarn, along with Rowan and Colinette pattern books. I also returned home, as what I call, a paralyzed knitter. I couldn't bring myself to knit with my new yarns until I became a better knitter.

My goal now was to find a shop like Loop in America where I could learn to be a better knitter. That quest took longer than I thought it would. I finally found that store in early 2008. More about that to come.

...To be continued.

My Knitting Story, Part 1

I Learned to Knit from my Great Grandmother

My name is Lisette. I am a 49 year old American woman. I knit English style and I am a thrower. This is my knitting story.

Most young girls learn knitting from a Grandmother. My knitting story is similar except I learned to knit from my maternal Great Grandmother Murl (1894-1971). To all her family, she was lovingly known as G.G. (Great Grandmother).

I presume my G.G. learned to knit from her Mother and so on and so on. It was my G.G.'s Great Grandmother Lady Elizabeth (1813-1874) that came from Yorkshire England to America in 1838. My G.G. is my link to my love for England and British wool. I knit today to honor my G.G. and my English heritage.

G.G. taught me to knit and introduced me to tea when I was probably about 8 or 9 years old. I don't remember much from those days except I do remember that I liked both. I remember that G.G. was always knitting slippers (with a pom pom on them). I am sure she knit many other things but those slippers stand out most in my childhood memory. I also remember that she drank Lipton tea.

As a young girl, I remember knitting easy garter stitch headbands. I am wearing a thin white one in my 4th grade school photograph in the photo collage above.

I also remember going to Woolworth's with G.G.. I remember the colorful tall rack yarn display there. Woolworth's was close to her home so she probably bought all her yarn there. I also remember the mod 1960's jewelry at Woolworth's, too!

My G.G. passed away when I was about 11 years old. I don't remember knitting much after that. I wish that I would have learned more from her about knitting. I am so grateful that she taught me and my sister to knit when we were little girls.

My paternal Grandmother Margaret (1910- 1988) was also a knitter. I think she helped me with knitting in my early teen years. I remember when I was about 13 years old (1973) I knit a bikini. I remember I found the pattern in a magazine. It was probably in a Woman's Day magazine? It was in pastel colors, stockinette stitch and probably in Red Heart acrylic yarn. I don't think I would have undertaken such a project on my own so I am sure my Grandma Margaret was my next knitting teacher.

Grandma Margaret was a perfectionist and an accomplished knitter. She and her mother (whom I am named after) were fabulous dressmakers. They even had their own dress shop in Waynesburg, PA. Grandma Margaret made me lots of ponchos and ski hats growing up. I remember she knit gorgeous shawls, floral afghans and even had a knitting machine. When I was a teenager, I requested a knit beret from her. She knit me a gorgeous cream angora beret. Sadly it was,too, small for me but I saved it and I still have it. To this day, berets are still my favorite hat!

I don't remember knitting much after my bikini project in 1973 so there is a long pause in my knitting story.

....To be continued.