Why Is Making By Hand Important to You?

This seems to be the year of re-discovering my knitidentity. I've been answering these questions of for whom, what, where, when, and how do I knit almost instinctively this year. I am usually the kind of person who does things first and figures out why afterward, so it makes sense to me that I would dig into this now, 10 years after I started falling in love with this craft.

When I saw that Melanie Fallick was writing a book on making things by hand and wanted quotes for the book (see her blog post here) it made me stop and think.

Why is making things by hand so important to me? It's never been something I asked myself. Growing up I was attracted to art. I colored, I drew, I made latch hook rug things. My father's mother used to collect shells or coral (before we really knew that it was a bad thing to take coral from its natural environment) and she'd bring these back to us when we were little. I don't quite know how or why it started, but we began to color the shells with markers. My father's sister used to create pottery (we had her wheel for quite a while. I always kind of was hoping to get to use it but didn't get a chance to before my parents did something with it), and my grandmother used to love to draw.

But I suspect my mother's side is more where the compelling drive to work with my hands comes from. My mom dabbles in many fiber crafts, but hasn't really gotten obsessed with any the way I have. My grandfather worked in textile mills in Massachussets (In Lowell? Near Lowell?) before going to the Korean War and then school on the GI bill. My grandmother, though, has always seemed to me to be an expert in all fiber arts. She knits, embroiders, sews, weaves, and crewells as well (those kits are HARD to find these days!). So I've not only had an example of handmade around my whole life, but I've always had some sort of creative influence flowing through me as well.

I make things with my hands because I need to. Making with my hands is, I would say, such a part of me that it almost defines who I am.

I am a doer.
I am a creator.
I am a maker.

I'm not honestly sure what I would do with my hands if they weren't working on a project. As it is, when I'm at work or driving anywhere I pick at my fingers, the nail (unless they're painted), the cuticle, the skin around them. I destroy my fingers when they aren't otherwise busy. They sometimes bleed and get painful.



TL:DR: I make things with my hands to prevent auto-canibalization.

RHINEBECK Recap

I have quite a bit of work to do, don't I? God, what happened to October!? I think I'm so swept up in my BOSOX playing in the world series and RHINEBECK.

So I fixed the Berkshire pullover, but I don't have any new photos of it. I assure you it's done though. I started it three times in three different sizes. I did each sleeve twice - one because I cast on too few stitches the first time, and the other because my row gauge was a bit off. And I undid the neck and re-did it so it was in the middle of the sweater instead of off to the side.

The monkey socks are pretty much the same as they were when I showed them to you in the beginning of the month. I haven't done anything with them because I've been working on placemats for friends who got married in May. I realize I have a year after the wedding to get them done, but I'd really rather get them done sooner rather than later. My conscience was getting to me, so I started them.


I'm knitting four of them out of King Tut Cotton on size five Denises. One's done, one's almost done, and then I'll only have two more to knit. They're taking me about a week each to complete, which means I knit faster than I thought I did. :)

But what you really want is a RHINEBECK recap right?
Our NYC SNB gals holed up at Blogless Jill's parents' summer home for the weekend where we battled fruit flies, watched Hitchcock movies and knit our hearts out. THANKS TO JILL'S MOM FOR LETTING US STAY THERE!!!!

I did most of my buying the first day. I fought my way in and found some appropriate STR, then I stood in a line about three booths long to pay. This is what I came out with:


STR Medium weight yarn in Carbon Dating color-way.

After wandering around a bit, I also found some nice roving. I looked at it. I felt it. I coveted it. I bought it.


I'm not sure what it is, but I suspect it's some sort of silk/merino blend. It was way cheaper than buying yarn! I was surprised. After that, Michelle was kind enough to wander around with me a bit to find a nice drop spindle.

I met up with a lot of awesome bloggers and folks on Ravelry. Met a bunch of people I probably wouldn't have been able to if I hadn't done the Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo.

Later on that day, I found some fabulous wool to knit the Spiral Pullover in.


Doesn't look like much does it? It's only about 1500 yards of Falkland Wool I got from Ellen's 1/2 Pint farm!

That evening, Blogless Johanna taught some of us how to crochet!


I think I actually got it!

So we went to bed, and woke up the next day ready to head back to the Sheep and Wool Festival. This time, I decided I wanted to focus on the animals. After buying a few buttons from Briar Rose Fibers



I managed to find a bit more roving that struck my fancy


This stuff isn't as slippery as the other roving I bought, so I'm hoping it will be easier to learn with.

We went to the Alpaca and Llama jumping contest, then pet some of the sheep



And I saw a really elaborate Mohair Throw:


psst! That's a real mohair goat!

We wandered on over to the author tent to see if I could get the Yarn Harlot to sign Claudine's copy of her newest book. I had a moment of weakness. I don't have much more room for books on my Knitting shelf. In fact, I would say I have NO MORE room for books anywhere in my apartment. I still collect them though, and so, obviously, I had to buy Clara Parkes' new book The Knitter's Book of Yarn. I also had to have her sign this book.

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty successful trip. there was apple crisp and apple ceider consumed. Famous bloggers like Kate Gilbert and January One were noticed. People seemed to have a fun time, and I walked away with some awesome yarn. For a weekend in which i probably had about the the maturity of a six year old, I'd like to thank my fellow SNBers for letting me be the goofy comic relief of the weekend! <3 you gals!!!

Ravelry

I got my invite to Ravelry a couple weeks ago. It's awesome, seriously, I don't mean to brag, but if you're waiting for your invite, just know that it's well worth the wait!

They added a group section to it. I took the liberty of adding the NYC SNB to it, so if you're a member of the NYC SNB and you're on Ravelry already, join here. If you're not a member yet, check it out when you get on, and friend me, PassionKNITly!!

ETA: OMG! There's a Burning Man group on Ravelry!!!