This week, I share the pattern for my Winged Minutes Tam and chat with Mel Clark, all the way from New Zealand!
Winged Minutes Tam
When I knit this hat, my spinning was finally starting to become more consistent. I'm really happy with it. It's a simple pattern that would work well with any heavy worsted or Aran-weight yarn.
Setbacks, Goals, and Being A Knitter
Last week, I tried to start something new and it didn't really work out. No real tragedy occurred, but, to make a long story short, my pride was wounded and I was worried about how it might look to people whose opinions I respect.
As Stephanie Pearl McPhee wrote in All Wound Up, and I'm paraphrasing here, because I don't have it in front of me: it broke my heart. It doesn't matter what it was, because a broken heart to me might be a small speedbump to you, or the other way around. The point of this part of the story is that I had a broken heart.
I went around for about a day in a funky mood. I always hate being in a bad mood, almost more than whatever put me in that mood. Finally, I had hashed and re-hashed the situation a few times, and was tired of talking about it. I sat down, picked up my knitting, and finished a pair of socks. From my handspun. My first pair of socks from my own handspun.
It was sport-weight yarn instead of fingering yarn, and the socks are sturdy instead of super-soft. But, I love them. They fit the recipient. They will be winter socks that will keep someone I love warm. I loved every little step of making them, from the spinning to the plying to the socks themselves.
Best of all, when I finished them, I looked at the person I made them for, and I said, "I made these socks. I spun the yarn and I knit them." And I felt better. Sure, this other thing I tried didn't work out. But, I made a goal to do something I had never done before, and I reached it. Five months and twelve days after I touched a spinning wheel for the first time, I did something that I was almost sure I couldn't actually do, until I did it. (I hinted at my fear back in June.)
That's what knitting and spinning, in general, do for me so well. They remind me that it's ok to fail, but that I should keep on dreaming and trying, because sometimes things do work out.
Plus, how bad can it be? I get to talk to yarn-obsessed people every week.
p.s. - I wrote notes for the pattern, and I'll have it available to you sometime this winter, in case you're wondering.
Chat
I had a great time talking to Mel about her books, my obsession with Google Reader, and a whole bunch more.
Links
- Wildfiber in Santa Monica
- Mel's SlipSlipKnit Blog
- The Belgian 5 (I think they are: Dirk Bikkembergs, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter van Beirendonck, Dries Van Noten and Dirk van Saene. Some people have Marina Yee round out that list to make it six designers. - Lara)
