Summer Knitting: knitting vs. the doldrums

Designing knitting patterns is tough sometimes. Sometimes it feels like "trial and error" is all error. Combine that with summer days that are either scorching hot or raining cats, dogs and assorted farm animals, and you've got doldrums, big time.

Even if you aren't trying to turn out the next big spectacular knitwear design, you may find yourself listless and lacking the motivation to deal with knitting projects that are misbehaving.  If this happens to you, please don't give up on knitting altogether.  What is that saying about not making snap decisions when it's too humid?  OK, maybe there isn't such a saying, but there ought to be. 

My solution, which of course I HIGHLY recommend, is to knit a dishcloth.  It doesn't even have to be complicated. (It also doesn't need to be visible from space, but I figure, why not??)

I'm almost finished with this doldrums dishcloth--the Moderne Log Cabin from Mason-Dixon Knitting.

If you find yourself in the doldrums this summer, I want you to know two things:

1. You're not alone.

2. Summer is halfway over, so hang on!

If you happen upon a knitting friend in the next few weeks who has a glazed look, a sheen of perspiration across his or her forehead, and a rebellious, obnoxious, knitting-pattern-gone-bad on the needles, hand him or her a ball of cotton and some size 6 needles and reassure them that everything's going to be alright.  Bonus tip: take your friend out for ice cream, too.

Lovin on Bloglovin

I know y'all think I'm some kind of tech-savvy goddess, and there are days I suspect that this is an accurate assessment.  Then there are other days when I want to move to a remote wilderness completely off-grid with no internet, phone or satellite. 

Just kidding.  I can't see myself EVER wanting to live like the Unabomber.  Not even on the really bad days.  We can safely just stick with the tech-savvy goddess part and then I'll go charge my phone in the air-conditioned comfort of my suburban, wi-fi enabled, electric-powered home.

One secret I have found to being tech-savvy is to cheat a little.  There are so many things that I come across in my social media travels that leave me as confused as a cow at a new gate.  Sometimes I dig deeper and try to solve the mystery, and sometimes, well, I just wait it out.  I skip it altogether, with or without solid plans to return to it later.  The cheating bit I mentioned comes when I stumble across the answer and then, Lo and Behold, I am tech-savvy without ever having spent any real effort on increasing that savvy.  I literally fell over it on my path, picked myself up, dusted myself off, and said, "Hey! I now understand this concept and can share it with the world!"

For years I wondered (but not too much) about "RSS feeds".  It sounded great and useful, but for the life of me I couldn't tell you how to partake of such a thing. Somewhere I read that an RSS feed would give you updates from blogs, but how to set up such a thing was never explained in easy words with few syllables.

Today, as I took a morning stroll down a social media woodland path, I found the answer. 

To the question: RSS? How in the world do I use that??

The answer is: Bloglovin'

Bloglovin' is what you need, and you need it now.  You know how you've got your Facebook feed and you log in and there are the people you've friended, sharing their latest corny Friday joke (if you're friends with me on FB, you know what I'm talking about).  Bloglovin' is like FB for blogs.  Anyone with a blog you enjoy reading (and you have no idea how much I hope this is one of them!) can go on your list of blogs.  Then when you go to Bloglovin' and log in or pull up the handy app on your mobile device, you get a news feed of blogs.  You can even "like" them! 

Part of what makes Bloglovin' great is that you can enter any blog in the search box--not just those using a certain platform.  So you can follow folks on Blogger, Wordpress or even me.  Also my friend Stacey, who cracks me up and is an amazing cook, my friend Dianne, whose blog posts always leave me feeling the peace of the countryside around her farm and about a gazillion knitting blogs, for lots of fiber-y inspiration.

It's easy to find blogs you're already reading and add them to your feed and you can also get suggestions of new blogs to discover, on a multitude of topics.  Add as many as you want to follow then whenever you sit down to read, you will have all the new posts from all the blogs on your list, all in one place.  It is as simple as it sounds, without a lot of buttons to push.  I think I have discovered the Next Big Thing in social media--that one thing that will keep blogging alive and relevant.  See? I told you I was a tech-savvy goddess.

Summer Knitting: Knitting vs. The Weather

It's hot outside, it will only get hotter and it's going to stay hot. 

Today in my beautiful city, the forecast is for temps in the mid-90's and a heat index that will climb way past 100 degrees.  Did I mention that it is also humid?  Because it is. It's the South and it is summer.  (For those of you reading from the other hemisphere [and I know you're out there--hello, how y'all doin? Glad to have you!] save this post for six months hence when it will apply to you!).

For some, this means abandoning knitting altogether.  My friends, let us not be hasty.  There are some wonderful things you can knit during the hot summer months.  Now, lest you think I am out of touch with the weather, remember I have lived in either Texas (flippin' hot) or South Carolina ("it's not the heat; it's the humidity") for most of my life.  While, yes, I have knitted a Big Wool Bag in July, I don't recommend it for every summer.  Think small projects (Socks!) or projects with lightweight yarn (shawls!) or something using cotton (dishcloths!).  Also, never underestimate the value of a well-placed ceiling fan.

I am currently working on a cowl with alpaca and wool yarns.  It's a hot project, though not itchy because the yarn is quite nice.  I will bind off and block it soon, and pick up the needles for what could be an epic THREE (3) pairs of socks going at one time (because I do occasionally take my own advice...). Also in the works--a summery wrap made from cool cotton, and a dishcloth or two.

Despite the heat of a Southern summer, knitting is part of my life and as such is a comfort and a distraction from the challenges of the weather.  So my advice is to find something that is compatible with your weather, knit it, and don't forget to stock your hurricane supplies with fresh yarn and some back copies of Cast On, because as they say down here, you never know when the next big one will come our way. 

Wishing you good weather wherever you knit!

Growing pains

Once upon a time, a long time ago, a girl learned to knit.  She was a slow learner.  Very slow.  But she kept at it and eventually caught on that this was Something She Must Always Do.

She began sharing her new-found love with everyone she came in contact with, in order to create a community with a shared passion.  About this time she met people who already knit. They lived in a magical place called the Internet and communicated by a mystical thing called a Blog.  (This was in the dark days before Ravelry and Facebook, young one, so you'll have to use your imagination here.)  She made friends with knitters around the globe because she set up her own Blog as well.  This Blog talked about life and knitting.  And it was good.

As time wore on, she taught more and more of the people around her to knit. She wanted a way to tell them about classes and techniques and cool things about knitting.  So she started another Blog.  This Blog talked about knitting being the center thread of life.  And it was good.

She found that the longer and harder she worked on the Blog about knitting, the more it grew and grew.  It became three blogs and this was a lot to manage and still knit. 

One day she decided that maybe what she really needed was an honest-to-goodness website.  This website would combine the three blogs.  It would be a beautiful place for knitters.  They could come and find news, patterns, classes, tutorials and most of all, Fun! 

And that is how she ended up here, at KnitOasis.com.  She still loves to knit.  She still loves to write about knitting. And now she has a pretty place to put that all together.