The KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook

My good friend, Felicity (Felix) Ford launched her Kickstarter campaign to write and publish The KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook less than a month ago and I have the great honour of being the last blogger on her blog tour. The campaign is now fully funded but the best way to ensure you get a copy of what is going to be a truly amazing and inspirational book, is to pledge to the campaign before it closes later today.

There has been a marvellous blog tour going on over the month where Felix has answered many questions and already provided us with tantalising glimpses of what the book will be like. To sign off the tour, we had a wonderful email conversation about taking inspiration from what is all around us and naturally, our thoughts turned to my new home and how the sights that I now see every day could be turned into stranded colourwork. We are both planning to use these images to create a piece of stranded colourwork based on the images we have chosen, and later in the year, Felix and I will come back to the blog and share our creations!

So here is how our correspondence about textiles, place, wool and land went:

Felix: It's been amazing following your instagram feed and getting a sense of where you are living now. Exploring an everyday sense of place and finding ways to celebrate what is right around us is key to The KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook, so it was really nice to think about what you might translate into stranded colourwork over there at Monkley Ghyll, and to look at the photos and think about some of the colours and shades in the landscape where you live.

I picked out from your instagram loads of daffodils and lambs... a very yellow, blue, green, white palette for spring!

I love how the filter you have used here emphasises the blue-ish green of the daffodil stems vs. the warmer grass green, and the little emerald spot on the lamb's fleece. Down here when Daffodils come it is a very welcome relief to the long dirge of the winter, and they really are a wonderfully buttery yellow! I could imagine playing with shading and different warm/cold greens working out of this image, and it would be interesting to play with the yellows and see how best to make them pop in the knitting like they do in this very spring time scene. I have been really enjoying exploring the greens of the Jamieson & Smith palette for The KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook, and especially for the section I want to write that deals specifically with plants.

What astounds me is how differently greens behave whether beside purple - as in my sloes design - or yellow - as in my hops design!

The green and yellow parts in my knitting based around my favourite beer are to me reminiscent of the palette of your daffodils.

Susan: These particular daffodils are a very sharp, bright yellow as they appear in the photo so provide a very strong contrast to the almost flourescent grass around them. And with the darker green of the daffodil leaves as well as the grass and the holding mark on the lamb, there are at least 3 or 4 greens to play with, as well as the deepest grey/almost black depth of the shadows in the depths of the grasses and the foliage. With the natural shades of the lamb itself and the wooden post in the background you have a very classic 'Shetland' colour palette. I am amazed every morning how the colours in the landscape seem to alter and have noticed how when close up it contains a lot of quite sharp contrasts.

Felix: Yes - that selection of greens and the shadows in the depths of the foliage remind of a beautiful woven woollen blanket from the Karula Parish in Estonia, which plays with this similar palette in woven stripes.

This blanket is held in the Estonian National Museum collection, and I found it in a book produced by a wonderful group of women living in the Karula Parish in South Estonia. Several of these women - including Olivia Till and Lilian Freiburg - are married to farmers. They develop wool products from what is grown on their farms in a collective, independent organisation called "Maavillane". They produced this book exploring the historical textiles from the Parish of Karula, and - as part of their exploration of local heritage - made their own skirts in the shades of the Parish, from wool they grew. I wanted to show you this blanket, because I think the ethos of these amazing women, growing their own wool, living on the land, and exploring their textile heritage, is not far from your own.

Here are Olivia (left) and comrades, wearing outfits made from wool they have grown, in a landscape far different from the one you now live in.

Susan: I love this image. It has a 1920s/30s style to it. I have been looking at this period for inspiration for the perfect 'fashionable farming' outfit and this photograph has given me a lot of ideas!

Felix: Is this the view of your driveway? Are you going or coming home in this image? What strikes me are the found stripes in both the tyre tracks and the fence-posts along the side, and that pine tree looks like motifs I've seen in lots of Nordic knitting.

Susan: We were walking back down our driveway in this photo. Our house is the stone farmhouse with barns attached that you can see at the bottom of the drive. I wasn't even particularly conscious of the shadows caused by the fence posts when I took the photo but when I looked at it afterwards I immediately noticed them too. The walls and the gate posts all around the farm add straight lines to the undulating landscape dividing the expanse into sections that you can view separately or as part of the whole. Our pine tree is one of only two or three on the whole farm and it seems to really stand out at the bottom of the drive. Despite the driving winds that hit it, it has managed to achieve a remarkable amount of symmetry which is probably why its so reminiscent of the knitted tree motifs.

Felix: Yes, the tree is very upright and symmetrical. The combination of stripes, the striking tree, and the fresh greens really put me in mind of this ski-ing jacket from a Latvian knitting book I own, published in the 1950s. It could be wonderful to do something with the warm greys of your driveway intersecting with those bright shades and the pleasing geometry of the pines.

Susan: As you might imagine, I love this with all my heart! I have a number of images very similar to this one in vintage Norwegian books in my library. Another potential direction!

Felix: It feels like you've used a blue filter in the image below, but even so, it's amazing how the weather and the light change the colours of the view. Lilac and purple and russet in the one above and aqua and chocolate and blue in the one below.

Susan: It's interesting that you've picked out these two images. They show slightly different angles and at different distances of the vista across the Forest of Bowland - our farm is at the northern edge of the Forest (not actually a forest but a geographical area) and we look back at these hills in the Forest. The first image is one that I look at every day and the colours change every day but the hill in the distance - Clougha Pike - always has this purple, pink and lilac cast to it, except on very very grey cold days like the image below. The pike itself is to the right and out of shot at this angle, but it was taken early in the morning after a ground frost and the low lying clouds teamed with the white frost on the ground created a very unusual light. It was still quite dark so I have lifted the image so that the detail can be seen but most of it is due to the crazy light conditions.

It is suddenly such a different colour palette to the image above. I look at the pike every day to observe its changing moods!

Felix: In terms of translating these different views into stranded colourwork, I am reminded of stripes, and of a brilliant blog post on the Faroestrands blog that I saw on the idea of STRATA and with those Cyan blues and brown lilac shades in the bottom image, I think of Patty Knox's 1980s classic, "New Directions in Fair Isle knitting" and especially the Waves V neck pullover which stacks up strata or repeated lines and shades in a similar but far more limited palette.

Significant challenges when translating the landscape into stranded colourwork include dealing with the sense of distance, and the variety of textures. Knitting is a flat plane, where your huge and glorious vistas of mountains go back for miles, and knitting has a uniform textural surface. Even if you vary the types of stitches that you use, and the types of yarn involved, it's very difficult to emulate the way different surfaces in the landscape reflect the light. Often the contrasts in the landscape are produced by differences in texture and how light is reflected rather than in shades alone, and I love working out how to compensate for that in stranded colourwork. I was thinking a lot about this when working with my favourite old pair of socks, and the combination of the variegated yarns I used to knit them, and the landscape around Portland, near where Mark grew up. How do you create that sense of distance through shading? In this photo you can see my swatch, and the old, much-darned socks originally knitted in Lorna's Laces, Seashore colourway.

This is Portland. You can see how distance and the same sense of a view as in your photos have influenced the order of blues and other hues in my swatch.

Your landscape photos really make me think about transitions between shades, and how on earth to suggest the fade from distant hill to wandering stone wall, to matt green fields, to a dusting of snow...

In a totally different image, much less vista-ish and more close up, the red is so fresh and vibrant here on the chickens' combs against the bright greens and yellows of spring!

Susan: I couldn't quite believe this photo when I looked at it. The contrasts are all so sharp and clean and primary. The chickens have kindly been in prime condition since moving to the farm and are looking in gleaming good health and their combs reflect that. This would make quite a bold colour palette as each colour is so strong in its own right and yet as shown with this photo - it works! This photo also made me decide to only have black or white chickens as I love how they contrast to nature around them :)

Felix: It is so fresh and bright, and if you squint your eyes, there is a really nice sense of rhythm in this image, from the regular "beats" of the fence posts in the background, to the pops and bangs of the yellows and reds. The green is again very dominant, but in terms of thinking how I might take those vibrant colours and knit something representative of how they show up here, I want to show you this Latvian image from my 1950s book. A design like this which involves four colours per round on every third round would produce I think a fabric which would be quite bulky. Good for mitts to be worn in very cold climates, perhaps, but probably outside of the scope of The KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook! Still, it's very nice to see how shades are organised into patterns here, reminiscent of your chickens in the daffs, with their bright red combs.

 
I also wanted to share how a palette very like your lovely instagram picture was used for a yoke in a 1970s knitting book I have called "Aran and Fair Isle Knitting". I think the similarities in shades are similar, though proportionally your chickens introduce far more white than there is in the yoke, here. Following what you say about black or white chickens, it would be amazing to see what would happen if the proportions in this design were stretched to accommodate how much white there is in your original photo, and/or swapped out for black to represent the high contrast chicken palette you imagine around your farm in the years to come!

And I love this slightly busted looking fence for its prosaic qualities, for the challenge it presents to the stranded colourwork knitter! How to wrest something pretty and delicate from a worn bit of fencing, but - look closer - there is a windowpane pattern in that wire, studying the barbed wires may even yet yield something interesting, and even the arrangement of the timber suggest an exciting geometric form that could be amplified across the surface of your knitting! 

Susan: I have always photographed broken, damaged, tumbling down, decaying things. I find them particularly beautiful but I agree completely that they are more of a challenge to find an obvious design within them as they have often lost their symmetry and can at first glance appear quite 'ugly'. I would love to see what you would make of this one. As you say, there are a whole number of aspects you could isolate and use in a design. Funnily enough on the surface the shape of the gate and the wire pattern within suggest a section of a lace repeat to me so it is more of a challenge to me too to see it as stranded knitting so this is the one that I think I really need your help with!
   
One of my favourite books picked up during my Estonian travels was written by the amazing craftswoman and artist, Tuuli Tubin. It documents mittens from Võromaa, Tuuli's home county. The book features lovely images of old mittens, interspersed with photos of the county in Winter. Like what we are doing here, it links place, landscape, textiles and heritage together, and reading through it creates lovely suggestions and connections between ideas.

Perhaps my favourite pairing in the book is a double spread which features a very graphic red and black mitten on the left hand side, and then a delicate print of some kind of plant umbel dried and dead and pressed in the deep snow. For me this pairing is genius - like your broken fence with its trailing wires, it makes links between the lines we find around us and the lines we plan when we design.

Felix: I have really enjoyed sharing some of my textile books and ideas about stranded colourwork with you here - I hope you and your readers have enjoyed it, too! I am not sure yet whether I will work with ALL of the ideas from this post for my giant Monkley Ghyll swatch, or just several, what about you? It will be nice to see what we both come up with in November when The KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook comes out, and it's beautiful to be ending this blog tour with the prospect of some future knitting to come.

Susan: Its been a delight to share these images and ideas with you and I’m very, very excited to start on some colourwork ideas that are forming out of our conversation. I have particularly enjoyed how you have used so many books to inform your creative ideas, which is exactly how I approach the design process myself and as many of my books are still packed away in boxes it has been wonderful to dip into your library and get inspiration from them and from you. I for one, can’t wait for November when your book comes out and we all get the chance to share your creative processes with you. Thank you so much for stopping by the blog.

Felix: Thanks for having me x

You can find out more about Felix's work on her website and don’t forget you can contribute to Felix’s Kickstarter campaign and be sure of your copy of this truly inspirational book until the end of the day.

for now,
Ruby xx

Sewing Pattern Treasures

One of the dreadful things about moving house is that you mislay everyday things that are usually just there when you need them. Equally however, one of the wonderful things when you move house, is that you find treasures that you hadn’t been able to lay your hands on previously, or had even forgot you owned. As I continue to open box after box I keep finding examples of these treasures - some of which I’ve since put somewhere safe and now can’t find for this blog post! There is also much categorizing that needs to be done, particularly of my knitting and sewing objects, so I thought I would start with some of my favourite ‘lost’ but now found sewing patterns.

The first is this two piece skirt suit from Maudella patterns of Bradford. I really don’t know anything about this Company but it interests me that there were sewing companies aswell as knitting and spinning companies in Bradford at this time. The pattern offers one jacket with two skirt styles. The pattern pieces are unprinted, marked only with large and small punch holes to denote straight grain positioning and cutting lines only.

The front cover of the pattern envelope gives yardage for four sizes of suit but the pattern pieces themselves are for one size only which in this case is bust 34 inches and hip 38 inches.

The illustration as is always the case with vintage patterns is beautifully drawn with a slightly more mature lady in an elegant dog tooth check version of the suit, with the pencil skirt version and a more relaxed, youthful version alongside her, coordinating the suit with a Grace Kelly/Audrey Hepburn style headscarf. Note that both women are wearing the obligatory white gloves.

Surprisingly both jacket and skirt are unlined and less surprisingly the instructions are quite compact, although beautifully drawn.

The second is a 1940s shirt dress printed in the US by the sewing pattern giant, McCalls. This is a completely unused pattern with the pattern pieces not even cut out as yet. Unlike the UK pattern from several years later, the pattern pieces are all fully printed with many of the details we expect from our dressmaking patterns today.

This is also a larger pattern than many in my collection as it is a US size 20 which equated to a 40 inch bust. The instructions are quite complex and are all squeezed onto one side of paper, which could explain how it has escaped being made for so many years. There is a handy section on the instructions of how and where to adjust your pattern if changes are needed.

The illustration is once again beautifully drawn. With two slightly different options shown. There is a third more casual option, option C, which isn’t shown on the front cover, which I particularly like with short sleeves and turned back cuffs. This is high on my list of would love to make.

And one final pattern for today is this quite stunning sports dress from Silver Patterns - again a Company I haven’t heard of other than on this pattern. The pattern itself doesn’t come in a proper envelope. The colour illustration is printed on a heavy weight piece of paper which is simply folded around the pattern pieces and instruction sheet.

The pattern pieces have notches, piece numbers, grain line arrows, stitching lines and some other basic information which is just as well as the actual construction instructions are the briefest I have seen on any pattern.

Quite a challenge, no? Amazingly, out of the three patterns I’ve shared this is the only one which has actually been used. One the frontispiece, the sewer has written some notes for fitting adjustments needed.

The lack of instruction did not presumably put ‘her’ off this particular project. I continue to be intrigued by how little explanation both knitters and sewers of this period needed from the patterns they used. Where they really so much better than we crafters of today who have access to online tutorials for every technique imaginable? Where they simply satisfied with a poorer finished product and would have preferred more comprehensive instructions if they had been available? Or where they more prepared to jump in, confident that they would be able to work out how to do something? What do you think?

for now,
Ruby xx

A Love Letter to Lancashire

When we began our mammoth move from the North West coastline, up the M6 and higher and higher from sea level to 400 feet above sea level, I don't think either Gavin or I really fully appreciated exactly what lay in store for us. We spent a week driving backwards and forwards in a 7.5 ton lorry transporting our home, our business, our sheds and our small holding to the lancashire hill farm that has become our new home.

Parts of the house have been on this spot since the 1600s with evidence of a farm or dwelling here since before 1066. The land is ancient, the views majestic and the legacy and responsibility enormous.

 The property had been empty for almost five years when we moved in three weeks ago.

The owners of the estate have spent a significant amount of time renovating the farmhouse and doing what they could to clear up the land and the outbuildings. Whilst the farmhouse is in immaculate condition the land and these other buildings need an enormous amount of work to bring them back to life and production.

In between the moving, the unpacking and the rebuilding, Gavin and I have taken whatever moments we can to walk around the farm getting to know 'our land' and get to grips with what needs to be done.

Unfortunately there is currently no electric to the outbuildings so much of the work that needs to be done on these is in the pending tray. Another outbuilding blew done shortly before we moved in and another small shed needs to be knocked down before it does the same.

The previous occupant had amassed over 50 years of  'stuff' much of which has been removed, but there is still debris and rubbish to be found everywhere. The dry stone walls and ancient buildings have been allowed to crumble and decay but the stone remains scattered about the land.


The most significant problem for us though has been the absence of a telephone line, broadband, mobile phone signal or 3G connection. Every now and again for about 20 minutes twice a day, we randomly seem to pick up a 3G signal but other than that we are currently in the hands of the BT engineers who after 3 weeks have not yet repaired the faulty line to the farm.  This makes so very, many things very, very difficult and others - like blogging - impossible. With neither landline or mobile phone signal even ordering supplies from builders merchants becomes a major task. So everything, absolutely everything, takes much longer than it should and some things can't happen at all. I am having to learn patience - not a trait I am blessed with as a rule - as things slowly get done.

This all sounds horrendous, so why do it? you may well ask. Having a farm of our own which works with the business has been a long time goal for both of us, but this farm is so much more. Regardless of the debris and the neglect it is an awe inspiring, spirit lifting place.

As you walk the land, your worries depart and the beauty envelops you. To be the custodians of this glorious place is an honour we never thought we would obtain. Nature surrounds us as was truly revealed a few days ago when the fields all around us were filled with the bleating of new born lambs.

We are privileged to live right here.

 

 

for now,

Ruby xxx

Gavin and Susan's Excellent Adventure

Tomorrow sees the start of our big adventure, when Gavin and I commence our move to our farm in the North Lancashire hills, with Cumbria just to the North and the Pennines stretching out in front of us to the East.

We are both so very, very excited and have many people to thank who helped us both achieve our life long ambition to have a farm.

I still have the plastic farm animals that I played with almost daily throughout my childhood. My wonderful Albert granddad who had kept animals for much of his life on a tiny plot of land had instilled in me a love of all things farm. We built minature wooden farm houses and pig styes together. I painted cabbages and lettuces onto a piece of hardboard to represent my kitchen garden. My favourite plastic farm yard character was a girl in a red dress with white apron over who was carrying a bucket laden with milk. Things did get confused occasionally, such as when I introduced figurines from my brother’s medieval fort and suddenly several of the farm horses were walking round the farm in full protective armour!

I will have much to share over the forthcoming months and years but over the next couple of weeks I will be very quiet online as there is so, so very much to do. Not only are we moving two hoarders accumulated lifetimes of stuff but also the entire business plus chickens, plants, greenhouses, sheds etc. So there is a lot to do and we are keen to get straight as quickly as possible so work can begin on all our plans. We therefore plan to work solidly on the move for the next 9 days. I will have very limited internet access at the farm for the first couple of weeks whilst new services are provided but I will keep a check on emails whenever possible. However if I’m not able to reply immediately please don’t fret. I will be in touch as soon as I can.

The movement of the business side of things has been very carefully planned to create minimum disruption so despatching of orders will continue pretty much as normal from the end of next week. Again so many exciting things to share design and yarn wise, so I’m very keen to get back to normal as soon as we can!

In the meantime if you want to see what’s happening do take a look at my instagram page where whenever I get the chance or the internet, I’ll be posting pictures of what’s happening down on the farm.

Speak very soon but
for now,
Ruby xx

Knitting Terminology

I had a collection of fascinating conversations on twitter and facebook earlier today about the use of certain knitting terms. Specifically these were yfwd, yrn and yo.

Traditionally in the UK, the terms yfwd and yrn were used to describe particular actions, which tend to now be replaced with yo or even wyif.

Having grown up using vintage patterns and being taught to knit by two grandmothers who both only ever knitted from a narrow selection of UK patterns I began my knitting life familiar and comfortable with the terms yfwd and yrn. As terminology has changed these two terms seem to have become less familiar and sometimes confusing to knitters not brought up on these types of patterns.

In fact to add further confusion to the whole terminology complications, what has become known as yo was previously also known by M1. M1 now means make 1 by picking up the loop between stitches and knitting into it to create an additional stitch. In the 1930s and 1940s when it was used it actually meant to perform a yfwd, a yrn or a yo as was appropriate. Like 'inc' 1 it was a way of using a generic instruction without having to be precise.

The main reason for this is that yfwd was used when the stitch just worked and the stitch to be worked next was a knit stitch and a yrn was used either if the stitch just worked was a purl and was to be followed by a purl OR if working a knit stitch followed by another knit stitch but a bigger loop was required between them than what a yfwd would create, the yarn would be wrapped around the needle - from the back, over the top of the needle, then back round to the back. By avoiding saying which to use, by simply saying M1, it left the interpretation to the knitter.

If you try using a 'modern' M1 on lacy knitting patterns from the 1940s however, you'll find your lace has no holes! But by using M1 back then it didn't matter whether knit or purl sts where preceding or following, one term would fit all. I guess this is what YO does now?

So back to yfwd and yrn. I am currently using a stitch pattern that I have reworked from a 'vintage' book. This 6 stitch, 10 row, lace pattern uses both yfwd and yrn in its instruction. Yfwd between two knit stitches and yrn between purl stitches.  My interpretation of these is as follows:

yfwd - bring yarn to the front of the needle. As you prepare to knit the next stitch you will lift the yarn over the top of the needle to the back of the work then knit the next stitch. Also known as YO or possibly, wyif.

yrn - wrap yarn around the needle from position at front of needle, over the top of the needle and back round to the front again before purling the next stitch.

Obviously within the pattern, a distinction between the two types of yarn 'movement' is needed - or is it? What are your thoughts? I would love to hear from both vintage knitters, who I would imagine know exactly where I'm coming from, but also from knitters who use more contemporary patterns and let me know what these terms mean to you.

And one last little gem. What do you think 'N' means in a lace pattern instruction?

for now
Ruby xx

Limited Edition Excelana Colours are now available!

Some of you may have already heard me excitedly shouting about this on Twitter, but the three fabulous colours of Excelana 4 ply that I shared with you a couple of weeks ago are now available to purchase.  The yarns have all been wound into 50g skeins in the garden studio, wrapped in their special skein bands and are waiting to meet their new owners!

The yarns can be purchased from my new look online shop! This has been a long time coming I know, but the shop is now susancrawfordshop.com. Its not yet perfect but its a lot better than before! If you already have a knitonthenet shop account you can still log in with the same details but at long last the styling is all beginning to match.

My website is also getting an overhaul and within a few days the shop and website should be flowing 'seamlessly' together with far less duplication and variation.

A lovely retailer of my books and yarns based in Sweden, sent me this wonderful image from a Swedish childrens story called " Tant Brun, Tant Grön och Tant Gredelin" or "Aunt Brown,  Aunt Green and Aunt Lavender" by Elsa Beskow.

I could pretend that I had carefully matched my colours to the illustrations from the story but it has happened quite by chance, although I am a lover of the books and was thrilled when the subliminal inspiration was pointed out to me. The story book was first published in 1918 and you can still get hold of english language versions as well as the original Swedish. Her books are published in the UK by Floris Books.

Elsa Beskow was an author and illustrator born in Stockholm in 1874 and published her first book, Tale of the Little Old Woman in 1897. During her lifetime she had 40 books published. Her love of fairy tales throughout her life is very close to my own heart and her illustrations and in particular the colours that she uses are a constant source of inspiration. You can read more about Elsa and purchase her books on the Floris website.

Anyhow, back to the yarns! Although they have only been for sale for a couple of days they are selling very quickly and I unfortunately do only have a limited supply so please click on the links below if you would like to purchase.

Each 50g skein retails at £6.60 including VAT (If you are entitled to VAT deduction, the shop will automatically take the VAT off before you go through checkout).

Sweet Chestnut (or Tant Brun)

 Damson Wine

 Land Army Green

 I'm off to read about Aunt Brown's birthday and do some knitting!

so for now,
Ruby xx

A Very Personal Kickstarter Appeal

My daughter Charlie, is very familiar to many knitters both in the UK and around the world. She has been modelling for me since I first started in this business and she was a wee, slip of a thing. She has been amazed over the years when people have spoken to her or even contacted her via social media to ask her if she is the model they have seen wearing such-an-such a pattern. She has never declined to be a model and has also been my photographic assistant on more shoots than I can remember, often producing just the right shot that we need.

In fact, Charlie had always been interested in photography, going to a local junior photographers club from around the age of 8. Coupled with an inherited obsession with film, it was really no surprise when she chose to move to Edinburgh to study Film at Edinburgh College of Art. The four years are passing in a blur and she is now working on her graduation film which will hopefully provide her with the results she is aiming for to move onto the Masters programme at the same college. Her chosen area is documentary and she has already produced some beautiful short films about people around her.


Charlie has also modelled for my very good friend Woolly Wormhead and stayed with Woolly and her family along with me when I have visited but also by herself, becoming good friends with Woolly independently of me and also forming a wonderfully close bond with Woolly's son, Aran.

Charlie's plan for some time has been to feature the Mutoid camp where Woolly and Aran live in her graduation film, and gradually after discussions with myself, her tutors and particularly Woolly, the project began to take shape. Charlie's film will look at life in the Mutoid camp through the eyes and imagination of 6 year old Aran. It promises to be a beautiful film, but to be able to make it, Charlie will need to travel to Italy two or three times in relatively quick succession over the next couple of months to get all the footage she needs and therefore needs funding to help her fund travel and production costs.

So yesterday, she launched her first ever Kickstarter appeal to raise £800 (£850 including kickstarter fees). You can find out a lot more about the film and Charlie's approach on her Kickstarter page.



If you are able to pledge even the smallest amount, or spread the word about her appeal that would be simply wonderful!

When Charlie launched the appeal yesterday, she genuinely didn't believe anyone would find her project interesting enough to pledge, but people have already been incredibly generous and I really can't thank you all enough. Charlie really has to fight a lack of self confidence but I, both as her mother and as a former art teacher, can see her developing almost daily, turning into the Director and Artist that she could and should be.  I am so very, very proud of my little girl.

for now
Ruby xx

Posture, Exercise & RSI

Posture is the way we sit, or stand, or walk, you know.
Good posture or bad posture can change the way I grow!
It also makes a difference in how I work and play,
Good posture is important, so I use it every day!

A very good friend of mine is the latest in a long list of crafters I know to have been hit with RSI related problems brought on by a combination of computing and knitting. Its one of those things that tends to plague knitters and in particular knitwear designers as when we're not knitting, we are on the computer typing up patterns and running numbers through spreadsheets. And much of the time these activities are undertaken in less than ideal situations and a lot of the time, poor posture and incorrect seating is contributory to the problems we experience.

I promised my friend that I would try and find amd re-publish a blog post I wrote several years ago that included information about RSI and also the simple exercises that I undertake each day to try and alleviate the problems. So here it is and I do hope it is of use to anyone suffering from any form of RSI:

We all hear and talk about RSI but exactly what as knitters are we vunerable to?

The chief forms of RSI which affect knitters are:

Carpal tunnel syndrome
Tennis elbow
Golfers elbow
de Quervain’s disease
Trigger finger
Cubital tunnel syndrome

What is RSI? It is classified as a neurovascular syndrome and is identified as chronic or prolonged pain in the hands, shoulders, back or neck, caused by the constant repetition of a series of movements. Its onset can be insidious, its diagnosis problematic and its results irreversible.

It affects the soft tissues, nerves, tendons, muscle and cartilage. If left untreated, it can lead to permanent disability.

The truth is, that as knitters, we spend hours repeating a small number of motions, so therefore are at risk of RSI; as is anyone who sews, crochets, plays a musical instrument or works on a computer.

RSI develops over time and its symptoms often come on gradually. Once you become aware of the symptoms there is another catch. Diagnosing RSI is difficult.
Therefore we needs defensive tactics whether already a sufferer or just a concerned knitter.

You can do many things to keep your symptoms in check or to prevent RSI.

TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS. PUT DOWN YOUR NEEDLES AND FLEX YOUR HANDS, FINGERS, WRISTS, SHOULDERS.

AVOID MARATHON KNITTING SESSIONS.

WARM UP! STRETCH YOUR HANDS BEFORE YOU KNIT.

Knitters can be at risk the moment they sit down. Many of us slouch, shoulders drooping and head bowed. Manipulating the needles forces the hands and elbows into an unnatural fixed position for long periods of time. The wrists are flexed up, stretching the tendons. The fingers and thumb exert pressure to hold needles and yarn. Passing the yarn over the needle involves repeated finger movements and the weight of the work in progress also drags on the wrists. Over time the rhythmic sequence of knitting and purling can pinch nerves and other soft tissues.

Sitting properly can spare your aching hands. The back supports your entire body, and proper spinal alignment is needed. Sit up straight without hunching your shoulders and neck. Your feet should be squarely planted with legs bent at a right angle – NOT CROSSED. Keep your elbows close to the body, bent at a comfortable angle, not sticking out from the body. Hold needles in your hands, and if possible not tucked under your arms as this can cause additional shoulder problems.

There is no correct or wrong way to grip the needles but try not to bend the wrist back too much. Circular needles are better than straights as they spread the weight of the knitting and wooden are better than metal or plastic as they flex with the hand rather than resist.

If you are having problems thicker needles are better than thin as you are not gripping as tightly. With crochet hooks you can make a handle out of sponge rollers to prevent you having to grip the hook so tightly.

In addition tight knitters put extra strain on their hands, so try and loosen up and relax your tension slightly – use a bigger needle.

CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME

CTS is probably the best known RSI. More than 8 million Americans alone have this condition in which the hands’ median nerve is trapped inside the carpal (wrist) tunnel. This cavity is formed by the transverse carpal ligament, an elastic tissue that surrounds the eight bones in the wrist. When repetitive movements irritate the slippery protective lining of the flexor tendons, they become swollen inside the carpal tunnel, compressing the median nerve. This leads to pain, tingling, loss of strength and reduced range of motion.

CUBITAL TUNNEL SYNDROME

Also know as Ulnar Neuropathy. Caused by leaning on elbows, holding the telephone, knitting, typing – anything that requires repeated bending and straightening of the elbow. This can lead to inflammation of the ulnar nerve, which travels from the neck to the elbow then to the fingers. Symptoms are similar to CTS except the pain is felt in the ring and little fingers.

GOLFERS ELBOW

Also known as Epicondylitis, results in small ruptures in muscles and tendons located in the inside of the elbow. The muscles and tendons that bend the wrist start in this region. Wrist and hand movements create small tears and scarring in the muscle and tendon fibres. Symtoms are the same as tennis elbow but felt on the inside of the elbow. Tennis elbow is felt on the outside of the elbow, travelling down the forearm to the middle and ring fingers. Bending the wrist back or turning the palm upwards makes it more painful.

TRIGGER FINGER

This is a condition where an irritated tendon cannot slide easily through a cavity. A knot forms blocking the space leaving the finger bent.

 I try and do at least some of the following warm up exercises every morning.

GENTLE WARM UP EXERCISES

1) Warm up soaks and stretches

Perform the stretches in a basin large enough for you to immerse your hand, forearm and if possible, elbow. The water should be as hot as you can stand.

Finger stretch: Stretch out your fingers as wide as you can and hold for a slow count of 10 to 20 seconds. Bend your fingers and hold for a count of 5. Repeat up to 10 times.

Wrist stretch 1: Pull your hand backwards gently with your fingers and hold for a slow count of 10. Repeat with the other hand.

Wrist stretch 2: Make a fist. With your other hand, push down on the fist and flex it forwards towards the wrist. Hold for a slow count of 10. Repeat with the other hand.

2) Quick stretches during the day

Wrist tendon stretch

Place your hands together in the prayer position. Raise your elbows out to the side, keeping the palms together. Spread your fingers wide and bring them together again, slowly, five times. Repeat.

Chin tuck

Good for in a car with a head rest, or lying down with a cushion under your head. Tuck your chin down toward your chest and push your head against the headrest or cushion. Hold for a count of twenty then relax. Repeat 3 times.

Shoulder shrugs

Stand or sit up straight. Shrug your shoulders as high and tight as you can and hold for 10. Relax. Repeat 3 times. Then shrug your shoulders back as far as you can and hold for 10. Relax. Repeat 3 times.

AND FINALLY, THE DONT’S
These are the things we probably all do much of the time!

Don’t keep wrists bent towards you for long periods (flexion) as irritates the nerves and tendons in the wrist.

Don’t tilt your hand in the direction of the little finger (Ulnar deviation) - this position folds the tendons over the wrist bone putting needle strain on the tendons.

Don’t grip or grasp an object for long periods of time. This contracts forearm muscles, pull tendons and creates pressure and rubbing in the carpal tunnel.

Don’t pinch (grasping with only the fingers) – causes additional pressure in the carpal tunnel.

Don’t keep elbows bent forward (as in at a keyboard) for long periods – causes compression of the nerves causing irritation.

Don’t slouch.

Don’t lean over your work. Strains neck and shoulders. Also can impinge on nerve roots.

Don’t keep your arms in a work position for a long period of time, the constant stress of supporting the weight of your arms and your work can irritate the shoulder.

I also go for regular sports massage to relax the muscles and to remove the built up toxins found in them and this helps a great deal. But if you haven't got time for exercising or massages, just change your position regularly, let go of the needles or stop typing, stand up, walk around, move your shoulders, but remember to treat your body gently and with respect. 

I do hope some of the information may be of help

for now,

Ruby xx

Stunning New Excelana Shades

A few months ago I took my first direct foray into the commercial manufacture of yarn, purchasing spun undyed wool on the cone from John Arbon and then working with a commercial dyer based in the Scottish Borders to create new Excelana colours to complement the existing colour palette and offer an instantly broader choice. I have learnt a heck of a lot on this journey - its a steep learning curve believe me - but the most significant of these is the time it takes from idea to fruition.

However earlier this week the wait was finally over, and along with another huge order which I'll share next time, I received three beautiful new colours of Excelana 4ply which all look exactly like I had planned!

The yarns are currently still on cones so there is one final step in their production before they are ready for sale which is of course the balling and banding. We don't have our own balling machine - as yet! - so we have to take the yarn on a trip to nearby West Yorkshire to be wound off into 50 gram balls ready for selling. The yarn should be ready before the Unravel show in Farnham in late February, however there is a limited amount of the yarn so I hope to make it available for pre-order on the online shop early next week so that you can be sure of getting some. If you like them as much as you like Dark Mandarin they're not going to last very long that's for sure!

All three colours are only available in Excelana 4 ply for the forseeable future. They are the same composition as the existing Excelana, being 100% pure British wool, 70% Exmoor Blueface, 30% Bluefaced Leicester and each 50 gram ball has a meterage of 159 metres. These three colours will be available exclusively from my online shop due to the limited stock levels.

The first colour is Sweet Chestnut

On my ravelry forum this warm brown shade has been repeatedly asked for and I have been desperate for a rich brown in the range for a long time. It works perfectly with the other new colours in the range as well as the existing palette. I desperately 'need' the Lady's Jumper Cardigan from A Stitch in Time volume 2 in Sweet Chestnut.

The next is Damson Wine

This one took a lot of getting right. It is based on a shade I found on a 1930s shade card and manages to be vibrant yet soft at the same time, blending beautifully with the other colours. The Fair Isle twinset from A Stitch in Time combining the three new colours along with Dark Mandarin, Saharan Sand and Alabaster will create a wonderful autumnal outfit.

And finally, the one that I and so many of you have been waiting for, 

Land Army Green.

I toyed with calling this so many other names but at the end of the day, it was the Land Army jumpers that inspired me to create this colour, so really their was no other name that would do. I plan to knit the Warm Jumper also from A Stitch in Time volume 2 in this colour at the earliest opportunity, as it will make a fabulous 'workwear' style jumper with my dungarees!

So which is your favourite? And what would you knit with them?

for now,
Ruby xx