Simply Knitting - UK (2019-08)

PURLS OF WISDOM

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I

’vehada busyfewmonths.Major

changesinmyworkinglifeshould

havemeantmoretimetofocusonmy

knittingprowess,butsomehow,I’vehadless

timethanever!I’vebeenworkinghardon

myjacket(yes,I amstillploddingonwithit)

butdefinitelyneededa break– something

I couldworkonindependentlywithout

havingtoaskforhelp.TheAccomplished

Knitterwasnotimpressed,“Backtoknitting

uselessstuthen,areyou?It’sabouttime

youfocusedonknittingsomethinguseful.

Something that isn’t so wasteful!”

SOMETHINGUSEFUL?

I hatetoadmitthatshehasa point.I haven’t

learnedanythingnewforages,andI doknit

a lotoffunbutfrivolousitems.I haven’t

producedanythingparticularlyusefulsince

I hada splurgeonscarves!Sowhatcould

I do?I preferknittingsmallitems.I love

thatsenseofachievementwhenI manage

tocompletesomethingquickly.I haven’t

learnedanynewstitchesforagesandI’m

stillcreatingonlysquaresandrectangles.

“Well,it’snoteasytoknita circleisit?”

scoed the Accomplished Knitter.

ECOWARRIOR

Andso,inadvertently,thechallengewasset.

I wouldproducea setofkitchenitemsasa

surprisefortheAccomplishedKnitter.They

wouldbeuseful,eco-friendly,andthere

wouldbea circleinvolved!Justtoprove

herwrong!Followinghoursscouringthe

internet,I finallyfoundwhatI waslooking

for.Perfect.Therewasnowayshe could

complain now... was there?

MASTERINGSSK

Shewasintriguedbymycollectionof

wool. Consisting of pure wool, cotton wool,

KathGarnerdocumentsthetrialsandtribulations of

knitting with an eco-friendly reusable yarn

Knittin t av

the planet

This month

scrubbywool,andtexturedwool,which

wasprovingverydiculttountanglewhen

I wentwrong!Knittingthefirstfewitems

wassimpleandstraightforward– backto

squaresandstitchesI’ddonebefore,but

thecircularprojectproveda littlemore

challenging.Myfirstattemptendedupas

a zigzagratherthana slant.It couldhave

beenratherimpressivehadI knownwhat

I wasdoing,butI didn’t!Thankfullymy

secondattemptprovedmoresuccessful.

YouTubeprovedinvaluableindeciphering

what‘ssk’meant,andI somehow made a

kind of circular shape!

SCRUBBYSALVATION

Backontheinternet,I founda dierent

version.Despitetwoattemptsfollowing

thepatternreligiously,I somehowended

upwitha dierentnumberofstitchesboth

times.Transformingmyblobintoa circle

involvedtugging,pullingandsnippingatthe

scrubbywoolasit continuallycaughtand

tangled.ButeventuallyI didit!I hadcreated

a collectionofkitchencloths,a knittedbag

andcircularscrubbies.They’reeco-friendly,

usefulandthereisdefinitelya sortofcircle

shape!Challengecompleteandall my

original aims have been met.

OH-SOVERSATILE

ButwhatdidtheAccomplishedKnitter

think?I couldseeherponderingasshe

turnedovertheitems.“Hmm,”shemused,

“thesewillbeusefulformynewlydecorated

bathroom.”Sonotonlyismyknittinguseful,

eco-friendlyandcircular,it’sversatiletoo!

My kitchen scrubbies are now exfoliators!

Gotaninterestingstorytotell?Wewant

tohearallaboutyourknittingworld,

contact us at the addresses on page 28.

I’MLOVING...

Knittingwithnewwool

Thisismecastingonwitha roughwool

andI loveit,atleastthetextureofit!

Knittingwithit isanothermatterentirely

• it’snotaseasyasit looks!Patience and
  practice are definitely required.

I’MMAKING...

Ecoknits

I’mcastingonquickandsimpleeco-

friendlyproducts,thatcanbeusedagain

andagainforcleaningpotsandpansor

evenyourskin!It’sfun– I canseethem

popping up all around the house.

I’MSHARING...

WendyWashKnitAran

Thisyarncomeswithpatternsfora

circularpanscrubandfishwashmitton

thereverseofthelabel.Anaddedbonus!

Otherpatternsandsuggestionswere

foundonwww.allfreeknitting.com.