2020 - Reflections

I started writing one of my usual end of year wrap ups. (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, )

I wrote about how I knit x amount, I read z amount, but it just wasn't that interesting. I did keep knitting and reading during this "unprecedented year" but I think the interesting this is the things I did this year that I don't do all the time. Also, it's not my productivity that is interesting, but what I learnt and how I grew. The only stat I value is my stashcount - which is around 12,534 meters, almost exactly the same as the end of all those years. I didn't stress shop my way through the pandemic, I bought the same amount of yarn as I knit, which is quite pleasing, although since I knit over 20 kilometres of yarn, that's still plenty of room for shopping!

These were things that stood out this year: In 2020 I sewed more than usual - for wildlife, masks (endless masks) and some oven mitts. It was very satisfying, even though sewing masks was full of feelings.

I randomly started spinning again. I hope I continue, because I joined Ixchel Bunny's fibre club, so there are packages arriving over the next three months.

I started running again, and ran more volume than when we trained for a marathon. From the day it was announced that we had to wear masks outside unless running, I have consistently run three times a week.

I trained for and succeeded in a freestanding handstand.

Looking forward I am going to go swimming in the sea - not open water swimming, just putting my bathers on and splashing around St Kilda beach. Other than that I have no concrete plans. I will continue to read and knit and crotchet and sew and spin as the mood takes me. Even in the strangest year I've experienced, even in lockdown (especially in lockdown) I got to continue to do the things I love. Now I can do those same things in other places, which is even better! Happy 2021.

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Geogradiant MKAL Part 1 - that was unexpected (spoilers)

Stephen West released the first MKAL clue on Thursday night. I started knitting it without looking at spoilers. When I got up on Friday he had sent through an "alternative" clue one. I then went and had a look at the spoiler thread to try to work out what was going on. Which was that some people thought the pattern looked like a "German hate symbol". I knit on anyway, since I was half-way through. Then he took down the original clue, replacing it with a mitred square in garter stitch. The Ravelry forums and Instagram are a complete shit-show, even though Rav is being moderated. It's been a bit disheartening, having something that is usually quite light and fun weighed down with all this. I admire Stephen's quick and sensitive response to this drama. I also feel that anything can look like anything if you squint. To me this looks like a Celtic knot. I think mine is pretty, and I'll knit on through all crises.

Linky Wednesday - the one with the drama

The drama about the Stephen West MKAL continues, and I can't be bothered with it. It's meant to be a fun, interesting, communal knit and and that's not what this year has turned in to. Stephen has done his best in a difficult situation, but I'm just not feeling it. Meanwhile, Israel is at war, and we (as a country) are going to vote "no" on a referendum that asks for basic consideration for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders. So yeah, lots of turmoil here. It's very tiring. I'm knitting a sock and considering what happens next. Luckily the reading was dramatic in a good way. I'm reading a NetGalley review copy of Last Summer at the Lake House and it's great. Super dramatic family drama about three sisters who loose their father unexpectedly and then find out that the family has secrets. I 've nearly finished it and I don't know what I'm going to read next. I've got a bit of a break between review books, so maybe Sta

Mussleburgh musings

I made a Mussleburgh hat earlier in the year, and even though I thought I was following the directions exactly it did not come out quite right. It was a little bit loose. My head is 51 cm, my gauge was 7 stitches, so according to the pattern I knit the right size. It's also a little bit shorter than I would like it. Too long for a beanie, too short for a good turn-up. I couldn't work out why. I still wore it, but it was not quite right. When I decided to knit one for Elise I knew I wanted to make it longer, and tighter. After I finished Elise's (with 24 fewer stitches) I realised something about mine: Now, this is a knit tube. I know how to knit tubes. When I make sleeves or socks, they don't balloon out in the middle. So I decided to reblock it. The instructions actually specifically say to fold it inside each other after blocking, but I probably folded it and dried it on my head, because that's how I block my hats. Not this time: Now it's longer and thinner

What I made, by Sharon

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