Don’t Sweat the Small Socks

Welcome back to the fiber circle!

This week let’s talk socks! Over the summer I had tried a new sock knitting technique: four at a time socks inside socks! Wait? What? That’s right. I had two pairs of two at a time socks on the needles, with one pair inside the other. Here’s the YouTube video I used to figure out how to knit a sock inside of a sock:

I had a two at a time sock set going, so I started another and then put the second socks inside the first set. As much as I did enjoy the new technique, I had also started a “part time” job (with commute, its a full time hours away from home and knitting job). I felt drained of time for knitting and the four at a time socks were moving too slowly. And then came the knitting anxiety. There was nothing else for it: they had to be separated.

37961323_1812803582102415_6893026398131191808_n — My separated four at a time socks in Biscotte Yarns with my Addi Turb Sock Rocket needles.

Once I had the separated, they did seem to fly off the needles. Of course, I did a spend a weekend working on them, so the extra hours of time did help. I had two pairs of socks done by Wednesday and it felt good!

So what did I do to celebrate having two pairs of socks done and blocking? Cast on another two sets of socks of course! I know, if I was stressing out about not getting these socks done, why start two more? Well, because I am a knitter. I need to have socks on the go. Particularly now that I have discovered two at a time and the joy of having no second sock syndrome.

39467509_378569072676631_6669192068671209472_n — Amazing bag by Knit for Brains, German yarn by the name of Unisono and some //ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=sisteresquefi-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00DX8759A&asins=B00DX8759A&linkId=6f096d9d7e950ce9779f37af36177cfb&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Chiaogoo needles.

I made a firm decision not to let myself stress over my knitting. As a reward, I bought myself a positively perfect Nightmare Before Christmas themed bag from Knit For Brains because I adore Laura’s bags! I also went ahead and cast on a third pair of socks. Partly to challenge myself to keep enjoying my knitting rather than agonizing over how many projects I am getting finished.

38509664_474333253034228_4470887245183713280_n — Beautiful bag by Nanette Wake, Yarn by Mineville Wool Project, more Addi needles.

I’m loving the yarn I’m using for all of my new on the go sock projects. And I keep reminding myself that a knitter should always have socks on the go. You never know when you will need to keep yourself busy in a waiting room, on a plane or in a car. So why not have a few projects in progress? The world won’t end if you don’t finish them in a “timely manner.”

37953420_1812803472102426_6911679522702098432_n — One of my finished pairs of socks in Biscotte Yarns.

In summation my fiber sisters and brethren, don’t sweat the small socks. And for that matter don’t sweat any of the things that are meant to bring you joy. I know that can be difficult when you’re having a down day, I’ve had plenty of my own. But we knit because we are looking for the good, we are finding our peace. And yes, we do happen to end up having some magically magnificent socks!

See you at the next coven meeting!

August 18, 2018 3

It’s My Yarniversary!

Hello Fiber Sisters and Brethren!

Amidst all of my focus on my anxiety lately, I nearly forgot that this month, August, is the one year mark of my yarn dyeing and selling adventure! Happy Yarniversary to me!

It feels like I’ve been dyeing yarn for far longer than a year, and maybe life stress has contributed to that. But when I realized that it was my one year Yarnivesary, I felt like I should be a bit proud of myself. One year is a short time in the grand scheme of life, and I’ve come a long way since my first color creations. I’ve developed my technique, I’ve adapted my own style, and most importantly, I’ve kept at it.

38939142_274440476690269_2171205675793776640_n

The photos above are a year apart in dyeing and photographing, but it’s the same colorway. Others may not be able to see a difference, but I can! I have adjusted my technique so that I can more easily repeat the colorway, my dyeing is more even, and I have improved my speckling! I am glad for Instagram so that I can go back and see my progress and feel good that I have kept working at my craft.

38954570_1850859844974509_6806231289536970752_n — Some of the very first skeins I attempted dyeing.

After a year of dyeing and selling yarn, some things haven’t changed. I still do a happy dance every time someone makes a purchase from my shop. I still, immediately after the happy dance, start to have a mini panic attack thinking “What if they hate it?” and worrying about it getting lost in the mail. I still want very much to make this yarny adventure my full time gig and I’m working towards being able to do that. Sometimes I’m hopeful and excited, and sometimes it feels like an impossible dream. But I still keep trying.

37923506_1812803908769049_3282263111964295168_n — House on the Hill – one of my newest colorways with an inspiration photo included.

Life has gotten messy since I started dyeing yarn, and not just because I spill dye on the counter. But for the month of my Yarniversary, I’m going to feel good about my progress in the crafting life. I haven’t figured out how to clean up all of life’s messes. But I have figured out that when you spill dye on the counter, a layer of Dawn dish soap for 15 minutes and a dry paper towel to wipe it up will take that dye right off the counter. And if you learn nothing else from me today, I hope at least that much is useful!

37991848_1812803485435758_754185661493280768_n — Krypt Kicker – another original colorway that I have revamped for year 2.

To celebrate my Yarniversary, I wanted to share some love with all of you wonderful fiber friends who support my shop, my blog and my crafty pipe dream. Go to my shop Sisteresque Fibers on Etsy, and use the coupon code ONEYEAR to get 15% off of everything thru the end of August! All of your support and kind words mean so very much to me! This is my art and its a beautiful thing when someone other than me finds it beautiful, too!

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me, whether you made a purchase, made a comment, or just read my little yarn diary. Thank you!

Until next time my magical friends!

August 12, 2018 2

There Are No Knitting Police

Welcome Sisters and Brethren! I am sitting down to my knitting circle again today with more that just knitting, won’t you join me?

I wrote last time about knitting anxiety and the pressures that I put on myself (as all of us do) to be as productive as possible. I’m still not sure what drives me to make lists of the crafty things I “need to get done,” and I have yet to master reminding myself that it is for joy that I engage in crafts. However, I did recently give myself some breathing room to work on some things that were not part of my silly list. Because, as a number of knitters have said to me before, “There are no knitting police.”

I do love a good hand embroidered tea towel!

Bearing in mind that no knitting authorities are coming to check up on my progress, critique my technique or point out my mistakes, I got out an entirely different craft: embroidery. I do love embroidery, cross stitch and needle point crafts. When I sit with my cup of coffee and serenely stitch a cute little adornment onto a tea towel, a magical thing happens: I become my Grandma.

My inner child drifts out of my body and watches me. She remembers the smell of early morning coffee at Grandma’s farmhouse; the crisp cool of the large, drafty living room; the table full of thread, needles, beads and all manner of crafting tools; the enormous picture window looking out onto a frosty field where Grandpa’s horses are grazing. In these private, sentimental moments I remember the joy that I am meant to feel when I engage in making. I reconnect to a simpler, happier me.

I didn’t have Grandma’s ribbon candies, so mints will have to do.

There are no knitting police, we only police ourselves. Making lists of To Do’s in my crafts is not a bad thing necessarily, but we all need to find that balance between practicality and bliss. My stash of supplies and tools may seem a mountain and my list of planned projects endless, but the end results (useful tho they are) cannot be the only reason I push myself to craft. I need to enjoy the process. Allow myself to recall how what I make today is not just useful tomorrow, but brings me closer to yesterdays that I cherish and should not overlook.

38446372_243433976292418_1090879130058096640_n — Dog Mom’s coffee never quite smells like Grandma’s coffee somehow.

So yes, I have lost track of where I “should be” in my list of things to craft and make. Yes, I am hopping between crafts. Yes, I have cast on socks before I have finished other projects – and, yes, with yarn I had intended to use for other things! But there are no knitting police, and today I am going to allow myself to be OFF DUTY. My knitting and crafting is a mental vacation. A brief stay in a place of peace, with a few sentimental day dreams of memories past. I will not arrest myself for low productivity and I will not sit in a prison of my own making. Not today, anyway.

I am wishing you all a happy, chaotic and blissful Sunday! I love and appreciate all of you who are joining my little crafty coven!

Until next time, Sisters and Brethren, I am with you.

August 5, 2018 4

Knitting Anxiety: Why Do I Create It?

Hello Sisters and Brethren!

*Warning – I curse sometimes*

This weekend I have finally gotten some knitting done! For those who know me well, it would come as a surprise to find that I have gotten very little knitting in during the last two weeks. My normal modus operandi is to knit for a couple of hours every day, but truthfully for the last few months I have been struggling to get time in for my beloved hobby.

I do have a part time job that I started in May, which has significantly cut in to my creative life. This frustrates me, but sadly income is necessary for all of us, and I have not yet made my knitting and yarny joy into a day job (still trying, tho!). Honestly, the job shouldn’t deter my knitting terribly, but because my time is now limited differently, I find I am creating my own knitting anxiety.

38011863_1812803688769071_8457655345949442048_n — Cauldron Bubble – new colorway that took me full a week to add to the shop after dyeing.

True confession, I have some general anxiety and depression issues (self-diagnosed as I am too embarrassed to bring it up to a doctor as of yet). So it’s not entirely unusual for me to over think and over stress even the simplest of things. Where my knitting, yarn dyeing, designing and even blogging is concerned, I have a bad habit of giving myself arbitrary and unreasonable deadlines for completing projects. When I do not meet those deadlines or complete ‘enough’ projects, posts or new products in a given time period, I begin to feel very lazy, useless and bitterly bummed out.

I can’t quite say why I do this. I did grow up in small town (population 1,100 small) South Dakota in a stereo-typical hard work ethic valuing environment. Now, don’t get me wrong, I believe hard work can be a good thing and having goals and ambition can be beneficial. However, where I come from, creative endeavors are often meant for retirees or people considered to be hapless and burdensome. Practicality was always king and the idea of even having an artistic dream, let alone following one, was an aberration.

37952742_1812804112102362_5242480284573630464_n — Double Double Mini Kits – why do I think I need to be ready for Halloween already?

While how I grew up may be a factor in why I create stress in a hobby that should be a stress reliever, I’m not sure its the whole story. I am 31, and I feel somewhat that I need to take accountability for…well, for my own bullshit. My rational mind is aware that I am my own enemy when it comes to my anxiety. I choose what my self worth is measured by, so I do not need to measure myself by how much of my hobby I complete. Yet, continuously, I get angry with myself for not getting more done.

I don’t have a happy ending answer for why I stress myself out. I am still working through why I become so anxious about things that should only be happy, and how to stop myself from doing it. But I wrote this blog post as I believe I cannot be the only knitter or crafter out there who struggles with this. Maybe we’re just struggling with anxiety in general, maybe life is a bit overwhelming sometimes and it just permeates every part of us and all that we do.

37938198_1812803572102416_3920484639285706752_n — Phantasm – a creation of the mind, much like my anxiety.

Whatever the case, I think we all need to remember to forgive ourselves for what we perceive to be our short comings or failings. Knitting is meant to be my joy, my me time, my creative outlet and in some ways my self love. I am still working on just getting out of my own way and letting go of the need to measure my accomplishments or success as though it makes up who I am. It does not. So if you’re anxious about the things that are supposed to make you happy, you are not alone. And at least that’s something.

37846549_1812803545435752_2825456411905884160_n — Krypt Kicker – let’s all put our stress in a crypt and kick it!

Thanks for getting real with me for a while. Next time, I may have a happier post, or I may not. But I’m going to try and just be proud of myself that I did post, and not tell myself that I have a deadline for the next one.

May your knitting and hobbies feel magical and cure you of your ills! And when they don’t, forgive yourself. It’s ok.

Until next time Sisters and Brethren in yarn!

July 28, 2018 11

DTK Pop Up Makers June Market

Hello Fiber Sisters and Brethren!

I am late to the game getting this post up. For shame! Life does happen, tho, and part of my self love right now is not to be mad at myself. So here it goes!

In June I had an opportunity to go back to Downtown Knits in Apex to take part in the Indie Dyer and Makers Pop Up Market! It was lovely to meet some new makers and of course, meet all the lovely fiber friends who came see and support us!

Even if you are not local to Raleigh, NC, you should definitely check out these lovely human beings and their goods!

First up, Oak City Soap, Kevin and Brenda! They are a husband and wife team creating, as their awesome tag line says, “Luxury soaps for dirty people.” Don’t you love them already?!

I got to sit next to Kevin and Brenda and chat them up during down time, they are charming and friendly and everything you want in small business owners! Their products are gorgeous and smell even better!

I bought some guest soaps for my aunt and my sisters for our trip to New York (blog later), a bath bomb for myself that smells like Fruit Loops cereal (incredible!), and some bath bomb sprinkle as a gift for my aunt. They were a hit!

If you are in the market for pampering yourself, you much check out Oak City Soap, even if they aren’t local to you. I will say, too, they have items for men like beard oil and shaving soap. I think men are often left out when it comes to luxury soap and shower sundries, so I appreciate that I can get gifts for everyone from Oak City Soap!

Across from me at the market was the very sweet Michelle of Full Bloom Coffee Roasters in Dowtown Garner, NC. She shares my taste for buffalo chicken and also for delicious coffee!

Full Bloom Coffee Roasters has a brick and mortar location in Garner where they serve their hand crafted coffee drinks, breakfast and lunch grilled panini sandwiches as well as locally brewed beers- what else could you want?! Besides to bring your knitting!

I couldn’t resist trying their Honey Brew, a cold brew coffee in a very cool brown glass bottle that makes me feel like I’m drinking an old timey magical elixir from one of those traveling apothecary carts. I don’t know about you, but I enjoy that feeling! And the coffee was spectacular! What I love about their coffee is that it has coffee flavor and does not have that burned bitter taste that big commercial chains (you know who they are) tend to have.

If you are in the Garner area, do stop in and see them! Have some coffee and panini, maybe stay long enough to enjoy a beer and some knitting! If you aren’t able to stop in, then check out their website for Full Bloom Coffee Roasters and order online! You won’t be sorry and you’ll be supporting the kind of small business that cares about creating a quality product that also happens to be Organic, Fair Trade, and Rainforest Alliance Certified. So you can feel even better about that glorious caffeine kick!

You know the last maker that joined me at Downtown Knits for the Pop Up Market: it’s Miss Barbara from Super Stitchy!

As per usual, Miss Barbara had a beautiful booth full of all the knitting and yarny goodies you could want! Here always amazing self striping colorways, her yummy variegated skeins, all the progress keepers and stitch markers you could need to bling out your projects and fabulous fun project bags to house it all!

All in all, it was another fun and rewarding experience to hang with some hand makers and meet new fiber friends! Thank you again to Michele of Downtown Knits for putting it on in her wonderful shop! Stay tuned for the next Pop Up Market!

As I have rebranded, I will have to rethink my booth set up to fit my new magical, mystical theme. I’m excited to relable my yarns and think up how to work my new mystical mojo to create a more cohesive brand! Wish me luck!

Thank you all for stopping, reading, and maybe even clicking to shop these lovely makers!

See you for the next installment in the Sisteresque Fibers saga!

July 19, 2018 2