Day 2: Body 12″ long, (need to get to 18″). Am on to 4th ball.  Need to find 6mm dpns.

Tatami by Melissa Wehrle (Sundara Yarns)

My Ravelry Post: here
Yarn: 21st Century Yarns 4ply in Moss
Needles: 3.75mm
Notes: The only changes I made were to leave off the ties, and to add a garter edging to the front, since it turned out a little bit smaller than I was expecting. It fits great though. In fact I’m wearing it right now.

The only other thing is that the 4ply is naturally really sticky and didn’t want to drop at all, which meant I had to drop all the stitches myself by hand, which took quite a long time. It was totally worth it though, since the colours are superb.

Conclusion: I really love this cardigan. I really do think that 21st Century Yarns produce some of the best varigated yarns in the country, and now it’s proved it’s stickiness I’m tempted to use it for a pattern that needs steeking. At some point.

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In other news I finished the barbara shawl for my grandmother’s birthday (late next month) and have started a DK version of the Henry scarf for my grandfather. So as soon as I can sort out a camera with more than a slither of battery I’ll post photos of them.

I also cast on a Elizabeth Zimmerman Hybrid Jumper in Garthenor Jacob aran yarn in black (it’s actually more of a very dark brown.) I only cast on for it yesterday afternoon, and in my usual amount of knitting time, I’ve already knitted 7″. Having rarely knit with anything heavier than dk I’m shocking and a little thrilled!

Thus I’m planning to keep a close knitting diary to see how long it takes to knit up:

Day 1: Body 7″. I’m already on my third ball (of 14), and the body is only 136 st in the round.

I bumped into Practical Polly on my way back from the Bluestockings meeting on Wednesday, and she pointed me towards an interview that Yarnstorm has done with Woman’s Hour, about her new book, and the Return of Domesticity. She said there was the start of some drama about it on the Ravelry boards.

Having read the piece in the Telegraph that had sparked a number of interesting conversations between my crafty friends, I thought I would check it out. Plus, I’m generally a radio 4 kind of person.

So i went back and listened to it today and to be honest i’m pissed off. I’m definately annoyed at the interviewer - it seems like they got stuck down the cul de sac of an idea that being a woman - specifically a woman who makes things - means either a life of drudgery, frippery over and above one’s responsibilities, or trying to force everyone else back to the kitchen sink.

Like baking a cake, or making flap jack - when there is ‘perfectly good flapjack in sainsburys!’ *- is betraying feminism.

There was a classic quote about “if I were a working man who came back from work, to my wife showed me the embroidery she’d been doing, I’d think ‘get a job!’,” as if creative women sit around all day long, rather than out making money.

Kaffe Fassett makes quilts, and blankets and clothing, that are time hungry and incredibly intricate, publishes his patterns in magazines and gorgeous books, is considered an artist, and is loved by the V&A!

Nigel Slater enthuses about baking, and food bought locally and made from scratch and is a national treasure. Jamie Oliver is the same, and is considered a culinary crusader.

When men do these things, they are applauded. When women do them, they are betraying the sisterhood, and forcing other women to follow suit, whether they choose to or not.

Yes, Yarnstorm called her book ‘The Gentle art of Domesticity’. Yes, Nigella is the ‘Domestic Goddess.’

Did they ask for a beating by daring to use the dreaded D word?

Given that unless you are ‘homeless’ you live some sort of place (a house, a flat, a room) that could be called ‘home’, shouldn’t the home be part of everyone’s lives? shouldn’t it be part of who we are if we want it to be, and not just somewhere we collapse to at the end of another long day at work? That we might choose for it to reflect the things that we like, or are interested in. That it might contain thing that we want to enjoy, or own, or look at or use? That we might choose, as individuals to fill where we live with made things, with bought things, with things we have found, with things that might work only for us?

And also when exactly did the bench mark by which all our worth is measured get based on (British) business’ idea of how many hours a man should (over)work?

The interview seemed to suggest that women who create things are fools, who hark back to a time when a woman’s whole life was in the home. That owning a darning mushroom is to wish to live in a time when women made all their family’s clothes, and weren’t allowed to vote.

*I* own a darning mushroom. I use it to darn the cashmere socks I knitted eighteen months ago. The cashmere socks that cost me the equivelent of two tickets to the cinema. Cashmere that was hand dyed by a self employed woman, who runs her own business. Was I abandoning feminism, as woman who knits, to have chosen to pay my money to her, rather than spend it watching a film made by a major Hollywood Studio, who maybe has decided not to make films with female leads anymore?**

Knitting (and sewing) as hobbies, are as expensive, or as thrifty as you need them to be. They take up as much, or as little time as you want them too. I have knitted for two hours a day for months on end, turning a boring commute to a job I hated, into socks, scarves, hats, presents for others, and beautiful things just for me. I have celebrated other people’s creativity by using and adapting their patterns, and revelled in my own abilities and knowledge by making things from my own ideas in my own head. I have concentrated on the stitches that flow though my fingers, rather than on the traffic which I could do nothing to control.

I chooses to make things. I find kinship with some of those who choose to make things too.

I respect people who choose not to. (I find kinship with many of them aswell.)

I am a woman. A daughter. A sister. A partner. A feminist.

What I choose to do is betraying no-one. I’m just made to feel that it is.

Notes:

* I bet if I looked at flapjack in my local sainsburys I would find ingredients in it that I couldn’t pronounce, and that weren’t particularly good for me. That’s why people are being encouraged to improve their diets by cooking food from scratch.

**A whole other kettle of crap.

Sure thing…

DK Yarn:

• 100% Blue faced Leicester
• 50g skeins
• 110m per skein (approx.)
• £5.50 a skein (plus p&p)

Oxford Kitchen Yarns DK Yarn in Sugar £5.50

Oxford Kitchen Yarns DK Yarn in Slate £5.50

Oxford Kitchen Yarns DK Yarn in Butter £5.50

Oxford Kitchen Yarns DK Yarn in Sherbet £5.50

Oxford Kitchen Yarns DK Yarn in Clotted Cream £5.50

Lace Weight Yarn:

• 90% Blue faced Leicester 10% Nylon
• Single Ply in structure (the tiny amount of nylon gives it strength)
• 100g skeins
• 1200m per skein (approx.)
• £16 a skein (plus p&p)

Oxford Kitchen Yarns Lace Weight Yarn in Biscuit £16

Oxford Kitchen Yarns Lace Weight Yarn in Pink £16

  Oxford Kitchen Yarns Lace Weight Yarn in Raspberry £16

Something else that I should have said last time that I’ll say here instead - obviously, because of the nature of dyes in general (and natural dyes in particular) each batch is slight different, even when the recipe is the same. I have controls set up, for comparison, but if a particular colour is significantly different from a previous batch, I give it a new name make it a limited edition. That way people know what they’re getting.

To that end, I’m also going to take pictures of all new stocking coming in, rather than re-using photos of previous batches of the same colour.

I’m planning to build a light box next week, take photos of the stock still waiting to go into the shop, and retake some photos of the current stock (in particular ‘DK Butter’). All new photos will be date marked, so that you can be sure what you’re looking at is what you’re going to receive through the post.

A HUGE THANK YOU for all the people who wish me well. I really appreciate it. :)

(In knitting news Tatami galloped along and I’m going to block it tonight, with the hope of getting it sewn up tomorrow, ready to wear to the do at my friend’s house on Saturday. I just have to chain stitch the ties tonight. Hopefully I’ll have photos next week to show you. :)

The Oxford Kitchen Yarns Shop is now open!

I kept thinking it was nearly done, and then it wasn’t nearly done, and then OMG it was, and I have flung open the metaphorical doors, and now everyone can nosy around and see what I’m up to:*

I dye yarn in our tiny kitchen here in Oxford.

I only dye with natural dyes, and it’s important to me that this enterprise is ethically and environmentally responsible. Already this has meant that I have experimented with dyes that will not get used within the store - they produced great results, but they came from trees that are endangered, and even though I’m a small business I don’t feel comfortable about that. But that’s ok - there are plenty of other great colours out there to use instead. :)

Sometimes this means that some of my colours will be seasonal. There are a few more skeins that I’ll add to the store towards the end of the week, that may prove to be the only opportunity to get one particular colour for this year - it all depends how my storage of the dye stuff works. I’m ok with that. If necessary I’ll make a lot more next year to keep us going while the dye stuff is out of season.

Also I dye semi-solids. There are plenty of incredibly varigated yarns to choose from. Locally even, we have the wonderful 21st Century Yarns, who made the yarn I’m knitting Tatami in. But I love the interesting depth of colour you can get in a semi solid, and it suits the natural dyeing process very well. Plus it shows off lots of stitch patterns unlike anything else.

All the yarn is currently Blue faced Leicester which is grown** and spun within the UK. To this knitter it feels very much like Merino, though I’m still trying to find out how their structures compare. Certainly it’s very soft, and strong, though I’ve yet to try felting with it.

Currently I am dyeing Sock, Lace and DK weight yarns.

Sock Yarn:

• 100% Blue faced Leicester
• 100g skeins
• 425m per skein
• Recommend 2.5mm needles
• £12 a skein (plus p&p)

Let me show you some colours!

Oxford Kitchen Yarns Sock Yarn in Raspberry £12

Oxford Kitchen Yarns Sock Yarn in Silver £12

Oxford Kitchen Yarns Sock Yarn in Biscuit £12

Oxford Kitchen Yarns Sock Yarn in Melba £12

You know, this is a pretty long post already. I think I’ll write about the DK and Lace weight tomorrow. If you can’t wait, they’re already up in the shop for you to look at and order (if you want. :)

*Can I admit that I want to hide under my duvet at this point?

**I’m still trying to work out whether ‘grown’ is the right term for a yarn. It grows on the sheep as it’s fleece, obviously. But something about saying ‘grown’ just doesn’t seem right. *shrugs*

(In other knitting related news, I am 2″ away from finishing the second sleeve on Tatami, which means, after I’ve wrestled the dropped stitch rows into actually dropping, I’m on to the final front sections, which I’m going to knit both at the same time, the way you’re supposed to. I can’t believe how quickly it has knit up. I mean - yes - it’s been the only project I’ve been working on, and I’ve logged lots of little bits here and there, but it’s also a cardigan on 3mm needles, and I really thought that would take more than three weeks to knit up. But, given fair winds I could really be done at some point next week.)