Stretching: Bad for Stockinette Stitch; Good for a Knitter's Hands

Years ago in an issue of Vogue Knitting, I began to read an article on knitting repetitive stress injuries that opened by reporting the story of a woman who was making a complicated sweater for her husband's Christmas present. Knitting long hours to meet a tight deadline made her hands hurt, but she really wanted to get finished on time, so she persisted until it was done. Thereby doing such damage to her hands that she had to take disability leave from work (and from her knitting and her housework and pretty much anything else she usually did, such as turning a doorknob to open a door) for something like four months. I couldn't bring myself to read the rest of the article, even though I knew I should, but soothed my terror as well as my hands by resolving in future not to work through knitting pain. If your hands hurt from knitting, it's time to take a break.

Once you've put the knitting aside, there are massage techniques to help ease the pain. Liat Gat of Knit Freedom has worked with her sister, a certified massage therapist, to produce an excellent post on self-massage techniques and stretches for knitters, complete with illustrative photos. They're easy to do and they feel terrific.

Coming up: Look for my review of the Twist Collective Spring 2013 issue tomorrow morning!

Fox Pokes the Bear with Knitting Needles

The picture above is a screen capture from the Fox 2002/2003 show Firefly, depicting the character Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin) in a hat made for him by his mother. The hat has become known as the Jayne hat and is a popular piece of memorabilia among Firefly fans. But in replicating the Jayne hat, some Firefly devotees have run into the legal limitations entailed in using someone else's designs and patterns. To wit: that while you can knit anything you like for personal use, selling reproductions of other people's work is another matter. Fox, which is protecting their copyright by preventing unlicensed sales of the hat by Etsy vendors, is on its part experiencing the consequences of getting into a David and Goliath-style legal rumble, those being that Goliath always gets the bad press. No one ever takes Goliath's side no matter how objectively right he may have been, because there's such a power imbalance that the fight automatically seems unfair and because David is the more appealing opponent with the better back story.

While Fox is absolutely legally entitled to stop Etsy vendors from selling handmade Jayne hats in order to reserve the profits of Jayne hat sales for itself, doing so is going to make them look like bullies and alienate the Firefly fan base, which will probably now generally refuse to buy the licensed Jayne hats out of pique. Fox would have been better advised to stick to stamping out any sales of mass-manufactured hats (if any) and to leave the hand-knitting producers alone, knowing their scale of production and market share is guaranteed to be too small to make it worth even the legal costs of sending out cease and desist letters, let alone the risk of offending Firefly followers. I mean, is it really a good idea to mess with a community so fanatical that they're buying and wearing silly hats to reference a show that was only on the air for a few months over ten years ago? Talk about poking the bear.

As any knitter could have told Fox, when considering legal action that old crafting axiom applies: the realization that you can make a certain item (such as, say, granny square pajamas), should not necessarily be followed by the resolution that you should.

Running On

I keep thinking about what it must have been like yesterday for the Boston marathoners as they crossed the finish line; so proud, happy, and exhausted, having trained months or years for the event, and then at the very apex of their achievement, this horror. Unthinkable. Madness.

On April 14th I posted about "the Extreme Knitting Redhead" Susie Hewer and how she knits during marathons to get publicity for her Alzheimers' research fundraising efforts. The London Marathon will be taking place on April 21 as scheduled, and Hewer, who will be running in it, writes on her blog that she suspects there will be a lot of black armbands worn at the event. This seems like as good as any a way to deal with what happened: to acknowledge the gravity of what happened, and to carry on with the good and worthwhile things we need to do.

The words of (sweatered) children's television host Fred Rogers have been widely circulated on the net: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” And it's useful advice that can help those who weren't directly affected to process what happened. We don't yet know who is responsible for the bombing yesterday, but we know that as soon as the bombs went off hundreds of race volunteers rushed towards the site of the explosion to help the injured, never giving a thought to their own safety even though there could have been — and were — other and unexploded bombs in the area. We know many marathoners left the race to lend a hand, or to donate blood, at a time when they were probably already exhausted. There were runners being treated for dehydration in the first aid tents who ripped out their IVs and left their cots to make room for the injured. We know the authorities had to broadcast a public request that people not to come to the area to help because there were so many responders there already. And I'm sure that there will be a general outpouring of support that will continue for quite some time.

There were perhaps at most few dozen bombers directly involved in orchestrating this insane and cruel act of destruction, but there are millions of people who are grieved and anxious to help those who were injured or bereaved. Horrible things like this happen far too regularly in this world, and it's important for us all to remember as we move forward from them that there's much more good in this world than bad, and to just keep doing our best in our various ways to add to that sum total of good.

Move Over, Cat's Cradle; Finger Knitting Has Come to Town

I suppose it was inevitable, with my having done a post on arm knitting, that I would do a post on finger knitting. The video above clearly demonstrates how it's done. It's a fun and quirky but limited form of knitting: you can only use as many stitches per row as you have fingers, the gauge will be determined by the circumference of your fingers, and the result is inevitably a loopy chain. The question will then be, what will you do with your loopy chain?





I did some googling to find some good finger-knitting project ideas, and to be honest, I hated almost everything I saw. But as with most craft projects, bad results are usually a failure of execution rather than technique, even when as with in this case, the technique is a limited one. I do quite like the wreath above. You can find instructions for making it on Flax & Twine.





I like this cushion cover idea as well. Design Sponge has instructions for making it.





One blogger crocheted her finger knit chain together to make a rug. [Update: The blog this photo came from no longer exists.]





It's also possible to make a finger knit cowl, as this Etsy seller has done. I'm not a fan of the rope cowl, but that's just my personal preference. They can look quite good given the use of the right yarn and when worn with the right outfit, and they're definitely a trend.

The other use I see for finger knitting is as a kid's craft. It might be a good way to introduce children (or, er, adults for that matter) to the concept of knitting, and at any rate it's easy and a lot of children would enjoy making bracelets or headbands for themselves or (with some adult assistance) a cushion for their beds or whatever else they can come up with. Give them leftover balls of yarn and let them go nuts.

Incidentally, I'm hoping not to find myself ever doing a post on toe knitting, but heaven knows researching and writing for this blog has already led me down some strange Google rabbit holes, so it's best not to tempt fate by making any declarations either way.

Bringing Back the Parasol

Summer is on its way, and with it, the inevitable heat and glaring sunlight. I can't begin to tell you how I dread it. I'm a cold weather person. I sunburn with heart-rending ease and my temperament, which is irritable at the best of times, can only be described as borderline postal during heatwaves.

Every summer I vow to singlehandedly bring back the parasol in order to provide myself with some relief from the sun, but every summer I fail to find one that looks anything that I could even pretend to be trendsetting. The only parasols available seem to be the white, frou-frou, lacy kind that are meant to be carried as a bridal accessory, or the paper and bamboo kind you find in Chinatown, and I'm neither a bride nor Asian. The lacy ones, besides being wildly mismatched to my completely non-lacy wardrobe, don't even look like they'd provide much protection from the sun, and with my luck, the Chinese characters on the paper parasols probably read something along the lines of, "This stupid white person doesn't know what her parasol says." The parasol, like any other accessory, does need to bear some relation to the other items one is wearing and carrying, and to one's lifestyle, if it's not to look ridiculous. I need something I can carry when I'm wearing clothes made from jersey, khaki, and denim.





But as always when I can't buy a suitable version of something I want, I start wondering whether I can possibly make it myself. Then I google the matter and find out. I found the beautiful lace parasol above, made by Maiya Mayhem from a heavily modified crochet pattern. It's a wonderful piece of work, but it looks more decorative than functional to me, and it is a little too ornate to go with my casual summer clothes.




Then I found this one, by blogger Mrs. Fife, who has generously shared her project notes on the project's page on Ravelry. Unfortunately, as incredibly impressed as I am with her work, again this parasol won't provide a lot of protection from the sun and is too lacy. And I could post more exquisitely knitted lace parasols, but I'm sure you get the point, and if you are here to look for a knitted lace parasol pattern for your wedding, have probably already found one. I think I'll skip to the one practical parasol pattern I found.





I very much like this parasol, which is a Knitty design from Spring 2007. It should provide decent shade and sunburn protection. It's simple yet polished in style, and, if made in a neutral colour, will complement my clothes and other accessories. Perhaps most importantly, it won't make me feel like some absurdist theatre version of Scarlett O'Hara (it's not like I even get what people admire in the original). I think I shall begin keeping an eye out for a vintage parasol frame that is worthy of this pattern. I am already dreaming of being able to walk outside in July without getting black spots in front of my eyes. And — dare I hope? — of fewer scoldings from my dermatologist. Sad little dreams, I know, but they are mine.

Ready! Steady! Knit!

Check out this video, which gives us a sneak peak into what happens at a training camp for an elite squad of knitting grandmas.

Knitting on the Run

So apparently knitting while walking is a thing. For that matter, it's actually never not been a thing; it's fairly common in the more rural parts of Africa, Asia, and South America. It's rare in Western countries these days, though it used to be a practice in the nineteenth century. The Shetland women in the photo above are knitting and carrying a load of peat on their backs. If you think you should at least be able to do half what they do, About.com offers tips on learning to knit while you're walking and there's even a product called a Go Knit pouch that will aid you in your efforts (and it's also supposed to be a very handy and effective tote for knitting while travelling).

I don't think I'll be trying it myself. While researching this post I read half a dozen blog entries written by knitters who had taken to knitting while walking. All of them reported that they both walked and knitted more slowly when they combined the tasks. It took them something like 25-33% more walking time to go the same distance, and probably a similar extra increment of time to finish their knitting projects. So I don't see it as much of a time saver. And these walker/knitters also joked about bumping into telephone posts and "holding up traffic", which makes me concerned for their safety, and even more for the safety of others around them. Knitting while walking probably works better in a rural setting where there isn't much traffic of any kind — I mean, the Shetland knitters above aren't exactly in danger of getting into the way of the donkey behind them. Preoccupied people walking about in an urban environment can so easily step into the path of a car or cause some other mishap. I get so frustrated as it is by people who go about wired to their iPods and who are consequently clued out to the fact that they're blocking an entryway, that someone is trying to speak to them, or that someone around them might need help, and I should think knitting would be equally self-absorbing. Even pedestrians have a responsibility to be mindful of their surroundings, and pedestrians who are holding two pointed pieces of metal are surely under even greater obligation to be careful. If you decide to knit and walk, please avoid knitting while walking in heavily trafficked areas, or when the ground is icy. Your safety, and the safety of others, is far more important than the production of another pair of cabled socks.

If you're really raring to knit while on the move, you might look to Susie Hewer, "the Extreme Knitting Redhead", for inspiration. Hewer, who will be 56 this June, knits while running marathons to raise money for Alzheimer's research, and has racked up a couple of Guinness World Records in the process. Now that's multi-tasking. Hewer has raised nearly £25,000 during the past seven years, and in 2008 she set a record for knitting the longest scarf while running a marathon (3', if you care to know), and in 2010 she gained the Guinness World Record for stitching the longest crochet chain.

Marathon routes tend to be cordoned off, so that must leave Hewer freer to safely concentrate on her work and her running. And I'm so impressed by her accomplishments that I think I might have to go take a nap.