A field guide to renewal.

A very special new knitting release...

Sep 20, 2024

INSIDE: The latest MDK Field Guide, the fascinating fiber artist talk I attended, my sewing and knitting project updates.

If you haven’t heard of Modern Daily Knitting and their lovely field guides, well, do I have something exciting to share with you!

Ann Shayne and Kay Gardiner, the founders, describe their field guides as:

“Little books that explore the big world of knitting. It’s the series that’s captivating knitters all over.”

They’ve released 27 guides so far, on everything from openwork designs by Amy Christoffers (No. 6) to sock knitting (No. 11 & No. 27, featuring Fatimah Hinds.)

And now, they’ve just released No. 28: Renewal, featuring designs by Norah Gaughan, and they were kind enough to send me a copy!

Here’s what the theme of this means:

“What happens when Norah Gaughan, the knitwear legend, pares it all back? These five designs will renew your love of knitting: three cardigans—long, medium, and short. Plus, two clever accessories. Distilled garments that are filled with small moments of joy to knit.”

I’ll talk more about it next week, but here’s a hint: the designs are gorgeous, cleverly written, and perfect for the upcoming colder months.

As I mentioned last week, my sons and I attended a fiber artists’ talk and knitting/crochet circle as part of a fiber arts exhibition at a local art gallery.

Kate Just, the artist, was fascinating to listen to!

Like I’m sure many of you reading this, she was inspired to learn to knit by her mother, who knitted each day to relax after work.

She talked about how you can pick up a craft often by just observing others in your life doing it, something I resonated with. I’m a visual learner, after all!

Kate Just also discussed craft as a creative linage of women, and how when she participates in fiber arts, she feels connected to her creative ancestors.

All those concepts inspired her collaborative projects, like the Conversation Piece featured in the exhibition we went to. Creativity is a beautiful way to connect with others, and that showed in the knitting/crochet circle!

There were fascinating discussions we had. As she mentioned, all of us knitting or crocheted acted as a ‘social lubricant’, leading to great conversations with people that might’ve otherwise been strangers.

When she finished her talk to allow for questions from the participants, I asked her what she saw as the difference between an ‘artist’ and a ‘maker’ who both work with fiber art, if any.

Kate Hall spoke about how ‘craft’ is often artificially separated from art, and through her work, she tries to bridge the gap between the two.

She does this through another large theme in her work: the exploration of ‘perception’, and how our assumptions shape how we perceive artworks.

One way she plays with this was an exhibition of canvases displayed on a gallery wall, par for the course, but only when you got closer did they reveal themselves to be knitted.

She also made incredible, large sculptures displayed in exhibitions of similar works, but unlike the glass, metal, plastic, or wooden makeup of those items, she machine-knitted hers. The result is extraordinary!

I’ll talk more about the exhibition next week…

I’m making slow, but steady sewing progress on my Chanterelle Pants! I’ll have more to show you soon…

I recently started knitting the Sophie Scarf design by Mette Wendelboe Okkels from PetiteKnit, a Danish designer. Here’s what she said about her creation:

“The Sophie Scarf is worked back and forth in one piece, from tip to tip in garter stitch with built-in i-cord edges. The smaller size Sophie Scarf reaches around the neck once, while the larger size can wrap around the neck twice.”

Taking a look at the stats on Ravelry, the Sophie scarf was very popular! 19,541 projects, in 5,085 queues!

It’s a skinny scarf, perfect for one of my yarn tastings from Knit Picks. To make it, I’m using their Andean Treasure (100% Baby Alpaca, DK weight.) It’s so lovely and soft, and the stitch definition is lovely.