Excellent topic! I am off to my knitting group in 15 minutes and am going to bring it up. When the "one skein shawls" came out, I loved knitting them. You could buy a pricey yarn because you only needed one. But! I hat WEARING shawls. Always fussing with them, slipping off, not really practical at all!
I'm right there with you! I have designed so many shawls, and I love making them, but rarely wear them. The few shawls I do wear are largish rectangles, about 20" x 80".
Must say Sandi you create posts that are as intricate as your knits! Love everything you have treated us with today! And yes, the video of the marching on of the last of the English leavers lacemakers is sad and beautiful. Thank you for providing the link. So many good links! I am very tempted by your Millsweet pattern! Love your summer dress patterns, too. In today's world there has to be a pocket for our cells!
Little by little I am letting go of the knits that I do not wear. We have lots of second-hand shops that welcome such things. I am even letting go of some yarn this way. One of our yarn shops has a little wooden 'book donation box' at the door that they have converted into a 'hat and mitten donation box.' Customers help keep it full of free items. I love this idea. And love your suggestion of doing tests of yarn by knitting a beanie or other such usable item. Our local hospital not only welcomes beanies but also welcomes knitters to sit and knit with patients!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the post. When I do a yarn stash clean-out (for which I am currently overdue), I take my unwanted yarn to the local public library. They have a "maker space" and host regular knitting and crochet gatherings. They welcome yarn donations!
Sandi, I wish our library had the room to store such things. Happily, they do offer many types of art and hobby gatherings. But they are mostly 'bring your own'.
I love crunchy cables, pieces that will last a lifetime. My problem besides getting gauge is when to wear them. I live in central Texas and for most o the time 80+ is the average temp. I know to drop down the weight of the wool, but I wan it to last my lifetime and be a classic. I am doing a lot of shawls. Not what I want but works for the moment.
Central Texas is not an ideal environment for a lover of cables! A cable sweater made in cotton is so heavy, and still too warm for most of the year. At least you can wear your shawls.
Great article! Perfect for me! I live in central Florida and our sweater wearing time is a month at most. I knit a lot of shawls because the restaurants are so cold with A/C in the summer that they're handy. Thanks for the donation box suggestion.
I faced this dilemma until I became pregnant and started knitting for my daughter. Baby knits have stolen my heart! My one month old daughter has very few preferences as far as color and design goes😂
You make such great observations and suggestions! Donating knits you don't want anymore is a great idea, that means even though you've decided you don't want to wear it, someone else can benefit from (and hopefully treasure) all the love and care that went into making it. I've shared your thoughtful article with my readers in my Tuesday post.
I so connect with this article; I love knitting scarves, shawls and socks in fingering weight. How many scarves/shawls do I need? I tend to wear them for a couple of years then launder them and donate to charity. And socks - I’ve only been making them for 4 years but never for myself - friends, relatives and charities are the beneficiaries.
Great topic! Wearability is one issue I have always tried to reflect and course correct in my 'knitting career'. I regularly take stock of what things have fallen out of favor and ask round friends/relatives who might be interested in them. Some of them live in colder places and always welcome a handknit beanie. I donate suitable items to charity. My family appreciates handknit socks and mitts and I have figured out sizes for each one of us, so there is no dearth of projects in that area currently. I definitely prefer sweaters to shawls. But I am trying to design shawls with wearability in mind. I fiddle less with long and shallow ones as well as asymmetric, so I design in that direction whenever possible. For garments I am trying to be mindful about colors and silhouettes I already like, so I increase the chance of wearing them. I am excited to try summer yarns out there and hoping it will give me more chances to knit wearable garments.
Living in the South Bay Area as you do, you certainly know summer heat (though not much humidity). I would bet you could design some lovely things in cotton, linen, silk, and blends thereof which would be wearable nearly year round. I'm excited to watch as you explore warm weather yarns!
Aww, Thank you for your kind words, Sandi. Just this week I’ve sent my first summer -ish design to TE. I was thrilled to work with the wool+silk blend. The drape and feel of the fabric is amazing. 🤩
This post captured my heart. I've been grappling with a disconnect for a couple of years now ... ever since I retired and I no longer need all my sweaters and shawls to stay warm in an overly air-conditioned office. Living in North Florida also means wearing lightweight clothing most of the year. When I do wear sweaters, I find myself wearing only one or two over and over. I have knitted garments for myself only to turn around and send the garment to a friend for whom I thought it better suited. I have a cedar chest where I keep my yarn stash and knitted garments. My husband has his own chest with all the sweaters, scarves, and socks I've knitted for him. I need to go through everything ... again. Thanks for the Rainbow link. You've reminded me that there are a few non-profit thrift stores in my area that might be interested in donations. :-)
I love that you're thinking of local non-profits that might benefit, but keep in mind that your woolier creations might be of more service in colder part of the country. Yes, you'll need to cover shipping (which is getting pretty expensive), but your hard work may be more appreciated.
Great! I love things like this. Here's a question for a future post if you're interested: Have you ever started a project and decided that the yarn is better suited for something else? Maybe you've already written about this. I completed one of Purl Soho's Sunday Dinner Towels and because the yarn is so soft and lovely, I don't want to make any more dish towels with it. The one I knitted is working very well and it will last a lot longer than my cotton dish towels, but it still seems a waste to use such lovely yarn to dry dishes. I know I should have thought about this before I started, but I was taking Purl Soho at face value ;-) I love linen stitch and am thinking of modifying the pattern for a scarf.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not a kitchen knitter (though I've designed dish towels), but I am often surprised at the luxury yarns my friends at Purl Soho use to make dish towels. I make my dish towels with this linen fabric: https://fabrics-store.com/all-fabrics?article=IL084
It is woven to the correct width, so you just need to hem the two ends. Highly absorbent, and they wear like iron.
I really enjoyed reading this and I too suffer from this disconnect. I find myself making things I would once have worn but life moves on. At least the winters, and sometimes the summers (!), are cold enough here to warrant my Fair Isle and cabled favourites.
I love the Chevalier book, especially as we have a small orchard in our garden. My favourite of hers is probably The Last Runaway but they are all good.
Lots of interesting comments about knitting & yarn, but I want to recommend Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures. What a read! I've only read 6 of the NYTime's Best Books & am disappointed that more of my reads haven't made their list. Maybe there's hope for me in the rest of the list.
I loved Remarkable Creatures! That's a great recommendation.
And there is no shame in having singular tastes. The world of book and ideas is vast, and I'm grateful there is something for everyone. I'm still watching for them to include a couple of my desert island books that haven't shown up yet.
Fantastic questions! My sweater collection, though beloved, can also feel overwhelming and somewhat burdensome so I much appreciate hearing your approach.
Years ago, when I was super interested in pattern and decoration (and in selling patterns), I devoted myself to fairly complex things. I have given away many many of these, and yet still have quite a few who languish, un-or-rarely worn, in storage--and like you it would please me mightily to thin the collection, keeping onto only a few of the old ones that are particularly beloved: an Icelandic cardigan I knit for my mother in 1978, Kestrels Alight, my Knitting In America sweater, and a heavily textured/colored tunic that was published in an early issue of Interweave Knits.
I still knit all the time, but years ago (at least once I realized that I'm not a pattern writer/seller), I relaxed into the bliss of making the kinds of things I like to wear every day and and can knit while reading (one of my great pleasures): simple hand spun stockinette "shirts" mostly, with the odd striped or garter stitch garment for variety. These build up too of course, so there are a quite a few still to move along-- though not the... oh.... dozen+++ favorites I wear nearly every day. They are my clothes.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Sarah! I had a little fangirl moment when I saw your name pop up in the comments. Then I pulled my copy of Knitting in America off the shelf and found your pattern!
I have such admiration for your textile work, and for your writing.
Melanie is still sprinkling her magic over the knitting world. She works with Modern Daily Knitting as the editor and creative director of their wildly popular series of Field Guides.
Gosh I didn't know that. Yay Melanie. And yay modern daily knitting. An influencer in our wondrous knitting world before the word (or at least the concept), was a thing. Or at least the Internet version thereof....
I love knitting lace shawls but rarely ever wear them as I tend to find them awkward.
I went through a sock phase but somehow the socks never hold up to more than a few wears... I have the right gauge and have tried several ways of measuring fit, but they always end up loose and stretched out of shape.
I suspect you're not alone in your lace shawl disconnect. So much fun to knit, but a challenge to integrate into a modern casual wardrobe.
I've found there are a couple of keys to hand knit socks that last: 1) don't use 100% merino wool—it's too soft and delicate. 2) knit them to a seriously firm gauge. For most sock weight yarns, 8 sts to the inch is on the loose side—9 or 10 sts to the inch will give you longer wear. 3) if you must machine wash, put the socks in a mesh bag and use the gentle cycle. Never machine dry.
Excellent topic! I am off to my knitting group in 15 minutes and am going to bring it up. When the "one skein shawls" came out, I loved knitting them. You could buy a pricey yarn because you only needed one. But! I hat WEARING shawls. Always fussing with them, slipping off, not really practical at all!
I'm right there with you! I have designed so many shawls, and I love making them, but rarely wear them. The few shawls I do wear are largish rectangles, about 20" x 80".
Must say Sandi you create posts that are as intricate as your knits! Love everything you have treated us with today! And yes, the video of the marching on of the last of the English leavers lacemakers is sad and beautiful. Thank you for providing the link. So many good links! I am very tempted by your Millsweet pattern! Love your summer dress patterns, too. In today's world there has to be a pocket for our cells!
Little by little I am letting go of the knits that I do not wear. We have lots of second-hand shops that welcome such things. I am even letting go of some yarn this way. One of our yarn shops has a little wooden 'book donation box' at the door that they have converted into a 'hat and mitten donation box.' Customers help keep it full of free items. I love this idea. And love your suggestion of doing tests of yarn by knitting a beanie or other such usable item. Our local hospital not only welcomes beanies but also welcomes knitters to sit and knit with patients!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the post. When I do a yarn stash clean-out (for which I am currently overdue), I take my unwanted yarn to the local public library. They have a "maker space" and host regular knitting and crochet gatherings. They welcome yarn donations!
Sandi, I wish our library had the room to store such things. Happily, they do offer many types of art and hobby gatherings. But they are mostly 'bring your own'.
I love crunchy cables, pieces that will last a lifetime. My problem besides getting gauge is when to wear them. I live in central Texas and for most o the time 80+ is the average temp. I know to drop down the weight of the wool, but I wan it to last my lifetime and be a classic. I am doing a lot of shawls. Not what I want but works for the moment.
Central Texas is not an ideal environment for a lover of cables! A cable sweater made in cotton is so heavy, and still too warm for most of the year. At least you can wear your shawls.
Great article! Perfect for me! I live in central Florida and our sweater wearing time is a month at most. I knit a lot of shawls because the restaurants are so cold with A/C in the summer that they're handy. Thanks for the donation box suggestion.
Don't you just hate how many placed overdue the AC? I always take a shawl or cardigan when I go to the movie theater.
I wear more wool in my shawls in the summer than I do in the winter!
I faced this dilemma until I became pregnant and started knitting for my daughter. Baby knits have stolen my heart! My one month old daughter has very few preferences as far as color and design goes😂
Best wishes to you and your new little one! Doesn't it feel wonderful to wrap them in garments you've lovingly made by hand?
Yes it most definitely does🥰
You make such great observations and suggestions! Donating knits you don't want anymore is a great idea, that means even though you've decided you don't want to wear it, someone else can benefit from (and hopefully treasure) all the love and care that went into making it. I've shared your thoughtful article with my readers in my Tuesday post.
Thank you, Jodie!
I so connect with this article; I love knitting scarves, shawls and socks in fingering weight. How many scarves/shawls do I need? I tend to wear them for a couple of years then launder them and donate to charity. And socks - I’ve only been making them for 4 years but never for myself - friends, relatives and charities are the beneficiaries.
Great topic! Wearability is one issue I have always tried to reflect and course correct in my 'knitting career'. I regularly take stock of what things have fallen out of favor and ask round friends/relatives who might be interested in them. Some of them live in colder places and always welcome a handknit beanie. I donate suitable items to charity. My family appreciates handknit socks and mitts and I have figured out sizes for each one of us, so there is no dearth of projects in that area currently. I definitely prefer sweaters to shawls. But I am trying to design shawls with wearability in mind. I fiddle less with long and shallow ones as well as asymmetric, so I design in that direction whenever possible. For garments I am trying to be mindful about colors and silhouettes I already like, so I increase the chance of wearing them. I am excited to try summer yarns out there and hoping it will give me more chances to knit wearable garments.
Living in the South Bay Area as you do, you certainly know summer heat (though not much humidity). I would bet you could design some lovely things in cotton, linen, silk, and blends thereof which would be wearable nearly year round. I'm excited to watch as you explore warm weather yarns!
Aww, Thank you for your kind words, Sandi. Just this week I’ve sent my first summer -ish design to TE. I was thrilled to work with the wool+silk blend. The drape and feel of the fabric is amazing. 🤩
This post captured my heart. I've been grappling with a disconnect for a couple of years now ... ever since I retired and I no longer need all my sweaters and shawls to stay warm in an overly air-conditioned office. Living in North Florida also means wearing lightweight clothing most of the year. When I do wear sweaters, I find myself wearing only one or two over and over. I have knitted garments for myself only to turn around and send the garment to a friend for whom I thought it better suited. I have a cedar chest where I keep my yarn stash and knitted garments. My husband has his own chest with all the sweaters, scarves, and socks I've knitted for him. I need to go through everything ... again. Thanks for the Rainbow link. You've reminded me that there are a few non-profit thrift stores in my area that might be interested in donations. :-)
I love that you're thinking of local non-profits that might benefit, but keep in mind that your woolier creations might be of more service in colder part of the country. Yes, you'll need to cover shipping (which is getting pretty expensive), but your hard work may be more appreciated.
Do you send your knitted stuff to the Rainbow's New York address?
I do. I send a box to them about twice a year. I can get lots of hats/mittens/socks/etc into a box!
Great! I love things like this. Here's a question for a future post if you're interested: Have you ever started a project and decided that the yarn is better suited for something else? Maybe you've already written about this. I completed one of Purl Soho's Sunday Dinner Towels and because the yarn is so soft and lovely, I don't want to make any more dish towels with it. The one I knitted is working very well and it will last a lot longer than my cotton dish towels, but it still seems a waste to use such lovely yarn to dry dishes. I know I should have thought about this before I started, but I was taking Purl Soho at face value ;-) I love linen stitch and am thinking of modifying the pattern for a scarf.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not a kitchen knitter (though I've designed dish towels), but I am often surprised at the luxury yarns my friends at Purl Soho use to make dish towels. I make my dish towels with this linen fabric: https://fabrics-store.com/all-fabrics?article=IL084
It is woven to the correct width, so you just need to hem the two ends. Highly absorbent, and they wear like iron.
Thank you! Nice selection of fabric 🙂 Turns out I have an account with Fabric Store from a long time ago …
I really enjoyed reading this and I too suffer from this disconnect. I find myself making things I would once have worn but life moves on. At least the winters, and sometimes the summers (!), are cold enough here to warrant my Fair Isle and cabled favourites.
I love the Chevalier book, especially as we have a small orchard in our garden. My favourite of hers is probably The Last Runaway but they are all good.
I haven't read The Last Runaway - adding it to my list now!
Lots of interesting comments about knitting & yarn, but I want to recommend Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures. What a read! I've only read 6 of the NYTime's Best Books & am disappointed that more of my reads haven't made their list. Maybe there's hope for me in the rest of the list.
I loved Remarkable Creatures! That's a great recommendation.
And there is no shame in having singular tastes. The world of book and ideas is vast, and I'm grateful there is something for everyone. I'm still watching for them to include a couple of my desert island books that haven't shown up yet.
Fantastic questions! My sweater collection, though beloved, can also feel overwhelming and somewhat burdensome so I much appreciate hearing your approach.
Years ago, when I was super interested in pattern and decoration (and in selling patterns), I devoted myself to fairly complex things. I have given away many many of these, and yet still have quite a few who languish, un-or-rarely worn, in storage--and like you it would please me mightily to thin the collection, keeping onto only a few of the old ones that are particularly beloved: an Icelandic cardigan I knit for my mother in 1978, Kestrels Alight, my Knitting In America sweater, and a heavily textured/colored tunic that was published in an early issue of Interweave Knits.
I still knit all the time, but years ago (at least once I realized that I'm not a pattern writer/seller), I relaxed into the bliss of making the kinds of things I like to wear every day and and can knit while reading (one of my great pleasures): simple hand spun stockinette "shirts" mostly, with the odd striped or garter stitch garment for variety. These build up too of course, so there are a quite a few still to move along-- though not the... oh.... dozen+++ favorites I wear nearly every day. They are my clothes.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Sarah! I had a little fangirl moment when I saw your name pop up in the comments. Then I pulled my copy of Knitting in America off the shelf and found your pattern!
I have such admiration for your textile work, and for your writing.
Fangirls! Goes both ways. And I love that you have Knitting In America, ancient though it now is. Still, didn’t Melanie have an influence on things!
Melanie is still sprinkling her magic over the knitting world. She works with Modern Daily Knitting as the editor and creative director of their wildly popular series of Field Guides.
Gosh I didn't know that. Yay Melanie. And yay modern daily knitting. An influencer in our wondrous knitting world before the word (or at least the concept), was a thing. Or at least the Internet version thereof....
I love knitting lace shawls but rarely ever wear them as I tend to find them awkward.
I went through a sock phase but somehow the socks never hold up to more than a few wears... I have the right gauge and have tried several ways of measuring fit, but they always end up loose and stretched out of shape.
I suspect you're not alone in your lace shawl disconnect. So much fun to knit, but a challenge to integrate into a modern casual wardrobe.
I've found there are a couple of keys to hand knit socks that last: 1) don't use 100% merino wool—it's too soft and delicate. 2) knit them to a seriously firm gauge. For most sock weight yarns, 8 sts to the inch is on the loose side—9 or 10 sts to the inch will give you longer wear. 3) if you must machine wash, put the socks in a mesh bag and use the gentle cycle. Never machine dry.
I don't machine wash or dry my socks, but I think you're dead on about the wool. But it's what my LYS and dyer carry, and I've wanted to support them.