SAN JUAN ISLAND TEXTILE GUILD

More about Susan

... After I retired, I was able to take on yarn projects that were more complicated, challenging, and creatively satisfying. In other words, it was time to dive into Knitting with a capital “K” in a serious way. I was lucky to be living in Seattle at the time, where I had easy access to classes and mentors, ready with the advice I needed to get me over the inevitable rough spots. I’d done a lot of dressmaking when I was in high school and college, so the idea of creating knitted garments didn’t present any particular terrors for me, it was just that I didn’t know how to make the knitted ‘fabric’ itself, in the dimensions and with the characteristics I wanted. It took me several years of project-by-project practice to learn many of the tricked of the knitting trade not just the stitches themselves, but also their simple, once you know the shortcuts, rules of thumb, etc. that one can pick up only thru experience, and mistakes. Regarding mistakes, though, I found knitting very forgiving by contrast to sewing. A cloth fabric once cut cannot easily be put back together if an error is made, but ripping out in knitting costs the mistake-maker nothing but time and a little embarrassment maybe. In knitting, nothing is irrevocable; it’s the ultimate ‘not-to-worry’ activity. A major reason why I am so fond of it. Like most knitters, I have gone through various cycles of enthusiasm, e.g., for a particular type or brand of hand-dyed yarn, for projects built from combinations of knitted squares, for lace-knitting, for anything made from a ‘slip-stitch’ pattern, for shawls, for moebius scarves, for the latest gauntlet pattern in Knitty(™)s on-line magazine etc., etc. Of course, as I move on to the next type of knitting that catches my fancy, my stash of yarn just continues to grow and grow. A stash of yarn is a wonderful thing. Just to know it’s there is a very warm and comforting feeling for a knitter whether it exists in beautifully organized storage bins (ideally) or is simply somewhat randomly tucked away (more my style), it is just waiting there for me to re-discover the perfect yarn for some future engrossing knitting project. It makes that next project so cost-justified; no need to buy any new yarn for it; I can use what I have already, right ? But, to realize these good intentions it means I have to be careful to stay far away from those enticing yarn stores, which unfortunately I never do. and so.. Before I know it, the stash has just gotten a little bigger. Ah well. I’m not out of yarn storage space yet