Day 43: Wisdom 2 by Kim Hargreaves
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarnstylist/wisdom
Wow! I am halfway through the 100-day challenge to wear my hand knits. And what a lot I have learned. Before I started this challenge, I saw my knitting as a hobby, and the things that I made were categorized in my mind as creative projects to be celebrated and worn for a time on special days or in certain work-appropriated outfits. But after fifty days in a row of wear, my knits have become such an every day part of my life that I realize what treasures they really are. Instead of becoming sick of my sweaters, the more I wear them, the more invested I am. I think that sometimes we don’t appreciate what we really have until it is too late. The threat of losing the knits that I didn't wear in 100 days made me value them so much that I searched every nook and cranny of the house to find that stray shawl or two that I had misplaced a few years before.
Day 44: Opal by Kim Hargreaves
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarnstylist/opal
As you can see, just when I had given up hope, my shawl was found! Above I am wearing Opal, the precious shawl that I knitted for the Tricot Opera fashion show at the Palais Royale garden in Paris. This treasured momento of my cross-cultural knitting celebration is back in the flesh! Naturally it was only when I let go of the shawl that it was found. Following suggestions from my readers that kidsilk aura was available in individual stashes on Ravelry, I tracked down a French knitter who agreed to sell me some lovely coral-colored yarn so that I could reknit Opal and Aimee. No sooner had I agreed upon the terms of sale that, pulling out a sweater to wear for the morrow from a drawer, the two shawls tumbled out! They had been wedged into the very back of the drawer, rolled up in another sweater, and I had completely missed them in my search. It looks like soon I will have three kidsilk aura shawls to my name, as the new crop of yarn I ordered is already on its way to me from France!
Day 45: Charm Pull by Anny Blatt
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarnstylist/charm-pull
Here I have attempted to dress down my Chanel-style pullover by pairing it with skinny jeans. Tell me honestly, does this combination work?
Day 46: Connie by Jenny Atkinson
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarnstylist/connie
I think as knitters or artists in any field there can be a tendency to feel a little detached from the things we create. They are a part of us, but we often put them aside, organizing them into cupboards. We bring our creations out to show to friends or we post photos and then we put them away again. But the challenge of wearing my knits for 100 days has meant that they could never be put aside. The constant presence of my knits then began to influence me. Inspired by continually wearing them, I became aware of the fact that I am a maker of things, and that is a central part of my identity.
Day 47: Audrey in Unst by Gudrun Johnston
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarnstylist/audrey-in-unst-2
In a way, the labour of accessorizing and wearing and photographing my sweaters every day reminded me of the painstaking hours of work that went into their creation. So that makes me realize that I am a creator of beautiful things and it is not a bad thing for my wardrobe to reflect that.
Day 48: Aimee by Kim Hargreaves
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarnstylist/aimee-2
It seems that however much I had underestimated the importance of my knitted pieces, some part of me treasured them as they deserved and brought them home safely from Paris. I am afraid that this is not the staggering dénouement that The Vanishing Shawls Mystery deserves. The shawls should have been discovered in the pocket of an absconding prime minister or wrapped around the swan-like neck of a mysterious passenger en route to Biarritz. Instead the shawls lurked in the back of a cabinet, rolled up in an ignominious ball. There lies the real difference between fiction and reality.
Day 49: Paisley by Kim Hargreaves
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarnstylist/paisley
Violà, my 50th knit:
Day 50: Cabernet Ribs by Liz Nields
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarnstylist/cabernet-ribs
In my next post, I’m looking forward to sharing the yarn market shopping extravaganza I just experienced at Stitches West. I wonder how many of my readers were there at the market with me, and we passed each other without knowing it?
To read the next installment of the 100 Day Challenge, click on the link below: