Still Knitting, Still Walking

On knitting, dogs, clay, and the loudness of the world

Lately, I’ve found myself pulled back to the old habits that always help me in uncertain times: walking, knitting, a whole day to catch up on minute work details, creamy coffee and lots of spritzy water. I started a clay class at the local ceramic studio. (The instructor said that at some point the hand eye coordination will kick in, like learning to ride a bike, so I’m remaining hopeful that I won’t always be so awful at it. )

The world right now feels especially loud—chaotic, unmoored, and brimming with a kind of anxiety and anger and meanness. There’s such heaviness to this moment, so unsafe and unsure.

And so. walking and knitting.

Most days, I head out with my dogs. One of them, older and slower now, takes a gentle loop close to home. The other, a younger German Shepherd, still full of energy—more than Oskar, though a little less than his own wild self a year ago—bounds up the trails behind our house in the foothills. It’s dry here in New Mexico. So dry. But this morning, snow dusted the ground—a brief, muted moment of moisture we’ve needed so badly. Accompanying the snow, we had a happily loud flock of red-winged blackbirds in our apple tree right by the bedroom window. We put out black oil sunflower seeds for them.

Keep scrolling for more photos and info about that colorful cardigan

Who’s poked through? Almost every day, I walk the same path through my yard, bending and squatting to look super closely at the sprouts and returning plants. The rose bush we planted on the grave of our dog Miso—who died last summer—is beginning to show signs of life again. Little red shoots, cold and soft at the same time. It’s such a quiet thing, and yet so exciting.

I’d love to hear what others are doing to stay grounded. How are you coping?

So, here are my WIP updates!

I’m still knitting every day, and last month I gifted a crochet baby blanket for a new Santa Fe baby born to two friends and colleagues I care about.

I knit two sweaters for my 3-year old niece, Willow. (The Willow Blanket was named after her! ) I knit a fish cardigan for her, and I’d be happy to dig up the pattern if you’d like a link to it. Then, since a more colorful sweater was wished for, I visited the Santa Cruz Yarn Shop and picked out some luscious yarn—don’t ask me what it was, because I completely forgot. (This reminds me, I have a quick question to ask in poll form at the end of this…) But I remember it was soft, squooshy, and 100% wool. This sweater knit up in about three days!

The cardigan! Do you remember all the Shetland wool I bought in Lerwick in the Shetlands? I made The Lerwick Hat with so many different colors of Jamieson wool. But I also had so much left over - so I modifed the Victory Cardigan by Corrine at The Woolly Thistle - Instead of using the thicker weight yarn called for in the pattern, I used the DK and just knit a bigger size! I lucked out with that crazy risky move, and it actually fits perfectly. I’ll put some photos up so you can see, but there are a ton of photos on my Instagram too, if you’d like to see more. I wear it ALL THE TIME!

Two little kid sweaters and a cardigan for me!

So, above, when I mentioned I forgot the name of the wool I bought in Santa Cruz, I said I had a question for you all. First a confession - I have very newly discovered knitting Vlogs on YouTube. OMG. I love listening to these podcasts while knitting at night after work. I’ve become quite attached to these young women’s stories, and love hearing their knitting adventures. It’s low-key, cozy and inspiring. It seems they always follow a similar structure with some personal variation, but normally it’s kind of like this - WIP updates, finished objects, plans, new yarn, some talk about books they are reading, or share a bit about where they live and the textile scene there… they are just so pleasant to listen to while knitting in the evenings. I have thought of doing one too - I kind of feel silly even saying it aloud, but I have to admit, I kind of get excited about talking about my projects. I would have to take notes throughout the weeks so I could remember the names of the patterns and the type of yarn I’m suing. Anyhow, I have two questions for you:

If you do watch knitting podcasts, please feel free to share your favorites—I’m always looking to add a few to my rotation. I didn’t realize how relaxing they could be. It feels like a little private knitting group at night, second only to the real thing.

I also recently did a test knit for the Chunky Knit Vest by Scottish designer Tracey Doxey. I loved working on it, especially since it was a stash knit. She asked testers to use chunky yarn from their stash—or any yarn that matched the weight—and wrote up a simple pattern that turned out so darling! I don’t have a good photo of me wearing it yet, but I do have some progress shots. I’ll share a finished photo on Instagram soon.

Chunky Knit Vest by Tracey Doxey

Well, it was a long update, so if you made it all the way down here, thank you!

I appreciate each and every comment and like. It’s fun finding another knitting community on Substack.

warmly,

Kiersten