Being inspired to do something is a wonderful feeling! It is something that cannot be controlled much. But is there anything one can do to nurture it? I have been knitting a lot lately and loving the task and now I find it hard to believe that this love is not
always here. I am not sure what sparked up the knitting again but there are few things I can think of.
I am truly happy to be able to be part of Knitnation. I am thrilled to be able to teach there, thrilled and a bit worried too, of course, but the possibility to meet all the knitters there is the best part of the event. I have never attended such a big knitting happening and I cannot even begin to imagine how much inspiration there is going to float around and how thick the wool fumes will be. I am already affected by them.
Another perking factor is the ability to see new yarns while there. I know one cannot buy inspiration but lately when I discovered Blacker yarns, it ignited my mitten knitting and I cannot wait to see more of their yarns.
Learning something new always refreshes one's mind. For me this has meant trying out different ways to combine crochet to knitting and finding ways to incorporate Rovaniemi mitten technique in a new way. Both of these have resulted in lots of frogging and frustration, but both of them have proved to be highly interesting as well. And yet I know there are still knitting techniques to try out that I am not that familiar with.
Once in a while it is good to take a break, just for a few days and do something else and the hands will start reaching for needles again. For me this has meant warping a loom, just a small project (I am hoping my daughter to do it) and sewing a bit, summer bag of Marimekko fabric. The pattern for this comes from an existing bag that I liked and used a lot.
And then finally, a success, even a small one, can really make one happy! A new mitten, blocked and waiting for a tassel while the other one is shaping one stitch at a time in my hands.
Other than knitting I have been walking a lot. We live close by a good hiking area.
Yesterday I saw this ... It could have been someone's winter home although it looks quite wet and dreary at the moment. I'd rather not think who has lived in it. The hiking routes are beautiful and well kept and such a joy to walk on.
It is raining today, but it is supposed to get very warm next week. Maybe that will boost my cotton knitting.
Wool with you, as always,
Lene
PS. And yes, I do live a little bit above the Arctic Circle and it does not get dark at all at the moment.
Last time I left you I told you that I had received new yarn that I was totally smitten with, but first let me give you some background.
Long time ago (2008) Yarnharlot made a trip to the lighthouse in Cape Spear on Newfoundland. She took pictures of the old knits that were spread out in the lighthouse. I remember going over to see the pictures of the old knitted items again and again. There was something that touched my knitter's soul in those humble, warm pieces of clothing: the natural colours, the feel of the knits and the quiet beauty. That is knitting at its bare, sincere core. You know that I also love soft, new, colourful fibers and fashionable and clever knits, but when you start peeling off the newer layers of knitting history to find the innermost, bare, naked soul of the craft, it is there, in these kinds of fibers and garments. 
