When I first started blogging two years ago, I had no idea what I was getting into - I just dove right in. Now, I have a better idea of what blogging can do, the enormous community it makes you a part of, the power and reach of words on the web, and am finding the composition of this first post to be just a
little intimidating. What should I write about?** Where on earth should I begin? Should I talk about the Fall issue, hitting newsstands as we speak? Or the shoot I'm in the thick of planning? What I've been knitting? What's coming up in the next few issues? There are so many things to tell you about!
I'll start, though, with the Fall issue. Today's the newsstand date, though subscribers began receiving their copies at the beginning of August. It's true that I'm enormously excited about it both professionally - it's the first issue of the magazine I've had a hand in - and as a knitter, but also true that I'm on pins and needles about what you guys will think! For me, there are several projects I'm seriously having to strain myself from casting on for right away - Pam Allen's Counterpane Pullover is calling my name, as is Carrie Hoge's Leavened Raglan. Jared Flood's Cobblestone Pullover looks like just the right thing to curl up in on a chilly day. And Norah Gaughan's brilliant Tilted Duster - the cover project - continues to boggle my mind with its elegant, puzzle-like construction. So far, I think that's been my favorite part of this job - being exposed to the incredible ideas that our contributors bring to the table. As a sometime designer myself, I'm awed and excited by the innovative constructions and shapes I see, the reimaginings of classics, the effective use of just one or two simple stitches to create something wonderful. It's humbling, of course, but it's also inspiring.
In particular, I'm especially intrigued by how effective simple, small-footprint textures can be when used over a large area or as an allover fabric. The knitting story that begins on page 48 is titled "The Minimalist Knits," and it's all about knits that make use of the play between knits and purls, slipped stitches and yarnovers. Who would have thought that reverse stockinette and 1x1 rib could look as fresh together as they do in Wenlan Chia's Belle Cardigan?
Or that the simplest slip-stitch pattern - linen stitch - would have so much impact when used in carefully controlled areas of Kate Gilbert's clean-lined Cinnibar Pullover?
And I think the, well, Minimalist's Cardigan by Ruthie Nussbaum pretty much speaks for itself.
This is a new discovery for me - I seem to always be knitting busy things (forgetting that rarely does busier mean better). But now...something about small-repeat textures - moss stitch and ribbing and linen stitch and garter and even stockinette and its reverse - something about them really tickles my knitting fancy. I think it's because with these stitches, the process and the product are so intertwined, so integral to each other - the beauty of the finished product is all about the knitting itself, the actual loops of yarn that build into a fabric. They showcase the inherent loveliness of knitted fabric in such a direct, clean, unfussy way - I'm completely enchanted.
My rambling has, I guess, gotten me to this conclusion: knitting is, in a way, an intensely intimate craft. It's wonderful to think that there's something you might discover or rediscover at any moment. A slight sideways change in perspective, a single project or technique or fiber - and suddenly, an ancient art can seem brand-new again. Have you ever had a Knitting Epiphany?
**My working plan for this new blog is to treat it like an extended editor's letter - to point out and further explore cool patterns, techniques, stitches, themes, fibers, etc. - and to talk about My Life With Interweave. Feedback is always appreciated!
