Hello, it’s good to ‘see’ you again and I hope all is well with you. Although it’s still warm and summery here, there are signs aplenty that autumn is around the corner. In our garden, the apples are almost ripe.
The grapes, too, and some of their leaves are already turning colour.
I feel like I’ve been rather lazy over the past month-and-a-half or so, but someone else called it being ‘creatively dormant’ – a far kinder and more helpful way of putting it.
So, apart from knitting several pairs of socks and making a felt butterfly, what did this ‘creative dormancy’ look like? I have not been sleeping the time away (I wish!), but have been walking or cycling almost every day. Usually close to home, but sometimes a little further afield, and one day outside the Wadden Sea dyke. It looks very tranquil in the photo below, but actually there was quite a strong wind.
I also visited a couple of lovely markets, one of them in a botanical garden.
There were some delicious farmhouse cheeses and other tasty foods.
And yarns, too, like these bright hand dyed ones…
… and this fine tweed, with inspiration for some stranded colourwork.
Lazing about/being creatively dormant for a while didn’t always feel comfortable, but I think it was just what I needed, because now I feel inspired and energized again, full of new plans for things to knit, make and write about.
At the top of this post you can see the start of a gift project that I can’t tell you about until it has been gifted because the giftee may be reading this. What I can tell you about is my plan for a Norwegian cardigan. During our May holiday in Germany, I came across a book by Norwegian knitting designer Kristin Wiola Ødegård.
The German title is Traumhafte Strickjacken aus Norwegen, and the original is Ett år med kofter. I took a look at the designer’s website, and saw that there is an E-book version available in English: One Year with Wiola Cardigans. Wiola’s website is really worth checking out – very inspiring. It’s not just the knitting itself that is beautiful, but also the added embroidery and other embellishments.
I bought two copies of the book – one for myself and one for a friend, and we’re both going to knit something from it. My friend is going to make Rakel in a cardigan version (Ravelry link).
And I’ve chosen Helma (Ravelry link).
Or from these???
It took a while (fortunately shopkeeper Nynke is very patient and even plied us with tea), but we both succeeded in choosing yarns and colours for our projects we’re happy with. I’ve given choosing colours for stranded knitting a lot of thought lately, and hope to tell you a bit about that next week. Hope to see you again then!
Spannend! Ben benieuwd welke kleuren je hebt gekozen!
Het kost even wat tijd om mijn gedachten op een rijtje te zetten, maar ik kom er op terug!
Lovely projects ahead! And thank you for sharing the phrase “creative dormancy”. Now I hope that’s what I’ve been going through this past year or more.
It looks like you have had some beautiful weather. Good time for “creative dormancy.” I can’t wait to see what the gift is and also see more about your Norwegian sweater and the colors that you picked.