Do you knit with intergity?

Can I knit with integrity? Really Molly?!? Pullease.

Yes, just for a moment indulge me, and if this is not something that tests out or rings true - Cast it OUT. 

When you get a ways into your craft there is something in life that calls us to go a little deeper in steps.  Thank you so much for letting me lay a little knitting philosophy on you.  First let’s look at what we do, and follow the path to the right conclusions.  Since what we do takes time and time is a precious commodity here on earth.  

I’m sure for the most part the journey starts the same.  We have a desire.  Then we start by seeing a rudimentary means to getting it or making it happen.  As a voracious learner I tend to want to Make it happen.  To experience it for myself is really just as thrilling as having it.  

Knitting started with sticks and the yarn. 

Have you noticed after knowing the 3 elements of knitting you are still captivated?  

Yarn ~ Sticks ~ Hands 

Cast on ~ Knit ~ Bind off

Texture ~ Colorwork ~ Pattern

Do you see how you have changed? From knitting a simple scarf you are now drawn to something a little more complex.  Or something to take your knitting to the next level.  If you are still in the beauty of the scarf knitting stage, enjoy it.  In twenty years of knitting I have not found the exhaust of creating a beautiful piece.  In all truth I have very few pieces to show for it.  The joy of the piece that was made, lasts.  

After the fun of learning to knit, or that new technique has passed, it is a bit more about taking your knitting to the next phase.  When you continue on that journey and get in a little further, you discover that it is more than just getting that next project off the sticks.  There are sooo many choices in yarn out there, does it really make a difference in what you choose?  

Yes.

If you want to Knit with integrity.

Take the idea of sugar for example -

our bodies run on glucose for energy.  Even though it has a really bad name in the health world sugar is how we get around.  Sugar comes in many forms: natural sugars, refined sugars and even man-made sugars.  We can know from science what these sugars do.  More importantly we can know from experience.  For the sake of the analogy let’s leave out all the outliers, and focus on how the body is supposed to process sugar.   

The closer you get to an original sugar the better your body will process it.  Sugar that was created to work with your body is the sugar your body processes best.  For the lions share this is those sugars that are closest to the original, those that have had the least amount of processing involved.  These include things like fruits and honey.  Then comes the processed sugars like white sugar, brown sugar, to a lesser maple syrup.  Finally the man made sugars like Splenda, and ... I can't think of more.   But, you may experience a different feel based on what kind of sugar your body is using.  I remember one of my cooking friends saying to me “I use real butter, my body knows what to do with that.”   Then the same can rings true for what we put on our bodies.  

If you haven’t felt the difference of how a natural fiber works with your body it is a treat to discover. 

Part of the reason for the sugar analogy is because in a lesser way what we use on our body affects how we feel.  First of all the feel of the material against our skin.  Then the filter of the environment and how we process our comfort level.  Also with these things, is how confident we feel in the piece we have on.  If you compound that with the enjoyment of knowing you created it to be worn by a particular human for the rest of their life.  Why would we not take into careful consideration where it was made and which creature it came from. 

Each natural fiber has its own unique feel and quality.  

I know you have gone to the yarn shop and seen the plethora of options out there, not to mention etsy and the zillion little fiber farms just begging you to make a purchase.  Does it really make a difference what you choose as long as you like the color and the feel in your hands?  As long as they have enough won’t you be ok?

Here is where we take the plunge -

As we get deeper into the craft that we love we start to understand nuances and develop tastes for things.  If you have ever gone to the yarn shop or fiber arts show and been sucked in by the Color ~ Texture ~ Hand of a beautiful skein of yarn you will understand the struggle.  It comes home with you and then what?  We push into the next project that has that amount of yardage stamped on it right?  

If this is your go to I hope to inspire you to dig deeper Or knit with integrity. 

You don't have to do that.  It is much better to think about what your yarn qualities will do for your finished piece.    In the beginning of developing an art there is this pull to consume all the things that reveal themselves as beautiful to us.  Bending our materials into what we choose.  I have gone through the faze of knitting as fast as I possibly can, to finish those 4 hats in a week, with the yarn that presented itself.  Where the only criteria I had was if the wool would felt.  I am not saying don’t do this, part of the journey is moving toward the next thing.  Even now there are times for a fast satisfying knit.  But…  

To knit with integrity is to see things as they were meant to be not just what we would make them.

Do consider one project where you intentionally decide all the options and purposefully plan the outcome for the best potential of the yarn.  I would say that the fiber making the yarn should be one of the biggest factors.  Or you can even work backwards from the pattern.  Seeing how the pattern lays will prescribe which fiber/yarn might be best. 

In developing into a better knitter I am understanding more and more it is not about what I would push the yarn into. 

It would be a shame to disregard it's created properties.  Mastering what I would make out of it. It is more about looking at its given qualities and realizing it into what it was meant for.  Knowing when to let it be; open lace work, or feel more like the hug of a cable.  Understanding that not all yarns are meant for every pattern gives me the freedom to find the right project.    

Recently my sweet friend and I are reading “Reaching out” by Henri Nouwen.  I love to think of how we can all encourage our friends and others to be who they are.  Not making them into who we think they should be.  Seeing those potential and qualities that should be capitalized on.  This is the best way to develop good friendships.  The intention of the knitter is to make something beautiful.  Many times it is taking the time to realize what you have.  Your valuable time is worth pushing the value of the yarn to its potential.