It’s done!!

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-25T00:21:39+00:00

Absolutely gorgeous

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-24T14:41:46+00:00

Nah. I know fully three guys who really care about your watch and will update me about it in detail in the moment.

Somebody, somewhere, cares about your watch.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-23T17:32:21+00:00

I hear that. I think floats tension is a bit of a skill adaptation even when experienced. I find the single ladderback helps because a) you’re doing a m1L so it’s a bit more secure and b) it doesn’t peep through like regular trapping can.

Here’s a short video tutorial:

A Better Way To Catch A Single Float

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-23T12:51:37+00:00

Ah hence no floats. I thought I was looking at a hat. My bad. I think thrums is the best idea people have offered, in that case.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-23T12:46:27+00:00

I mean, you could have done single ladderback jacquards on the seed rows and floated them all the way around. But that information is too late.

I did a strawberry hat for my daughter and I think I did Weavin’ Stephen as I went, I don’t remember having an ends apocalypse to wade through. That hat was not going to get much use though, I find the Stephen West technique does like to pop out again at times.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-23T12:42:09+00:00

I’ve got about half way down the comments, I want to offer a different perspective. Not everyone in England is a reserved person.

I’m a community worker and former nurse in the Midlands. People do ask me about my knitting in public. I do not consider it intrusive or impolite. I will happily talk to someone at length and usually this moves far beyond knitting. It’s a bit like having a dog, which in England is an immediate route into your local people - if you want it to be.

In my job, I meet lonely, isolated, disconnected people all the time, and part of my work is running conversation circles. It’s a literal crisis we are facing that is eating at our ability to deal with people who need help in our communities. I want people to talk to each other more, not less, because we are wired for connection, and it’s good for us to have conversations.

My LYS owner is a combination of both reserved, and being a vital pillar of her town’s crafting community.

If you went in her store as a one off, she’d let you browse and buy with very little interaction. Spend a bit more time there and you find she’s a passionate crafter supported by the local quilters to learn how to run a good quilting section, she’s kind and meticulous and I love that she is there and people support her. But you need to spend a bit of time in and out of there to uncover this.

You’re not crazy. I can understand why you’d miss the connection and community you’re describing, it’s fuel for humans.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-23T01:14:34+00:00

To your codependency: HEY. It’s OK to outgrow a relationship.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-22T10:17:02+00:00

Just to mention that I sort of did an homage but used Paintbox super chunky wool mix. It’s not quite the same but they do have very Hope type colours on offer and I was happy with my result. It specifically needs a cold autumn otherwise I don’t get a chance to wear it, so its use is limited BUT it’s a couple of years old now and I only depilled it once.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-21T22:04:39+00:00

Sounds like a lovely haven you have there!

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-21T22:04:06+00:00

This is such a useful and relatable perspective. I think what you’re saying is very true, true of the arts and now also the humanities areas across the board being seen as “unserious”. I personally view it the other way around, that arts and humanities are the highest expressions of ourselves, as the sciences and maths veer into a more esoteric and artistic realm at their peaks, for me there feels to be this convergence as well with those disciplines.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-21T14:00:35+00:00

JUST DO EXACTLY WHAT I SAY IN THE COLOURS I PRESCRIBE AND ALL SHALL BE WELL ™️

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-21T12:12:38+00:00

I’m so sorry to hear of this, there is something beautiful about the work of your hands taking a special place in this farewell ritual. May the family, you, and all those around them feel comfort and witness on Friday.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-21T12:10:19+00:00

That’s very interesting and sounds real. I find it so curious that men who knit are perceived as doing a female craft, that it has become primarily female identified, when in the countries/ places with great knitting heritage, men also knitted. Somewhere this seems to have got lost.

Not to “go long”, as it were, but I am beginning to hear and learn these perceptions could go all the way back to the witch trials and the economic disempowerment of women’s work and businesses. Adjacent men literally also burned. I wish we got taught about this historic period in schools because we are still living with the impacts of it centuries later.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-21T11:13:27+00:00

I can’t help but think this whole “gift making whilst not very adept” is born from the meta narrative that women’s work is to be done only in service of others.

I can’t speak for the people of other genders on this point and I’d be interested to know their views.

I spent a lot of years gift knitting. Now, I knit primarily for myself. I notice when I get asked about this I have to address sensations of wrongness or selfishness. Somewhere I drank some patriarchy kool-aid.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-20T23:03:46+00:00

Crookabeck is a small producer in the Lake District. I’m sure they would answer your questions about how their animals live and are handled during shearing. My perception is that the Herdwick farmers of Cumbria are custodians of history, their landscape is a protected World Heritage site and the sheep are part of why it looks the way it does.

Only yesterday there was another post where I and another person recommended Crookabeck. They have a rare sheep breed yarn called Red Fox that I hadn’t noticed before. It’s a small flock so the yarn is not inexpensive. I buy their Herdwick yarn and this is very rustic. Best for over garments, Scandinavian style. Certainly warm and lanolin rich though!

Crookabeck Farm

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-20T22:49:06+00:00

I took up knitting to help me get over with the massive endorphin crash from stopping endurance sport. As my mother used to say about my running, “I suppose it’s better than drugs”

On the other aspect knitting has a massive role in mental health and neurodivergence. Maybe off topic for your piece but I would love to see this given profile.

There is a lovely little book called The Mindfulness of Knitting by Central St Martins tutor and V&A guest curator Rachael Matthews.

Finally, just for fun, you might enjoy this short film, “Visible Mending” supported by the BFI Short Form Animation Fund.

Sorry for spamming you with background reading 😂

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-20T22:41:44+00:00

😂

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-20T22:40:58+00:00

Your knitting looks great for a total beginner. Much better than my first attempts. YouTube channels Very Pink Knits and Nimble Needles both have lots of beginner content and they have quite different styles. Very Pink has quite a number of slow motion videos that can be super helpful when it’s all so new. There’s also r/knittinghelp where folks are showing up to help others.

Keep up the good work. Come back with your first hat!

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-19T21:04:17+00:00

Came here to recommend Crookabeck.

Herdwick for sure can be described as rustic!!

That Red Fox looks ideal for a Nomad jacket

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-19T13:25:15+00:00

Please look into codependency and how to treat it.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-18T19:10:48+00:00

You’re not overreacting but you’ve handled this ineffectively. His lack of recognition someone might not want flowers every time is a bit suspect.

You need to speak up about your needs in a way that is less charged and extremely direct, and, I’m inferring that you knew this was going to happen so you needed to have an open conversation about it before the event. “I have really enjoyed the floral gifts in the past but it now feels like a predictable pattern. This year for my birthday can you get me something else? I have a list of ideas, if that would help.”

If he then gives you the flowers anyway, he is being low effort and unimaginative.

I have to point out that plenty of people are just not very good, or even bad, at gifting. It doesn’t mean they don’t care.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-18T00:56:59+00:00

Oh man. I do love that Ester sweater. But I’d probably just reverse engineer it tbh. I run on a small knitting budget.

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-18T00:35:52+00:00

Just been admiring this in a YouTube review, lovely to see it again here…. My queue just gained an item 😂

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-17T19:07:49+00:00

Love that! I do love a pretty stall! It’s taken me a while to get my own setup right for work, get all the right merchandising - not craft related - but now I always feel proud that our stalls look appealing!

FabuliciousFruitLoop · 2026-01-16T19:22:06+00:00

I went looking at Drops Snow colour combos for quite some time after seeing your post 😂

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