Unraveling the Mysteries of Linen: A Journey into Knitting and Creativity

Ever wondered what the secret to a beautifully knitted linen piece is? Join me, Mel, and let’s venture together into the captivating world of linen, unveiling its historical richness, strength, versatility, and how it lends itself to knitting. We'll dissect its journey from the flax plant origins to your knitting needles, offering practical advice on care, winding, and usage. We'll also draw parallels to other fibers, particularly bamboo, and cotton, highlighting distinctive differences and similarities.

As we navigate the intricacies of knitting with linen, we'll delve into the importance of safeguarding your hands and maintaining their health. From mitigating the twisty nature of the stitches to understanding the energy they carry, this episode is full of useful and actionable insights. You'll learn about the necessity of swatching and the impact of stretching and washing on different yarns. It doesn't matter if you're a seasoned knitter or just starting, the tips and encouragement can help!

But it's not just about the knitting. We'll also explore how your words and thoughts shape your creative spirit, becoming personal rocks that can either hinder or enable your growth. Drawing on my experience and the shared frustrations of fellow knitters, we'll discuss how these challenges can be channeled into becoming our best creative selves. So, if you're a thoughtfully creative spirit or yearn to grow in that direction, this episode could just be the catalyst you need. Join us, and let’s knit and grow together!

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:18

I'm Mel, a really curious yarn fan who loves knitting and is also obsessed with encouraging you to feel the same, no matter where you are in your journey. Whether you're an adventurous knitter or one in the making, we've got more in common than you might expect. It wasn't so long ago I'd get frustrated with too many cast-ons, but never any completed projects or endless piles of wavy yarn from ripped out knits. Fast forward to today. I've learned from languishing projects and so-called failed ones too. Every aspect of my life fuels my creativity and my creativity adds to my enjoyment of life. I've created this podcast to share tips, mind shifts and challenges to help you do the same. So if you're a thoughtfully creative spirit or someone wanting to grow in that direction, looking to love all the perfect knits you make and embrace the ones with feature design elements too, you're in the right place. Friend, welcome to Encourage Better Knitting Podcast, your knitting podcast. Hello, my friend, and welcome to this little workshop style podcast episode I'm doing today.

Speaker 1: 1:48

I had the joy of hosting a series of workshops that were live, and they brought me such joy to invite people to come and be a part of that That I wanted to be thoughtful to the many people who sent me messages hey, mel, in my time zone I'd have to get up at two o'clock in the morning or this day of the week I can't make it, and so the great thing about having a podcast is you can listen to this episode when it suits you. It is my goal and I'm holding that goal loosely that I could record a live face-to-camera version of the workshop that I had. However, while I'm waiting for that moment to provide that to you, i wanted to take today, as we sit down for our weekly podcast time together and share the things that I can give you through words and without too many visuals, so that you can hear not only ways to enjoy linen more or at least to understand linen better. I also want to offer the workshop itself as a template for you to think about anything. Consider the word linen in the title, in brackets, for which you could substitute entrelac or lace or color work, or even different blends of fiber that you haven't tried before. Or maybe crochet or spinning Anything that is going to be new to you that you may have a bit of resistance to trying, either because you don't understand it fully I know how that feels or because you've tried it before, unsuccessfully, my friend. I have both of my hands raised in the air because I have been there as well, and it takes time and it takes commitment and it takes a bit of elbow grease to kind of dig in.

Speaker 1: 4:20

I was thinking of the first time, my mom. This is a totally different, random story. But we lived in a house. I had four sisters. I have four sisters and no dishwasher and my mom and my dad assigned the weekly task of washing dishes to two sisters. It would either be me and Carrie or my older two sisters. They had duty together and Carrie and I had duty together. One day it was mine and Carrie's turn and instead of washing the dishes, carrie decided she was going to dry them and put them away. I was washing them and I got to the pan and I remember just being like I can't wash this, it is too hard, i'm just not working.

Speaker 1: 5:07

I'm a kid and my mom says use elbow grease. And, my friends, i opened the bottom cabinet under this sink and I'm digging and digging and I was there for quite some time. It was like Pandora's box. Everything's spilling out. And my dad came in and he's like what are you doing? I said mom said that I'm supposed to use elbow grease because this pot is so hard to clean. And he looked at me and he's like Missy, and I was like what He's like really? And I said yeah, or his version of really. He probably said something like are you kidding me? How dumb can you be? And I was like what? And he's like stand up. And I was like what? And he's like reach into the sink. And I did, and he took my elbow right at that funny little space where it makes your elbow twinge, and he squeezed, squeezed, squeezed and he said this is where the elbow grease is. And every time I hear elbow grease, it conjures up that. But anyways, that's an aside. It's to show you that I have had tons of moments where it's just like what? And I've had tons of those moments with my knitting so many times with my knitting and with linen.

Speaker 1: 6:22

And one of the reasons I want to share with you this journey, this opportunity, is so that you can be empowered. You can be empowered. If you're like I hate linen and I don't want to do it, i don't want to use it, then I still encourage you to listen to this so that you can prove yourself right. If you're the person who's like, yes, i love linen, but I use it all the time And I have some frustrations, this is also for you. You can dig in and hear some of the things. In fact, i want to stop for a second and share just some of the feedback that I got from people in the workshop so that you can hear their words, because where I am today and how I love linen and playing with linen and working with linen and even designing and linen, i am here at that experience now and that experience, that feeling, may be 180 degrees from where you are And you may be able to hear yourself in some of these comments. So Joyce had this to say about the workshop That was helpful in so many ways. I didn't realize the excitement I would feel about all my projects after finishing the workshop. I mean I want to cast on with linen and linen blends and pretty much everything in my stash. Thanks, mel And everyone who attended for giving me such great ideas.

Speaker 1: 7:54

Mary said I really enjoyed your class. I learned so much about linen and appreciate you taking time to share your knowledge. I'm mentally going through my stash and hoping I have some linen to try your pattern. Thank you again for your time and sharing with us. A happy knitter named Jay said the workshop was very informative. I especially appreciate the tips for winding linen. So many workshops are about the mechanics and the personal experience. Tips are my favorite. The things I didn't know to ask. Eliana S said. To be honest, i almost didn't go. What a mistake that would have been. I have three kids under the age of eight And I was super tired. But I did go And it was so good An hour of self care, education and inspiration And I still can't understand how it was free. Thank you for your time, the free patterns and the confidence I have with linen.

Speaker 1: 9:04

Amy said I can't believe you're giving me this shrug pattern on top of the free class. I feel like I should be paying you for a master class. I had fun, i learned so much And I almost freaked out when you shared how you care for your linen. I loved this class, thank you. I had one more that I can't share because it was a voice message And I didn't get permission from the person to play it, but they did say I could use it. There's a difference though, so I want to kind of capture what she shared, and she said what was my sincerest hope That by being part of the workshop, she was inspired not just to explore linen but to dig into all the different things she has in her stash that she hasn't used. She felt excited and empowered and encouraged to dig in with her own two hands to figure out what she could learn herself. All that from a free class isn't that bad. So those are the things that I wanted to share so that you could think through how this next segment of the podcast could benefit you. So your adventures in knitting with linen and with other things are successful, are fun, are a delight and feed your creative spirit.

Speaker 1: 10:45

In the show notes, i created a beautiful workbook. It is truly, honestly, just pretty to look at, as well as filled with lots of information and a couple extra treats for journaling, prompts and pages that you can use for fiber, for linen, for projects in general. So go over there. It's a free resource and it is completely free, no strings attached. I shared it with people before giving it to the people that were in the workshop and every single person I shared it with said it's beautiful. Tons of them said I can't believe you're sharing this for free. You totally should charge as much as a pattern at least. But that's not the purpose for this. The purpose for this workbook is to help you as you're listening today or after and you're digging in and trying to explore how to get your head and your hands around linen.

Speaker 1: 11:50

So linen is perhaps the oldest natural textile that we know of, with origins in the Middle East dating back as far as 8,000 BCE, and linen is not actually the name of the plant that we use to make the fiber. That plant is the flax plant, and here's where I wish we were visualizing. Definitely go over to the blog so you can see. There are images of these soft, gentle fields of tall grass with beautiful, soft flowers at the end of it and they're just gentle and you can just imagine walking through the field and letting your hands run over the flax plants and how they're soft and moving And linen is strong. So when you see that image, there's a bit of a juxtaposition because you're like, oh, soft, gentle little flower, and yet from that flax we are able to get a fiber that is not just strong, but the other attribute is longevity. It's strong and lasting And my friend, that's kind of exciting to have as a knitter, to have the ability to create something with intention and even for utility, utilitarian purposes, that you know it's going to last.

Speaker 1: 13:26

Linen is a term that refers to, of course, the fiber that we have. The flax creates linen. It also refers to the items within our home and our household that are, like our bedding and or sheets, linen, the tablecloths, the tea towels. You know we have linens, that they serve a purpose, they're supposed to be utilitarian, and that strength is gonna be needed. You know you're gonna be laundering your sheets and you're not gonna wash them in a delicate cycle. You're gonna be using them, and so the property of linen and the name linen just conjures up strength.

Speaker 1: 14:19

I do wanna share with you. I have been knitting daily for more than 22 years, and knitting even after an accident left me single-handed with the use of just one arm, and that was for more than three years. I still knit. I was living in Hawaii at that time of single-handed knitting and being passionate about knitting, and I knit with linen. Now, it wasn't exclusively which is very important to remember, and I'm gonna come back to that aspect of not exclusively knitting with linen But I wanted to share that I taught myself how to knit. I relearned knitting with one hand and I did use linen, and so you can knit with linen and enjoy it, one if you want to And two if you have some considerations with working with it.

Speaker 1: 15:29

Going back to the idea of our household linens were at that time, back years and years and years ago, most often made from linen or linen and cotton blends, so that they could be long lasting. That is a top trait of this fiber. It's three times stronger than cotton, which gives it incredible longevity. It was at this point in the workshop that I held up the linen and I used a single fingering weight piece and I pulled and I pulled, and I pulled and I pulled and there was nothing happening. It wasn't breaking. And then I picked up a bit of wool and I showed how, just pulling, it broke.

Speaker 1: 16:17

There is a sense of power in linen to survive And I know, i know I know some of you are listening and saying already Buh-mel, buh-mel. It stretches so much, or when I've knit with it before, it was so hard, or it was so quick to lose its shape. And, my friend, we are gonna dig into all of that, but I need you to hear me. Linen is so lovely and its drape is so incredible. It lasts a long, long time And once it gets color into it like really if someone dies it well, it resists fading in a way that when I showed the people in the workshop a skein of unused linen from the same batch of what this project, i held.

Speaker 1: 17:15

So imagine me holding in my left hand a skein of linen and I'm holding it out to you and you're looking at it And it's this vibrant burnt orange color and it's beautiful, it's glossy, it has this luster because that's what linen does And it's very sharp and crisp and clear. There's no halo, it's just boom color. And then I held up in my right hand a garment that I had created in it And I showed them this has been laundered over the course of five, six, seven years and look how bright and vibrant it is. And you know everybody's yeah, yeah, yeah. But then I held them up together right hand, left hand, skein and end product next to each other, and you could not see a difference in the color. The fading, the resistance to fading is incredible. And so I get that there are downsides, but there are some positives And, if thoughtfully utilized, these properties can make you, as a knitter, very, very satisfied, very excited, very happy.

Speaker 1: 18:30

Now, one of the things that I heard from someone who was attending I asked all the people who were attending the workshop, you know, hit me up with a question. Here's a link. You can reply to me right here and ask me specific questions And then it was my duty, it was my job. After sharing about linen and tips and tricks, i wanted to go through and answer all of their questions and give them my advice, if I could. And one of the things somebody sent me and it was in all capitals and it's written out here on a piece of paper for me all capitals. It says Mel linen wrinkles, like it was hired for that as its full-time job. And that made me laugh so much. I have, don't worry, some suggestions on that pain point as well.

Speaker 1: 19:21

We are going to understand linen today so that the choices that we make for using it are the most pleasurable for us to create and best pattern choices to utilize. And we really need to set aside these preconceived notions that linen is unforgiving hard to knit with And instead let's take time to see what linen excels in or what it's best suited for, and that way we can partner alongside of those properties and get them to support our knitting goals and be a great partner in our knitting. So if you're ready, let's dig in. It's different from wool. Linen responds to us differently than what we experience with wool And I'm going to give you a story that is going to make this stick with you.

Speaker 1: 20:16

I have a wonderful, wonderful friend who lives in Pennsylvania And when I stay with her I have a little log cabin that is my temporary home that I cherish the fact that she shares it with me. Now, when I walk out of it, a little ways off to the right is a barn And off to the left is a greenhouse The barn. Let me tell you about the barn. The barn is a wonderful construction. It's got beautiful thick stone masonry And then above that is wood that creates this massive door in the front of it that goes up three stories And it's just got this huge roof and it's red and it's vibrant And it has this cute little side entrance that when I stay with her I tuck in through every day that I'm there And the door is split So the top can be opened to let air come in and the bottom can open And it's just, it's so good to go in there. I go in several times a day when I'm staying there And when I walk into the barn there are horses inside of it and chickens and very vocal sheep And they call out to me in these loving, endearing ways. They're like meow, meow And I just I walk in there and I feel like Rocky Balboa on the tops of the steps raising his arms. They're cheering for me. Yay, i get this wonderful sensation walking into the barn. The response from the animals is so inviting and so sweet and it serves my heart well.

Speaker 1: 22:04

Now, like I mentioned, when I go out of the log cabin to the left is a greenhouse. The bottom part of this beautiful and it's a good size greenhouse. It's very, very robust, it's beautiful. It's not a tiny little one that like here in Alaska where we have, but the bottom of it is brick. It goes up maybe a third of the way, maybe half of the way for the walls, and then it has this glass and metal construction that the light is bouncing off of And the door in the front is this beautiful glass and metal door with this metal handle that the door is always closed And I open it up and it kind of has that soft metal creak to it. And inside the greenhouse there is, oh my goodness, this beautiful haven for rosemary and basil and oregano plants, just going crazy in there. There's also hydrangea shoots and fuchsia and a host of colorful plants in there as well. There's a koi pond with the water trickling and the koi just happy to swim through, and there's crunchy rocky gravel under my feet as I walk in And when I walk in, there's silence.

Speaker 1: 23:35

It's quiet in there, it's warm, there's no sound, it's still, and if I breathe or if I talk, it's like the sound gets pulled in by the plants. But there's no clapping, there's no meh, there's no feedback, there's no naeying, there's no clucking, There's no winnie-ing, there's no meh, there's nothing. And the plants are still beautiful and enjoyable. And what does that mean here? If I walk into the barn and I think of that response that I get from those animals, that's perfect, it's the perfect moment. If I walk into the greenhouse with these beautiful plants that light up my soul because of their beauty, and I walk into there and expect the same response from those plants as I do the animals, i'm going to be disappointed. When I walk into that greenhouse there will be no plants calling to me. There will be no plants flapping their wings or winnie-ing or tossing their heads or nuzzling up to me because they want those little treats that I can give the sheep. That response is not there. Is it because the plants are jerks? No, it's not. They're not giving me feedback. They are giving me different experiences from what I get in the barn And I want to submit to you for consideration that woolly, happy, beautiful fibers that we're getting in the barn are wonderful And those experiences are barn experiences.

Speaker 1: 25:37

And when we work with linen, we're going to get linen experiences, ie greenhouse experiences And for us to think that linen has to behave and act and our approach to it needs to be like the approach we have with the animals in the barn. We don't approach the plants in the greenhouse in that way. You know, i'm not going to go in there with a handful of animal treats and a curry brush or curry comb and treat the plants to those things And in the same way I'm not going to take compost and decorate the sheep with that in the barn. Two separate experiences, two separate approaches, and that I think thinking about those things will serve us well as we move forward and talk about linen. All right, my friend, i hope that you are excited as I am, because when we realize that our approach to wool and linen can be the same way as that earlier illustration of the barn and the greenhouse, it opens up so many moments of discovery. And that same idea is applicable to all parts of knitting and creativity. It isn't wool is better than linen. They are different. Their results and behaviors are different.

Speaker 1: 27:13

An interesting fact about linen and its history is actually the way it was sourced. It was sourced by hand, and by hand you can harvest flax, including the roots, and it yields a better product. But nowadays machines harvest it for the most part and they are unable to get to the roots. So how a fiber ultimately behaves is a combination of its composition, or what it is made of and construction, or how it's prepared at the mill and shared with you, right? The absolute best way for you to get a full and accurate understanding of linen or any fiber is to take it for a test drive. That's right, a little test drive. You need to have that introductory moment, kind of like a meet and greet, so that you can ease into a friendship. So starting off with a small bit of knitting gives us the chance to feel the yarn, to see how it drapes, to watch the way it responds when we're increasing or decreasing, and then, once we cast off, there is way more to glean from that thing. And what better way to do this introductory meet and greet than meet and greet then by swatching Except, so many people aren't fans of swatching.

Speaker 1: 28:53

So I'm gonna share something now with you, and it's a pattern that you may have seen or, if you attended my first online retreat, you probably received it as a free gift and it is the triangulate pattern. That pattern is linked in that free workbook that I told you corresponds to this episode. So you get a twofer. Actually, you get a threefer, and I'm not gonna spoil what the third thing is, but you get the workbook and then there's a link that you can click and download the triangulate pattern, and one of the reasons that I shared the triangulate pattern is that it offers you an opportunity not to swatch, but to sort of swatch a little right. You get to make something useful, like a swatch is, and usable, like a swatch most often isn't. Excuse me Now a few words about how to knit with linen wisely. So small knits like the triangulate pattern that I'm sharing, help remind you to ease into using linen, because linen may appear less flexible than other yarns that you're used to knitting with Linen and cotton, and actually bamboo too, so most plant based fibers are well.

Speaker 1: 30:22

Do you remember when I said linen is strong? That is an awesome attribute, but it's not just linen being strong. Like bamboo has a different strength. When you try to break bamboo yarn It is not going to yield as easily. Same thing with cotton. You know you really have to have snips or scissors, something to cut it. Well, when I say that linen is strong, i want you to just take a deep breath. Hopefully you're not driving. It's so strong that I actually toss the majority of my hand knit linen tanks and camisoles and other garments.

Speaker 1: 31:11

I throw them into the washing machine and wait for it. I put them in the dryer. I wear them all the time, or I wore them all the time, not in Alaska as much I do layer them up, but primarily in St Thomas and when we lived on the outer banks and when we lived for many, many years in Hawaii, the linen garments were staples for me, warm all the time The more I wore them, the better I loved them. But they were so durable and just got softer the more I used them and wore them And you'll definitely notice a significant difference after your first washing of your finished linen piece and even more significant changes from subsequent washes. And again, we're being honest here, and so I'm gonna tell you the truth. I won't put, for instance, my Skyline shrug that has a lot of yarn overs, kind of a lacy, a nod to lacy knits, those kind of things I don't toss in the washing machine. But tanks that I made that are stockinette or stitch patterns in the wash they go. Tons of the linen towels that I've made So I made tea towels, washcloths, napkins, napkin rings, things like that right into the washing machine they go.

Speaker 1: 32:50

You'll notice that linen is kind of like one of our friends and we all have one, one that's tough and dependable And that at first meeting you're gonna think, oh my gosh, she's rigid. That's kind of how I felt about this friend that I'm thinking of. But deep down, to tell you the truth, she is a softy that will do anything for me, and linen is that friend. So what do you do when you have a fiber that is rigid. Well, you need to knit two linens strength, so you're gonna need to take time to stretch your hands. But honestly, that's not just for linen or plant-based fibers. We should be caring for our hands, rolling our wrists, pulling in our fingers and expanding them, pulling them in and expanding them, pressing our hands gently back towards our forearm and then forward to the inside of our arm. We should be giving gentle rubs to the back of our hands and our knuckles and our tendons, and even more so when we're working with linen.

Speaker 1: 34:08

Now, before I start working with linen and I don't do this with every, i don't do this with every fiber that I use, but I do use this tip with linen Before I start working with linen, i will use a lanolin-based hand cream, something that is nice and creamy, that when I use it, it rubs right on, it soaks right in and my hands feel moisturized. I want you to think of linen fiber like the plants in the greenhouse, and if you walk in there and they haven't had rain or a watering in a while, what do they do? when you give them a little bit, they just pull it in, they soak in moisture and then they kind of brighten up Linen when you're working with it is the same. So when I put this moisturizer on at the start, i use it to remind me, as I'm knitting with linen, if I'm getting so wrapped up that I'm not paying attention to how far I've been working, the dryness of my hands will serve that purpose. The dryness that I feel with my hands becomes a reminder. Hey, you know what? my hands are dry. It's time to reapply some linen I mean linen, some lanolin, you know what? How? check in, how are my hands feeling? Are they tired? Okay, if they're tired, set aside my linen knitting.

Speaker 1: 35:38

My linen knits are like a side dish or a dessert, and they're extra projects that I do. They're not my primary projects simply because I don't want to work with them for long periods of time, especially if I haven't used them either before or if I haven't used them in a while. Your hands are going to feel fatigued. It's not linen's fault, it's just a fact that you're working with different fibers. Treat your hands to breaks, and you know.

Speaker 1: 36:18

Another pro tip that I think is worth mentioning is make sure that your nails. They don't have to be fancy, you don't have to get a manicure, but make sure that they're smooth, because when you are using, like that, chainette or ribbon, constructed yarn, those snags will catch on your fingers and it'll pull, and then the product that you make has this little hanging bit that has a tendency to catch on things. Keep your nails smooth, keep your hands moisturized, be kind to yourself That goes without saying for anything you're doing but take the time to pamper yourself while you are knitting with linen All right. So taking it slow is important, and that's what was so fun about having a little pattern like the triangulate pattern is you can knit it multiple times, you can work a little bit and take a break. It's not something that has to be rushed, and that exploration gives you time to learn about linen as you're making a useful thing right Now.

Speaker 1: 37:33

The pattern also serves as a control. So in great experiments we always have a control and then we have the variable. So as you're learning to knit with linen, as you're discovering on your own what you feel towards linen, what you were observing about as behavior, as different than what you may be used to knitting with, with wool or wool blends, the pattern something small by E, triangulate, or maybe you find a very simple washcloth pattern. If you keep that the same. I'm gonna go back to using the triangulate because it's a fun pattern. It's a triangle. You get to see increases, you get to see binding off for the little opening that you can pull the end through to kind of make it a secure little neckerchief. You can see how it drapes. It's enough of a knit that you can feel the yarn, notice changes, make observations and then be done with it and then repeat and then repeat.

Speaker 1: 38:51

So knit it in linen, then knit it in wool and see what's different, knit it in linen and then knit it in a linen blend, and I am going to take a step over into this area with blends. So I got a lot of questions about hey, mel, should I start with 100% linen or should I use a linen blend, as I'm getting to know linen? And my answer is A do what you want, absolutely know what you wanna play with and explore and then do it. If you are very interested in learning about the properties and behavior of linen, because it's new to you, and you want to glean information about linen itself, then I think you should knit it itself. So I would suggest using 100% linen.

Speaker 1: 39:51

My two favorite linen bases are from the same company. It's from Quincyn Co. I'm not sponsored by them. This is me just sharing as a fellow friend who knits to a fellow friend who knits you. My absolute favorite linen ever is Sparrow. It is a fingering weight, lovely, shiny, beautiful yarn. It's sourced from Belgium and Belgium is the number one top producer of quality linen. Number one is Belgium at the time of this recording, as far as, like my research, it was Belgian first, ireland, i believe, was second and rounding out third was I believe it was Scotland and France kind of tying up along there. So Belgium is a great place to source linen And I believe that the yarn that Quincyn Co sourced for Sparrow is from Belgium and then it's manufactured in Italy.

Speaker 1: 41:02

So you're starting with good quality yarn and it's a small skein and it's a small investment. Also, at the time of this recording you can get a skein of Sparrow, which I believe I don't have it in front of me, but I believe it's 160, 870 yards And that yardage is plenty for you to play around with. It's a small entry level cost for amazing quality color fast. If you decided to get a bright, brilliant color, you can toss it in the wash time and time again And the color is brilliant. It stays So. Again, i'm not here promoting Quincyn Co itself, but I am a true fan of their product, sparrow. It's beautiful And, on that note, kestrel is a kind of tapy ribbony interesting construction, heavy, worsted weight.

Speaker 1: 42:02

And Kestrel is my second favorite. Now I would suggest getting Sparrow. Like I said, it's $12 max, i think is how I've seen it, but I believe it's 10, $10 to $12 for you to experiment, play with, have something good quality And it's a small investment financially and it's going to be a small investment as far as yardage. I mean, you get a good amount and yet you're not going to feel like you have to knit something big. The Great thing is you use the linen, 100% linen, first. You see how it behaves. And then my recommendations, because that was another question I got asked. A ton was hey, would you use a linen or a linen blend? to start with, i say linen because you want to discover, you want to meet, you want to know the properties and the values of linen itself. And then number two the number two question I was asked constantly is can you give me some recommendations? So those were my two recommendations for 100% linen.

Speaker 1: 43:10

My recommendations for linen blends are Space Cadet Yarns, thiebe, which is a linen and silk blend. It's 65% silk, i believe, and then 35% linen, so it's lighter, it's lace weight. The great thing I like to do with it is right now. I'm currently knitting something with it and I took the one skein which is, oh my gosh, i think it's like five or 600 yards, it's just, it's huge, and I broke it up into 20 or 25 gram balls And so I have five of them and I'm playing around with them in two different colors to do this really neat project using five strands and kind of fading colors in and out. So it's fun to try to experiment with the silk and linen blend.

Speaker 1: 44:03

I find when you blend it, your results and your understanding are going to be blended. So 100% linen is going to give you a very clear snapshot of what linen is like. A blend is going to do that. It's going to blend properties and it's going to kind of blur your capacity for wait a minute, what is the silk doing and what is the linen doing? But I totally 100% love knitting with Thebe, and Thebe is, like I said, it's a silk and linen blend. Great, great experimental adventure there.

Speaker 1: 44:40

And then my second recommendation is Callisto, and that is also by Space Cadet. It is a blend of baby alpaca silk and linen, and so that's really fun to use as well. It's a fingering weight, so it's closer in weight to sparrow. But again, you're going to have three things working together, so you have to you really have to be on your toes to differentiate. Okay, what is the alpaca doing? Okay, that's why this looks so fuzzy, as opposed to sparrow, which is tight. It is sheer, just strength on a cord. It's just like boom, crisp, clean. Really. What you think of linen as? And then when you see sparrow, contrasted with Callisto, you see that it's fluffy and hazy and hallowey, and that is in part to the alpaca.

Speaker 1: 45:36

So, yeah, i think that it's important for you to experiment in order to be successful, and I think that repeating a pattern, especially a small pattern, allows you the opportunity to see small scale how something behaves and then to know that when you change the fiber, you are seeing it in the same context as the first time you did it using that same pattern, and so the things that change aren't changing because of the pattern instructions, it's changing because of the yarn. Now, one thing is really worth mentioning is the way that when you soak and block any type of knit, it's going to change, and I suggest, as you're knitting, in that workbook there is a page to record and you can print it as many times as you want or duplicate it in whatever e-device that you have. The fun part of knitting the first time, the first swatch, is you're doing a dry start and you're seeing how it behaves, first on its own And then I would soak it, block it and record afterwards so you can see those observations and know, okay, if I'm going to knit a linen tank top, what do I do? What do I need to be prepared for? So a couple of things.

Speaker 1: 47:16

This is the Q&A time. This is the part where I'm just going to dig into real questions that I was asked prior to creating the workshop and questions that arose in the workshop, and the first one is do I need to wash linen before knitting with it? In my experience, i don't. I do not wash linen before I knit with it. It used to be linen was processed and still had a lot of residual dirt in it, but for the most part, linen is now very clean and ready to knit. The other part of that question is do I need to knit with linen when it's wet? So should I wash it first and then knit with it wet? So I have tried this before and I actually found it rather unpleasant to knit with it wet. I didn't like the way it felt. I felt sticky and I didn't like it. That's me, above all things that I share with you here.

Speaker 1: 48:25

This Experiment yourself, what I may find, you know, not fun, you may be like this is brilliant. I love this. But something I do find helpful, rather than knitting with wet linen, is my water bottle. It's just a plant sprayer, spritzer, nope, and it has this fine mist. I spray it lightly when I'm winding it, and I'm going to tell you the process behind winding it, and it's going to address a lot of other questions that I get.

Speaker 1: 49:03

So I put my skein of yarn on the Swift. I have a stand up umbrella Swift And after it's on there well, actually let me back up I don't open up the Swift to its full capacity for holding that yarn. So if the circumference, say, is 10 inches, i don't open up the 10 inches to match the 10 inches of the skein circumference. I'll probably do, for instance, like nine and a half or maybe nine, and so the linen is kind of draping on the Swift. That's when I pull out my water bottle and I missed it And I just kind of like turn it a little bit and missed it some more. After it's missed it I still leave it draping like this. And I'm going to tell you why.

Speaker 1: 49:52

I wind my linen yarn by hand. I 100% encourage you to avoid at all costs trying to use a ball winder. It has never been successful for me. It has always been frustration and heartache and aggravation. So don't use the winder, use your hand. And again, this is a great way for you to feel and get familiar with the yarn. But it also allows you, as you go, to spray it and kind of the mindset around misting it. You don't want to soak it, it's just a light dampening. Think of the plants in the greenhouse When you mist them they perk up. When I missed the linen, as I am balling it by hand, it has a tendency to grab a bit on itself. Rather than being really slick and slippery, that little tiny bit of moisture allows it just to kind of like whoo and hold on to one another, one strand after another after another.

Speaker 1: 51:03

The second reason it's important to have the umbrella swift a little bit smaller than the allowance that the skein provides is, as you're balling it, it's going to turn and rotate most often and that turning and rotating of the skein needs to have a place to go, and we're going to come back to this in the next part for the Q&A. So you ball it, allow the yarn to move and unwind on the umbrella swift or the swift, whatever you're using, and just enjoy handballing it. Now what happens, mel, when you're knitting with it and it starts to twist, and that is a very real thing that happens. You have your ball. I just keep mine in a cloth project bag, something very small, so it doesn't have a lot of room to move, but enough that it can move slightly.

Speaker 1: 52:03

And so, if you can imagine, on the right side of me is the ball of yarn in the project bag and then the other end is the needle and as you're knitting with linen, it has a tendency to take that energy from the stitches and from your hands and that energy is moving from what you're knitting and the ball. There's that space where there's that thread, kind of like when you're playing that game as a kid with the tin cans. You know, one tin can is here, one tin can is over here. That length, that strand in the middle absorbs that energy of the sound traveling across it, the energy in your hand and the energy that's already been balled into that ball of linen. The place that it shows up is in that length of yarn, in between the project and the ball, and it does start to twist And for some people that can be a little aggravating. So one of the things I suggest to you to do is to spray that very lightly every so often if it starts to get a little unruly and then just kind of very lightly, you know, pop, pop, pop, pop it. And if it's really twisty, if you're doing a lot of different things in your stitch work, i just hold it and I just allow the project itself to untwist. But most often nine times out of 10, if I give it a little bit of water, just one or two little squirts, it relaxes. The fibers are able just to like okay, good, how do I care for linen? That was a big question And, as I mentioned earlier, i put most of my linens in the washer and dryer.

Speaker 1: 53:48

I do use a gentle cleaner and a tip. It comes out of the washing machine, it goes into the dryer. Once it's out of the dryer, i turn it inside out and I lightly spray it with spray starch. You heard that right. I lightly spray it with spray starch and I let it completely dry, let it completely air dry And then I use a warm not a hot but a warm iron to iron my linen. Obviously, test your iron on linen And the best way to do that is again with something small like the triangulate pattern or a swatch. If you have swatched with your linen, save those swatches and practice how to press it and make it look really good.

Speaker 1: 54:40

I will say that message earlier that I received, that I shared with you about. You know linen behaving like wrinkling is its full-time job. That's not the case for me. I find that a good wash and dry and a bit of starch and a press. My linens look and behave beautifully. They are crisp and lovely and I can be very relaxed when I wear them.

Speaker 1: 55:11

I got asked a lot about what needles do I use And again, this is personal preference, but I have found that my preference goes towards wood needles, as they seem to hold onto the linen, as opposed to metal needles, which allow for way too much slippage for my comfort level. The one question I kept getting asked that I was like okay, this is a trick question How does linen compare to wool? when it comes to gauge, i think that it just like gauge period. It depends on a variety of things. So my solution to finding out how your gauge knitting linen compares to your gauge knitting wool is that's right, you guessed it. It's swatching. Swatching or plunging and going ahead and seeing the difference. I don't notice much of a difference with linen and wool as far as my gauge performance, but I also constantly am playing with yarn, ie swatching, and I don't consider it just swatching. I'm experimenting and playing and getting to know yarn over and over and over again.

Speaker 1: 56:43

What do I look for in linen? One of the things that I do look for when I am using linen is I want and this was twofold. So the question was what do I look for in linen And what do I look for in patterns to use linen? And the first thing that I look for in linen I like simplicity. So again, that's why I liked the sparrow yarn is it is just a nice fingering weight, sharp, crisp yarn. I like the color fast, brightness of colors, and I also like the natural. I love the natural linen colors. I like simplicity when it comes to my linens and when it comes to patterns. One of the reasons I think there are grievances with it stretches and it's disproportionate. First I would suggest that it's most likely because it's a linen cotton blend. In my experience, that bit of cotton cotton is just so stretchy and it's so heavy. I don't find that the case. Using the linens that I use And the way I look for patterns in order to be successful and happy with the results, i think about what is linen's intent.

Speaker 1: 58:10

Linen is a fiber that I am knitting with for a garment in order to keep cool, so I'm not gonna do something big. I'm not putting it in perspective. I would knit a mini skirt in linen, but not a maxi. I would knit a camisole rather than a long sleeve shirt sweater. I have several shrugs that I've made in the past and one of my favorite shrugs even though it was long sleeves for the shrugs and it used a lot of linen is I built in anchors for it. So to keep that energy that we talked about earlier, with the twisting that happens in between the ball and what you're knitting, that energy goes somewhere, and so this ties in with the other one. Someone had asked me about that bias towards slanting and twisting and things that people discover when they're knitting with linen is when I'm knitting something small, i make sure that it is small. I like having things in segments. So when I knit a camisole my favorite camisole that I ever knit had a front and a back and I seemed it And at those seams that energy was stopped from one piece to another and it had an anchoring point For the shrug that I was talking about I knit the sleeves from the wrist up to the elbows and I cast off. I picked up in a second color and went from the elbows to the shoulder And then I did another feature where it had this anchoring element, and then in the center of the back I did a series of cast offs, bind off and cast ons so that there were segments built in that anchored that energy. So it is an energetic fiber and it's strong.

Speaker 1: 1:00:12

Now one more note about linen. It is strong but it's not invincible, and it was at this part in the live workshop that I held up some linen that I had in the raw for spinning And I showed that the linen, when you stretch it out and you hold it upright it's long and beautiful And, oh my goodness, there's so many wonderful things that you can love about it. And that strength and that energy when you fold it. And I showed this by taking that staple length of linen and I met the ends together and I pressed it in the center And that part there remembers that bend And so when I opened it up you could see that bend. Even after I tugged on it, the fibers remembered it was bent Again.

Speaker 1: 1:01:08

Let's go back to the barn versus the greenhouse Animals. Their hair gets messed up. You wash them and they fluff right back up A plant. Their stalks get messed up and you can give them more water. You can give them a stalk like a piece of wood to prop them up against a trellis or something. But when their stalk gets bent, that crease stays. It's remembered My hair. When my hair is curly, i can use a straightening iron and it'll straighten it out. And then as soon as the water in the air hits it and the humidity, it remembers and it goes right back.

Speaker 1: 1:01:52

Linen is not like my hair. Linen is like the plant in the front yard that a gust of wind comes and it blows the little stalk over and you stand it back up, right, it's still gonna grow, but there's that crease in it And that's important to remember. When you have a finished object, your finished object needs to be thoughtfully cared for. I take my shrugs that I make my camisoles and I have old t-shirts that I put in between them when I fold them, or if I'm hanging them up on a hanger, i have the padded hangers and I put another shirt now it's like my flannel shirts and the shrug goes over top of it so that it's rounded. Try to keep off those creasy corners, because those creasy corners linen remembers And after a while those areas become little checkpoints for integrity issues. So the integrity of the fiber gets worn down and that will often be where you see some wear and tear.

Speaker 1: 1:03:06

So I hope that this has been fun for you. I hope that, as we've explored and asked questions about hey, where does it come from? What needles should I use, how do I wash and care for it? What are some best ways to get to know linen Remember you can insert X, y or Z in the brackets. What's the best way to knit lace, the best way to knit lace is the way that works best for you. but experiment and explore. As you experiment and explore, i do wanna remind you hop into the episode show notes, get your free workbook copy. Dig through it a little bit more. There are lots of other tips and tricks and ideas shared in there. There's a free pattern for you. There are lovely decorated pages for you to print and take notes. Keep them in your project bag.

Speaker 1: 1:04:02

Over the course of your knitting, jot things down. I love taking notes on everything from my skeins to my works in progress, to my finished objects, to my bucket lists. Writing things down is kinda like when you're hiking in the woods and you see those stacks of rocks that the person before you has stacked up. For me there are certain hikes where I have tucked away little rock stacks And when I walk by I know it's coming. I know it's coming and I'm looking for it and I put another rock on it, or a couple rocks on it, and it serves as a reminder. Oh yeah, look at that. I remember when I was here before and I remember when I was in this exact spot. So you're kinda looking ahead to it. You know it's there. And when you're hiking and in the middle of nowhere, you see a stack of these rocks sitting before you, you can realize that, hey, somebody else was here. What is it about this area that I'm supposed to look and observe and learn?

Speaker 1: 1:05:09

In much the same way, your words and your thoughts and your responses to your knitting serve as those rocks.

Speaker 1: 1:05:17

They serve as anchors and reconnecting points to your hopes and your ideas and the things that you were looking forward to, as well as the things that you got frustrated by and disappointed in. So use them for your growth and your benefit, so that you can be your best creative self And my friend. I've thoroughly enjoyed this time together. I know this was long, but this was a workshop on demand that you can listen to and enjoy and hopefully gain some knowledge from, and, as always, no matter where you are in the world. If you can hear my voice, please consider this your little rock reminder. You are so incredibly valuable. Your creativity and your enthusiasm, the way you view your knitting and the way you view your world through your creativity. They're so important to our community of knitters and crocheters and fiber enthusiasts. So, wherever you are, i hope that the sun is shining on you and that you are fully aware of the treasure that you are, and until the next time we can be together, aloha from my place in the world to yours.