All the Knitted Things | a year of learning, mistakes and epiphanies

About a year ago, on a dark and wet autumn afternoon not dissimilar to today's, I decided to start knitting. I had "learned" at school as a child, but all I remember of the experience are the sweaty hands and the angry tears. Even then, crochet and sewing were much more my thing. 

And so it might have stayed, if I hadn't turned crocheting things into a job. Though I still adore crochet, I can't relax with it anymore. I feel guilty if I take time to make something that I won't release as a pattern. I also do get fed up with it when I've done nothing but pore over the maths behind it for an entire day. I needed something else to unwind with (I get too angry with the sewing machine for it be sewing). 

So I got a few supplies, took to YouTube (I like Very Pink's videos because they're short and clear), and started knitting. Four hours later I was surprised to find myself with a cracking headache and a sore neck - who knew you could grip a couple of sticks that hard? I didn't have much of a Knitted Thing to show for those four hours either, until a kind soul on my facebook page suggested I try circular needles. What a revelation! It turns out that my hands, used to short crochet hooks as they are, were much happier with those than with ordinary straight needles. I was off. 

I haven't really stopped since. I love it for so many reasons. It (eventually) became relaxing, I can make a wider range of wearables for my family. I have another excuse to buy yarn. It's done wonders for my otherwise insatiable drive for perfection - when there are no deadlines looming, no reputation at stake, I can just let little mistakes go.

And boy, have I made mistakes. I've really struggled with tension, I've unsuccessfully tried to combine yarns of different weights, I've failed to grasp the importance of a stretchy cast-on or a nice, tight rib, I've I've I've... and that's before we even talk about the dropped stitches or the wobbly edges "fixed" with a sneaky crochet slip stitch. There is nothing quite like learning an entirely new skill as adult to cure you of perfectionism, really. 

Also, I have learned so much about pattern writing and garment construction, which has in turn benefited my crochet design skills hugely. The simple truth is that the crochet garment pattern industry is really behind knitting, both in terms of quality and diversity. There are clear signs that things are changing though, and I like being able to contribute to that trend confidently. 

Above all though, knitting has just been fun. I thought it would be nice to show you some of the things I've made (three have flown the nest, so I couldn't photograph them. Note to self: photograph before gifting), and share the patterns and yarns for each. So here it is, my year in Knitted Things.

The Statement Scarf
Pattern: Mollie Makes issue 61
Yarn: Alpaca Tweed and Big Merino by Lanar Emporio
Skills Learned: increases and decreases, how to make really pommy pompoms (the answer: buy a pompom maker)

Thoughts: Great beginner pattern, don't try to mix yarn weights, oh how this is soft and warm! 

Rye Socks
Pattern: Tin Can Knits, The Simple Collection
Yarn: Vinnis Colours Bimbi (discontinued)
Skills Learned: how to sock! This patterns comes with a great step-by-step blog post. 

Thoughts: Really good collection of beginner patterns, DPNs are not that scary, whoever invented the Kitchener stitch must have been on crack at the time.

Another Plain Vest
Pattern: Pickles 
Yarn: Vinnis Colours Bimbi (discontinued)
Skills Learned: armhole shaping, stockinette stitch practice

Thoughts: Need to work on getting an even tension! 

Milo
Pattern: Georgie Nicholson at tiKKI
Yarn: Vinnis Colours Bimbi (discontinued)
Skills learned: top-down seamless construction

Thoughts: Interesting construction and fun to make. Comes up a little boxy for my skinny child so next time I need to go down a size but make it longer.

Clayoquot Toque
Pattern: Tin Can Knits, Road Trip
Yarn: Vinnis Colours Bimbi (discontinued)
Skills learned: fairisle

Thoughts: Oh my god I can do fairisle! Just. Need to work on getting a tighter rib, too. 

London Skies
Pattern: Clare Devine, The Travel Trio
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock
Skills learned: twisted rib

Thoughts: Actually, I love knitting socks (but the next pair will be in a kid's size because these took aaaaages)

Next up are many, many more socks to see us through the winter, and then hopefully I'll find time to make a stack of soft baby knits before the arrival of our Bug in the spring. If you want to have a look at what I've got my eye on, check out my knitwear pinterest board. I think I'd need a few lifetime to do all the cardigans, but still - Such fun!

V.I.P.

Finally, I can share news of a Very Important Project: my Very Important Little Person, still in progress. Baby no. 2. First a Bean and then... a Bug? We will have to think of another nickname. Ladybird, maybe, seeing as the Bean is absolutely convinced it's a girl. 

So, all being well, we will say hello to said VIP in the Spring. It's felt so odd, keeping this big news to myself for what feels like a very long time. It's just a blink of the eye, really, but as with my first pregnancy I've suffered from Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) and when every day has to be survived hour by hour, three months is loooooooong. I swore after last time that I wouldn't keep this strange 12-week vow of silence, not about the sickness and the way it completely blindsides any joy you might feel. Nor about any miscarriage, should it have turned out I'd spoken too soon. Why would I be silent about things that people should feel they can talk openly about?

But as it happened I couldn't stay upright at my computer for long enough to write about it. I will though, in another post. We do, really, need to talk about these things. 

First the good news, and I'm pleased to say I'm starting to feel like me again. Me, with added football roundness (it shows so quickly, the second time around!). 

I'm going through my lovely stash of soft yarns and organic fabrics. I'm thinking about tiny crocheted cardigans, itty-bitty knitted beanie hats and dinky leggings with matching bibs. I want to make ALL the baby things, once I'm able to stay awake beyond 7:30 PM. I'm eyeing up pretty muslins, in case we've produced another VVB: Very Vomity Baby. I'm wondering where on earth this ladybug will sleep in our one-bedroom flat. The Bean has decided on bunk beds (him on the top one, obviously), with that infallible confidence in immediacy and limitless potential that only almost-4-year-olds have. After three months of doing almost no work, I have a to-do list so long I can't actually decide where to start. I might just stick with the tiny cardigans. 

One thing is for sure though: having a baby in Sweden is already turning out to be quite a different experience from having a baby in Italy (where the Bean was born). There, I was constantly prodded and pricked, cajoled onto scales and into eating less (yes, less!). I was very much treated as a patient, a female patient with a medical condition, and the mostly male doctors knew best. Which didn't necessarily feel like a dreadful thing at the time, this hand-holding, what with a first pregnancy being such an overwhelming unknown. This time around though, I admit I'm pleased with the Swedish approach: you are not sick, you are growing a baby. We're here if you need us but otherwise, go and get on with it. 

I shall. 

I'm linking up with Chantelle for My Expat Family.

On my to-do list || June

I'll be brief this month, partly because we're already halfway through June (wud?!) and partly because I'm in the throes of the pre-holiday rush - 2 weeks to go! So during what remains of June I will be:

• Making all the jam - fresh produce is finally available locally and I intend to use up every last scrap of it
• Eating all the jam - such as this tongue-tinglingly good elderflower and apple jelly that I made last night. The recipe is by my friend Juliane at Notes from Björkåsa and I could have it, spread on toast, for breakfast, elevensen, and afternoon tea. and dinner. Every day. 

• Writing all the patterns - the rationale being that if I do all the thinking now, I'll be able to do all the making when the small person is around 24/7. Because I definitely haven't got a deadline scheduled smack-bang in the middle of the holidays and two for straight after... (I do maybe have a bunch of new commission freshly placed, yay!)

• Keeping all my marbles - I'll admit, I'm struggling with the juggling this month. Yesterday morning I managed to lock myself out of the flat, sans phone and avec pyjamas. Says it all, really, doesn't it. Also, I've been shouty mummy far too often lately. No matter how busy I am, I will need to set aside some time to calm down as well. I tend to take a lot of flowery pictures when I'm stressed, and in the evenings you'll find me knitting away furiously at something just for me: a Maeve shrug by Carie Bostick Hoge in the most beautiful organic cotton + merino yarn. I loves it and I can't wait to wear it. 

• Looking forward to all the squeezes - two weeks to go, and then the 3yo monkey is all mine!

Have a good month (or what remains of it, at least)! Also, don't get locked out in your PJs! 

Maker Me vs Creator Me

On the 1st of March I officially launched as a "professional" designer. I can't bring myself to get rid of the inverted commas yet, even though I really am doing everything I can to approach this in a professional manner. I think it's because I still feel there is so. much. to learn.

Learning is a good thing, of course, and in my opinion even the most professionally professional "experts" (maybe I just like inverted commas, actually) should have to continuously work on honing their skills. But for me, right now, everything about this business is still new. 

The steepest learning curve has been detaching "Maker Me" from "Creator Me" (whaddaya know, I do like inverted commas). Maker Me is very reactive to her surroundings, the seasons, and what happens to be in stock at the local yarn shop. Maker Me will fall head over heels in love with a particular colour or yarn, and Buy before she Engages Brain. That's why I end up furiously making gloves and hats for the entire family the week before a cold snap is forecast, and why even big blanket projects meander along a completely random path.

None of that is remotely professional, and doesn't Creator Me half know about it. Creator me wants to work with magazines and release patterns in good time so that other people don't end up doing the hat scramble. Creator me makes mood boards, pays attentions to trends, and thinks about what other people will like. Creator Me is, admittedly, finding swatching with wintry woollens on a sunny day in June very weird.

Despite their seeming incompatibility, I know that it is Maker Me who gave rise to Creator Me, really: in the middle of churning out granny squares I realised I was also coming up with entirely new ones, and that it might be a good idea to share them. Maker Me is the one who took the leap, Creator Me is trying to keep up after a phenomenal response. 

The challenge for me, then, lies in keeping both Mes happy. My brain is raring to work out ALL THE IDEAS, but at the end of a long day my hands just want something mindlessly repetitive. My family still needs the hats, but I guess that come winter I'll be thinking about pretty cottons and pastels. 

It's all part of the process really, isn't it? I can neither stop making nor stop creating, so I have to find a compromise that works for me. So far I've turned to lots of To-Do lists: for Brain-ON daytime crochet, for Brain-OFF evening and weekends, for everything else ever.

It all feels a bit schizophrenic sometimes - on the same day I could be rummaging through piles of moody, dark wool as well as putting the finishing touching to a zesty mid-season top.

But I'm realising there is a time for soothing swatches, and another for crunching stitch numbers. My pattern release schedule is still all over the shop, but as I said: I'm learning. Long may it continue.

Do you have a Maker Me and a Creator Me? Do you ever find your makes are out of step with what is going on around you? How do you solve that (or do you just not worry about it)? I'd love to know! 

A Maker's Morning

A morning after our first winter in Sweden, THE morning. A Scandinavian morning in spring, any morning, every morning, feels like a deep and invigorating breath.

For months I have felt like a mole. Blind, snuffling, disoriented by the lack of color and nuance in the world. Color... As a crochetwear designer colour is my caffeine, really, and my daily fuel consists of the textures I find outside.

But what do to when there is so little light that seeing true hues is impossible? We tried, of course, to give the darkness short shrift with cosy blankets, bright cushions and twinkly lights. Still, there are only so many candle-lit breakfasts at 9 AM (nine!) one can endure before “hygge” can hop it.

No matter though, spring is here, the light is back, and I wake up to the sun’s delightful trickery. 

Once the boys have been dispatched to school and work respectively and the breakfast table cleared of detritus, my dance with the morning light begins.

The treasures collected the day before come out (I’m one of those people with perpetually crumby pockets, and it’s not due to my three-year-old’s snacks hiding in there), projects are piled on every surface. Yarn is squeezed, textures are tested, everything is arranged and rearranged. 

The big camera comes out. Sometimes the results are good and sometimes (more times), the results are rubbish. It doesn’t matter though; this is a Scandinavian Spring Morning. A breath… it’s all in the process.  

As I take pictures my mind stills. It clears: Winter’s dark cloak has been shaken off and with the light the ideas decide to wake up as well. I have to grab a notebook, quick. 

Now the day’s work can really start. See? I told you colour was my caffeine. Well. That and real tea. 

On my to-do list || May

It suddenly dawned on me, at about the end of April, that there were two months left before the summer holidays. Two Months!!!?? In terms of scheduling and deadlines, I'm still kind of flapping about somewhere in mid-March. {Breathe...}

Balcony garden

Right, now I've got that off my chest, let's get on with the business of making in May. Spring took a little siesta last month, but it's back with a hop and skip. I've been putting my wee seedlings out every day, and bringing them back in with my very diligent little helper every evening. He is lethal - sorry, highly effective at drenching - when armed with the watering can. Which is, quite clearly, exclusively his. 

MeMadeMay 2016

May is also the month of all things handmade wardrobe, of course. I haven't taken the #MeMadeMay pledge of wearing a handmade item every day (because I don't have anywhere near enough of them to do so!) and I don't even aspire to an entirely handmade wardworbe. Supporting a sustainable model of consumerism, in which we - makers and buyers alike - value high quality, long-lasting and ethically-produced items is very important to me. Nevertheless, I do love the idea of a wardrobe made with love at least in part by me, as I've discussed before.

Hence, I've started a Pinterest board of what I think will be truly wearable wardrobe staples for me, inspired by Libby and Ioana's efforts to create a gallery of Great Wardrobe Basics on Instagram.There's WAY more on the board than I can make this May, or even in the next many Mays, but I've started. The first project I'm tackling is the Ruby Top, which I'm planning on doing two versions of: one with two contrasting Art Gallery fabrics, and one with a crochet lace yoke. I've never done crochet lace, so that'll be interesting...

I've also got a Milo vest for the Bean on my knitting needles after seeing lots of cute versions of it on Carie's blog, Space for the Butterflies. Finally, I'm making an effort to mend and maintain some of the items I've made in the past after reading about Jen's inspiring #MendItMay pledge on My Make, Do and Mend Life. If you've got a few lackluster woollies knocking about too, I wrote some tips on how to give them a little TLC. 

Emmy + LIEN designs

In terms of my own designs, there have been a couple of interesting developments. The first set of instructions for the Dally Dahlia Blanket is now live. I kind of surprised myself by managing to get that up within the time frame I'd set! 

The first test sample of the Bretonbone Top is finished and there's another in the making, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer for the pattern than I anticipated. This is due to a very exciting opportunity appearing for me, so I hope you won't mind too much. I'll reveal more as soon as I'm able to (think late summer)..

Everything else is still languishing at the planning stage, so for now I'm just squeezing lots of pretty yarn. My current favourite is the mint green, an organic cotton by MoYa. I'm hoping to publish a review of it soon, so watch out for that. And, eventually, find time to actually use it.

Are you taking part in MeMadeMay or MendItMay in any way? I'd love to hear what you're working on this month!

Maker's Maintenance

Finally, finally Spring has remembered its lines and the thickest of woollies can be put away for a few months. But first: a little maintenance. 

These days the three of us wear mostly handmade winter woollies. A lot. Especially the 3-year-old; This being Scandinavia, severe weather is not an excuse for staying indoors and so after a whole, long winter his woollies were looking pretty, well, worn. 

After a whole, long (did I mention it was long?) winter of being stuffed under bike helmets, dragged through rain and snow, and dipped (rubbed, probably) in wet sand, the pompoms weren't very pommy anymore. The brims had been stretched down their hu-LA-rious owner's chin a few too many times. Some straggly ends were poking out, what with weaving them in properly not being my strong point... 

So this morning, with the sunlight finally streaming in, I sat down to do some Maker's Maintenance. I picked the dry leaves out and snipped off the sad little poms. I made new, properly smooshy pompoms. I re-wove the ends. 

I added a couple of rows to the brims to bring them back in from their flappy state. This is so easy to do - just take a smaller hook than the pattern originally called for and work the same stitch (front and back post TC, in this case) into the foundation row or starting chain.

You're basically working upside down and changing the stitch direction, but I don't think it matters. Because, fast-moving 3-year-old.

Finally, I soaked them in some lukewarm soapy water to get rid of the worst of the grime, left them out to dry on the balcony, and attached the new pompoms. Smoosh.

They don't look fresh of the hook. It wouldn't have been a big deal to make a couple more hats, even - the pattern (details below) is really easy and fun. Also, maintenance is a bit boring compared to the excitement  of making something new. But that is not point, I think.

High quality, responsibly-produced yarn is expensive. As a natural resource, it is also finite. By giving these little hats an hour or so of TLC, they'll last another winter. I won't be sending anything to landfill. And I'll have a bit more money left over for good materials for another make (it turns out I've made hats for everyone but myself, so far!).

These little hats are ready to be stored away now, and over the next few weeks I'll be washing, darning, re-weaving and otherwise squeezing the rest of our handmade  woollies. 

What do you do to ensure your makes last longer? Any tips?

---

The nitty-gritty
Pattern: Lake's Edge Hat by Kat Goldin
Yarn (bright stripes): Be Sweet Bamboo + DROPS Alpaca for the added brim
Yarn (neutral stripes): Lanar Big Merino & Maxi Soft 

On my to-do list || April

One of my to-do lists, anyway: my creative one. I have loads of others - chores, business admin, life admin, admin for the admin - but they're boring and so I can't very well blog about those. Most days I can't even bring myself to do them, but that's a story for another day.  

So, April. What shall we do this month? 

You might have seen that on the very last day of March I released my first pattern under the Emmy + LIEN label: the Lavender Skies Scarf. That was kind of two months behind schedule but I did it and it's insanely exciting. Especially as the response has been great so far - thank you! And keep it coming! 

With that one out if the way, finally, I can add some new things to the list:

The Bretonbone Top - a pattern

I started this last month and if I'm honest, it's whooped my behind. I think I must have ripped various bits of it out at least 5 or 6 times now. But it's getting there, the first sample is nearly finished and I will be looking for testers come late April. If you're interested in taking part, keep an eye on my instagram posts as that's where I'll put the call out. 

The Dally Dahlia Blanket - a recipe

As far as I'm concerned, there are two kinds of projects: "ponder and tinker and rip out and redo until it's just right" projects (like the top above), and "just for the fun of it" projects. Mindless projects I can pick when I'm too knackered for anything else, and which involve minimal maths (very much not like the top above). 

In the autumn of last year I began just such a project. The starting point was simply a random number of pretty cotton skeins and the Dally Dahlia granny square. No other planning or much thinking at all, other than a desire to make a bright, happy blanket. It's turning out delightfully wonky. I'd like to share it with you this month, but as a kind of "recipe" rather than a complete pattern because I just do not want to do the maths. It'll be free, of course, and perhaps it'll inspire you to make a wonky blanket of your own. 

Crochet meets Patchwork Blanket - a project guide

I've been getting lots of messages on the various parts of this blanket already published on my old blog, pulling me to task and asking where on earth it's going. Quite rightly, too - I've been working on it for nearly two years and have repeatedly stalled, changed colours, redone the border... 

It's at a stage where it's not finished (quite clearly!) but I have a much better idea of what I want it to be. So I'm putting together a complete project guide. It's taking a while, but I hope that by the end of this month or the beginning of May at the latest, most of what you need to make this - the patterns, the yarn, the colours, the tutorials - will all be accessible from one page. 

So that will be my April, in all its capricious spring madness. If there's any time left, you'll find me celebrating my 35th birthday (April is a cool month), knitting when it's raining, and on sunny days turning the balcony into a colourful living space with the help of the world's cutest assistant.

What does your April look like?

The idea for a monthly, fun to-do list came from the wonderful Rachel at The Ordinary Lovely. Her blog really is quite lovely, and I heartily recommend a good browse. 

Post-Easter Thoughts

More ramblings than thoughts, if I'm honest. Our 10-day holiday is over, and so starts the usual dance with the inbox, the to-do lists (always multiples), the various mismatched socks and half-finished crochet projects dotted around the house. What to tackle first? Slowly does it, now: have another cup of tea and a think.

• It's been an odd holiday, in many ways. Just like at Christmas we decided to stay here in Sweden, just the three of us, and have mini-adventures. Except that Mr E+L got struck down with the flu on the very first day, and so the only adventuring for a good 5 days involved me trying to entertain a Bean solo. It also involved lots of cake. 
• A holiday of introspection, too. With close family in Brussels, last Tuesday was a very, very raw day. 
• We pared it back down to simple, slow days. One day out to the forest, a very happy Bean. What else matters? The newspapers were ignored, for which I was thankful. 

• The Bean carried on Beaning at breakneck speed. Chatting about things like how to tempt the ducks from the pond nearby into our bath, and then on Saturday he discovered the joy of cycling with a purpose: go to the supermarket to buy chocolate. Yes please. 
• The crochet plans took an unexpected twist, too. Yarn I've ordered for the Pretty in Peach Sweater Dress seems to have gone AWOL and the neckline of the Bretonbone Top just will. not. behave. I don't like necklines, I've decided. I do like scarves and fluffy yarn though, and pretty littles violas from the balcony. Because, you know, SPRING! 

• We finally replaced the kick-you-off-every-five-minutes, slow-as-sin internet connection with a shiny high-speed one. Yes this was a First World Problem, and yes it makes me happy.
• It also occurred to me that creativity begets creativity. And vice-versa: with a little voice always in my ear and photo-bombing hands nearby, opportunities to stop, to think, to take photos were rare. After a few days, so were the flashes of inspiration, and by the end of the holiday I could barely string a sentence together. 
• I did manage a little blog reading though, so if you find yourself with five minutes to spare I enjoyed The Anti-News by Emma, Spring is here by Juliane, and The Wisdom of Youth by Carie. As you can see, I'm in the mood for light-hearted! 

Anyway. I´d better get on to those to-do lists then. Always multiples. Have a good one, if you still happen to be on your hols.

Coming full [yarn] circle - On making, and making informed choices

I spent most of my teenage and student years sketching, and was extremely particular about the materials I bought and used. Only certain paper weights would do. Derwent pencils, from independent art supply stores. Long conversations with the owners of said stores, about the merits of this putty rubber over another. I knew what I was talking about, what I was using and why. 

These days I find it easier to do my doodling with yarn.

When I first picked up crochet again (I learned when I was about 8 but forgot about it for years), however, I didn't give it the same attention to detail. I was in what the ever-eloquent and inspiring Jen Gale at My Make Do and Mend Life calls the "sweetie shop stage". I gave precisely zero thought to where a yarn came from, who had produced it, and how. Colour vibrancy, squishiness and price dominated my buying choices. I even (gasp!) bought acrylic yarn. 

During the planning process of this site, however, something in my attitude changed. Whenever we could afford it, I already paid a lot of attention to the food my family ate and the clothes we wore, in terms of sustainability, safety and quality. It suddenly made sense to apply that care to the yarn I use on a daily basis.

A few articles galvanised my thoughts - the one on "Slow Making" by Jen, which I've mentioned already, and one on "The Maker's Year" project by Kate from A Playful Day. As part of the project, Kate asks what drives us to create. I've always thought I do so to still my mind, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised there's another element to my compulsion to try all the things, all the time, all by myself (I'm determined to take up carpentry one day). 

Making is a way of nurturing my family and providing for them. By cooking wholesome food when I have the time and energy (when I don't: instant ramen), yes, but also by making hats to keep them warm, quilts to curl up under, birthday shawls to show off. It is a way of showing how much I love them, which I'm otherwise not brilliant at. Last night my 3-year-old asked to be tucked up next to me under the hand-stitched quilt, said "it's so cosy in your bed, mama", and my heart sang. You get it, I thought.

Ultimately, I think our modern, Western society has lost touch with the idea that these handmaking skills are what allow a family to survive and to thrive. Of course I'm grateful I live in a place where everything I need is accessible, easy and available, but by crocheting, knitting and sewing all hours of the day I feel I reconnect with these old values. I feel I provide value. 

It makes sense, then, to only use the very best materials I can afford, and to ensure that no-one suffers to make those materials available to me. That does mean I can buy them less frequently, and I do have to squeeze my eyes shut every time I walk past the shop with the cheap, pretty cottons. It is hard. But it is right. My yarn choices have come full circle, I feel.

So what does that mean for this site and my designs on a practical level? After weeks of 'homework' into sheep herding, wool trading and wool processing (I'm telling you, my evenings rock), I have made a few rules for myself.

YES to:

1. Organic where possible or failing that, Oeko-Tex certified (bonus points for both!)

2. Animal-friendly and staff-friendly production: free-range animals, fair trade conditions, etc.

3. Yarn made from recycled materials, reclaimed yarn, etc.

NO to:

1. Superwash yarn (until ecological superwash treatment methods become established), unless it's Oeko-Tex certified

2. Bamboo yarn, unless it's Oeko-Tex certified

There is more work to be done - I don't understand the dyeing process yet, for example - but I feel I'm making a good start. I've realised that I feel a sense of overall responsibility as a designer - a responsibility to develop patterns properly, for sure, but also to point you, crocheters and yarnists of all stripes, in the direction of materials that I personally believe in.

There are occasional screams of frustration. The holy grail of local AND sustainable AND suitable for the designs in my head still eludes me. But I'm ploughing on, talking to stockists, and testing new yarns every week. It allows me to make better choices, and my hope is that, although your choices are of course always your own, the yarn reviews I'm (currently! busily!) writing will at least inform you and inspire you to think about what you're buying too. 

I'm joining in with the current theme of The Maker's Year: What does making mean to you?