When Becca met Julie (Knitted Bliss)

Have you ever met an online pal IRL?

When the lovely Julie from Knitted Bliss posted on Instagram that she was in Bristol this summer, I said a quick hello, which resulted in a lunch hour meet-up full of stitchy chat. How often does one of your fave knit bloggers from Canada visit your city, right? It had to be done.

We talked yarn, blogging, Netflix and multitasking over hot bowls of pho, before a quick pit stop in the Simply Crochet/ Simply Knitting office to say hi to the team.  Julie was rocking her fresh-off-the-needles Golden Hour jumper (SO pretty) and sent me these pics so I could share a bit of our conversation with you. Thanks Julie! Be sure to check out her Knitted Bliss blog to see what she's been working on lately.

What are you making right now?

I'm knitting two tops at the moment, Rie (from Knitpicks) and Gesture Sweater (from We Are Knitters). They are both completely different, but I'm loving everything about them! Rie is very much outside what I typically knit or wear, so it's a bit more of an experimental knit for me. The Gesture Sweater is something I adore wearing- toasty warm cabled sweaters. I feel like it's going to be my favourite fall sweater. 

Have you bought any yarn on your England trip?

I did! I tried to keep it really manageable, I bought a skein of Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles in 'Boombox', which my daughter picked out. She wants me to knit her a little scarf. And I bought two skeins of of La Bien Aimee in 'Interstellar'. Not sure what I'm going to knit with those, but definitely something for myself. 

What's been inspiring you at the moment?

The intricacy of the colour grey has been inspiring me recently. It is quickly becoming my favourite colour, because it usually has so much range and depth. Very rare to see a flat grey, and I find that quite interesting. Plus, it goes with pretty much everything, making it such an easy to wear neutral. I've been thinking a lot of what it takes to have handknit classics in one's wardrobe, and colour choice is paramount. 

Any new designs coming up?

I have a new design coming in a future installation of Knitty.com, and I'm working on a couple of things that are still hush- hush. 

Current guilty pleasure (food, yarn or otherwise)?

When in England, gooseberry yogurt. You can't get that in Canada. When in Canada, Netflix is my guilty pleasure. 

Any favourite Bath/ Bristol treasures?

Photographs are my favourite treasures, the way they so perfectly conjure up a fragment of the day. But I also love the little Christmas store in Bath, and letting Lila pick out a new Christmas ornament for the tree. And in Bristol, I love combing the bookshelves of every book store I come across. I like finding new book by authors I haven't heard of before.

in the studio with Letty McHugh

Long-time Knit Happens readers will know about Letty McHugh. She's an artist and writer who is fearless, funny and also a dear friend. Her weakness for clogs knows no bounds and her approach to creativity always challenges and inspires me. 

At the end of last, year, I visited Letty in Yorkshire. We ate parkin, visited the Bronte parsonage, laughed till we cried, talked each others' ears off and drank tea in our pyjamas. We also visited her studio space in Hebden Bridge and had a very long chat about print, crochet slippers and inheriting textiles skills. Prepare for serious workspace envy. 

So Letty, what do you make?

Oh man, that's quite a question. I make art, I guess, and write things. I do print making and textiles and illustrations.

What's the last thing you made?

I did some illustrations for my blog a few weeks ago. The last proper big project I did was for my MA, called This is Your Inheritance, which was 70m of printed fabric.

Letty and her This is Your Inheritance project

What was the story behind that?

I started with stories from my own family. I had a lot of handmade textile objects that I had inherited from my great grandma. I inherited her treadle sewing machine as well, that my mum and her mum had learnt to sew on. I wanted to make a project that would celebrate them and investigate whether the textile skills that have been passed down to me were a common thing in other families.

How did this come together in a print project?

I did some experiments exposing the textile objects directly on the screen. I also interviewed 130 women online, and researched the idea of spectacle. When people look at doilies for example, they dismiss them.

You wanted to show these textile objects in a different context?

Yes, to transform them enough so they'd be considered in a new way, but still be recognisable enough that they'd retain their original associations. By printing them in an installation the same dimensions as the Bayeux Tapestry, a really significant historical object, it makes people recognise the objects and their meaning. I was keen to work on a large scale and prompt people to reconsider textile as something important, rather than frippery.

The idea was to make people think about the objects and the skills that had gone into them. In my family, these are skills that kept homes warm and put food on the table, rather than just, 'oh look, a pretty doily'. I still don't think we value these skills as a society. If you paid an electrician to come and fix your light, you'd be paying a lot more.

This is Your Inheritance

How long have you been in this studio?

I moved in in February 2013, so four years.

What was the first thing you did after moving your stuff in?

That's when I was doing big, inky drawings and was looking at doing more surface pattern designs.

What are you working on now?

I'm just starting a project called A Seaworthy Vessel about how we recover from trauma.

What form will that take? 
When my grandad was in the merchant navy, he was in an industrial accident and lost two and a half of his fingers. To rehabilitate his hands, he learnt to knit and made slippers for his family. It was less creative expression for him than necessity – he just got on with it. I've been thinking about how we use textiles to cope in our lives. I'm planning to crochet slippers and make them into little boats, possibly screen printing on the sails.

And what's one thing you can't make without?

Music and a view out of a window. You need time to sit about and do nothing to have the space in your mind for ideas. I try not to take work and books on the train with me.

hello 2017

2016, it's been real. A little too real. I'm so glad it's 2017. 

I hope you managed to have a bit of a break over Christmas and New Year. We had some down time and as usual I'm feeling a little reflective now it's January. 

It wasn't the best year. With all the worldwide negative and dramatic goings-on, as well as some struggles with striving, comparison and not finding contentment myself, it did suck in quite a few ways. But I'm still a silver linings kinda girl. I know there's a plan for me and that I am very blessed. I just need that to sink in properly in 2017. Having a look back over the last year is a good way to bring the positives and milestones back to light.

As always, there were some firsts: visits to Italy and Scotland, gym membership, difficult goodbye, blogging workshop, sponsored post, clay pigeon shooting (don't ask), trip to A&E (unrelated), x-ray, soup run, big festival, serious hangover (never a good idea), falling in love with spreadsheets, 

There were births, deaths and marriages, joyful, rowdy gigs, there was some wobbly mental health, Mr P learnt to drive, I finally visited the wonderful Letty and we went to the Bronte parsonage (literature geek achievement unlocked!), I crocheted my way across Loch Ness with some marvellous colleagues, I had my long hair cut off (finally), we celebrated our third wedding anniversary in Sorrento, went for a windy Christmas Eve walk on the beach and saw in the new year with friends. 

Last year I challenged myself to, among other things, finish two garments. And I totally did! Orange You Glad was my first adult-sized crochet garment and Miette my first knitted one. I'm pretty proud of them both and now have plans for a knitted jumper. I also managed to tick off another crafty goal – designing a blanket. I'll keep you posted on that one! 

I carried on running and yoga-ing, too. With a running buddy, I ran further than ever before (no-one was more surprised about this than me) and am planning a longer run with my sister in 2017. 

By far the biggest stepping-out-of-my-comfort zone moment was launching my To Be Adorned shop in 2016. Here's what I had to say on the matter. It's all been quiet on the western front around these parts lately as most of my free time is now spent dreaming up new designs, crocheting, wrestling with my glue gun and trying to figure out how to run a tiny business armed only with an iPad and a whole load of yarn. I have a feeling 2017's going to be a busy one. 

In the year ahead I'd like to knit a jumper, make the shop a success, pray more, love more and find joy in the everyday. But who knows what adventures are ahead!

Have you set any goals for 2017?

Sorrento and switching off

Marina Grande, Sorrento

At the beginning of the month, we finally escaped and headed off on holiday for a couple of days. Sorrento was our destination. Abundant with lemons, impossibly blue waters and pretty painted tiles, it was an utter delight to visit. I enjoyed spending some proper time with Mr P, topping up on vitamin D and swimming in the sea. We'd never been to Italy before, but it did not disappoint. We seemed to meet only warm, friendly and super laidback people, the sunshine was a constant and the food positively dreamy. If you've not been, add it to your bucket list immediately. 

Tiles for days!

I kid you not - the sea around Capri was ACTUALLY this colour

Seeking shade in Pompeii

Shameless souvenir shopping - bought a lemon tea towel

Bagni della Regina Giovanna, Punto del Capo - amazing spot for a swim

Finding greenery in Pompeii

Dinner by the sea - gnocchi like no other

Yep, it was pretty magical. It's just the whole relaxing and unwinding part that alluded me a little bit. I discovered that I'm quite an anxious traveller. That paired with my new-found inability to unwind made an interesting cocktail, but not insurmountable. I would love to know if you have any wisdom on switching off and taking a break. Do you have 'unplugged' time where you swear off social media, or do you like to stay connected? How do you unwind? I think a longer, quiet break closer to home might be a good idea in the future. 

Travel blogging isn't really my thing, but if you'd like any specific recommendations about places to eat in Sorrento or the lovely airbnb we stayed in, tweet me or drop me an email - I'd be happy to have a natter about it!

Oh, and if you're a bit of a heat wuss like me, I'd recommend wearing an enormous hat if you must go in August. It was HOT. Like, really really hot.