KNITTING SUPERSTITIONS

I was reading Lillian Beckwith’s book ‘A Rope in Case’ last week (I love all of Lillian Beckwith’s books. They are written about the Isle of Skye in/off Scotland in the 1950s /early 1960s and are both funny and whimsical about a way of life that was almost affected by modern technology then, likely almost gone now. DH’s family is of Scottish origin - the Outer Hebrides and the Highlands - so the whole country holds a bit of a draw for me. We've also had the opportunity to visit several times. These are a series of books that I just read over and over again), and noticed the following knitting superstition:

"Never cast on knitting on a Friday or you’ll not finish it."

I thought that was interesting and, I’m pretty sure at least one of the WIPs in the cupboard may have been cast on on a Friday. Hmm. I wonder can you counteract the problem by ripping a project out and casting on something new on another day? How far do you take this?!?

After seeing this superstition, I was wondering about other knitting superstitions and found a bunch online. They were pretty interesting and I’m glad I haven’t started knitting for Baby until now! Apparently it’s bad luck to start working on baby clothes for a baby that is not yet conceived. Did you know it’s also bad luck for a baby to wear green? For fear the fairies will take the baby away! Then again, to use a good Newfoundland and Labrador superstition, if you did knit something for a baby in green, I guess you could ensure the outfit had pockets and, as long as there are breadcrumbs in the pockets, the baby should be okay. Unless, the baby has to be old enough to throw the crumbs at the fairies and then run away themselves… Whew. All these new superstitious worries!

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before but we have been renovating our basement. It’s been an ongoing project for about three years. The length of time it has taken has something to do with starting the basement renovation and then throwing every other renovation project under the sun into the fray and getting them done before the basement. The time has come to move in down there and I look forward to posting pictures about the lovely new space shortly. I’m turning into a mole as the basement is fast becoming my favourite space in the house, only challenged by sitting next to the lovely gas fireplace in the living room with a good book/knitting project. I love the colour that I picked out for the walls, I love the light from the pot lights, I love the fact that I now have a finished laundry room, I love, I love!

I am most pleased with a ‘moving wall’ in the basement that DH and I (mainly DH) designed to go in front of the furnace. The whole wall moves out to allow access to the furnace for maintenance etc. When the wall moves back in, it is covered in cabinets for my yarn and quilting fabric! The wall is still a bit rough as DH is working his way around the room with the trim however, here is a sneak peak as I’ve already filled it.

The yarn stash – small but satisfying:

And the quilting cotton stash – only quilting cotton. My general sewing fabric needs it’s own wall:

This is the knitting that I’ve been working on over the weekend. It’s the Baby’s blanket that I ‘designed’ (with help from my LYS ladies) in Patons Astra, Colour: Fun N’ Games. The yarn is really pretty and I know it will wash well when the baby spits up on it. I had bought it before I started thinking about using only natural fibres on a baby. I know Yarn Harlot has some pretty strong opinions on this issue however, I am also a believer in using what is in my stash. Therefore, the next baby blanket will be knit out of the lovely Mission Falls wool is not yet in my stash but which I adore so much.