I'm Drea. I'm Meg. I'm Tina. And I'm Jess. And this is Pardon My Stash.
Welcome to Pardon My Stash, a podcast about knitting the fiber arts and how awesome it is.
Yeah. Before we dive in today, let's talk about what we're working on, Tina. Well,
I'm working on holding my mic. No, I, if I was working on something, if I had two hands, it would
be probably my brioche hat. I just need something simple right now. And my sweater is getting to
the point that it's hot. Like it sits on my thighs and creates heat. Like a little blanket.
Yes. And I don't want a blanket right now. It's like 80 degrees.
It is 80 in the Northeast. I am good. Hard pass. All right, Drae. Still plugging away on the
Kemi Shawl by Isabelle Kramer. And I'm using Silver Moon fiber arts in blue jeans, faded jeans,
faded jeans, jeans, jeans, jeans. I'm playing Vigi games. Great. Moving on.
I can see what you're doing. I am working on my sweater of swords by
Dear Ingenue. I think that's how you pronounce it. I am on the second sleeve. I was, I was going to
start the second side of my tea cozy, but I decided I wanted to work on the second sleeve more.
I'm on seconds right now. And yeah, so I'm working on that and it is in the colorways,
Vicka and Morganis from Curriculitas. I am working on my sun drop pullover by Lola.
Pullover by Laura Ehler. I am back on track after the mistake that I had last week.
I'm about halfway through this pattern shift and then the only thing left is the hem. So I am
getting there. It's, it's coming. And I'm really excited to be almost done with this thing. Not
that I haven't loved it. It's been a lot of fun, but I'm ready to move on. If you want to check
out more about our current projects, patterns and yarns, be sure to check out our website,
pardonmystache.com. And now knitting, socializing and community with Meg.
So this is going to be a super short segment today, but I wanted to discuss the news that hit the
crafting and fiber verse in the last 48 hours. That XRX Inc. who's in charge of the stitches
events has declared bankruptcy. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. They announced it yesterday. Whoa. I'm not on
social media anymore. So that I, this is legit reaction right here. I have a date on like knitting
community news. So that is also, this is brand new to me. I mean, it's, it's brand new to almost
everybody. They just announced it yesterday. On their website, they said that after 32 years
of doing events and 40 plus years in business, they can no longer survive in the present economic
climate. One of the major kind of hits that this is creating is that if you weren't, if you want
I'm familiar with stitches. Stitches actually used to be several different events all over the country,
which were not only just big fiber events, they were also big teaching events where they would
employ dozens of teachers to hold classes. They had a booming marketplace. They used to have one
in Connecticut. They actually pulled out a few years ago. So there hasn't been one in Connecticut
in a while. We've never, we did talk about going to one, but never actually happened.
The real hit in all of this is that up until a few hours before they announced their bankruptcy,
XRX Inc. was still taking registrations and booth fees from vendors.
Oh. So a lot of small businesses in the fiber community are going to be negatively impacted
as a result of this. Oh, that's messed up. Yeah. And they are saying that they will be
reimbursed, but there's no real timeline right now for reimbursement because as you know,
bankruptcy is complicated. Also, technically with the bankruptcy thing, they just basically said,
no, that's really messed up. It's very problematic. And especially for a lot of teachers and small
business owners who had already invested in reserving a space at a Stitches event. Today on
a lot of social media unravelry on Instagram, a lot of small business owners who were not affiliated
with Stitches were actually calling for kind of the awareness of, you know, over the next couple
weeks, we're probably going to see these vendors coming out and saying, Hey, you know, I had
invested money in Stitches and now I'm, you know, I'm in kind of a snag. So calling for, you know,
support of these businesses, it can cost a lot of money to vend at a show. And it is a risk that a
lot of, of crafters take because of the hopeful payout that it's going to bring them. So when they
pay fees upfront, they're anticipating that they're going to make that money back. When something
like this happens, it puts those small businesses in a bind because they have, they've already
output the money, but they're also not going to be getting the money back that they invested. So
you know, just be aware if you see this, you know, in the next couple of weeks and you feel so
inclined to support these small businesses or even give them just a shout out, realizing that
they are in a bind, that they're in a tough spot. We want to see small businesses succeed. I mean,
that's a big part of, of the fiber crafting world in general.
Most of us are. Excuse me. What were you saying? I'm sorry.
I said just most, if you see it, most of the fiber, there's a lot of big ones, but a lot of
the different ones you see are these small businesses that usually do go to the shows.
So yeah, I can imagine this is kind of changing their whole, their whole model.
And also the fact that when something like this happens and you have such a large vending space
go down like that, it also does create kind of a fear in a lot of small businesses that
the risk is not going to be worth it. So those of us that want to keep going to fiber festivals
and seeing small businesses, we want them to succeed. We want to be encouraging.
So nobody's saying like, go out and spend a bunch of money. But if you could even like,
if you see these businesses that are saying that they are in a bind or they, you know, are,
they were caught up in the stitches madness, even giving them a shout out, plugging them on
social media. That's a great way to make sure that they, you know, kind of stay afloat and
keep them, keep in the public consciousness, sending them some love. So the algorithms see them.
Yeah, I was going to say, I hope you guys don't mind if I say this, but it's,
I hope those guys don't mind if I say this, but if any of you out there that are listening to this
are affected by that, we'd be happy to do a shout out for you on the podcast. We can do that for
the next couple of weeks just to bring awareness to your business and hopefully some free
advertisement in the sounds of a voice to hopefully send people your way. I think that's one thing we
can do. It doesn't cost us anything to do it. And if it will help you, if you've been affected by
this situation, please contact us through our Instagram or our email on our website. We have
a form and we will shout you out. We'll respond to your message and we'll definitely shout you out
on the podcast in the next coming weeks.
So for this week's main topic, we're going to piggyback off what we talked about last week in
the episode, we talked about when to know when it's time to take the next step to kind of go
forward, to stretch yourself, to kind of move your abilities forward. This week, we're going to talk
about taking a step back, not necessarily giving up, not quitting, but when is it time you move
into the familiar, do what you're comfortable with and take a little bit of a breather.
So to start off, first question for everybody, when do you know that it's time to be like,
okay, I've been trying this thing, it's not working for me. I don't want to quit knitting
or crochet. I'm not going to give up. But when do I just, when do I kind of stop for a second?
So I'm kind of in a little bit of a funk myself right now. I have been working on this show for
a really long time. And most days I'm not working on it. The most that I usually work on it is when
I am podcasting with you guys. So it's not a lot of work that I'm putting into it right now. But
I'm also a painfully monogamous knitter. So it's hard for me to want to cast on to a new project,
just to give myself even a little bit of a break from this project and doing something that I
actually really want to do. But I'm starting to feel it. I mean, like moving on to a new project,
I also feel like taking a step back is also a feeling. It is definitely is. This is definitely
like the feeling. Yeah, Trey, I don't think I know you're painfully monogamous. But if you could
tolerate having a second one as like, don't think of as the second one, like you have a second whip,
but like you have a smaller project and then a larger project. So like this shawl could be
your larger project. And then maybe you do like a crochet square, or a you know, a washcloth,
or just something or a hat or something like really quick. It probably is going to be a hat.
Yeah, just something that you can do just to kind of like, take a, honestly take a break from the
shawl. Because I honestly, from my perspective, I've been flipping between my sweater and my brioche
hat. So if I'm not feeling the sweater, I go to the hat. If I'm not feeling the hat, I go to the
sweater. But like, I don't know if I could do like just straight sweater. I think I would cry.
I've boxed myself in at the moment where I'm like, well, I don't feel like knitting that shawl. So I
guess I got nothing. Oh, you know, that's I think you can I think it's safe for you to do too. I
don't think two is bad. I think 12 is bad like me. No, I don't think it's bad. You could do as many
as you want. I probably honestly 12 is probably low for me. It's probably up near the 20s. But
but yeah, I haven't looked at my my whips are just standing over there. And I'm just
not touching them until I get over there for now. I want to finish these two. That's what I'm
committing to right now. I'm finishing these two. But yeah, Dre, honestly, like, I would go for it.
Because that feeling you're feeling is totally what Meg is talking about. Like exactly. It's time.
Very relatable right now. I actually think I'm going to take this opportunity and cast on my,
my make along project. Yeah, I really want to work on that snail. I mean, I still haven't,
I like I just moved and I still haven't unpacked all the yarn.
That's the first thing that's before the toilet paper, you get the yarn out.
But I think that's that's a good point that I think piggybacking along that feeling is
you don't want to knit what you're working on or crochet what you're working on. But you really want
to start something else. Like you see that project and you're like, I'm feeling that I'm not feeling
this. But that over there, I could work on that. Yeah. And yeah, and that's tough for a monogamous
knitter. I'm not a monogamous knitter. I'm just like I see a new pattern and I'm like, hello,
and I forget about the thing. I'm like the opposite. What about you, Jess?
If it gets to a point where I actively loathe what I'm I am working on or I am like falling
asleep while working on it. I know it's time to do something else for a little bit. And sometimes
it's a completely different craft altogether for a tiny bit. Depending but usually it's bouncing
either to something that I was really interested in or something smaller that I was really
interested in or something smaller that I could just sort of like bang out real quick. But it is
it's one of those things where it's like I'm thinking, okay, I need to finish this thing.
And then you just sort of get that like doom feeling. Yes. That like, I can't describe it,
but I feel like the people who have it know exactly what it is. Yeah. That that just like,
I'm going to cry if I have to knit one more stitch of this garment. Yes. I know that feeling.
And so if I feel that I'm like, okay, it's time to kind of look at something else for a little bit
until until I at the very least don't get the doom feeling when I look at it anymore.
Yeah, I was gonna say that doom feeling I I've totally received the doom feeling and then I
step away and then I'm okay. Like I just need I just just needed that break. But like, I had
the doom feeling with the Ingalls sweater. I've had a doom feeling with every sweater when I'm
halfway through the body. Every single time. I'm just like, oh, I can't do no. That is the whole
stuff. You're halfway through the body. You're just like, ah, no. But like now that I'm like closer
to the end, I'm like, okay, the doom feelings gone. I feel like I'm actually might be doing
something now. So I think this will be okay. Which is relatable, really. Yeah, very relatable.
I don't think people talk about that enough. I think it's always about like, I think it's always
about like the the finished project or what you're starting on. But not a lot of people talk about the
in between what's going on in between? What do we do? What do we what are we feeling? And I feel like
that is the epitome of this is that you can it can suck sometimes. Sometimes you fly right through
and everything is great. And sometimes you know what the doom settles, man. And it could be for
a lot of reasons. Like it could, it might not necessarily be the project. It could just be
there's so much other things going on that that project in particular is not fitting.
Like, yeah, you know, because like, there's times where all I want to do is just a really quiet
stocknet project. And that's what I do. But then there but then there's other times that looking
at my yarn makes me hurt because like, I'm like, Oh, my God, I can't even think about doing something
right now because like, there's so much other things happening. But and I think a lot of people
tend to shy away from that because it's like, you know, got to got to pretend like, Oh, yeah,
I love knitting all the time. It's always fun. But it's like, it's not, you know, if you don't,
sometimes you just get that feeling and you're like, All right, break time.
Well, I think a lot has to do with your mindset as well in the in the vein of, you know, where your
brain is at sometimes, you know, if you are stressed out, sometimes a an easy project is all
you have the capacity for other times when you're stressed out. I don't know about you guys, this is
this might be a me thing. But sometimes I need a more complicated project because I'm like, I want
my brain to kind of shut off. Oh, yeah. I want to work on something where I actually have to think
about it. Because if I'm just doing like, miles of stockinette, or even ribbing, that that gives me
way too much time to think. And I don't want to think right now. I want to think about my pattern.
I want something complicated and meaty that I can really like, sink my teeth into. So I think a lot
has to do with your mindset, your emotional state. And what you have the capacity for at this moment
in time. And sometimes it's important to acknowledge, you know what, this is not beyond my capabilities.
But it's beyond my capabilities in this moment. And I need to do something else. People
aren't static. So it's not like, you know, if that feeling comes up, it's like, that's that's
perfectly normal. Like, people are not static beings. Like, there's always change, there's always
like, sort of a yo-yoing going on. And that's nothing to say like, oh, this it's gonna drop
off, and you're never gonna pick it up again. It's really just I think your mind and body kind of
being like, hey, this is me telling you it's time to take a break, take a different kind of
perspective on things, maybe try something else, or take a rest for a day and come back to it.
And that's perfectly normal. Or come back to it in six months. Yeah, that too.
I was gonna say with the summer coming up too, that is a really big push for a lot for some people
to kind of just, okay, I'm gonna take a break and enjoy the summer for a bit. I'm just gonna go
outside, not knit, not crochet. I'll come back to this in September.
I think a lot of people have the problem where it's summer and you know, not only is the weather
nice, but it's also hot. And sometimes wrapping your hands around yarn is uncomfortable. Yeah,
knitting with cutting hands is pretty terrible. Yeah, I think that's how I feel about my
angles right now. It's just too hot because it's so heavy. I think that is definitely why. It's
not because I don't want to work on it. I actually wouldn't mind some stocknet right now. But
when I lay it out on my lap, I'm like, blah. You know what's really, you guys are saying this and
I totally get what you're saying. It's just funny because I do most of my knitting over the summer.
Because I have more time. It's like the time that I actually have. I actually get the least amount
of knitting done in the fall. Yeah, well, you're with your occupation. That makes sense. Right.
That's when I'm most stressed. So I get the least amount of knitting done. But I know what you mean
because a lot of, especially if you live in a hot climate summer, the yarn can be unbearable,
depending on what you're using. And unless you're the type of person that likes to swatch,
swatch, blah. Unless you're the type of person that likes to switch your yarns with the weather,
it could be a struggle. Or knit exclusively in AC. Right. Okay. But like,
I'm just laughing because when I was at Lake George last year, I definitely was like,
nah, this is too hot and go to the AC. And Pat was like, or you could not knit. And I'm like,
nah, nah, I'm going to go to the AC. It's not an option, sir. Sorry, sir. That's no.
Because of everything going on outside of knitting, it makes knitting feel almost like
monumentous. Like to even just to do one row. And I'm like, oh, I got to do it. I can't. And then
once I'm doing it, I'm fine. But like, I have to get past like five stitches. And then I'm like,
okay, okay, I'm good. I'm in it. I'm in it. But then like, if I keep getting interrupted,
I don't know if this happens to anybody else. But like, if I start and I do three stitches,
and then like, you know, and this is not an option, but I'm like, okay, okay, I'm good.
But you know, and this is not a bad thing. It's just like a kid will want something or my husband
wants something or the dog wants a snuggle. And God forbid I have something on my lap. And like,
what is just like, constant interruption will like totally mess up my flow. And then I'm like,
okay, forget it. I'm just not not going to knit right now.
Let's like be constantly interrupted while you're reading a book.
Oh, my god. Yes. It kills the immersion. Yeah.
You know, sometimes I can I can jump in and out with with knitting. But yeah, there are those days
when it is it is it is like being interrupted reading, where you're like, well, you know what,
now I'm just not going to do it. If you're going to keep interrupting me, I can't do this. And
again, I think that goes with mindset. Can it is this what you are capable of doing right now
in the moment? Or do you need to do something else?
Yeah, I think I'm going to break out a crochet square. That's where that's where I feel like
I'm going to go. There you go. I keep saying this every episode and I don't freaking do it.
I think I'm just I think I'm looking I'm actually feeling my yarn right now on my wall.
I'm like, I'm going to make you into a square. I think that's what I'm going to do.
You know, I think that, you know, for ideas for how to how to kind of break out of that,
I do that sometimes too, where I start going through my yarn collection and I'm like,
what is speaking to me right now? What do I actually want to do? That is not what I'm doing.
And this is why I wind up casting on too many projects.
Yeah, I'm definitely by feel though. I'm not like sometimes this look but mostly it's like I'm
feeling my skeins and then like one skein I'm like, oh, that's good. And then I'm like, okay,
I'm going to wind this one. So I've been trying to because I have a bunch of cakes that that
happened to her like I touched the yarn and I went, you're going to be a cake. And then I
used it for a little bit. And then now I have this cake left over. And now there's a section of my
yarn stash that's cakes because it's cakes that I started on. So and now I've been if I get that
feeling, I just kind of go over to my cakes and like this one, I'll do that for now to say another
thing you can do if you know you just need a break from the actual doing but you're you're not ready
to like take a break from it in general, man, go look at some patterns. I was just gonna say I was
literally going to say that. Yes, I do that too. Like, go through the patterns, see if there's any
new ones that like, you know, strike your fancy. You can just save them to look at them. You don't
even have to like be planning on doing them. But sometimes you know, it gets you excited for the
craft when you're just you're just not in the mindset to actually partake in the craft.
And depending on the type of person you are, either look at a category you're comfortable in
or look at a category you've never worked in before.
Yeah, something new, something new, something exciting. I got bored with this sweater the other
day. And there's another sweater that I want to make next. So I dyed up the yarn for it.
So now I have all this yarn that is ready to go.
But I will not let myself cast on for that sweater until I finish the sweater. And that can be a
motivation too. If you if you know what you want to do next, and you're like, and you are a project
monogamous like Dreah, you can like, kind of get your stuff ready and say, okay, this is the pattern,
this is the yarn, but I'm not going to do it until I'm done with this one. And sometimes not always,
but sometimes that can jumpstart you into like, okay, I'm going to finish this project, so I can
move on to the next one does not work for everybody. Your mileage might vary.
Dreah.
If I were completely honest, I did not listen to what Meg was saying for the last like 10 seconds,
because I was looking at patterns.
So yes, I do that.
I'm looking at the snail pattern. And I'm, you know, giving myself some hype so I can
say, yeah, let's get this going.
That's exactly what I just said. That was exactly what I said.
Oh, you're on task.
You're on task.
So for the last part of this, we want to talk a little bit about patterns that we fall back on
when we do fall into a rut. This is kind of brought to us by some of our patrons on our discord.
We're talking about good fallback patterns for when they do get overwhelmed, or they want to take
a step back. This can be like a comfort pattern or just something that you know gets you out of a rut.
So who has a good pattern that they like to do when they get into that mood?
I mean, I do like the Sunday Swing Socks.
She was gonna do it. I knew it.
We'll talk about Sunday Swing in a long time.
It's been a really long time since you made one.
Yeah, but you know what? I might be building up to a new pair.
Old reliable.
It is old reliable. It's such a good pattern.
It is absolutely old reliable.
You know what else is old reliable?
What?
More simple lines.
That's a good one.
It's just interesting enough, except for Jess doesn't feel so, but it's just interesting enough.
For me though, I think it's just interesting enough that it picks up between the stocknet.
Oh man, I can't do it anymore stock. Oh great, I'm not doing stocknet. I'm gonna do a lace-through.
And then it's like...
Yeah, it does. It gives you a little bit of variety.
Yeah, and the border's fun. I like doing the border.
So I actually checked my ravelry to see what patterns I've done multiple times.
And I didn't even remember that I had done this one,
but I've literally knit the same hat four times in the last year.
Which hat?
You own one. Andrea owns one.
It's the Utrecht beanie by Dutch Girl Creations.
I knitted that for her.
And I have then gone on now to knit that same hat four times.
No, I'm sorry, five times. I've knit it five times.
Yay.
This hat is amazing because it is.
It comes in five different weights. We haven't used sound effects. I forgot. I was so into the topic.
It comes in five different weights all the way from DK to super bulky.
It is super fast, especially if you do it in the super bulky.
It's just complicated enough to be interesting without being daunting.
Crown is very beautiful the way that it all comes together in the decreases.
I love this hat. I would recommend that hat to anybody.
And again, I've knitted five times. It's a lot.
I didn't realize it was older reliable, but apparently it's older reliable.
Old reliable.
You got to say it that way every time it comes up.
I made a ton of mini potion bottles.
Yep, you did. And crochet.
And crochet. Yep, a whole ton of them. They are great because I can usually get them done in like
three to four hours and I can switch up the color every single time. They're super cute and I love them.
And then I made a whole bunch of granny squares too.
Oh guys, you know what we're not saying?
What?
I know I'm looking at my ravelry now. Cocoa bean.
Oh, I love the cocoa bean.
That's such a go-to.
You know, I've knit two of them and I don't know if I would ever do another one.
Really?
That one made me feel like I was in a rut. The second time I knitted, I felt like I got the doom feeling.
I did. I did. But that's the thing.
Everybody's different.
Everyone is different. Yeah. Yeah. So like what is like a great like old reliable for you guys is
not for me and that's okay.
I mean, everybody's going to be making 40 pairs of Sunday swing socks.
You know, I made Sunday swing socks.
You know, I made Sunday swing a couple of times and I do like the pattern, but I don't have the same spot in my heart for it that you do.
Yeah.
Yeah. I'm in a category of my own.
Nobody loves Sunday swing like you.
I feel like that pattern was made for me.
It really was.
I haven't.
I'm going to say one more and then I'll stop. I swear.
The only other one I haven't made. I actually haven't finished one yet,
but I really, really enjoy the Stormy Skyshaw.
It is it has three different sections that you repeat and one of them being a drop stitch section and the other section is a garter.
And then the other section is a lace piece and that works for me because like I sometimes I'll look at it and I'll be like, oh, I'm in a garter section.
I'm in the mood for that.
And then I look at it and I'm like, oh, I'm in a lace section.
I'm in the mood for that.
I just keep going.
Is that the one that you're doing in the in the natural yarn?
Yeah. Yeah.
And it's coming out really pretty, but I keep getting distracted by things.
Now I'm going to want to knit it now.
See, this is the problem.
People, this is the problem.
I feel like the kind of prevailing repetitive thing I'm seeing with all these patterns is that they have a lot of variety in them.
Yeah.
To keep your interest.
Saying like, yeah, like they're not massive projects, but they've got a lot of different parts and kind of different stuff in them to keep your
keep your
It's the Justice Potion bottles, which come in different colors and they're short and snappy.
Something interesting and something that usually isn't going to take you forever.
And that's all the time we have for this week.
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