Hi, there!
At the microphone, your host Caroline Normandeau.
It's time to get started with this first episode of my DREAM IN STITCHES podcast!
Topics for this episode :
- An Introduction.
- The Podcast.
- Springtime.
An Introduction
Very happy to find you on this platform... I have my tea in hand, a knitting project at my side. And what about you? Are you comfortable?
So, why did I name my podcast Dream.in.stit.ches?
But first, let me introduce myself, Caroline or Caro, creator first and foremost... knitter, instructor, designer, editor and, above all, enthusiast of each and every stitch I cast on on my needles.
You may be asking yourself a number of questions about me? My answer today is that I've been knitting for 15 years... I started in January 2009. Would you like to hear an story? We love stories!
Here it is.... I'd like to digress for a moment.
When I accompany someone on their first knitting adventure, I suggest starting knitting with your grandmother's knitting tools, for example. For my part, I had zero materials. I lived far from my family, so access to grandma's or mom's needles was inaccessible. But I had just met [in December] a group of women who got together to knit and crochet AND that was something new! One of them was selling some needles and yarn. With my 4 mm needles and cotton yarn in hand, I proudly started my first stitches. With the wind in my sails... or rather in my stitches... I learned to knit and purl... and my first squares were created! Great... I had just discovered knitting... and I was falling into it like Obelix and the magic potion... I was eager to learn more. I was so excited that I knitted at every possible moment. In the beginning, we learn to hold our needles, our yarn... or at least we try our best to coordinate the two movements. One thing I learned later... tension. I quickly understood the meaning of the word when a plastic noise resonated in my hands... I had just broken one of my [plastic] needles! After investigation with some experienced knitters, the conclusion was that my tension was such that they wondered how comfortable I was when knitting. At that precise moment, the tension on my needles became a very important aspect.
I close the brackets. This was my anecdote! Surely you have plenty of knitting stories?
The Podcast
Like you, perhaps, I like to take courses. My podcast came into being thanks to a 1-month training course. Like any course of this type, we had our workbook, and we had live sessions. I loved these moments, as we exchanged ideas and questions. In one discussion, how my knitting journey began, I explained how stitches were constantly present, both day and night! They appeared everywhere... I could see the textures of buildings transforming into stitches. One of our instructors shared with me an idea for an image of a person who seems to be sleeping surrounded by yarns. From there my spark added the two, and DREAM IN STITCHES was born. The three sheep represent the different types of fiber, and the community, the many encounters, and the friendship that can be forged. In short, I'd like to thank Ella and Minnie for their ideas, and their Beta format of the course. We had an exceptional group, and I look forward to seeing their podcast develop over time.
Springtime
Here, where I live, there are four (4) distinct seasons: summer and its brilliant sunshine, autumn and its orange landscapes, winter and its white coat, and finally spring and its green landscapes. Each season is full of INSPIRATIONS in its own way.
April is the sign Mother Nature sends us to announce with great fanfare that spring has arrived from its long journey and is unpacking its bags.
Spring is like some teenagers (witness, we have two!): it spreads itself . He opens his suitcase wide, taking out tools, bulbs, seeds, clay pots and more. With a big step, his companion The Sun arrives at his side... The duo set to work to recolour our décor. AND work they have... quite a to-do list.
This is one of those seasons when color reappears all around us. Mother Nature offers us an extraordinary palette with flowers, greenery and tree leaves.
Around my house, the grass is yellow-beige, the flowers are in concert in the ground with their winter coats, chilly, waiting for that ray of sunshine that will allow them to take off their coats and poke their noses out of the ground. Rising up, glowing in the sun, to let us enjoy them. Rising, basking in the sun, from May to September we can admire their colorful petals, perfuming our surroundings like lilacs.
For this season, this renewal, I take out my camera... and the photographer in me expresses herself for a moment. Inspired by this landscape dressed in greens, whose rainy days turn them bright green. It was this wet grass green, in the spring of 2023, that inspired me to acquire the skeins I needed to knit myself a sweater.
In spite of this gray moment - the in-between seasons - does this season of renewal inspire you? Do these walks, in shoes or in the car, bring movement to your stitch creations?
For my part, after a photo shoot, I take the time to save my photos. File them? Oh dear, that's one of the things I have to do... as much as I organize my yarns, my inventory is right on target, the photo classification is a bit slow. BUT, these photos inspire me in color, texture... and sometimes, a pattern from my library comes to mind. That's it! I've just added my next project. Isn't it great!
The process is in its beginning stages... what I like best is to get out my brushes (watercolor), colored pencils (felt-tip, wood, watercolor), and my sketchbook. I settle down with a cup of herbal tea... I trace the silhouette of the sweater... I forgot, I'm surrounded by the selected yarns of my inventory! I'm having fun, because that's what creating is all about: having fun, enjoying creating your own ready-to-wear. I coordinate each yarn with a pencil color... and have fun transforming the silhouette of the sweater.
It's such an enjoyable process... I sometimes discover ideas for stripes or color blocks that would otherwise have passed me by!
I invite you to give it a try. You don't have to be an artist... The pattern is for you, for your inspiration for your next ready-to-wear garment. Trace the item's schematic on tracing paper, or take a sheet of paper and trace it by hand, and let your inspiration flow for your next project. Whether it's socks, a cardigan or a shawl...
In short, stay inspired by taking the time to observe those budding leaves, the flowers getting ready to dress in their most beautiful ornaments.