Plane Knitting

It's winter holiday time in Australia and for many that means jumping on a Plane and heading to a sunny destination.

Queensland seems popular- maybe even overseas if you are lucky.

The excitement of travel however often comes with the problem of the boredom... of travel! Not only the actual flying time, but waiting time at boarding gates or long bus rides to airports and accommodation and be a real drag.

For knitters however, the idea of hours of uninterrupted knitting time is an absolute bonus! If you are knitting a relatively simple project you don't need to focus too much and can probably watch a movie on the plane as well.

For a while there was a security ban on knitting needles. Luckily for us, this restriction has now been lifted by the Australian TravelSECURE department.

Australian domestic airlines allow knitting needles as carry on luggage.

“Given the considerable enhancement of aviation security in recent years, the Australian Government have removed the following items from the Prohibited Items list:
• Umbrellas with metal points;
• Knitting and crochet needles;
• Pointed metal nail files (including nail clippers);
• Corkscrews; and
• Racquets used in squash, tennis, badminton or any other sport.
”

— http://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/carry-on-baggage/global/en#carry-on-baggage-allowances

I recently travelled to the USA and flew domestically with United Airlines, I was allowed to bring my bamboo knitting needles through security and on board. However they advised against the metal Addi needles - so I packed them in my checked luggage.

If you are travelling overseas - I would recommend you phone the airline you are flying with and ask their policy. As an extra precaution, even then I would suggest bamboo needles rather than metal needles will most likely to be allowed in your carry on luggage.

So if you don't mind carrying a lot of yarn and you are headed on a long haul flight - this could be a great time to start that huge cardigan! Otherwise stick to a small manageable project to make the most of your air time.

Happy knitting and safe travels!

Jane

You've got to start somewhere.... (my knitting journey)

My Grandma was a very crafty lady.

My Grandma was a huge influence in my life.. she eventually lost 90% of her sight but she still crocheted and knitted! A wonderful mum, grandma, great grandma and even a great great grandma at age 102 when she left us.

I'm not sure if it was her English heritage or a need to be resourceful in war years and depression, maybe my Grandmother simply loved to create beautiful things.

There was a lot of talent in Mary Alice Gilbert. She baked and cooked beautifully. I remember being enthralled as I watched her skillfully pipe trays of lace icing to carefully place on the multi tiered wedding cakes she created. She hand crafted icing flowers to cascade on tiers of pure white fondant covered fruitcakes. Alice, as she was known, also darned socks, crocheted rugs and knitted. My mum said that Grandma even knitted herself a Dressing Gown... I would love to have seen that!

My Grandma taught me to knit; and when I returned home from visits and had forgotten how to cast on or off, my Mum showed me again.  I don't remember ever finishing a project as a child but I loved the idea and the shared moments of knitting. Knitting for the sake of knitting.

It was many years later when my daughter was about 7 that I stumbled across knitting again. I even joined in a Saturday morning knitting group. This time I actually completed the items I started. My sister was pregnant with her first baby Sam - he was the lucky recipient of a number of baby beanies and a very sweet cardigan.  

Since then knitting has stuck with me. I still love learning new knitting skills and I have even taught knitting to children at my daughters primary school in a small lunch time group, which was very rewarding.

Weekly knitting classes were held outside at lunchtime (weather permitting). Introducing students to knitting and creating a friendly social group across different year levels.

So now I have created a way to share the love I have for knitting and creativity by designing What Jane Knits.

I hope that the simple instructions, quality yarns and practical projects will be just the inspiration for non knitters. Of course it can be slightly frustrating initially, but most people get the hang of it pretty quickly.

If you need any help look on my YouTube and there are handy tutorials, but if you are lucky enough to have a Grandma who knits, ask her to help. Who could think of a better way to spend an afternoon.

Knitters are social and creative Rebels!

If you think knitting is some boring pointless hobby, think again.

Hand knits fall under the category of Arts and Crafts an idealism established in order to promote artisan work in the climate of industrial mass produced products.

Power to the people!

Oldham Cotton Mill

My Grandmother was born in Oldham, a mill town in North West England. Whilst industrialization certainly created employment for the masses, little if any personal input was required. My Grandma was an excellent knitter, she had a very keen eye and was very talented at most hand crafts.

Aims, Aesthetics and Ideals http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/arts-and-crafts.htm

The Arts and Crafts movement was a social/artistic movement of modern art, which began in Britain in the second half of the nineteenth century and continued into the twentieth, spreading to continental Europe and the USA. Its adherents - artists, architects, designers, writers, craftsmen and philanthropists - were united by a common set of aesthetics, that sought to reassert the importance of design and craftsmanship in all the arts in the face of increasing industrialization, which they felt was sacrificing quality in the pursuit of quantity. Its supporters and practitioners were united not so much by a style than by a common goal - a desire to break down the hierarchy of the arts (which elevated fine art like painting and sculpture, but looked down on applied art), to revive and restore dignity to traditional handicrafts and to make art that could be affordable for all.

As outlined in this essay by Canadian author...

“In Canada today, knitting continues to be used as a craftivist medium, and is being employed by such groups as the ‘Revolutionary Knitting Circle’ and ‘Blankets for Canada Society Inc.’, as well as by Canadian artists like Janet Morton and Barb Hunt. The craftivist movement, an offshoot of the Arts and Crafts movement, coincides with established Western feminist thought, thus empowering the craft realm and forcing knitting to be understood by the greater public as more than a mere “craft hobby”, but as a medium to both promote social change and improve Western society at large.”

— http://cujah.org/past-volumes/volume-v/essay3-volume5/

Rebel Rebel...

Sounds pretty exciting to me! Since the beginning of this century, I feel there has been a growing interest in finding alternatives to mass produced products. There has been an awakening to the true cost we pay for cheap goods, in that the products are often constructed by workers who receive little compensation and poor working conditions.

I believe knitting and craft revolution will continue to thrive.

Viva La Knitter!