Wanna Meet a Dervish?

I know. It's just a sock. It is called the Swirling Dervish, though. I finished this one yesterday. It uses a lot of traditional Turkish techniques. Turkey being the home of the original Whirling Dervish himself, Rumi.















I've enjoyed designing this sock. I'm not a very experienced sock knitter. I've knit some, but I've always been more enthusiastic about sweaters. Yet, I've had fun coming up with designs for Circles Sock Hop. Even though the project came to a grinding halt along with my health, it stays with me and I'm motivated to keep it going. Each sock focuses on different techniques. It's an opportunity to try out different heels and toes, etc, to see what you like best.

This one particularly grabbed me, because the techniques of Eastern Europe and the Middle East are sometimes wholly different from what we're familiar with. For instance, when they say to twist a stitch, they mean to twist it in the opposite direction than we do. Once I learned this, it prompted me to think about how to combine them for twisted stitch motifs. Which is how I created the little swirl patterns.

Other techniques used here: swirl toe begun with an Eastern cast on, extra shaping for the little toe (I can't tell you how comfy it feels. One of those things you don't think about until you've experienced it), a purls and yarn overs transition at the toe, twisted stitch patterning on the body,









a thumb joint heel (I have finally found the solution to my deep heel needs. With a modification for how it is closed off in the end, this may become my preferred heel for all socks.),






with twisted rib and Bosnian Crochet (I'm a reluctant fan of crochet, but this may have convinced me to use more of it in my knitting. It creates a fabric density more compatible with knitted fabric.)


There's a lot to keep a curious knitter's attention.

I've liked the sock since casting on. I did lose momentum during the relatively mundane sections of the foot and the leg, but when the edging was done, I really fell in love with it. I've cast on the for the right foot and will use the process of knitting that to refine the instructions before publishing. Intrepid knitters who would like to dive in before I complete the second sock are welcome to, with the understanding that I will provide technical support for any pattern confusion.

On a blog-tech note: I use Blogger and I have a lot of trouble getting the actual post to look the way it does when I'm composing it. Anyone else have this problem? Solutions? I'd appreciate any tips!

Designs:knitting and otherwise

I've been working on the Swirling Dervish sock. All the detailing is in the beginning, so I think I'm through most of the work. I've also written out most of the pattern, including the charting. This thing has charts within charts, so I've been concerned about how to present that clearly. After showing what I was working on to a couple of people I think I've worked out how to do that best. I'll have one sample done by the end of the week so that I can get photos and - if I have no major upsets on the dad's health, dog's health, my health front - the pattern will be ready to go next week. Yippee!!

Can you see the pinky toe shaping at the top. This sock is for a left foot. You won't be able to tell for about 20 more rounds, but the swirls form one big swirl going up the foot and then around the ankle and calf. When I first imagined this sock, I wanted to tell the knitter to just use the graphs for the swirls and put them where you liked. That would be much more like a true dervish. Feedback I received suggested that this would turn a lot of skiddish knitters off. So, I've charted out a pattern, but I'll still suggest that the knitter let go and knit the swirls as the spirit moves them.

The yarn is Cestari's Wool Sock. I love it. Very easy to work with. Very nice on the hands. Great stitch definition. And one warm pair of socks that will likely last forever. The rustic nature of it is perfect for reference to traditional Turkish styling. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with it.

The process, though, seems slow to me. Okay, it's glacial if you think about when I really started to design this. I'm talking about this last bit of time where I picked it back up again. But that's just the pace of my life now. I'm like the tortoises on those digital internet advertisements. Still, it's progress. And progress on a piece of Circles that as I see as the future: the Pattern Collaborative.

To get the Pattern Collaborative truly activated, I've done a little outreach and we're starting a regular circle. We'll use the time to share ideas, problem-solving and resources for publishing. It won't be a public circle. That is, it's only for people who are working on designs for the Collaborative. People can inquire and be invited to join. This is new. Having a closed circle. But we need to keep the focus and I don't want it diluted by general socializing. My hope is that as we start to publish there will be even more active interest and this circle will grow or others will develop. We'll see.

On another front, I've decided to focus on knitting therapy again. I already re-launched the Greek Goddess Knitting group and that's underway. I'm considering morphing the way that circle works. In the past, it's been a 12-week "course". What I'm imagining now, is a 6-week introductory course where newcomers can get grounded in the basics, but then an ongoing group to continue the work. Often when I've run this, people feel that they want more. In the 12 weeks you can only focus on one project and work on one emotional/spiritual topic. Being able to use the model and continue doing self-exploration would really deepen the experience and make it more a life tool for people. It also allows participants an opportunity to interact with others who have gone through process and can "speak" their new "language." I have to think about how to schedule it, but I'm pretty sure this is where I'm heading.

There are other groups like this I'd like to get going. Thinking of it in this different way might make that viable. I've been hankering for years to do one that centers on the qualities of elements and their associated archetypes. I'll try to line that up for the Fall. I've been hesitant to get back into private therapy sessions. But I think it's time to start. Time to stop being afraid that I'm not good enough or worth enough or the opposite fear: that I'm too powerful and will have too much responsibility. I've been writing about my internal processes on a

With the designing and the healing work I'll feel like I've finally built the Circles I always wanted. I'm looking forward to that.

Patterns, where to begin?

The deep pattern dive has been delayed. As if there weren't enough travails with my health, one of my dogs (the yellow one, Morgaine) has been diagnosed with cancer. She's need a lot of care if she's to actuate her slim chance of survival. Morgaine and her sister (Pachamama) have been with our family since they were 8 weeks old. They're 10 years old now. They've been together since the womb. I can't imagine what it will be like for Pacha if she loses her sister. My daughter has already lost a cat and a very dear great Uncle. This is lot for her. It's always something, this life business. Sheez.

It hasn't stopped me completely. I have begun. I've been gathering notes and making a list of projects to convert:

1. Circles Ring Round
2. Siberian Collared Cardi
3. Lyssa's Double Knit Chevron Scarf
4. Leanne's wrist warmers
5. Asa's skirt
6. Francesca's skirt
7. Margaret's headband
8. Marv Mohair Cable Front Sweater
9. Girly Girl
10. Striped Ballet Sweater
11. Happy Halter
12. Twinkle re-design
13. new Babette's Hooded scarf
14. Fair Isle corded hat/wrist warmers - Turkish motifs
15. socks: swirling dervish
16. socks: simple twist for Kaleidoscope
17. proto-sleeve shawl
18. flirty skirt
19. Myrna's coat
20. German cardigan
21. short-row gloves
22. while alpaca two-piece set

So, that's a few things. And there are more in sketches and notes. Where do I even begin? There's the excitement of the most recently completed proto-type - the Siberian Collared Cardi - and then there are the simpler patterns to publish, such as the Flirty Skirt or a hat pattern. Of course, I want to work on patterns by others, too, so I'll have to get going on a couple of those...

And then, there are the patterns I owe to the Sock Hop club. They may think I've forgotten since that club fell apart last year. I had hoped to rely on a staff member who had a lot of sock designing experience to produce the patterns, but that didn't work out. With me getting more and more ill, I wasn't able to meet this obligation. That doesn't mean I've forgotten it, though. Things owed weigh on me and part of getting my life more functional is getting these weights off my shoulders.

So, I'll begin with the Swirling Dervish sock. It's a fun one. Done with a lot of Turkish techniques: a swirl toe with shaping for the littlest piggy; a border pattern at the top of the foot before the instep; Eastern and Western twisted traveling stitches for the main swirl patterning; an inserted heel; and a cuff finished with a Bosnian single crochet. (The Sock Hop club members will get a discount on the yarn.)

I had begun this pattern last year. Shelley was test knitting it for me. I had knit my proto-type on a skein of Blackberry Ridge Kaleidoscope. This is lovely yarn and feels great for a warm, cushy sock. In the colorway I worked, you could see the patterning. I wasn't sure, though, if it got a little too lost. So, Shelley worked it up in a much busier colorway. Then it was completely lost. A lot of work for no visual effect. So, we put it on hold for a more solid colored yarn.

Easy enough, right? Write something else for the Kaleidoscope - which had already been purchased for the sock club - and then use this pattern once you find a yarn that suits it. Well, easy enough until your hard drive crashes when you haven't done a back up in a while. (Bang head on computer to see if latent memory can be transferred from brain back into computer via violent osmosis. What? No luck?) Yes, that's what happened. I lost all the work. Or so I thought.

Recently, I was going through the hundreds of "stickies" I have in my Mac Stickies program. I have so much random information there and it had no organization. So, in a moment of needing to do something rather mindless but cathartic, I decided to try arranging them in some useful order. And, what do I find? Notes for the Swirling Dervish! All is not lost. The very specific toe shaping and the traveling stitch charts are there. These were the most detailed piece. I can easily recreate the rest. So, we're off.

I thought I had a bit of this sock on the needles so you could get a taste of the look of it. That photo at the top is what I found. Hmmm, that's not a toe. And those aren't traveling stitches. That is definitely the yarn I was making the proto-type from. I must have pulled it out to begin working on another pattern. We'll see where that goes. The new and improved Swirling Dervish will be done in the Cestari Sock yarn. The rustic simplicity of that yarn will suit the traditional Turkish styling well. I'll keep you posted.