The importance of fiber choice

Considerations for wardrobe knitting, CraftDoodling Designs updates etc.

Thank you for your attention, time, love, and feedback on my newsletter each week. Writing here about knitting and other bits of life over the past year ✍️has become a grounding practice for me. Some of you have generously shared your knowledge and experiences through comments, and I’m grateful!💗 Nothing fuels me like a good knitting conversation. 🧶

🧶Envision your garment

In last week’s discussion, we talked about how handmaking is powerful. Crafting our own garments empowers us to control factors like fiber, fit, ease. With the right choices, we can create exactly what we want—and get maximum wear from each piece.

As many of you know, I’m currently finalizing the Fluens Tee 👕, which will be released later this month. I’ll be sharing more about its features and techniques soon, but this week, I want to focus on fiber choice in handmade wardrobes.

Fluens Tee - My upcoming design, later this month.

These are some of the features I envisioned for the Fluens Tee:

• A two-color tee with a stylish color-block detail—an elevated, versatile piece for any wardrobe. 😊

• A top that I could wear on its own on warmer days.

• A comfortable layering garment for days with fluctuating temperatures. 🌡️

🧶Explore, experiment and work with fibers

I realized I can achieve some of these by getting out of my comfort zone and choosing something that is not wool. I had talked about knitting with non-wool yarns more in detail in this earlier post.

No more fair-weather knitting

Knitting with a new fiber calls for learning the properties of the fiber and working with them. Many things that we automatically assume in knitting are based on our knowledge of how wool behaves. So getting to know your yarn by swatching and experimenting various techniques becomes ever so important. ⚠️

Clara Parke’s The Knitter’s Book of Yarn is a great resource for understanding about yarn and fiber behavior and how it will affect our finished items.

I had originally started working this design in a 100% linen yarn. Unfortunately my short rows came out with gaping holes and distorted the color-block detail. 🛑

It is then I came across the advice that working with a wool blend could be the baby step towards working comfortably in other fibers. I chanced upon Rani Fingering by Serendipitous Wool 🧶, a delightful 50% merino wool- 50% silk blend that perfectly fit my requirements. It is also incredibly soft next to skin which is a must for inner layers. 😍

This design has been in the works for a while now and my testers have made such lovely versions, in a variety of fibers. I can’t wait to share it with you all.💞 Please keep an eye out for the release later this month. 🗓️

Have you recently worked with a fiber that is outside your usual choice? Did you like the outcome? Please share in comments.

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CRAFTDOODLING DESIGNS UPDATES

1. For those who are eager to know about the progress of Mika Vest - I have written the pattern and sent it to my TE. I still have a few video tutorials to edit and upload. ❤️🙂

2. I haven’t made much progress on knitting this week. This next week, I will be focusing on online events and an upcoming class for next year. After that I hope to catch up with my WIPs and designs.

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OTHER THINGS YOU MIGHT LIKE

READING UPDATES

Finished Reading 📖

• Days at the Morisaki Bookshop - Satoshi Yagisawa

• How high we go in the dark - Sequoia Nagamatsu

Currently Reading 📖

• The unexpected Mrs.Pollifax - Dorothy Gilman

Until next time,

Kavitha. ♡

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