What Slow Fashion Means to Me

Yes, it's been a long ... very long ... time since I've written here, and it feels right to re-start blogging with the beginning of Slow Fashion October.  To kick off the month, Karen Templer asked for introductions, and I thought a lot about how I wanted to share who I am in terms of making and fashion. In my life outside of my paid work, I'm an avid knitter. Like many, I was taught by my mom and made some wonky scarves in those early years of learning.  Also like many, I gave it up because I had too many other interests and pursuits to fill my time.

I hadn't thought about knitting for years when I found myself at my hair salon, flipping through a Vogue Knitting magazine (yes, I did think it was strange that a Vogue Knitting magazine was at the hair salon) and my eyes landed on a simple but classic sweater dress. It was soft gray in color with minimal shaping but maximum appeal.  Something bubbled up inside me, and I knew that I had to trying knitting that dress.  Now, what you need to know is that I had never learned to read a knitting pattern ~ my mom, who is a master knitter, does not know how to read a knitting pattern to this day ~ but when I began to peruse the instructions, something in my brain clicked and it simply became another language to me, and one which I actually could understand.  How and why this happened, I can't explain but all I can say is that my brain was willing to accept the k, p, ssk, and chart marks when it had never been willing before.

Fast forward to today:  I have now been knitting for the past dozen or so years, increasing my skill and my love for making by hand. What hasn't increased is my speed and that, I suppose, is at the heart of my involvement in slow fashion. I am rarely driven by product. I am almost always driven by process.  Each time I cast on for a new project, I revel in the possibility of the final sweater, glove, hat, or scarf, especially if I'm trying to design it myself. But that's not what gives me the most joy.  Having the work in my hands as I touch the yarn, watch the fabric take shape, and create something wearable is what thrills me. The end product is truly the icing on the cake.

Oh, and no, I never did knit that sweater dress but maybe I'll just cast that on for my #slowfashionoctober project.