For our second installment of our Member Spotlight series, we’ve asked Phaedra Livingstone to take a turn at telling us about herself. Read on to get to know Phaedra better!
Phaedra Livingstone, a museologist and professor of Communications, Media, Arts and Design at Centennial College, has been a TKG member since the 90s. Improvisation is second nature to her, as reflected in her completed Ravelry projects under the name Phazar.
Like many of us, Phaedra plunged into knitting during the pandemic, and she shared her love for the craft with colleagues in a Learn-to-Knit webinar, demonstrating basic techniques with chopsticks for beginners in lock down who had no access to tools or yarn stores. View her video here: https://centennialcollege.zoom.us/rec/share/9-nCN3thSJ13SzEQMNWl79wGaxIvyZMqV8nRt7MmDIKhfvBjcMhras927Hgc1YMb.ZbRUNl9XNUuypP64 ; Access Passcode: @7=9fwZs
Did knitting come naturally to you?
I learned to knit at age 8, making slipknots with my fingers and yarn left over from my mother’s weaving classes. My mother was not a knitter but showed me how to cast on and begin a basic scarf. Casting off had to be delayed until a cross-country visit to my paternal grandmother in British Columbia.
When I was in grade 4, my family spent a year living in rustic accommodation on an island with no yarn store. I whittled twigs into pins to continue experimenting with knitting. Unsurprisingly, I’m a proponent of learning through play and building skills through trial and error.
Because no one ever told me I shouldn’t (or couldn’t) I chose some very challenging projects for my early knitted garments and did not use commercial patterns until I discovered Vogue Knitting magazine in my late teens. I took my first class in 1995—Sally Melville’s two-day “Advanced Knitting and Basic Design,” and her approach to colour and pattern excited me.
What do you most like to knit?
My Ravelry project page tells the story—sweaters dominate. No surprise there. But the next largest category—shawls and wraps—does surprise me. I like medium-sized projects. In the past I knit gifts, but now I prefer to knit for myself as there is no deadline.
I have also done test knitting and enjoy the insight it offers into other people’s design process. The goal of test knitting is to ensure a positive experience for the pattern user—Are the instructions clear? Are the details correct for each size correct? What is the user experience with substituted yarns? It’s also fun to see how other testers interpret the same pattern with their colour and yarn choices and any modifications.
Are you a project or a process knitter?
I think there’s spectrum of preferences rather than a binary choice, but I lean toward process knitting. I don’t typically purchase a pattern and then search for yarns; I start with the yarn and let it speak to me. I am not disturbed if a work-in-progress needs to mature for a while.
During the first COVID lockdown in 2020, I reorganised my works-in-progress, yarn, patterns, books and tools. I cleaned and mended sweaters and socks. I frogged forlorn FO. And from the depths, I disinterred an unfinished object (UFO) many years of age—the body and sleeves of a chevron-patterned cropped sweater with steek markings, still uncut. It whispered to me, “Mama, I’m not a sweater. I’m a dress.” The body fit perfectly as a skirt, and in my newly inventoried stash I found a variegated yarn for the bodice that picked up the colours in the skirt and sleeves. The end result was my “UFO Lifetime Achievement Award Dress” of which I am very proud.
Which fibres do you prefer?
I don’t like the hand of 100% acrylic yarns and find that man-made fibres tend to retain odours. But blends of acrylic with other fibres are fine. I prefer natural fibres for their ease of care, capacity to accept dyes, and lower environmental impact. I avoid superwash wool yarns and am prepared to take special care in laundering wool garments.
Do many of your friends knit?
Yes, but I am often surprised to find out that they are knitters only years into our relationship. Many of my oldest friends are sewers, and during my teens I did more sewing than knitting because sewing offered more opportunities for creativity and immediate gratification. At that time, the way in which knitting was marketed did not emphasize creativity and imagination—it was still pretty “homespun” (in the outmoded sense of the word) and there weren’t the gorgeous hand-dyed yarns available now.
What is the most challenging or tedious aspect of knitting?
I still find Kitchener stitch grafting very challenging. Fortunately, I found a project bag emblazoned with the Kitchener stitch mantra and refer to it often.
Where do you go for reference material?
The Ravelry website is a primary resource, and I have assembled my own reference library of books, patterns, and workshop notes over the years. YouTube is also an amazing resource—I like the Very Pink Knits Stitch Dictionaries, especially her slow-motion stitch videos.
When do you knit?
When don’t I knit? I carry a project bag with me everywhere. I knit during breaks between classes or meetings, in the evenings, on the TTC, on flights and on long car rides, you name it. Knitting on the TTC often sparks interesting conversations with other riders.
Do you find knitting meditative?
Usually, but not always. There are also moments when I want to pull my hair out, though my goal is to be “in the moment”.
Knitting has been a common thread throughout my life. It allows me to focus more clearly, perhaps because I have control over it, receive quick feedback on my progress, and enjoy its tactile nature.
As a museologist, how well do you feel museums display textiles from the past?
I served a 4-year volunteer apprenticeship at the Textile Museum of Canada. I first got involved to access the library for an experimental archaeology class researching under-documented ancient technologies and volunteered in return for access. Things evolved from there.
Textiles, in general, are relatively delicate so are difficult to handle and display well. That explains why we don’t see permanent textile exhibitions or pieces displayed for long periods. These challenges are particularly difficult for smaller museums with limited staff. In some contexts, there may also be a lingering bias that textiles and crafts in general are not as historically significant as other art forms. But what we can see of digitized collections now is just amazing!
How do you see the role of technology in knitting?
Technology has connected the international community of knitters and yarnies of all types
and has proven to be a huge boon! It changed how we relate to each other—virtual meet-up groups over video, the global Ravelry community, Facebook groups, online classes and workshops, YouTube videos of techniques, etc. It also changed how we design patterns by facilitating the calculations needed to customise fit or offer a wide range of sizes. This allows knitwear designers to be more inclusive. New knitting apps let users download customised pattern instructions, exclusive to their chosen size and features.
