Vegan Knitting With Bamboo, Soy, and Hemp

I haven't knitted since I was a teenager. We used to sit in front of the fireplace at Sunset Lodge in Maine and knit scarves. It's a soothing and cozy pastime and I've wanted to do it again for years. But I didn't want to work with wool.

I don't like wool for two reasons. First, it's itchy. And second, wool production is horribly cruel to animals. I can't see adopting a hobby that promotes animal suffering.

But I've recently discovered that there is a big population of vegan knitters. They are using fibers made from soy, bamboo, and hemp—as well as the more common cotton and linen, and of course, synthetics.

I love the idea of soy and bamboo, especially. Soy yarn is a byproduct of tofu-production, and bamboo is a fast-growing renewable resource. And the yarns are absolutely delightful—very soft and silky.

Although they are new to me, it seems that everyone else in the world already knew about these yarns, because they are remarkably easy to find. My local yarn shop had a supply of them, and a number of online yarn shops sell them, too. They are pretty expensive compared to wool so I'm starting to look for them on ebay, and have found some good deals.

My favorite website for information about vegan knitting and yarns is: Fake Sheep.

And I brushed up on my knitting skills—which had been dormant for some 35 years—by watching videos on this excellent website: Knitting Help. I struggled for just a few minutes, and then my hands "remembered" exactly what to do.

I still need some practice to get my stitches looking even and nice—and about the only thing I can make is a straightforward scarf at this point. But knitting is fun! And I'm thrilled to be able to do it again with a clear conscience.

My Cozy Cottage Office

I pen this little blog from a cozy 1930s cottage in Port Townsend, WA. My house isn't exactly underneath the lilacs—it's sort of amid them. UnderTheLilacs is my ebay id, and a nod to one of my passions, which is children's literature.

I love working from home and love my office! It is tucked into a front corner of the house, off a hallway that also gives access to the kitchen and living room. I used to work from a room on the second floor that seemed ideal—it had both a view of the water and charming sloped ceilings. But it was also the worst climate zone of the house—unbearably hot in summer and the radiator never seemed to work in the winter. And the ceilings sloped in such a way that I couldn't arrange my desk for the water view. And I never knew what the cats were up to.

So my husband Mark and a few friends made the treacherous journey down our very quaint and narrow and steep staircase with bookcases and computer equipment (we actually left the desk up there, as it doesn't look possible to get it down the stairs—How did we ever get it up there, I wonder?)

Now I can watch the action in the garden and among the cats, who are back and forth all day. I know when the deer are here looking for an apple or the neighbor's dog looking for a cookie. I can run outside and move the hose from the mountain ash to the katsura without missing a beat.

My office is packed with the things that let me attend to my work and also give me daily comfort. I have my mom's wonderful old 1940s bureau against one wall, and it is stacked with vintage linens that I am currently researching. The bookcases are crammed with books on vegetarian nutrition. My desk is piled with collectors' guides on vintage linens, my gardening notebook, my animal shelter journal, and usually one or two snoozing cats. (Somewhere beneath all this there are manuscripts to work on and bills to pay.) I'm smitten with anything that evokes warm memories of childhood and, tucked in among the books on my bookshelves are stuffed animals and trolls, my mom's recipe box, a rolled up beach towel from family vacations at the beach, Christmas cards and birthday cards and little tins containing the ashes of cats that have gone to Rainbow Bridge.

This is a blog devoted to the things that give me daily comfort. My animals and the animals that visit my garden and the animals that live at our local shelter. My garden, vintage collectibles—especially printed linens for which I have a particular passion—and most importantly books, which have been a comfort and a joy for as long as I can remember.