THREADSTACK Interview with Knitter, Left-Handed Crocheter and Manifestor Cate Gander
And come share your thoughts on this question: "Our time is finite: when we craft we're not writing, and when we write we're not crafting. How do you manage your time and balance between the two?"
Cate caught my attention because she knits through anxiety and also has a love for (and a Substack about) bibliotherapy which is another niche interest of mine. She also writes the Substack Lake Effect which focuses mainly on knitting although she notes that the two Substacks sometimes overlap so there’s some cross-posting (which is true here of THREADSTACK and Create Me Free as well.)
So, I was thrilled that Cate completed an interview for me to share here with you. Are you as excited about these THREADSTACK interviews as I am? It’s an honor to learn more about my crafty Substack friends in this way and I hope that you’ll engage with each other in comments and social media and each other’s publications and wherever else. Like fabric, we are stronger when woven together.
So, let’s learn more about Cate!
Thanks for joining us Cate. Let’s start with an easy question (ha, ha) … Who are you?
I'm Cate. I live in Michigan, and my roots are deep; I've lived here for all but six months of my 63 years. I love my husband, son (34), cats, and family deeply. I'm an introvert but I'm not shy, and my phone is filled with photos of sunsets and forests. I treasure my friends, but most of my pursuits are solitary - knitting, reading, writing, walks in the woods.
I've suffered from anxiety since I was a small child, and I'm more actively working on this through therapy and some bibliotherapy - there are some great books out there. That being said, the anxiety has become worse in recent years - Covid, aging, parenting an adult child from 2500 miles away (our son lives in California) have contributed to that.
I love a good cup of coffee and I like to listen to an audiobook while I knit.
Introvert but not shy is such a great distinction. And anxiety getting worse in recent years is so relatable.
I already have so many curiosities but let’s start with a little bit of your craft story… How did you come to knitting and crochet?
I first tried to teach myself to knit when I was around 6 - maybe a bit older. A few years later my mother asked my neighbor, who is left-handed (as I am), to teach me to knit. I made a brown headband that had some increases (not all of them intentional) and decreases, all in garter stitch. The experience wasn't fun (tight gauge, disappointment that the headband didn't look like the beautiful stockinette fabric that had inspired my first attempts with the pickup sticks), and I didn't knit again until I was in my forties: In the early 2000's I was the manager of a big box bookstore, and we had shelves upon shelves of 'teach-yourself' knitting kits - so that's what I did, and I never looked back.
I've been on Ravelry (as BasementCat) since 2008 and for a while, I had a (now-defunct) website called Animal Knits where I gifted people with my handmade items in return for proof of a donation to their favorite animal shelter. I've taught many people to knit, and most of them are still knitting. I host a small knitting group at my home every month.
As it turned out, being left-handed made no difference at all in my knitting; I hold the yarn in my right hand and knit like right-handed knitters.
Crochet is another story! When I was 14 my aunt, who is also left-handed, taught me the basic double-crochet stitch and I made a small chevron afghan in those moody shades of blue that were so popular in the early - mid 1970s. I never made anything else, but that little blanket was used for many years by my parents; eventually it served as a blanket for the feral cats they ministered to (nothing religious but that was the spirit of their love and care for these creatures) in Northern Michigan. That Red Heart blanket looked like new until the day it was disposed of after my parent's death.
I can only crochet with the hook in my left hand, and I've just discovered two books that teach crochet from both left- and right-hand perspective. I ordered a used copy of one, and another is on its way from a library in the area. I can't wait to revisit crochet, but I think I'll probably always be a knitter at heart.
I also learn crafts from books but for those who learn from videos it’s gotten a lot easier for the lefties - lots of tutorials are available these days and even right-handed teachers can flip the video to make learning as a left-handed person easier.
I love that you and your family connected knitting and animals. <3 Such a beautiful idea to give handmade items in exchange for people’s donations to a rescue.
I always think of the mid-70s blankets as orange - the ones we had were - but I think I know the blue that you’re talking about. Tell me a little bit more about that project.
My most visceral memory of crafting is the experience of crocheting that blue afghan when I was a teenager. There was something about that combination of blues, from light to dark and back to light, that creaed a feeling that I was surrounded by and wrapped in peaceful twilight. Although I seldom knit anything blue now, I still get that sensation when I see those projects in shades of blue.
What is one of your favorite projects ever and why?
It's pretty hard to choose, but one of my top three would be the PCH throw I knitted for my son last year following a trip to California. Our son booked a wine tasting weekend for us in Santa Barbara, and we drove back to LA on the Pacific Coast Highway with a view of the ocean all the way.
I used the pattern Massive Attack in Ravelry, which uses short rows and color - exactly the framework I needed to create a throw that represented the panoramic view of the ocean. I hadn't done a lot with short rows other than the occasional sock, and on this pattern I learned German short rows.
Although I've knit much harder projects and didn't build this pattern at all, but just used color to paint a picture, I have to say that this end result was striking. The photo doesn't begin to do it justice. The pattern is ingenious; I'm grateful to designer Jimenez Joseph for his skill.
Do you have a story of a project that went wildly wrong?
I do have a story of a project that went wrong! I tried to knit a simple lace scarf from Jojoland Melody yarn in a shade that drifted from green to blue. I started it at my dad's bedside after he had heart surgery, and I made so many mistakes that I finally gave up and frogged it. There was no reason for this; the pattern was a simple three-stitch yarnover lace pattern - but it just was't going to happen.
After I frogged, I tried using the yarn in other patterns but I could never make anything with it; I kept screwing up over and over again. Finally I decided the yarn had bad energy and I threw it away. I didn't burn sage or anything, but I probably should have.
Ugh. Such pretty yarn, but so cursed.
I absolutely get that. Sometimes it seems like the materials just pick up this energy and the best thing we can do is let them go!
On the opposite end of that, sometimes it has such good energy that just working with it heals us.
In what ways has craft been healing for you?
I have an anxiety disorder, and I'm high alert most of the time. The rhythm of knitting soothes me, and I find that the use of color is important too; I tend to choose serene grays and light greens if I've been edge for a while; when I want to feel safe I choose dark (but not somber) colors. When I need to evoke coziness I choose warm high-contrast colors.
I really love that. I share in my book Crochet Saved My Life about how color really came back into my life during/after depression as I crocheted and made color selections. I mentioned it more recently in an interview with Robin Cangie (she/her).
I love the craft community and how knitting and crochet often connect people to each other. How has that happened for you?
I've connected with people through teaching them to knit, through giving them my finished objects, and more casually just through easy conversation if I'm knitting in public. I find I don't do much of that anymore, but it still happens sometimes. I've written a couple of articles about this:
The meetup: How I expressed myself
That last one really shares what’s at the heart of knitting for me.
What craft - or technique in your craft - would you love to learn and why?
In addition to my earlier comments about crochet, I would love to revisit sewing. I'm also interested in embroidery, especially thanks to the many talented embroiderers on Substack.
Also, I don't think this would be a craft (the line between art and craft is sometimes blurry and sometimes nonexistent), but after a nature journaling experience in which I drew a tree trunk that even impressed my art-minor husband, I would like to start drawing.
The whole craft vs. art thing is often an interesting conversation.
What are your thoughts on craft as art?
I don't think there's a clear boundary between the two for the most part. We all manifest items born of ideas, even though the medium differs. I'll be interested to hear what others say; this has been a hot topic at times on Ravelry.
Along those lines - what do you call yourself - crafter? artist? maker? creative? knitter/quilter/etc?
Externally I call myself a knitter, or a writer. Internally I call myself a manifestor - with great joy.
Ooh, that’s a good one!
Is there a craft or technique have you tried and don't really enjoy or haven't tried but really don't want to?
I want to love double knitting - the end product is so beautiful - and I learned how to do it recently as a challenge to myself - but it's so tedious. I am a thrower, not a picker, and each project takes soooo long. I might try it again at some point, but not for a long time.
Isn’t it funny how there are often aspects of craft that we admire and even in some ways enjoy doing - because it’s satisfying or we like the end result - but also don’t really want to do at all? Most of crochet lace is like that for me.
What has brought you to the THREADSTACK community?
I crave connection with like-minded people, and I am compelled to express myself.
Share a few of your favorite craft resources with us …
I love Amy Marie, a designer on Ravelry who is also a scientist. She takes mosaic knitting to the next level.
I've enjoyed Craftsy, especially Lucy Neatby's class on double-knitting. She's a great teacher.
Fun fact: I wrote for Craftsy for several years.
Paying it forward … Who are some of your favorite crafters and why?
Louise Tilbrook of Everyday Knitter who opened my eyes to the afterhought heel; Bree from Palette of Thoughts who is creative and thoughtful in her painting, drawing, and knitting; Sandi Rosner, who also talks about both books and knitting; and YOU Kathryn, for bringing us together like this.
That’s company I am very honored to be in! We should have a party! Speaking of that …
If you could attend a craft party (quilting circle, sit and stitch, etc) with five people - living or dead, real or fictional - who would you choose and why?
I could answer this question so many different ways. For now, I'd say I would invite my mother, whom I miss dearly and who sewed clothes for us as children; my mother's mother, who was an intellectual, a reader, and a writer who knew how to crochet; my son, and my niece; I would remind them both how to knit as they got to speak to their grandmother and great-grandmother again.
Thanks for this question. Imagining this party with these people - it brings tears to my eyes. I think I have a story to write.
I hope you do write that story. It feels like an important one. I think we would each answer this question in different ways depending on what’s going on for us when it’s asked and I always love the really personal ones like this.
What do you most hope people will take away from reading your interview?
I hope people see this true portrait of me, my work, and my motivation to knit.
I see it for sure. What is one question you would like to ask the people reading your interview?
Our time is finite: when we craft we're not writing, and when we write we're not crafting. How do you manage your time and balance between the two?
That’s a terrific question and I hope that some of you will answer it in the comments! Make sure to visit Cate Gander at Lake Effect and Bibliotherapy. If something in this interview inspired you or made you laugh or made you think, please share it. We are humans and it’s better when we’re connected!
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Great interview, Kathryn!
Cate, SO great to see you! Thank you for the shoutout, i really appreciate it. The PHC throw is a gorgeous piece of art! You are truly a talented artist.