At the end of January I had the pleasure of taking a learn to crochet course at The Makery in Bath taught by the very patient and adept Rosee Woodland . Here is my first ever piece of crochet. Hard won over an hour or so. Rather tight and twisty. I thought it would be, as that aptly describes my first pieces of knitting. The focus and anxiety to get it right flow through my hands and translate into tightly wound stitches. I seem less patient with myself than I was when I learnt to knit as if somehow because I can do the one I should be able to do the other. I was no natural knitter but because it it flows now I think other crafts should feel the same. That belief certainly sabotaged my attempts to learn from a book which worked for me with knitting; with crochet I felt like I should be able to skip through that beginning section and get straight into the 'real' stuff and when I couldn't get it easily I didn't want to persevere. So I was delighted to see details of ...
Whilst admiring Bells beautiful steeked jacket the other day I found myself agreeing wholeheartedly with her suggestion of knitting as a metaphor for life and mentioned my little "as in knitting, as in life" mantra I'm often mumbling. You know how it goes - the pattern/recipe you modify without noting down the changes = a hard to replicate FO/dish. As in knitting, as in life. The one more row/I'll just finish this before I go to bed mentality = dropped stitches/botched job. As in knitting, as in life. The jump in head first without proper swatching/preparation = ill fitting knit/ill realised project. As in knitting, as in life. What it all boils down to is the big WIP of life - we knit, we make mistakes, we learn, we adapt, we pick up those dropped stitches, we live with the imperfections and we get better at it all. So for anyone who knows that it is all about the knitting take this blog button and display it proudly in your sidebar, link back to the blog you ge...
My yarn ball arrived! I don't think it could have been more perfect if I'd wrapped it up and sent it to myself. No surprise that I wasn't the patient type that would wait and knit through the ball finding the presents on the way, goodness I didn't even have time to photograph the giant ball before I had to investigate what was in there - answer: A completely overwhelming haul of lovely, thoughtfully chosen things - Clover Chibi needles and needle holders, Burt's Bees lip balm and cuticle cream, notepad, paperclips, stamp, chocolate, magnets, a shell pendant, handmade tissue holder, a bead S and the world's cutest pincushion: And the yarn that held all these treasures? It's my holy grail of yarn - the yarn I've loved from afar - the yarn that the Pacific Northwest did not want to sell me last year . Wendy sent me a corvid in yarn form and I don't think I've stopped flapping with excitement yet. Yes it really is Socks that Rock in Thraven - oh me,...
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