Tuesday 24 May 2011

Crafting History

I used to think that knitting and crochet was the preserve of the elderly, and sewing was something that my mum usually did, under duress, the night before a school play or fancy dress day that required her to make a 'cowboy waistcoat', or a 'villager's skirt'. How wrong was I?


I began to learn to knit in spring 2009, after a forum I used began a knitalong. I learnt to knit a mitred square blanket (after many false starts!!), then progressed to small toys and other items such as hot water bottle covers. The problem with knitting, for me at least, was that it was so slooooow. I was put off starting any big projects as my impatience usually meant that if a pattern stated 'knit until piece is 20cms in length', I would get bored at around row 10. I think part of the problem was that fact that I couldn't hold the needles and yarn in the 'proper' way, which resulted in aching wrists and fingers.


Then, in summer 2010, after marvelling over the crochet creations in various blogs I read, I was determined to learn how to crochet. With the help of many, many Youtube and blog tutorials, I eventually picked it up and crocheted a big Vintage Stripe blanket within a month, and haven't looked back since! (I'm ashamed to say I haven't picked up my knitting needles in over a year!)


Sewing-wise, I'm not particularly gifted; I often make it up as I go along, and have really only done a couple of small items, but I do enjoy it and it's fun learning!


Here's a pic of my current crochet work in progress...