Yes, it's really true, I am back blogging again and I have been amazed to receive comments from some old regulars because I had thought that everybody would have forgotten me.
I'm afraid that I don't have a particularly good excuse for not blogging, just complete inertia on my part. The depression has been relatively stable over the last few months although there have been a couple of blips but nothing that I haven't been able to cope with.
When I last posted I was talking about all the Christmas presents that I was knitting. I'm pleased to say that all of them except one were ready and given in time for the big day and the one that was late was only a few days late. Since then, I have continued with my knitting but I have started to work on a new project which may take me a while but will, I hope, be of great benefit to new knitters (I'll tell you more in another post).
So, what have I been up to? My crochet classes on a Thursday evening fill up almost as soon as they are put on the website and four courses have now been completed. And I have now started teaching knitting on a Tuesday evening. I still can't believe that I am being paid to do something that I love so much and I am glad that I am able to impart some of my knowledge to a new generation of knitters and crocheters.
As regular readers will know when I was receiving psychotherapy last year my therapist referred me for group therapy. I joined a group at the end of January so my Tuesdays are now quite busy. It's a quick lunch then on to the bus to take me to the hospital where the group meets, and hour and a half of talking and then across the road to catch a bus to the shop where I can indulge in a couple of hours knitting before the knitting class starts.
The biggest change, however, is my move to new accommodation. I now live in a basement flat situated in a house which provides accommodation and support for 21 people with mental health problems. My accommodation comes free of charge because I provide night cover for the residents. On the evenings that I am teaching one of the day staff takes care of the evening routine until I return at about 10pm. The job is not exactly demanding requiring me to only 'work' for a couple of hours each evening, and once completed I am free to return to my accommodation and go to bed whenever I want.
It seems that for the first time in many years that I am having some good luck for a change and that I do seem to have a bit of a future.
Showing posts with label crochet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crochet. Show all posts
Monday, 21 February 2011
Saturday, 6 February 2010
A Typical Saturday
When I was working Saturday was always the day of the week that I reserved to do whatever I fancied. If I felt like having a lie-in, then that was what I would do, although I rarely did because I often went to spend time with a friend who had a pottery.
When I was there I must have watched him throw thousands of pots of various kinds; mugs, cups, plates, bowls, vases, and lots of anything else that could be hand-thrown. However, for all my watching him throw pots, it was something that I never really managed to do very successfully. I did make some lovely little objects but they were never more than a couple of inches in height, except for one occasion when I managed to produce something that was a good size and shape and with the addition of a handle made an excellent cup-shaped mug. After it had been fired, glazed and fired again I took it into work and used it for my cups of tea from that day onwards.
The one thing that I learned from all this was that although I do have a lot of patience and I'm willing to keep trying to get something right, there comes a time when even I get frustrated and have to give up. There have sometimes been occasions when I have been knitting or crocheting something and no matter how hard I try, it doesn't seem to turn out how it should. I remember in the early days of this blog describing the trials and tribulations that I was suffering when I started knitting a Shetland Lace shawl. The shawl did get finished eventually, but I lost count of the number of times that I started to knit the centre section only to have to unpick it all and start again.
I had always thought that except for one or two minor things there was little difference in the terms used for knitting and crochet here and in the USA and Canada. I was to learn that I was very wrong when it came to crochet and it took me many hours of crocheting and then unpicking to find out that what we call trebles, across the Atlantic are called doubles. This came about because on one of my work trips to Canada I bought a book of patterns for crocheted baby blankets and the wool to make one with gingerbread men on it for Mr Smiley's first granddaughter. I kept starting the blocks that made up the blanket but they just weren't coming up to size. As I have always been lucky in that I knit and crochet to gauge, this understandably caused me a great deal of concern. I think that I had spent a couple of evenings in my hotel room trying to get the blocks to come out to the right size before I, by chance, looked at the pages at the back of the pattern book which showed you how to do the various crochet stitches and realised that I should have been doing trebles instead of doubles. Once I had found this out it didn't take me long to start to produce the nine blocks that were necessary to make up the bulk of the blanket and they all came up to the right size.
At the moment I would love to be able to sit down and do some knitting or crocheting but I just don't seem to have the enthusiasm for it, so on this Saturday I have spent my day writing emails, reading a few blogs, trying to write this post, and flicking through the channels to see if there is anything worth watching on television.
So, this has been a Saturday that follows the precedent that started when I was working. Do what you fancy and can manage and blow everything else, it will still be there tomorrow.
When I was there I must have watched him throw thousands of pots of various kinds; mugs, cups, plates, bowls, vases, and lots of anything else that could be hand-thrown. However, for all my watching him throw pots, it was something that I never really managed to do very successfully. I did make some lovely little objects but they were never more than a couple of inches in height, except for one occasion when I managed to produce something that was a good size and shape and with the addition of a handle made an excellent cup-shaped mug. After it had been fired, glazed and fired again I took it into work and used it for my cups of tea from that day onwards.
The one thing that I learned from all this was that although I do have a lot of patience and I'm willing to keep trying to get something right, there comes a time when even I get frustrated and have to give up. There have sometimes been occasions when I have been knitting or crocheting something and no matter how hard I try, it doesn't seem to turn out how it should. I remember in the early days of this blog describing the trials and tribulations that I was suffering when I started knitting a Shetland Lace shawl. The shawl did get finished eventually, but I lost count of the number of times that I started to knit the centre section only to have to unpick it all and start again.
I had always thought that except for one or two minor things there was little difference in the terms used for knitting and crochet here and in the USA and Canada. I was to learn that I was very wrong when it came to crochet and it took me many hours of crocheting and then unpicking to find out that what we call trebles, across the Atlantic are called doubles. This came about because on one of my work trips to Canada I bought a book of patterns for crocheted baby blankets and the wool to make one with gingerbread men on it for Mr Smiley's first granddaughter. I kept starting the blocks that made up the blanket but they just weren't coming up to size. As I have always been lucky in that I knit and crochet to gauge, this understandably caused me a great deal of concern. I think that I had spent a couple of evenings in my hotel room trying to get the blocks to come out to the right size before I, by chance, looked at the pages at the back of the pattern book which showed you how to do the various crochet stitches and realised that I should have been doing trebles instead of doubles. Once I had found this out it didn't take me long to start to produce the nine blocks that were necessary to make up the bulk of the blanket and they all came up to the right size.
At the moment I would love to be able to sit down and do some knitting or crocheting but I just don't seem to have the enthusiasm for it, so on this Saturday I have spent my day writing emails, reading a few blogs, trying to write this post, and flicking through the channels to see if there is anything worth watching on television.
So, this has been a Saturday that follows the precedent that started when I was working. Do what you fancy and can manage and blow everything else, it will still be there tomorrow.
Monday, 14 September 2009
Unravelling
Life, and my knitting, seem to be very difficult at the moment. Summoning up the energy to get out of bed seems to sap what little life I have left in me. It seems as though I am slowly unravelling and that is what has been happening to my knitting and crochet too.
This
has become this,
and these
are now back to being giant balls of wool.
This
has become this,
and these
are now back to being giant balls of wool.
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
When I've Done 64
Well, I have. So now I have got to do a job that I really hate doing and that is darning in all the ends.
The real fun and games will begin when I start to decide on a layout for the squares so that I avoid putting squares of similar colours too close together.
This shawl is coming together nicely.
The real fun and games will begin when I start to decide on a layout for the squares so that I avoid putting squares of similar colours too close together.
This shawl is coming together nicely.
Monday, 24 August 2009
It's A Square World
It started with one square
then there were five squares, and I have been adding to the number each day so that now I am working on the 35th one. They're not your usual 'granny' squares as they have the appearance of containing flower petals so it was obvious that the shawl pattern that I am following should be called the 'Flower Garden Shawl'.
I have to make 64 squares in all, and they will each be different because of the way that the wool that I am using changes colour. The colour changes are not the same in each ball adding to multicolour effect. Once I have crocheted all 64, I will have to darn in the ends, block each one so that it is square (no matter how hard you try you can never get them even when you are working them) and once blocked they will have to be crocheted together.
The finishing touch is a few rounds of crochet around the complete shawl. I am sure that it will look lovely and will certainly keep me warm on those cold winter days.
then there were five squares, and I have been adding to the number each day so that now I am working on the 35th one. They're not your usual 'granny' squares as they have the appearance of containing flower petals so it was obvious that the shawl pattern that I am following should be called the 'Flower Garden Shawl'.
I have to make 64 squares in all, and they will each be different because of the way that the wool that I am using changes colour. The colour changes are not the same in each ball adding to multicolour effect. Once I have crocheted all 64, I will have to darn in the ends, block each one so that it is square (no matter how hard you try you can never get them even when you are working them) and once blocked they will have to be crocheted together.The finishing touch is a few rounds of crochet around the complete shawl. I am sure that it will look lovely and will certainly keep me warm on those cold winter days.
Thursday, 20 August 2009
I'm Wired For Sound
I'm not really, but I am hooked up to an ambulatory blood pressure monitor for 24 hours. My blood pressure has been a bit on the high side recently when my GP has checked it even though I am on medication for it, albeit a low dose. However, what was more worrying was the fact that I seem to have a very high pulse rate even when I am at rest. The net result of this is 24 hours hooked up to this machine which takes my blood pressure every 30 minutes.
Unfortunately my GP's surgery does not have one of these machines so I had to go to another surgery in the area. The reception staff there were very helpful, both when I phoned to make the appointment and again today, and the practice nurse who fitted me with the monitor was very friendly and helpful too.
So for the next 24 hours I will hear the occasional bleep, the cuff on my arm will inflate, I will undoubtedly get pins and needles in my hand, and then the cuff will gently deflate once the reading has been taken. In the meantime I am supposed to carry on with all the normal things that I would be doing, which this afternoon will include a little bit of crocheting because I had a new delivery of yarn this morning and I am going to make a shawl out of granny-style squares, although these are a little different in that they have the appearance of a flower at their centre and the yarn is variegated in colour so the shawl is called the Flower Garden Shawl (but I'm not doing it in the colours shown on the pattern). Once I have a few squares finished I shall photograph them and add them to the blog so that you can see how each of the squares looks different to the others even though they are all being made from the same yarn.
Unfortunately my GP's surgery does not have one of these machines so I had to go to another surgery in the area. The reception staff there were very helpful, both when I phoned to make the appointment and again today, and the practice nurse who fitted me with the monitor was very friendly and helpful too.
So for the next 24 hours I will hear the occasional bleep, the cuff on my arm will inflate, I will undoubtedly get pins and needles in my hand, and then the cuff will gently deflate once the reading has been taken. In the meantime I am supposed to carry on with all the normal things that I would be doing, which this afternoon will include a little bit of crocheting because I had a new delivery of yarn this morning and I am going to make a shawl out of granny-style squares, although these are a little different in that they have the appearance of a flower at their centre and the yarn is variegated in colour so the shawl is called the Flower Garden Shawl (but I'm not doing it in the colours shown on the pattern). Once I have a few squares finished I shall photograph them and add them to the blog so that you can see how each of the squares looks different to the others even though they are all being made from the same yarn.
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
A Quick Update On The Knitting (And Crochet)
I have been crocheting another scarf like the one that I showed you all the other day. This time the wool comprises a real rainbow of colours rather than just being the blue/green/purple combination of the previous example. The photograph below shows it in its early stages and it is now almost complete, but I needed a change from crocheting which can be a bit hard on my wrist, so it has been put away for a few days and I am back to knitting.
I have written before about how I like to have several projects on the go at the same time so that I don't get bored with what I am working on. Last week I bought a book entitled Victorian Lace Today, which includes a number of patterns from Victorian times which have been updated or comprise elements from several different pattern designers from those times. The scarf below is being knitted using a pattern from 1847 and it is progressing slowly but steadily as I try to complete one complete of the pattern each day, although I have to admit that I haven't done any of it for a couple of days because I have been working on something else.
I have been taking a break from the scarf to work on the shawl shown below. Instead of using very fine laceweight wool, this shawl is a little more substantial and is made using some sock yarn that I bought for another project, but once I started knitting it I didn't like the finished article so I unpicked it and the wool was available for something else. That something else has turned out to be a half-hexagon shawl which is progressing well. I have finished the first two pattern charts and I am now on the second repeat (of five) of the third pattern chart for this shawl. While the top of the shawl is quite substantial having very little in the way of lace patterning in it (this should mean that it will sit on the shoulders well and be warmer than something that is completely lacy), the second and third pattern charts are much more lacy in appearance and as the size of needle used increases as the shawl progresses the lower parts will be more flowing. With 45 more rows to be knitted and then a complex cast off which involves the use of a crochet hook as well as the knitting needle, the shawl won't be finished tomorrow but the weekend should see its completion.
I am then going to start knitting some socks, something that I haven't done for a number of years, but there are so many lovely sock yarns available these days and an incredible number of sock patterns, I am rather looking forward to working on them in the coming weeks. All I have to do now is make sure that I have the needles in the sizes that I require and then I can start to use some of my stash of sock wool that has been building up over the last few weeks. One thing is for certain, I am going to have nice warm feet this winter.
I have written before about how I like to have several projects on the go at the same time so that I don't get bored with what I am working on. Last week I bought a book entitled Victorian Lace Today, which includes a number of patterns from Victorian times which have been updated or comprise elements from several different pattern designers from those times. The scarf below is being knitted using a pattern from 1847 and it is progressing slowly but steadily as I try to complete one complete of the pattern each day, although I have to admit that I haven't done any of it for a couple of days because I have been working on something else.
I have been taking a break from the scarf to work on the shawl shown below. Instead of using very fine laceweight wool, this shawl is a little more substantial and is made using some sock yarn that I bought for another project, but once I started knitting it I didn't like the finished article so I unpicked it and the wool was available for something else. That something else has turned out to be a half-hexagon shawl which is progressing well. I have finished the first two pattern charts and I am now on the second repeat (of five) of the third pattern chart for this shawl. While the top of the shawl is quite substantial having very little in the way of lace patterning in it (this should mean that it will sit on the shoulders well and be warmer than something that is completely lacy), the second and third pattern charts are much more lacy in appearance and as the size of needle used increases as the shawl progresses the lower parts will be more flowing. With 45 more rows to be knitted and then a complex cast off which involves the use of a crochet hook as well as the knitting needle, the shawl won't be finished tomorrow but the weekend should see its completion.
I am then going to start knitting some socks, something that I haven't done for a number of years, but there are so many lovely sock yarns available these days and an incredible number of sock patterns, I am rather looking forward to working on them in the coming weeks. All I have to do now is make sure that I have the needles in the sizes that I require and then I can start to use some of my stash of sock wool that has been building up over the last few weeks. One thing is for certain, I am going to have nice warm feet this winter.
Monday, 27 July 2009
More Of The Same
It's been one of those days today. I've been feeling desperately low and tears have flowed for no reason. I have managed to make myself a very tasty meal of wholewheat pasta and a delicious sauce and all washed down with lots of ice cold water.
I have been working on my crocheting and the scarf/stole is now almost at the stage where I start to decrease the number of stitches to even it off into a rectangle. Tomorrow will probably see me finishing that; then there will just be a few ends to darn in.
I've been watching various DVDs (some humorous, some dramatic) while I have been crocheting, in an effort to keep my mind occupied so that I don't think about how I am feeling. It will soon be time to go to bed and I shall read for a while before attempting to get to sleep.
Recent nights have been quite bad so I have been tending to lie in each morning, but tomorrow I have to get myself up and organised because I have to go to collect a parcel and then go to see my doctor. I'm hoping for a dry day tomorrow as I shall be doing a fair bit of walking and no hope of using any buses for the places that I have to visit.
And when I am feeling like this I find it difficult to find things to write about here, which is a shame because writing this blog has been one of the things that has helped me so much over the last year. But I shall keep trying to find things to write about and hope that sometimes I can manage something that visitors will enjoy reading.
I have been working on my crocheting and the scarf/stole is now almost at the stage where I start to decrease the number of stitches to even it off into a rectangle. Tomorrow will probably see me finishing that; then there will just be a few ends to darn in.
I've been watching various DVDs (some humorous, some dramatic) while I have been crocheting, in an effort to keep my mind occupied so that I don't think about how I am feeling. It will soon be time to go to bed and I shall read for a while before attempting to get to sleep.
Recent nights have been quite bad so I have been tending to lie in each morning, but tomorrow I have to get myself up and organised because I have to go to collect a parcel and then go to see my doctor. I'm hoping for a dry day tomorrow as I shall be doing a fair bit of walking and no hope of using any buses for the places that I have to visit.
And when I am feeling like this I find it difficult to find things to write about here, which is a shame because writing this blog has been one of the things that has helped me so much over the last year. But I shall keep trying to find things to write about and hope that sometimes I can manage something that visitors will enjoy reading.
Saturday, 25 July 2009
A Change Is As Good As A Rest
I decided that I needed a bit of a break from the knitting. I have all but finished the shawl that I was knitting; I just need to graft together the start and end of the edging and sew in the tail from the start of the work and then it is finished. This photograph shows it as it was a few days ago when I was still working on the edging.
I have started work on a second shawl using the same pattern but in a different colour and it is progressing but I made a mistake in it yesterday and I need to unpick several rows to get back to where I made the mistake and I wasn't in the mood for unpicking today. Anyway, I had take a photograph of it the other day so that I could show There and Back what I was working on, so I might as well include it here so that you can see the new colourway.
So, as a change from my knitting from which I definitely needed a break, I have been doing some crochet today. I started crocheting a stole/scarf which is going to be a present for a friend a couple of weeks ago but I decided that it needed to be a bit wider than I had made it so this afternoon I unpicked most of what I had done so that I could get back to the point at which I could make it wider and then increased its width and then carried on adding to its length. I packed it away for the evening about an hour ago by which time I had reused all the wool that I had unpicked and had managed to get to the end of the first ball of wool. This seemed to be a really good place to stop for the day, but I will be back working on it tomorrow when I hope that I may manage to do sufficient work on it so that a second ball is completed. Here is a photograph of the work taken a few days ago before I decided to unpick most of it and rework it so that it was wider.
I have started work on a second shawl using the same pattern but in a different colour and it is progressing but I made a mistake in it yesterday and I need to unpick several rows to get back to where I made the mistake and I wasn't in the mood for unpicking today. Anyway, I had take a photograph of it the other day so that I could show There and Back what I was working on, so I might as well include it here so that you can see the new colourway.
So, as a change from my knitting from which I definitely needed a break, I have been doing some crochet today. I started crocheting a stole/scarf which is going to be a present for a friend a couple of weeks ago but I decided that it needed to be a bit wider than I had made it so this afternoon I unpicked most of what I had done so that I could get back to the point at which I could make it wider and then increased its width and then carried on adding to its length. I packed it away for the evening about an hour ago by which time I had reused all the wool that I had unpicked and had managed to get to the end of the first ball of wool. This seemed to be a really good place to stop for the day, but I will be back working on it tomorrow when I hope that I may manage to do sufficient work on it so that a second ball is completed. Here is a photograph of the work taken a few days ago before I decided to unpick most of it and rework it so that it was wider.
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Knitting For Sanity
Whether or not I post to this blog can be an indicator of how I am feeling. When Mr Smiley sent me an email yesterday he noted that I hadn't posted anything since Thursday and without me having said anything to him knew that I was feeling down. He was right; I'm having a bad time at the moment and while I often have things that I want to say, I don't have the energy or the enthusiasm to write anything.
For many this would not be a problem, but while writing on this blog is not actually a life-defining occurrence, it does have some meaning for my future studies with the OU. Later this year I will be taking a course in creative writing and taking a more advanced one next year. These courses will lead to me completing my second degree but will also give me a Diploma in Literature and Creative Writing.
Studying with the OU has been a life-saver for me over the last nine years but it hasn't all been plain sailing. Over the last few years I have only managed to complete one course because depression has made it impossible for me to continue with courses for which I was registered. I am hoping that by taking some creative courses rather than purely academic ones I will break this cycle of having to 'drop out'.
One of the few things that I manage to continue with while I am deeply depressed is knitting. I have become a little manic about it over the last few weeks and have more projects on the go than is usual, even for me. However, I am coming to the end of one of them, a beautiful circular lace blanket that will keep me warm next winter; I should finish it today because I am knitting the edging at the moment and as it is only a 6-row repeat pattern, it seems to be moving around the edge of the blanket at a good rate.
For the first time ever, I have also joined a KAL. For the uninitiated this is a knit-along, and it is for a mystery shawl. The 'mystery' is that none of us, except the designer, know what the finished shawl will look like. The pattern will be available in seven 'clues' which are published weekly; the first was posted on the KAL site last Wednesday and I made the decision to join on Thursday. Having found some yarn in my knitter's stash that would be sufficient for the project I set to work and had completed the 54 rows that made up the first clue within 24 hours. I now have to wait until tomorrow for the second clue which will give me sufficient time to finish knitting the blanket today and sew in the few yarn ends that need to be done before notification of the clue having been posted arrives tomorrow.
The designer lives in the US and plans to post the clue at about midday EDT so that means that it should be available for me to work on tomorrow evening. Once I have finished the second clue I will have to wait again for the next one so I shall get to work on a cardigan for myself in the meantime.
Knitting is keeping me sane at the moment, I am having so much trouble concentrating on things that I am not even able to read. So I have a couple of books sitting beside the bed waiting for the moment that the depression lifts and I can get back to another of the things that I love to do in my spare time.
Once I have the myriad of knitting projects back to realistic levels again, I may do some crocheting as a little light relief. Sending There and Back a book on 'How to Crochet' as part of her birthday present and receiving emails from her letting me know how she is progressing, has reawakened my enthusiasm for this craft. I have decided to make a new throw for my bed and I will be building this from 6-inch squares of various designs from a wonderful book that I bought a few months ago. Having decided on the colours that I am going to use I have to now decide which squares I am going to make and how to lay them out to create the overall effect. This will be the first time that I will have designed something on this scale and I know that it is going to be one of those projects that will take some time to complete, but the joy of crocheting squares of this size for joining together to make a larger object is that the project can be picked up and worked on in any spare moments.
So while I may not be feeling at my best I am still making sure that I find things to do to ensure that my brain doesn't atrophy and that I am engaged in something constructive to pass away the hours. And this has reminded me that I need to charge the battery for my camera so that I can post a few pictures of the projects as they are completed or are progressing.
For many this would not be a problem, but while writing on this blog is not actually a life-defining occurrence, it does have some meaning for my future studies with the OU. Later this year I will be taking a course in creative writing and taking a more advanced one next year. These courses will lead to me completing my second degree but will also give me a Diploma in Literature and Creative Writing.
Studying with the OU has been a life-saver for me over the last nine years but it hasn't all been plain sailing. Over the last few years I have only managed to complete one course because depression has made it impossible for me to continue with courses for which I was registered. I am hoping that by taking some creative courses rather than purely academic ones I will break this cycle of having to 'drop out'.
One of the few things that I manage to continue with while I am deeply depressed is knitting. I have become a little manic about it over the last few weeks and have more projects on the go than is usual, even for me. However, I am coming to the end of one of them, a beautiful circular lace blanket that will keep me warm next winter; I should finish it today because I am knitting the edging at the moment and as it is only a 6-row repeat pattern, it seems to be moving around the edge of the blanket at a good rate.
For the first time ever, I have also joined a KAL. For the uninitiated this is a knit-along, and it is for a mystery shawl. The 'mystery' is that none of us, except the designer, know what the finished shawl will look like. The pattern will be available in seven 'clues' which are published weekly; the first was posted on the KAL site last Wednesday and I made the decision to join on Thursday. Having found some yarn in my knitter's stash that would be sufficient for the project I set to work and had completed the 54 rows that made up the first clue within 24 hours. I now have to wait until tomorrow for the second clue which will give me sufficient time to finish knitting the blanket today and sew in the few yarn ends that need to be done before notification of the clue having been posted arrives tomorrow.
The designer lives in the US and plans to post the clue at about midday EDT so that means that it should be available for me to work on tomorrow evening. Once I have finished the second clue I will have to wait again for the next one so I shall get to work on a cardigan for myself in the meantime.
Knitting is keeping me sane at the moment, I am having so much trouble concentrating on things that I am not even able to read. So I have a couple of books sitting beside the bed waiting for the moment that the depression lifts and I can get back to another of the things that I love to do in my spare time.
Once I have the myriad of knitting projects back to realistic levels again, I may do some crocheting as a little light relief. Sending There and Back a book on 'How to Crochet' as part of her birthday present and receiving emails from her letting me know how she is progressing, has reawakened my enthusiasm for this craft. I have decided to make a new throw for my bed and I will be building this from 6-inch squares of various designs from a wonderful book that I bought a few months ago. Having decided on the colours that I am going to use I have to now decide which squares I am going to make and how to lay them out to create the overall effect. This will be the first time that I will have designed something on this scale and I know that it is going to be one of those projects that will take some time to complete, but the joy of crocheting squares of this size for joining together to make a larger object is that the project can be picked up and worked on in any spare moments.
So while I may not be feeling at my best I am still making sure that I find things to do to ensure that my brain doesn't atrophy and that I am engaged in something constructive to pass away the hours. And this has reminded me that I need to charge the battery for my camera so that I can post a few pictures of the projects as they are completed or are progressing.
Sunday, 21 September 2008
Knitting And My New Course Of Study
After sending off the ECA for my OU course yesterday, I couldn't make my mind up whether to start the reading for my new course, or to do a bit of knitting first. In the end, knitting won and I have started knitting a cardigan.
Knitting is one of those old arts that pretty much went out of fashion in the 70s as it became possible to buy machine-made woollens at a reasonable price. I was taught to knit as a very young child (probably at the age of 4 or 5) and for years I knitted clothes for my dolls. When I was 11 I knitted a jumper for myself; I can remember it clearly, it was bright red in colour and had a complicated 4-row pattern to it. What makes this jumper particularly memorable is that I finished knitting it on the day that England won the World Cup. Yes, that does mean that you can work out how old I am, but I don't care because most people don't think that I look my age.
At about the time that I finished knitting that first jumper, many of my cousins from my Dad's side of the family started to have babies. Dad was the youngest of six children, and was 30 by the time that I was born, so my cousins were all a fair bit older than me. So my Mum and I seemed to spend all our time knitting baby clothes for the innumerable additions to the family. I think that I knitted something for all these new additions, but the outfit that meant the most to me was the one that I knitted for the baby who I was asked to be Godmother to. I was 13 at the time, and she was eventually born on Cup Final day.
I think that it was that summer that I was taught how to crochet, and a series of crocheted blankets were made of squares produced from the remnants of wool left from all the baby clothes that we had been making and from the numerous items that the female members of my mother's family had knitted over the years. Knitters never throw away the scraps that are left because you never know when you may need a bit of wool to sew on a button or repair an unravelling seam.
I've continued to knit and crochet all these years, and the things that I have made have been many. I've crocheted two evening dresses (they were all the fashion in the 70s and 80s) and I crocheted a christening dress for my second Goddaughter. I've knitted jumpers and cardigans for myself, jumpers for my husband (I've always hated knitting things for men because they seem to take forever), jumpers with pictures on for my second Goddaughter and my Godson when they were small (they are both in their 20s now), and recently I have knitted a number of lace shawls and made a couple of afghans, one knitted and one crocheted. Last year, while I was in Canada I made a crocheted baby's afghan with lots of teddies on it; in fact it is the one that is pictured on my blog.
Knitting has made a bit of a comeback over recent years, after many years when it had become a forgotten craft. Much of the revival is due to a number of young designers who have decided to work with wool and have come up with innovative designs and the wool manufacturers have brought out many new yarns for these items. And incredible as it may seem, a number of Hollywood actresses started to knit when they were on the set of films, and where celebrities lead, others are sure to follow.
My cardigan now has a couple inches of its back completed; it's not growing very quickly, but it has a cable pattern to it so I shouldn't be surprised as it requires me to keep an eye on what I am doing, although I have made one mistake so far but I spotted that almost immediately so it wasn't too much of a problem.
I have also started work on my new course. I have almost finished reading the first chapter of the course book, I have watched the relevant video, and I may be in a position to write part of my first TMA for the course tomorrow. The first TMA has two questions, the first of which relates to this first chapter. If I write the essays as I work my way thorough the relevant material I shouldn't be left in the situation that I was with my last course, having to struggle to find the enthusiasm to get the work done. Five hundred words on Plutarch's view of the relationship between Antony and Cleopatra shouldn't be too difficult, should it?
Knitting is one of those old arts that pretty much went out of fashion in the 70s as it became possible to buy machine-made woollens at a reasonable price. I was taught to knit as a very young child (probably at the age of 4 or 5) and for years I knitted clothes for my dolls. When I was 11 I knitted a jumper for myself; I can remember it clearly, it was bright red in colour and had a complicated 4-row pattern to it. What makes this jumper particularly memorable is that I finished knitting it on the day that England won the World Cup. Yes, that does mean that you can work out how old I am, but I don't care because most people don't think that I look my age.
At about the time that I finished knitting that first jumper, many of my cousins from my Dad's side of the family started to have babies. Dad was the youngest of six children, and was 30 by the time that I was born, so my cousins were all a fair bit older than me. So my Mum and I seemed to spend all our time knitting baby clothes for the innumerable additions to the family. I think that I knitted something for all these new additions, but the outfit that meant the most to me was the one that I knitted for the baby who I was asked to be Godmother to. I was 13 at the time, and she was eventually born on Cup Final day.
I think that it was that summer that I was taught how to crochet, and a series of crocheted blankets were made of squares produced from the remnants of wool left from all the baby clothes that we had been making and from the numerous items that the female members of my mother's family had knitted over the years. Knitters never throw away the scraps that are left because you never know when you may need a bit of wool to sew on a button or repair an unravelling seam.
I've continued to knit and crochet all these years, and the things that I have made have been many. I've crocheted two evening dresses (they were all the fashion in the 70s and 80s) and I crocheted a christening dress for my second Goddaughter. I've knitted jumpers and cardigans for myself, jumpers for my husband (I've always hated knitting things for men because they seem to take forever), jumpers with pictures on for my second Goddaughter and my Godson when they were small (they are both in their 20s now), and recently I have knitted a number of lace shawls and made a couple of afghans, one knitted and one crocheted. Last year, while I was in Canada I made a crocheted baby's afghan with lots of teddies on it; in fact it is the one that is pictured on my blog.
Knitting has made a bit of a comeback over recent years, after many years when it had become a forgotten craft. Much of the revival is due to a number of young designers who have decided to work with wool and have come up with innovative designs and the wool manufacturers have brought out many new yarns for these items. And incredible as it may seem, a number of Hollywood actresses started to knit when they were on the set of films, and where celebrities lead, others are sure to follow.
My cardigan now has a couple inches of its back completed; it's not growing very quickly, but it has a cable pattern to it so I shouldn't be surprised as it requires me to keep an eye on what I am doing, although I have made one mistake so far but I spotted that almost immediately so it wasn't too much of a problem.
I have also started work on my new course. I have almost finished reading the first chapter of the course book, I have watched the relevant video, and I may be in a position to write part of my first TMA for the course tomorrow. The first TMA has two questions, the first of which relates to this first chapter. If I write the essays as I work my way thorough the relevant material I shouldn't be left in the situation that I was with my last course, having to struggle to find the enthusiasm to get the work done. Five hundred words on Plutarch's view of the relationship between Antony and Cleopatra shouldn't be too difficult, should it?
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