At the start of 2020 (or pre Corona) i decided to make regular contributions to the blog but was worried i’d have nothing to talk about monthly as blankets take so long to create. I went ahead anyway. Then as i have started writing monthly posts, i was pleasantly surprised not to be short on blog post themes, in fact i am one or three crochet blog posts about completed projects behind, seemingly….
I work on more than two projects at any one time, some small, some big, picking up one or the other as and when, depending whether i wish to make a gift or occupy my hands and mind long term with an eventually automated crochet blanket project. I am pleased with the fact that i have crochet blog posts lined up and ready to be released on the 9th of each month for the foreseeable future.
It also appears that my creativity will not be silenced, and that having more time at home and more to worry about is translating itself into more projects to be finished ahead of schedule. This works well for my worries about the blog, as i sort through my worries about the world. I feel very grateful that it has transpired in this way. I feel very lucky to be able to be proactive in these numbing times.
Now, i know it is the height of summer, with the hottest days experienced recently, and hopefully some to come, but:
Let’s talk Hats!
I have recently discovered knitting in the round. This is not news today. Read HERE all about it. What is new and unprecedented, is quite how much these little crochet pallet cleansers, small items to be finished quickly and to be worn and get ample enjoyment out of, have grabbed me.
There are the two oversized hats i have made and the snood that i already talked about ABOVE. Then a disaster occurred when i shrunk my bed hat in the wash (bed hat is a thing, i am pretty sure, ever seen any version of the Christmas Carol?!), and because of being a bed hat short i decided to make a giant (explained below) version to replace it. Giant to allow for any possible future shrinkage laundry loads and future disappointment moments. It happens, well, frequently enough for me to not choose natural/ woolly yarns to work with usually, because it is too heartbreaking when “your” (read his) favourite jumper comes out of the wash not even fitting the pre-pubescent niece…
Hats!
So here they are in my most favourite knitting stitches, round and round like that i go, and learn with each one. There was something i stumbled upon that i have wondered about for a long time. A way of knitting simple ribbed (description, not sure this is a technical term) stitch so that the finished piece shows both knit and pearl stitch. When you are knitting in the round, the stitches work a little different to when you are knitting back and forth in a straight line. And because of this working in the back of the stitch instead of in the front – or the other way round, i have inadvertently taught myself a technique i have wondered about since i started knitting at 8 years old, by essentially doing things wrong. See, i still cannot explain it in words properly, but show me a pair of needles and i will show you what i mean..
So there it is, there is some learning/ experiential value in doing things seemingly incorrectly, in creativity as well as outside of it. Because sometimes, no matter how many times other people explain things to you, until you learn that thing by experience yourself, words can mean little if anything at all… In words of someone else:
“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness.”
-Eckhart Tolle
And so of course, because it is summer and because stereotypically summer is associated with warm weather – or warm rain, for the country that we live in – the next part of today’s post is (drumroll) you guessed it:
Scarves!
When i make modular blankets, they are usually connected into long strips before being connected together into a shape. And it is very fun, of course, to wrap them around my neck and take some selfies of myself wearing them… So i wanted to honour the joy that this silliness brings me, and maybe talk about how even as blankets, they are actually “worn” because they cover you and are soft and that is the whole point of my work. To be soft and tactile, textured and colourful, and just the correct balance of challenging and automated stitching for me when i make them. Then there is also the superhero crochet blanket cape.
This brings me back to my university work and my final project for my Degree Show, some of which you can peep HERE or HERE.
On that reminiscing note, more about my creativity next month, and there is a little hint/ preview in on of the below photos…