Spontaneous symmetry? Or, as this post should be more accurately called – Arranged Asymmetry. You will see what i mean when you look at the gallery at the end of this post.
Anyway, back to the beginning. I have a niece who is four (4) years old. She says, “Auntie crochets things for me”, and I love that she now sees me that way. She told me the other day:
“Auntie, thanks for being my auntie and for crocheting things for me.”
My heart melted at this. OF COURSE I will crochet you anything you like, whenever you ask me to..
So I asked her if she wanted anything else crocheted. She asked for a face mask. Oh dear, that might be a bit of a tricky one to crochet an effectively working facemask. No matter; she is a very imaginative child and can play with it nonetheless. (I did underline the face mask with some fabric, so actually, it will work just as well, if not better, than any other facemasks i have made HERE)
“Oh and a snood, please, aunty K.”
Now we are talking… A snood I can do… And I did. I did not actually take a proper photo of it, as I was too eager to send it as soon as it was ready and washed, hoping for it to arrive in time to still be worn this winter.
It did arrive. It did not fit.
The snood was too small for her, and only fits her younger sister.. There was another one made for her younger sister, which only fits a dolly… I mean, they grow too fast, kids…
This made me think of how creativity and failure work. There is no creativity without failure. No one ever said:
“Well, that went well. Let’s do it differently next time.”
So to come up with creative solutions, we need to fail at some point. Does having a creative job – having to be creative in your all-day, every-day routine make you less or more likely to embrace failures? Discuss…
But anyway, I digress.
I rushed to make another snood, after more careful exchanges of measurements of heads and snoods and working out the maths and testing out the stretching. Why am I talking about snoods in May? Because the second one made will most likely be worn next winter now… But also, there may actually be some frost in May, so I am not entirely out of the loop.
And then, a friend asked me if I did commissions. She had lost a glove and decided to have replacement fingerless gloves made by a creative person rather than ordering factory-made ones online. How lovely that she thought of me!
Craft Swapping venture began.
Penny, whose BLOG is beautifully written, is also an inspirational visual artist and arts health practitioner. I met Penny when I volunteered, a very, very, very long time ago. She also makes hula hoops, which was something I never thought I could do, but always wanted to try. So we talked, and we decided to swap crafts. (2026 Update: Unfortunately, I can no longer find any HULA HOOPS. If you are intrigued, check the blog HERE and inquire???)
I have decided, from this month onwards, to include another creative person who has been my inspiration for my own creative practice. In a way, I forget so many of them that it would be nice to have some record to go back to.
May is for Penny!
2026 - UPDATE:
AND Georgia!
Who also commissioned me to make a pair of handwarmers in different colours later on, and who is a glass artist concerned with mathematics, pattern formation, and reproduction, found HERE and HERE. Counting rows of tiles in doctor’s waiting rooms has been part of my brain’s daily work since I knew what numbers were, and a pattern recognition obsession…. Well, if not reasons they are definitely contributors for me and crochet becoming best pals.
And I sneaked a little history of me with chevrons, which is long and rich, and again connects my work to another glass artist’s. 🙂
Keep your eyes peeled, as I feel there may be more here to expand on…. My frequent return to the chevron when completing wearables, AND blankets…
WE SHALL YET SEE!
Thanks for reading! 🙂
Thank You for reading!
