Welcome. This is where I’ll post about all the things I am making plus comments on places I have been and courses I have attended and so on related to the arts and crafts.
Like most people my age, I learned to sew and knit at school. I dropped sewing in favour of knitting at the age of 13. The latter was not a great success at first – my school dishcloth had more holes than the rest of the class put together. It was more like a colander than a dishcloth. I was regularly sent back to my seat to start again. I used to sit and pinch the holes together in the hope that the teacher did not notice them. She must have thought I would never get it. Having knitted that same dishcloth for nigh on a year, she relented and let me cast off, complete with holes. Yet, no-one could fault my knitting these days.
It was not a promising start. My mother, able lady that she was, also tried to teach me knitting – alas, to no avail either. I ended up with more and more stitches on my needle.
The break came at the age of 11 when I saw a pattern I wanted to knit. A sleeveless top that I thought so trendy. I remember my Mum saying ‘But you can’t knit yet’. Being the angel that she was, she relented and let me have the pattern and yarn. I knitted that top. For the next few years I got up at 5am and knitted before I went to school and I could not wait to get home to get out my needles again when I got home.
Several years later in my late 20′s and early 30′s I ran my own knitwear design company and lectured in machine knitting at a local College. I hated the machines and lovingly returned to my knitting needles.
Phase 3 in my knitting life is just beginning as I begin to design once more. Look out for the kits in the shop (first ones going up next week) and for knitteds to buy if you cannot knit or simply don’t have the time but are looking for something hand-made.
Hand-made is what this blog is all about. I’ll be dyeing, sewing, knitting as well as embroidery and so much more. Apart from textiles, I shall also be painting (mainly watercolours and acrylics) as well as ceramics. Don’t forget to drop in on the arts and crafts book and product reviews and to check out my own garden books in the shop as well as the garden blog.