knitting, crocheting, and me

Today is all about knitting. I've been a knitter for a couple of years after being introduced to it by my friend V. Well, she didn't actually introduce me to it, just prodded me in the right direction (she's an expert at prodding! ;-D).

 

I was first taught to knit when I was about 10. I was given, as a birthday present, a first knitting set and I was really keen. However, my skill was not great. If you'd wanted to have your knitting with random holes and without the same number of stitches on two rows together, I was your girl. It made me very frustrated. I gave it up.

 

And that was how it was for a long time. I'd written knitting (and most crafting type activities) off as something that just wasn't really me. But I come from a knitting family so it was something that niggled at me. And then I got pregnant. My mother went into Nanna mode and knitted a little outfit to bring madam home in.

 

And I was really jealous that I couldn't do it. And when madam was little it really niggled that I couldn't knit for her in the same way I'd had things knitted for me. It was then that V and her new-found skill came in. She was very passionate about it and waxed lyrical about a particular book she had. She then gave me a copy for my birthday :)

 

And that, as they say, was that. I was hooked, I set off on this quest to work through the book and knitted lots (and lots) of things for madam. And then I branched out into magazines and patterns from my local yarn shop which meant I introduced myself to some more complicated patterns.

 

In the first year I'd made 3 cardigans, a dress, a tank top, various hats and scarves, and a few other little bits and pieces. I absolutely loved the feeling of producing something from very little. I had really been bitten by the bug. I spent hours happily knitting away. I found it a really helpful way of relieving stress.

 

But I've slightly stopped at the minute, I've also moved on to crocheting at the moment. It's easier to pick up and take places with me when I need a project to be getting on with.

I'm currently crocheting two blankets for my friend who is expecting twins in June. One is orange and the other is red (my friend chose the colours). Each blanket is being made with 3 different shades. I've finished the orange one, and am half way through the red one (though I don't think I have an up-to-date photo of that one).

 

So, this is the orange one:

 

 

 

And this is the start of the red one... I've done quite a bit more since this was taken though...

 

 



 

 

I'm quite pleased with how well they've both turned out. And I hope my friend will love being able to wrap her twins up all snuggly and safe :)

 

I'm really enjoying the crocheting and I'm thinking of making myself a shawl to wear when I go to my cousins wedding in September, might be a bit hard, but I'm happy to give it a go... :)