Good evening,well things have been a bit mental to be honest,which is why i haven't written for a while............................................
I have been playing with my knitting machine in earnest this week,i have been l;earning tuck stitch as well as the more refined fairisle stitch....and believe me its taken some doing.....But i am getting there,i mean,its only taken me 3 years......not very long really(?)
Well this week not only have i been making tank tops,but i have been making cushion covers as well...
The cushion covers were a total improvisation and as i did the pattern via trial and error i was writing it down in my memory notepad,other wise i could go down stairs for a coffee,and when i go back up i could forget the whole thing!!!
Now i think i ought to begin at the start and finish at the end....
Here's how it all started for me....
I was a normal child(Yeah right!!!),very quiet and shy,and just a little bit lonely...i only ever had one or two friends,but i valued them,even if i never told them!!!
I attended st peter and st pauls church of England school,and whilst it was a little school in a small town,i don't actually remember much except my nan was the head dinner lady and i loved seeing her everyday...and i miss her everyday.....
But my knitting career started in the library at primary school at the age of 8....
We had a dinner lady called mrs.beattie,she was a little Asian lady who lived in a little cottage up the cansey in EYE,SUFFOLK.
She sat patiently and taught us to knit and crochet...she was the most patient lady i had ever met,and to this day i am thankful for the day i met her and she taught me to knit along with a few others....
One memory that sticks in my mind was a sponsored knit in that we did at school and to be honest i have been knitting ever since....
It started with watching my mother knitting dolls clothes for our dolls for christmas..................and jumpers for school,but my mum could never work out how to teach us,not because she wouldn't but because my mum worked days and my dad worked nights which made things difficult as mum was always tired...It wasn't until i reached adulthood i realised just how hard my mum and dad worked just to keep the family warm and fed......I suppose as a kid you don't think about things like that....you just think that's clothes and toys just appear out of thin air......and i never realised just how much my mum and dad did for us when we were little........and still do now i am a big'un.
So without the help from my parents and mrs beattie i would not be doing what i love everyday .....It gave me an outlet,a way of relaxing,a way of providing my kids with warm clothing as baby's and with toys,that if i had to buy from a shop i would not be able to afford!!!
And now at the age of 40 i am finally putting my knitting and crochet skills to use,for better or for worse....
But i have to say that without knitting i would probably be a gibbering wreck somewhere after my nth nervous breakdown...But knitting has allowed me o keep a clear head,keep my brain alive and design is now a major part in my life....But my favorite thing to do is to make clothing for little ones...i am currently having a go at designing cowl neck jumper for a little one,and its a case of ,,,pen,memory book,and knitting needles along with some delicious yarn,and a brain that gets very excited at the prospect of designing and drawing my ideas before making them...when i have made the finished item i like to post a design on e-bay to see how it sells,i usually make 5 and try to sell them and then i write out the pattern as simply as is physically possible to post on my blog as i don't actually know what to do with them....i don't know how to get them published either through ravelry,or through the mainstream.....but one day i WILL see my name in print,its just taking its time.......
My favorite knitting needles have to b the finds i get out of charity shops...i ADORE the short aero needles,they always have a history when i buy them 2nd hand....i romantically like to think that somebody else has loved them before i got my sticky little hands on them.......but my absolute favorite beyond everything else would have to be the second hand bakelite knitting needles that can be got for as little as 29p per pair from the pdsa charity shop in DISS,NORFOLK.
I do have a particular taste for brittany needles too,i love the way that silver birch feels in the hands,and the way that they are so flexible and warm to the touch.
but here's a selection of items that i have hand knitted....
And well,this is just me...and that's it!!!
