As I return to this blog, I realise that over the last 6 months I have cured myself of the habit of being constantly connected to the cyberworld by technology - you can't blog or tweet or surf and knit at the same time.
But of course a consequence is that this blog has lain dormant.
So in the age-old tradition of New Year's Eve, I decided that a it's a good time to review the knitting projects of the year - while I have a chance of remembering what I've been doing. It would have been easier if I'd used this blog to keep a running record - but let's see how we go.
Let's try the chronological approach to start - and add photos and comments later.
Christmas 2010
Back-tracking a bit to the autumn of 2010, this was probably the start of the new phase of knitting. My good friend A had had a horrific accident, and broken her femur badly. I went to buy her a knitting project to keep her from climbing the walls during the recovery - legwarmers seemed appropriate. 3 hours of browsing and indecision later, I came away with Noro yarn and pattern. But I couldn't resist - and knitted them up myself to send her the finished result. A good decision as it turned out, as she wouldn't have had the energies to knit herself at that time.
I then started on a waistcoat for myself, before getting sidetracked into all sorts of other projects. (The said waistcoat still languishes unfinished - and is destined to be ripped apart to re-use the yarn in projects more suited to what I now want to knit.)
I think I then finished off an angora ruffle scarf (mohair de France - bought from the market in Nyons from French angora goats) that had been on the needles for years - and gave it to E. I had a captive audience for my creations!
And I started to spend time looking at pattern books etc in John Lewis - tuning in to the new world of interesting versus funtional knitting - and not a ball of courtelle or acrylic in sight!
I bought a Rowan Studio knitting book - and my daughter E earmarked 2 pretty tops - so we chose colours and bought the wool (rowan haze).
Christmas 2010: I used more of the angora wool to knit a scarf for my mother. I had intended to finish the pink bolero for E for Christmas, and got sidetracked into knitting another angora scarf and beret for Lizzie (using up the french mohair). (Those 6 balls of assorted pinks, purple and violet went a long way). Of course, E wanted a beret as well! And I finished the pink bolero in time for her to wear it to her graduation in January.
Wrapping the aforesaid bolero and beret to send it reminded me of receiving the Christmas box from my grandmother in the post. It was full of her various knitting projects for the year - lots of bedsocks as I recall! - and they all carried her scent of lavender water. So wrap up your finished articles in tissue paper and tie with spare yarn from the project. Spraying the tissue paper with your favourite scent makes the unwrapping of the gift a fully sensory experience for the recipient.
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Our legacy is others' inheritance
The friend of my daughter got married recently. Within hours facebook was full of pictures of the event ... I had no idea who was who, yet of course the picture were of the families and friends of the person posting the pictures. I am sure all the pictures will have lots of meaning for those who were involved - and it;s got me thinking, as I return to practically creating tangible 'things' (as opposed to just trying to keep my head above the waves in the cyber-pond of frenetic info-consummation that often masquarades as communication).
We are so overloaded with the digital image, taken in the here and now, and posted for all to consume. It's often infobesity. Our ipods are full of music - but which are the tracks that move us? - those that help us remember a good time, or a difficult time.
I do worry about what we might be losing because of the age of easy consumption that we are in. Perhaps the recent return to 'austerity' helps redresss the balance between consumerism and short-termism, towards a greater sense of legacy and responsibility.
As a gardener, I'm creating a micro-environment that I hope will outlive me and will be a net addition to the universe (though I must say, it's much easier when I try to work with nature, rather than against her. So the potatoes in Provence just cannot compete with drought this year. We'll eat tomatoes instead).
And as I knit and stitch, the process of creation creates a physical, not digital end product. It's not instant gratification - click and upload - and that's the joy of it. And as a physical entity that is given to someone else, or worn by me, the artefact is enriched with another patina of meaning
We are so overloaded with the digital image, taken in the here and now, and posted for all to consume. It's often infobesity. Our ipods are full of music - but which are the tracks that move us? - those that help us remember a good time, or a difficult time.
I do worry about what we might be losing because of the age of easy consumption that we are in. Perhaps the recent return to 'austerity' helps redresss the balance between consumerism and short-termism, towards a greater sense of legacy and responsibility.
As a gardener, I'm creating a micro-environment that I hope will outlive me and will be a net addition to the universe (though I must say, it's much easier when I try to work with nature, rather than against her. So the potatoes in Provence just cannot compete with drought this year. We'll eat tomatoes instead).
And as I knit and stitch, the process of creation creates a physical, not digital end product. It's not instant gratification - click and upload - and that's the joy of it. And as a physical entity that is given to someone else, or worn by me, the artefact is enriched with another patina of meaning
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