The Creative Blog Hop

Last Monday, Wink from A Creative Being tagged me in a new blog hop. Today I'm delighted to welcome any new readers who may be here as a result, and to tell you more about my current projects and creative process. (The blog hop involves answering questions about my creations, but I've written it as a piece of prose rather than using the typical Q&A format.)

It's the school holidays for the next six weeks. This equates not only to very little time alone but also constant interruptions and plenty of noise! My expectations have been managed accordingly and I'm planning only a few little things for the next month and a half:
- Compiling project ideas/patterns for the school knitting club, which starts again in September
- Some quick and easy projects for the blog
- Developing an idea into a new knitting pattern. This is what I'd like to tell you about today.
image
As a teen my creative heart was sidelined by those who purported to know better (my teachers, careers advisors etc) so that my academic brain could secure me a 'good career'. I ended up spending three years of my life on a law degree which I did not enjoy at all. During that time there wasn't much opportunity to do anything creative, and when I emerged with a degree I'd never use and the huge amount of student debt that financed it, I had to get straight to work. It wasn't until my second child came along at the age of 35 that I finally had the perfect coincidence (planetary-alignment, call it what you will) of opportunity and desire - maybe it was desperation - to do something creative. I picked up the knitting needles and registered a domain name.

Learning to knit (and blog) satisfied the creative urge for some time, but all addicts eventually need a new 'fix'. For some knitters that's making more complicated things - intarsia, difficult cables, big things on tiny needles.... but for me, for the moment at least, it's learning to translate my ideas into written form in a way that is easily accessible to all knitters. If I could go back in time, knowing what I know now, I'd have studied design of some sort. As it is, I'm finding my way as I go.

I have notebooks full of ideas. Some are just reminders of a nice stitch pattern I haven't decided what to do with yet, others are more-or-less finished designs. With age I'm learning patience. There is no hurry and they will come to fruition when they are ready. Some ideas develop over time, without ever leaving the page - Seafoam is a perfect example of that. It was inspired by a photograph and started as a 'semi-circular shawl' idea in my notebook...
... but changed shape - for the better - by the time it got to the needles, several months later.
Seafoam Shawlette-to-Shrug
This summer I'm going to start work on a new pattern for a shawl. It's inspired by a photo I took of the children at Goring Beach in the Spring and I suddenly have a strong urge to get it done before the children go back to school. It's time to see it in physical form, not trapped on the page. I'll keep you posted!
----
It just remains for me to tag a couple of other bloggers I think you'd love - if you haven't already discovered them for yourself - Deb over at A World of Imagination, and Jacqui from Happy Making Designs. Deb is a fabulous blogger whose knitting always looks amazing. She has a great eye for colour and I love her project photographs so much that she's responsible for various things on my Ravelry wishlist. Jacqui is best known as a designer and teacher, but she also has a great blog. It's informative, interesting, and often very funny. She has a great way with words - I think you'll like it. I'll look forward to reading Deb and Jacqui's posts next Monday and hope you'll drop by and say hello to them too. 

1 comment

  1. I too got sidelined into a degree that did not suit me. I'm so pleased you've found your outlet!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment, and being part of the Crafts from the Cwtch community!

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

The free patterns and tutorials on this site are provided for unlimited personal use. You may print a copy of a pattern or keep a digital copy for personal use only. Please feel free to share links to the relevant posts but do not reproduce or sell any of these patterns (either digitally or in print). If you would like to use any of my images, please get in touch!

Yarn sellers: Please do not print patterns/tutorials to distribute with yarn sales, as this is an infringement of copyright.




Latest Instagrams

© Crafts from the Cwtch. Design by Fearne.