You knit where?!

Musings

<musing>

I've spent the past few months quietly trawling through thousands of patterns and projects on Ravelry, rather than actually knitting. I'm sure I'm not the only Raveller that has that problem, but one thing has really stood out for me in all my browsing.

All of a sudden, knitting seems to have become really complex, and very professional. Now, it could just be my skewed perception, but it seems that when I started out (maybe 2001, 2002?) it was all basic arm-warmers and fancy cabled hats for the experts. Now it seems like every knitter can whip out an Estonion lace shawl or amazing intarsia sweater in three weeks, and I am starting to feel like a pupil who's been kept back so many times that I'm a college student in a kindergarten class.

Everyone has become so talented! The inspiration has just been amazing. And more importantly, it's taught me to not be afraid of stretching my skills. I have picked up projects that I'd never have even considered before (like the Christening Shawl, which has amended and final deadline: May 30).

And it's not only that I wouldn't have considered them -- a lot of the patterns wouldn't even exist without this new talented generation. So I guess my message (from this midnight musing) is really, keep up the good work, everyone. And maybe one day I will graduate to the next class up! Until that day, I will just have to keep trying...

</end musing>

Velma revisited

I've been dreaming of a bright yellow dress for years, and a leisurely Saturday seemed like a good time to get sewing. No pattern, no fear! Also no clue.

First problem was the geriatric Singer. I'm not sure when it arrived in our family, but my mum seems to think it was a birthday gift when I was five. So that makes it at least twenty-*coughmumblecough* years old. It hadn't been used in about 18 months, and on setting it up, I discovered it had become a well-loved but impractical paperweight.

So being the talented repairwoman and overly-optimistic soul that I am, I decided to take it apart and see what was wrong with it. 

As you can see, not only do I not know what I'm doing, but I also got the make of the machine wrong. See those letters? They spell out J-A-N-O-M-E. No wonder my spare parts never fit.

Luckily, I had a can of WD-40 and an overgrown Boy Scout at my disposal.

Between the two of us, we got the case off and discovered that the main crank-thingy had seized up through lack of use. Cue the WD-40! Seriously, that stuff is awesome. Never sew without it!

Once the machine was working again, Boy Scout went to watch some splosions on the telly, and I got sewing. And ripping. And sewing. I'd fudged a pattern by cutting around an old dress, and ad-libbed the cowl neck (well, it saves putting in a zip, doesn't it?), so I was pretty much putting it in the cut-and-sew-til-it-seems-right school of clothing making. I'm not sure I'll ever graduate from that class to the real "uses a pattern" sewer.

Anyway... a few dodgy seams and a couple of glasses of vino later, Voila... my fabled yellow dress! (scuse shockingly awful lighting and blur... it appears BoyScout may have had some vino too.)

 

Apparently it makes me look like Velma from Scooby Doo. I'm keeping my fingers crossed they meant this Velma, not that one... but I think the results really speak for themselves!

* Also shown: CitySlickerCat, who really liked my boots.

In writing, like knitting...

In writing, like knitting, the first line always seems the hardest.

You put down the pen or the needle, become distracted by the more immediate demands of life, and your work gets forgotten. Buried on the desk, shoved under the couch. You find it, months later, and pick up your tools. Your fingers feel clumsy at first, stumbling over a movement that has become unfamiliar.

But it comes back...

I have abandoned this blog, and the crafty side of myself, for far too long. So I've committed to a) finish a christening shawl (above) by May 30; and b) to blog at least once a week.

I can't even remember what I last wrote about -- finishing off a jumper to wear in England, for a trip I took 18 months ago. My passport has expired since then, and I still haven't finished the damn sweater. I *could*, except that I decided, 9/10 of the way through, that the yarn sheds too much and therefore I will probably never wear it. Unless anyone knows a way to stop yarn shedding?!

My job has taken over my life, and while that was fun for a while and I don't see it changing, I can't help feeling like there has to be something more. I've just spent the weekend in Brisbane, thinking about all the things I should be doing to make my life happier, and to address my work-life imbalance. And those two seemed like a good, achievable place to start.

Not much else to say -- CitySlickerCat is nibbling at my feet and this is far too contemplative for anyone to be interested in reading, but it's a start. So now to keep going...