A night of knitting

Last night I made it to my second knitting group meeting. The Harrow Area Knitters meet in Grims Dyke Hotel once a month, for an evening of knitting, nattering, yarn lusting and general fun! I had had a very prodcutive day - I'd been to a morning run by Harrow Carers where they had discussed a range of issues that are pertinent to me as a carer. I hate sitting idle, even when listening to presentations, and so sat and crocheted a couple of brooches, hair slides and a bag! I must have looked a little loopy, but never mind.... At least it gets my stock up for my shops and upcoming craft fairs (more about those in another post though).

So I set out in the howling wind and pouring rain for the hotel, which is situated in the middle of nowhere. I arrived, ordered my drink and sat down to knit, wind some yarn and generally relax. As more and more of us arrived, it was great to sit down and chat with likeminded women (yes, we were all ladies - we're quite open to men who knit too though!). We passed around books, magazines, yarn, needles, bags, allsorts. No one batted an eyelid when we talked about unfinished projects, enormous yarn stashes, impossible lace, frustrating yarn. How I wish my husband was as understanding! My hand dyed yarns were quite a talking point and my leg warmers were received enthusiastically - hopefully the same will happen when I (finally) put them up for sale.

So today so far, I've been sewing in ends, attaching brooch backs and hair clips and generally finishing off projects. I hope the sunshine stays put so I can take some photos later - watch this space.....

Crafting with children..

should never be attmpted! But I never learn and end up cross and frustrated with balls of yarn tangled around my feet, snapped crochet hooks and chewed up knitting needles. You'd think I would take the hint and only persue my addiction when the children are in bed, but when Bea appears to have settled down to watch Shrek for the 100th time, it's just too tempting! In fairness, she usually only starts playing with my bits when I have to get up to deal with James and can't put my article away safely. This time last year, I wrote a post on Ravelry asking how other people dealt with their toddler pulling their knitting off their needles - I received several helpful posts (and have now switched to circular needles for most of my projects - genius!) but I also got told off by several posters. I was a neglectful mother who should take more care of my child, as knitting needles are dangerous items that could cause significant damage to my toddler. I should always move my knitting out of reach of my poor, neglected child so as not to hurt her. I shouldn't ever knit with a toddler around. To be honest, I would be quite sad if I didn't share my passion for yarn with Bea - she is so aware of yarn and my crafting she is constantly asking me "what are you knitting?" or making comments on my yarn "ooh, lovely beautfiul colours mummy". I've caught her with some of my big crochet hooks and scraps of yarn, and she sits there trying to "knit" - very cute! I want her to learn to use her hands, to feel the weight and warmth of yarn and fibre, to watch her create an item from a ball of wool, to anticpate the finished article. I think I need to nuture this interest because if it wasn't for people passing their knowledge down over the centuries I probably wouldn't be knitting and crocheting now. I always find it a bit upsetting that my own mother wasn't keen to teach me to knit, and I have vowed to do differently by my daughter.



I'm currently working on a selection of little bags - I have lots of ideas and can't wait to crochet and knit them up! I've got a couple of children's bags and an adult shoulder bag which I'll be listing this weekend if we can take pics. I really like them, the colours are bright and sunny and there's enough yarn left over for me to make some more scrunchies and headbands.



My most recent addition to Folksy is this gorgeous scarf, knitted in Mirasol Sulka - the yarn is the softest, warmest, snuggliest thing I've ever knitted with and I will be so happy to see this find a new home. It's a fairtrade yarn so perfect in the run up to Fairtrade Fortnight! The stitching is really lovely - textured and eye catching without being fussy. I really enjoyed knitting it and can't wait for next autumn when I'll make some more.