You are currently browsing the monthly archive for August 2007.
So here I am to add to the stack! I’ve been trying to work on getting childhood crochet photos to post, but I apparently scanned them at a VERY high resolution and my computer just isn’t happy with the 65mb file size before even editing…
I’ve read many places that weddings often cause you to purchase what you don’t really need, even if you’re not buying a bride’s maid dress. In the beginning of the week, I started to think about what I would wear to a wedding reception this weekend and easily pulled out the main outfit. It was when realising that none of the single lonely balls of yarn in my stash would make a shrug or shawl, that I began to panic. I hadn’t considered purchasing a piece of clothing, but still, the thought of having to buy yarn so early on in my “yarn diet” scared me. I would feel like I was giving up. Luckily, after talking the outfit through with my fashion forward sister, I found a different colour cardigan could actually pull it off at the level of dressiness I required.
Disaster averted and confidence gained.
Actually, after knowing how close I was to thinking I had to cave and buy some matching yarn, I can see how easily it would be to try and justify shopping in the mall for “something” to go. As a result, I feel even stronger in my commitment to the wardrobe refashioning pledge, especially knowing that I already own and like the cardigan I’ll be wearing! I know that this small experience will help keep my resolve further down the line when I manage to overlook the large baskets of yarn and somehow come close to convincing myself that I need more.
In the line of stash-busting, both yarn and beyond-recon clothing, I’ve had a week of inspirations for holiday gifts with “perfect” balls of yarn falling onto my needles and hooks, and other fabric ideas presenting themselves eagerly. All have gotten the nod of approval from my partner, so we’ll be diving in soon!
over this zippered pouch tutorial (here’s another!)and this embroidery design library. I think I’ll use them as inspiration to make more fabric presents and home furnishings!
I’m back after a month in the US with my family, though I would’ve loved to stay much longer. While at my parents’ house, I looked through old family albums and was surprised to realise during just how much of our childhood we were surrounded by crochet items. Aside from my mom’s crochet rag rugs, coasters and a few cluster stitch blankets laying around, I never quite appreciated the fact that many of our baby jackets and hats were crocheted as well, though apparently they have come from a phantom crocheter. I found a photo of me quite young, wearing a pastel rainbow jacket I had used on my dolls as a child, and even though most doll clothing previously belonged to my sister or me, I never thought that jacket had been large enough to be anything but doll clothing. Looking closer, I realised that there was a nice shell/scalloped edging around the hood and that the body was probably loop stitch. Viewing the jacket now as a crocheter, I was also seeing it for the first time. When I asked my mom where it came from, she told me it had been a gift…and then I kept on the lookout for other crochet stitches or items I had never really been aware of.
Maybe I’m excited about these crochet things because I know that many of them were items we got a lot of use out of, but I think its due to my increasing awareness and respect of the skill levels that can be reached in crocheting. The infinite complexity that crocheting can offer you if you choose to go beyond simple stitches and rhythms, is what I see as a challenge and adventure. And perhaps I hold these treasured photos as proof and also a reminder to myself when working in a knitting dominant store in a knitting dominant country, that crocheting really can be beautiful and amazing.
Besides this additional layer of crochet love that has developed (maybe because I brought nothing other than a simple scarf project with me to the US?), I’ve also returned from the trip with some “hand me up” clothing from my little sister, and some clothes and fabric my parents were going to get rid of. My partner and I also cleaned out our closets today, so my stack of repair clothing and refashioning items is once again high! It is in this vein that I’m undertaking another wardrobe refashioning pledge for SIX MONTHS, and a no-buying-yarn pledge for FOUR months. Since I have a fair amount of necessary clothing at the moment, I’d like to begin to crochet classic wardrobe pieces, and sew more gifts for people.
