the joy of the unexpected

I woke up this morning with absolutely no intention of going to the knitter's weekend out at the Dowse...until i got (woken up by) a text from my mum telling me that i was allowed to sit it on my Grandma's workshop this morning if i wanted...i wanted! So after some quick rearranging of my day, i was out the door in record time and out to the hutt for about the fifth time this week (i'm getting to know the Dowse to Petone interchange works really well, i tell ya!). 

The workshop was an introduction to lace knitting, something i'd had a go at before but had left to one side since. My reward for going? A copy to borrow of the Knitting Sutra - Craft as a Spiritual Practice by Susan Gordon Lydon and copies for my own of Mary Thomas' Knitting Book and Book of Knitting Patterns. Stoked! The covers of the two Mary Thomas books are great, and they have all these cute little cartoons and illustrations...which you'd know if i hadn't dropped one of my rechargeable batteries somewhere not to be found when trying to put them back in my camera.

 I got to see the inside of Knit World's new knitting studio and had to force myself to stop looking because, my goodness, the yarns in there are delicious. Much, much higher quality than what is stoked in the shop and a wall full of fantastically geeky knitting tools...I managed to leave with only my last balls of yarn for thermal and a set of bamboo double pointed needles - why bamboo? Do i really need bamboo? Uh, no. But there they are in my bag anyway. Ha. 

After the workshop i tootled off to the New Dowse and drooled over more yarn (please santa, bring me a sack of organic merino!), met Mel Clark who co-wrote this book, and was pleasantly surprised by the number of young'uns there. I was most impressed by the blind lady knitting, and a couple of guys dotted around the place. One, admittedly, was wearing a skirt. You see it all in Lower Hutt...

My job in the next hour is to have another crack at knitting with dpns, so that i can get some grandmotherly advice on technique tomorrow. 

Keep warm!

Crafternoon tea goodness

I really need to come up with some better titles. Or maybe i'll just give them up altogether. hmm.

Crafternoon tea was a great success! I finally got to meet the lovely Nikki, who blew me away with her knitting know-how - you rock! I taught my sister and friend the joys of casting on, and i think we managed to convince both that holes are arty. And that it gets easier. My other friend Bex, who i taught last year, is giving it another go after struggling with way small needles and yarn and has gone for the fat stuff. Her scarf literally doubled in length while she was there. Woohoo to the knitting converts!

The subject of my grandma came up very briefly and i remembered that somewhere i had hidden a shawl that she gave me for my 21st. I have never worn it but feel terribly lucky to have it. It is called 'Reflections' and is better travelled than I am - it's won a few awards at exhibitions as Grandma has a tendency to borrow it back to take to various things with her. I failed at finding it yesterday afternoon but then had a brainwave last night and did a wee fashion shoot with it. 

So am terribly consumed by inspiration from loads of crafty people surrounding me at the moment, and oh how i wish to craft full time...

And yes, there will be another crafternoon tea - for any in Wellington who would like to come, let me know! The next one may be this Sunday, but being a long weekend am not quite sure what turn out will be like. Could just be me and my needles!

The best road sign ever! Think my camera needs to accompany me out more...

wise (knitting) words

not much from me today - instead, something from my Grandmother, who just happens to be a quite well known knitter. She made the shawl presented to Prince Charles and Princess Diana for Prince William's christening from the New Zealand Wool Board (or something like that). No shit. Te Papa has some of her work in their collection, and she regularly travels to the States to do workshops and the like. So, knitting is in my blood really. 

'Your last email gave me 'food for thought' as I have also been really interested in this question of why people knit!

Did i tell you that one of the sculpture students, Zoe, used knitting as a medium and - several miles of French (cotton reel) knitting which she draped into organic shapes and then started a knitting group in the sculptor studio during Wednesday lunch hours? We knitted in public too, like meeting and knitting at Coffee Culture, the Botanic Gardens which included a pot luck picnic and city building sites etc. It was a group of about fifteen students including five guys. One was really enthusiastic and knitted 'liquorice allsorts' scarves! They came out to visit with my local spinning group during the holidays and the spinners were really great and donated knitting needles, yarns etc. along with lots of advice which was probably disregarded in the long run but attentively listened to at the time! Zoe took photos of all these activities and these also made up part of her submission. I even got Granddad to take a photo of me knitting outside a cafe in Melbourne which Zoe used to frequent!

I think knitting has had a raw deal in many ways! First it was 'bottom of the heap' in British culture as it was what the illiterate peasants did and probably why people use the phrase 'go back to your knitting' when they want to put someone down. In continental Europe and Scandinavia it has a much higher status. Weaving, bobbin lace and needlework were, and still are, given a much higher status in relation to applied art (until recently it was next to impossible to get knitting hung in an art gallery in NZ) and it is really interesting to see that suddenly knitting is being included at 'Fine arts' level as long as it is spontaneous with the usual non craft application eg Jackie Greenbank and Katie Thomas.

Did i tell you that I am in the throes of writing my third book? It is the story of my 'Shawl Journey' and I find I am often referring to what can only be described as the therapeutic aspect of knitting in conjunction, of course, with the challenges of the researchm history, designing and pattern making which has made this such a fascinating subject over  my lifetime and and latterly the discovery that there are processes involved which can be truly defined as fine art ehich is quite different from the applied art/craft specifications. The late James Mack was the champion of ensuring creative crafts received recognition regardless of the medium used and i owe him a great debt as without him as a mentor I often wonder to what extent I would  have had the confidence to persevere. 

For me i knowt hat I need to have purely mechanical knitting on the go as well as the complex resolving of design knitting projects. The former is relaxing when I am tired and frees my mind to ponder problems, especially personal ones, either conciously or more likely subconsciously, whereas the latter need my full attention and can be very exhausting!

This is turning out to be another book! I guess I am excited to think you have this interest and that you are hopefully benefiting from knitting.'

oh yeah, did I mention that she has written two books and just completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Canterbury University? Pretty cool huh, for someone in her 60s. Yep, she can drive me nuts but she's achieved some incredible things. I'd love to learn all that she knows about knitting...one day. I have so many memories from being around her as a kid and knowing that if nothing else was happening there would be knitting in her hands. 

She also has her own line of fine Merino wools (that my aunt winds in Staveley) among other things...