Friday, January 2, 2009
Discussion of the Month
Who in your life, or what events in your life, inspired you to pick up your favorite crafty endeavors? Was it a parent or grandparent who taught you so long ago you don't even remember learning? Was it a particular thing that you saw or that happened to you that inspired you to learn from a book or find a teacher?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I've always been surrounded by my inspirations! My mother had a quilt on the frames each winter, and she and I did cross stitch together when I was in high school. She taught me how to sew at a young age, and allowed me to help design my dresses even earlier than that. Lorena turned me on to the knitting sticks, and Ginger has been honing my weaving interest. I picked up a drop spindle last week because of all of you lovely spinners that come through the shop regularly. So thank you for that! I'm loving it!
My mother taught me how to knit when I was 8 years old. She had taken an introductory class somewhere and taught me garter stitch. I remember sitting in front of the baseball world series that year knitting away furiously on a pink garter dress I designed for a doll (two rectangles but I still have it). Years later as I was suffering in grad school, I wandered into a yarn store, spent a lot of money on yarn for a sweater and started knitting again. Unfortunately, the pattern was error ridden so that sweater was never finished but I caught the bug. Oddly enough, my mother forgot how to knit and I'm going to reteach her in a few weeks when she visits. She can't believe she was the one who taught me! :)
I have my grandmother to thank for teaching me how to knit. I learned by watching her when I was very young. Funny enough, she was left-handed and I am right-handed, so I knit left-handed and cannot switch.
I picked up my knitting needles again when my son was born premature in the middle of a freezing cold Quebec winter and I could not find a hat to fit him. Years went by, my kids grew up and moved on. I had not touched knitting needles since my son's hat. 4 years ago, I was trying to find a nice long wide scarf with no success. My appreciative husband who's Mom knit beautiful garments before she passed away suggested I make one. So I picked up my knitting needles again and haven't put them down since.
My MIL is a knitter, so when I found out DH & I would be moving to FL for his job, I decided to learn to knit so she & I could knit together. I have enjoyed all the stories she's told about knitting throughout the generations of her family, especially how she remembers the sound of bobbins clicking while her mother & the neighbor ladies knitted argyle socks for their husbands. It makes me feel very connected to my new family.
My general craftiness is due to my Dad and his mother. She was a seamstress, a crocheter, and an absolutely from-scratch cook. She grew up on the family farm, was quick-witted, loving, off-color at times, and as salt-of-the-earth as you could get. I completely worshipped her. Dad is completely down-to-earth, but he is very independent and exacting when it comes to building/crafting things. There's no doubt in my mind that the two of them together have given me my stubborn DIY tendency.
Post a Comment