Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Jealous!!

A few years ago I knitted Air in Rowan Calmer (a yarn not loved by all). I wore it out and recently retired it. Now Karin is knitting one for her mum - and I'm very jealous!! I contemplated last night just how much I have become blog led - most of my recent projects have materialised because of browsing other peoples blogs and seeing their finished objects. At first I felt quite down hearted about it. Did it mean I just copy other people? Had I lost the ability to be creative and find my own patterns? I then thought about it from another angle: I have to consider this a good thing for many reasons. In most cases I already had the pattern sitting gathering dust on a book shelf ( and in some cases, the yarn), it is fantastic to see a garment on someone else looking good enough for me to want to knit it and I'm hoping it shows my good taste (as well as my fellow bloggers)! However, I do have a few (million) unfinished objects to contend with.


Louisa Harding comes to Chingford
I'm hoping Karin blogs about this as well (since I have definitely killed the camera and have to buy a new one - at some point) as she brought her camera with her. JJ's Wool and Craft (my much loved local yarn shop)was abuzz this morning. The shop was packed and we were rewarded by a talk and taster morning featuring Louisa Harding. Had I not already been a knitter her talk was inspirational enough to make me want to start. She explained her background and how she came to be in the fashion design and knit wear business. She gave an insight into her inspirations and she spoke passionately about keeping the tradition of knitting alive, not just as a hobby, but as a creative process that has earned the right to be a prominent craft. This from someone who was not overly fond of her designs - until today. Her talk actually made me look at her designs again with new eyes (so to speak) and whilst I am still not sold on most of her yarns - I have fallen for some of the patterns.

Not a lot happening on the knitting front - but I do have this:



My Martha inspired cardigan with beads

I will never say a bad word against modern technology again!! It took a while but I managed to work out how to use the camera on my phone. Not great but something.




The cardigan and dress were for a family gathering on Sunday - in the absence of Costco many cakes were in the making, including the one below - Strawberry Cheesecake. I'm just glad the dress was made with lots of give in it.......

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you think you're led by browsing people's blogs,just wait until you get onto ravelry! you can search for a pattern and see everyone's photo in one place. Lethal!

eusebius said...

Hey, I think taking your cue from blogs is OK. We're always creating our own thing anyway ... yarn substitutions, pattern fixes, etc. ... no need to reinvent the wheel if you see something you like!!

Gorgeous cardigan ... just stunning detail. And,uh, now I'm hungry :)

alltangledup said...

your martha inspired cardigan is gorgeous! nothing wrong w/ being blog led. some of the photos in the knitting books make it hard to know if something will look good on you and seeing in worked in a different yarn or on a different figure often shows us the possibilities

Anonymous said...

Martha came out wonderful. After seeing your finished Martha, I now want to see the whole outfit on you.
Glad your family day went well.

Unknown said...

Your cardigan is gorgeous, I like the shaping better than the original Martha. I am very blog led now too, I always google a knit I am interested in to see what's out there but I think it really helps to see them on "real people" if you know what I mean.

Sue said...

Martha turned out gorgeous, you clever girl knitting with beads. I must say that I was inspired to knit the DB Hooded Jacket after seeing your one completed. Looking at patterns knit up by other bloggers is great as you get to see other aspects of the actual garment, instead of it being modelled in a book. Also you get to see if there is any problems with the pattern too.