I ran out of time. I didn't get a chance to finish all of Shimelle's challenges, but I did my best :-) I think I will continue doing them as time allows as I have really enjoyed them. My page for the signature challenge is almost complete. I was planning on finishing it tonight when The Princess announced that she wanted to learn to knit. To fully understand you have to know the whole story.
When we lived in Ireland I had a stand at the Craft, Knit & Stitch show each year. The last year I did the show our stand was opposite the 'Learn to Knit Lounge'. The kids worked at the show with us on the Sunday. The Princess was facsinated by the knitters but she was too shy to ask them how to do it. One of the ladies gave her a bag with a ball of wool, knitting needles and an instruction sheet to take home. And that is where her journey to learn to knit took a turn for the worst.
I must be the only person in the world whose Grandmother gave up teaching her to knit. My squares always ended up as triangles and in the end my knitting would be ringing wet. But that could have had something to do with the fact that we only ever gave knitting a go in the summer holidays! I read the instructions, turned them upside down to see if they made more sense that way, and then set off to find someone to teach us. Enter the very talented Joyce. A beautiful lady whom the children adore. We began lessons but after lesson two, we moved around the world and the knitting got resigned to a shelf in The Princess's room. Until today that is ...
The dreaded bag was dragged out and she looked at me with hopeful eyes. What was I to do? Joyce never covered casting on in out fist lessons and the instructions looked like gobbledy-gook to me! One of the few advantages of where we currently live is a speedy internet connection most of the time. "Ah ha" I said, "Lets search YouTube!" And to our amazement there were oodles of videos to learn how to knit. We watched a few, got tangled in wool, tried again but she was determined to get it to work somehow. Then we stumbled on this video. I have no idea if it is even the right way to knit, but it works!!!! We had so much fun casting on and then pulling it all off to try again and make sure it wasn't pure luck! Then we watched video two and actually knitted (this was the bit I did know LOL).
The Princess is a perfectionist so she pulled it all off and started again three times before she actually started knitting rows. She is making her doll a scarf. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Her knitting is safely installed next to her bed so that she can continue when she wakes up until it is time to get up. Belle (her doll) is going to have the most perfect scarf in the world!
Enjoy your week :-)
Chipper
This is such a sweet, precious story. I wrote a blog post ages ago about my dd knitting a piggie when she was younger. Here's a link ...
ReplyDeletehttp://6ichthusfish.typepad.com/6ichthusfish/2009/01/pigs-in-the-past-of-the-knitted-variety.html
Lovin the blog!
Mandy
So funny that you wrote this post...my own DD(almost 22yrs old) announced at the weekend that she was going to knit a jumper(the last thing she knitted was supposed to be a blanket, but she gave up and made it into a cushion cover!) When I spoke to her, a couple of nights ago the jumper had been abandoned and she was making a headband !!!
ReplyDeleteAlison xx
Alison, your daughter sounds so much like me ... she likes to bite off more than she can chew! I hope we are safe with this project, the scarf doesn't have to be very long! The Princess woke up early this morning to add two more rows. So far she is excited :-)
ReplyDeleteLove the pink pig Mandy!
Lovely to her your dd was waking up early to knit and that she's excited. My dd made a scarf before the piggie. Once she had regular tension and wasn't dropping too many stitches she wanted to make a toy. The pieces that made up the piggie were small enough to keep her interest. She hasn't really knitted anything since. Sorry the link wasn't the best. Dd was madly into making 'Beadlings' with seed beads and wire a few years ago. She made lots and threaded them onto a bracelet as a present for me. So, so, cute. I think there's a photo on the blog somewhere ( left sidebar cloud under 'crafts but not scrapbooking or Quilting'... Keep scrolling down and the post is called 'Beadlings bracelet a post by Tiger-girl'). That's her blog name :)
ReplyDeleteI so appreciate a dd who likes to craft. The boys like making Christmas cards though ;)
Mandy