Knitter's Paradise

It has become very clear that over the last year I didn't spend quite as much time scrapping as I used to, but that doesn't mean that I wasn't being creative. When you are naturally an artistic or creative person, if you don't have an outlet for that you can get really frustrated! So as I mentioned a few months ago, I picked up my knitting needles again and used this slightly more mobile (and less messy!) hobby to bridge the gap.

I have always knitted, I think I probably first got given a pair of very short pink knitting needles when I was about five, and between my mum and my nan I was taught the basic knit, purl, increase and decrease stitches. I still remember a Textiles lesson at school when the teacher decided to teach us to knit. Some of the other girls were still struggling to cast on while I had a perfect square of striped knitting all finished by the end of the lesson (I'm sure they all hated me for that!). My nan used to knit lots of Jean Greenhowe toys which we all loved as kids and I've knitted a fair few in tribute to her over the years - my project page on Ravelry is testament to that!

So it's hardly surprising that I decided to make a page dedicated to one of my first crafty loves. This page was made with some quite cheap lilac paper from a multi-stack, and some scraps left over from an ancient range of Basic Grey (I think it was called Scarlet Letter or something similar). This page was also made for an ill-fated issue of Scrapbook Inspirations, and again I had failed to share the page even though it got returned to me some time ago. I wanted to add the flash of yellow as an accent colour, and because I staged the photo I was able to select exactly the right yarn shades to match my page - convenient!

I don't often scrap in purple - nobody does - but sometimes I like to do something a bit different, and I was pleased with this page in the end. Mind you, those diamante swirls are so stunning, you can't really make a bad page if you add them on somewhere!

In other yarn-related news, this arrived on my doorstep the other day:

It's called A Stitch In Time, and is an absolute delight. It's like a social history of knitting. It includes old knitting patterns from the twenties up to the forties, along with updated instructions and photos to match our modern yarn and body shapes, and each chapter has a section on style and fashion for the era. I could look at this book for hours - even the old magazine pages which are perfectly replicated are fascinating to read.

I thought I'd include some snaps of my favourite patterns in the book, which I may or may not get round to knitting some day - though I very much doubt I'll ever pluck up the courage to cast on that dress!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to a lovely weekend as my mum and dad are coming to visit - I always love seeing them, and it's been a while since they came up to my house. So I need to go and clean the bathroom and hoover up in preparation...my Friday nights are just one long party!