My Very First Crochet Hat

A few weeks ago I was looking for a knitting pattern, but my mum suggested I try my hand at crochet (I think she was having flashbacks to picking up all my dropped stitches when I was young) and so I brought the Patons Learn to Crochet Book, a 5.5mm hook and some wool and tried my hand at crochet. All in all it was pretty successful, it took a while to figure out the instructions, for a while I thought 2ch meant start at the second chain, and not chain two, but once I figured that out it was mostly smooth. The only other massive setback was when I got to row twelve, and realised that it was way to big, and had to undo to row 6 to make it smaller, that was demoralising! But in the end I figured I might as well put in the effort to make a hat I would actually wear. My husband was amazed that essentially all I was doing my tying knots and yet that was creating a hat.
The other change I made was to the flowers, as the hat was made from a grey, almost purple wool, I thought a dusky pink flower would be a nice contrast. So off I went to get some more wool, and pearl beads to sew into the inside of the flower, by now I figured I was hooked. So here is my hat, which I have to say, I am quite proud of. My husband was amazed that essentially all I was doing my tying knots and yet that was creating a hat, and I continue to be amazed at what I can do with my own hands. No more china made, run of the mill hats for me!!

Crafting with children

Well, this blog has not started too well! In my defense however, I have moved country so things have been a little bit all over the place. I still do not have pictures of my recent creations but wanted to post a short piece about crafting with children.
While I do not have any of my own, I have been lucky enough to spend some time with my young cousins (girls, 2 and 8). One day I was wearing a lovely necklace that I had picked up in Uganda, made with rolled paper beads, that the local women had been taught to make so that they could earn an income. My cousins loved it and were intrigued when I told them it was made with paper, so we sat down with an old magazine, scissors and glue and made two cute bracelets. It was so much fun teaching this old technique, one that I used as a child, to two wee people who had never seen it done before. And it was so easy, you cut out long, thin strips of paper, glue one side, and roll up, starting from the fat end. And while the 2 year old is not quite old enough to make her own she was happy sitting on my knee and 'helping'. Plus the 8 year old did it all herself so can really call her bracelet hers.
But then, if that wasn't enough crafting, the 8 year old asked me if I knew how to knit, as she wanted to learn! How exciting that such a young person wants to be able to create. Sadly, I do not knit but I have been teaching myself to crochet, so we sat down and together made a cute pink flower. She enjoyed it so much she also sat down and made a little bracelet for her little sister. We then played a game, where we had to list (from a group of objects) what our favorite, second favorite etc were. So, we both put the flower and the bracelet as our two favorite things. I was so happy to be teaching a little person the value of crafting, and the sense of accomplishment you get making your own things. The next day she even took her little flower to show and tell at school, maybe even inspiring more kids??

Musings on creativity in craft

So, my journey to re-enter the world of craft has led to a dress and a hat (posts and photos to follow) but has also got me thinking about the creativity of craft. I come from an art background and remember discussions at university about art vs. craft. The basic premise that people seemed to have in their heads is that art is creative and craft is not. However, the resurgence in the craft world that has so inspired me is inherently creative. I don't think anyone can argue that creating an embroidery, or dress or cake, from scratch, without a pattern etc is creative. But, where does that leave me? I have always created from patterns, wether sewing, knitting, crocheting and always considered my art and photography to be the creative element. But, my mind is slowly changing. I have not crafted for a long time, at least five years, but I have found the creating process, even using a pattern, to be so creative. Making decisions about fabric, colour, embellishments, sleeves, hem and so on has been incredibly rewarding, my hat is my own, my dress is exactly what I envisioned. I have not felt so fulfilled in a long time. My photography is no longer my only creative pursuit. In saying this though, I do want to get to a point where my knowledge is such that I no longer need to follow a pattern, that I can turn the ideas in my head into reality, I just need to hone my skills first. But in the meantime, making, even if following a design or pattern is making me very very happy.