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Hi all, this is the time of year that I drag out all of my wonderful yarns and fibers. What started as a desire to reconnect with crafts from the past-a set of knitting needles and a skein of yarn-has turned into an obsession with all things fiber. I have a basket of scarves that I made from yarns I couldn't resist. These types of yarns certainly weren't available when I was a kid.
As a child I learned to crochet and to knit, but in the creation of a nursing career, time for those types of creations fell by the wayside. Now, in the last few years, I've had the time, or made the time, to relearn knitting and crocheting, which has renewed a bond with my mother. She taught me as a kid, and she has refreshed my memory. That may seem so mundane and boring and hardly exciting enough for a blog topic, but I waned to find out if anyone else out there has the same sort of obsession for a craft or hobby.
I know I'm not alone in the crafting madness or the rubber stamp show I went to the other day wouldn't have been wall-to-wall with people also intent on learning new techniques and purchasing new products.
So fess up everyone, aside from reading wonderful books, what are your hobbies, what keeps you sane, what must you do to be happy and creative? Fiber arts are mine. I'm also encouraging my husband to build me a triangle loom so that I can learn loom weaving! There's always another obsession right around the corner, isn't there? Let's hear about yours.
Fiber obsessed, Molly
The Passion Of Romance. The Drama Of Medicine.
Molly Evans
Molly, great picture! My
Molly, great picture! My mother is a very keen knitter. Me? I used to drop all the stitches and mum spent so much time 'fixing' my work she taught me to crochet...only three sticthes to drop LOL!
Cheers,
Fiona
Fiona's Website
Miracle: Twin Babies USA OUT NOW
Have you tried this site:
Have you tried this site: https://www.ravelry.com/account/login It's supposed to be a fiber obsessed dream site.
"Saving the future, one presidential edict at a time."
March's Member of the Month--2008
Mad Keen Knitter
I used to be a mad keen knitter, Molly - I started learning when I was five. I remember doing these weird shapes that should have been squares - just in plain knit stitch. It was so exciting to move on to purl and moss stitch and rib as I got older! From about the age of ten, my sister and I would make a new jersey or cardigan every winter. And when I worked night shifts in the laboratory, I used to take some knitting to do in case it was really, really quiet.
But then I got corrupted! I learned about sewing with stretch fabrics and now I hardly ever get the knitting needles out!
Good luck with your loom weaving - maybe you can come back and show us what you've done on a future blog!
Sharon
Sharon Archer
www.sharon-archer.com
Marriage Reunited: Baby on the Way --- UK October 2009, Aus/NZ November 2009
Bachelor Dad, Girl Next Door --- UK Apr 2010, Aus/NZ May 2010
Knitting
I'm hopeless when it comes to a lot of crafts but I love to knit! I always have a project on the go and more yarn than I know what to do with. I'm also very slow because I learned to knit righty and I'm lefty, but trying to switch that over would cause more heartache than not so slow and right I stay.
The one problem? I have to ration myself. Knitting is worse for my rsi than typing, so if I start getting the ache in my wrists I have to put it aside for a few weeks.
Donna
A BRIDE FOR ROCKING H RANCH, in Montana, Mistletoe, Marriage - November 09
Cowboys and Confetti Duet:
ONE DANCE WITH THE COWBOY, Romance, January 2010
HER LONE COWBOY, Romance, March 2010
http://www.donnaalward.com
Fiona
I hear you about the dropped stitches. I do go through that sometimes, but I'm getting better at it. I've torn out more stuff than I care to admit, but I'm not giving up on it. The yarns are so beautiful these days and i've even tried my hand at spinning fleece, but that's a whole other obsession.
The Passion Of Romance. The Drama Of Medicine.
Molly Evans
Fake Frenchie
thanks for the reminder about that site. There are so many places to indulge in our hobbies-obsessions these days aren't there?
The Passion Of Romance. The Drama Of Medicine.
Molly Evans
Sharon
stretch fabrics make me insane. They are so slippery that I've given up on them. Of course, my waistline doesn't want to have any clingy fabrics near it, either. I do quilt, and have a closet of fabric to prove it, but the knitting and card making are so easy to pick up and put down, that I've gravitated more toward them. I do now have a dedicated space for card making and it's more crowded than ever.. Guess I need to spend some time unearthing what's beneath the piles of papers and glitter.
The Passion Of Romance. The Drama Of Medicine.
Molly Evans
Donna
I hear your pain! I learned righty and have tried to learn/teach myself continental, using the left, but it's not use. I'm slow, but I get the job done and enjoy the process much more than the struggle of changing things "just because." Recently, I made a visit to the knitting store and there were 4 ladies, the shop owners, all knitting just the way I do and enjoying every stitch. So that absolved me of my guilt for not knitting continental.
One of the ownders is from Sweden and knits the fastest I've ever seen. I stand in awe.
The Passion Of Romance. The Drama Of Medicine.
Molly Evans
Fiber - good for us all!
Hi Molly,
First off, I loved the picture of colorful yarns. My sleepy morning eyes thought they were cabbages! ha ha. Anyway, I am woefully untalented in the fiber department. I do admire and appreciate other people's talents though. I used to enjoy stitching and made both of my kid's Christmas stockings. We still use them, and I love getting them out each year. I did pretty good once upon a time. I wonder if it's time to take that up again?
Hmm, any chance you want to send one of those lovely scarves my way?
I know nothing worse than a beggar.
Best Wishes,
Lynne Marshall
www.lynnemarshallweb.com
Assignment: Baby, 7/09 NA 4.5 stars - Cataromance - available now!
Temporary Doctor, Surprise Father, 6/09 UK - still available in UK
The Boss and Nurse Albright 3/10 UK
Lynne
It never hurts to ask. Maybe you'll find one of my scarves under your tree for Christmas. Although cabbages don't sound like they would be quite right for knitting, there are more and more natural fibers being produced out of bamboo and even maze these days. I'm obsessed with trying my hands at sock making. Still trying to get my first one done, but I'm not giving up!
But hobbies, of some sort, are good for us. When I worked in the cardiac step-down area, I found so many people that were high stress patients that did little aside from work. Stess will get to us eventually, so destressing through exercise, or meditation, or hobbies. Sex is a good destresser, but you can't do that at the coffee shop!
The Passion Of Romance. The Drama Of Medicine.
Molly Evans
Hobbies
Hey Molly,
I've taken knitting classes before. After the third class where I was trying to knit a sweater, the instructor told me there are some people who just aren't knitters, and that maybe I should look for a new hobby. So, yeah. I was technically kicked out of her class. Apparently I'm a disruptive influence. I did mutter a lot and I may have pitched my needles to the ground a couple of times out of frustration, but I was well behaved besides that. Now I cross-stitch. It's very relaxing and in the end I get a pretty picture to hang or give away.
re knitting
No, not me, way too slow for someone as impatient as me. Now tapestry, I used to do that a lot because you could see the picture or design growing beneath your fingers, and I really must take it up again. My aunt tried to teach me how to crochet - would you believe she used to make the most beautiful, and superfine, two piece suits - but though I made a bed throw the trouble was it started out as a poncho, so that was the end of my crocheting days, but I do love the colours of wool. A friend dyes all of her own colours using lichens and mosses, and they are just beautiful.
Maggie Kingsley
Shea
that's just so sad! Did you have therapy after getting kicked out of the knitting class? I have yet to master knitting in the round for socks, but I'm getting there. Hobbies are good for us, so I'm glad you found cross stitch. I used to do that, too. I think I've done everything. Except tatting maybe.
The Passion Of Romance. The Drama Of Medicine.
Molly Evans
Maggie
your friend sounds like a magician. To be able to dye her own fibers. How fun is that? I know it's a lot of work though. When I lived on a reservation, I learned to spin with a Navajo spindle and toyed with the idea of dying my own yarns, but I knew I wasn't going to be there long enough to really learn how, so I just read about it. Maybe someday.
The Passion Of Romance. The Drama Of Medicine.
Molly Evans
Knitting in the round
You know I've never tried socks; that's what my MIL is for. But I knit all my mittens in the round and it is so much faster!
Right now I'm making gift bags with some holiday yarn I got BOGO. :-)
Donna
A BRIDE FOR ROCKING H RANCH, in Montana, Mistletoe, Marriage - November 09
Cowboys and Confetti Duet:
ONE DANCE WITH THE COWBOY, Romance, January 2010
HER LONE COWBOY, Romance, March 2010
http://www.donnaalward.com
Not for me
Hi Molly. I'm afraid I'm not remotely crafty at all. Just not interested. But I do so admire the results of those who are. I get why people are in to it, just can't get into it myself. And that pic with those yarns is gorgeous.
I'm struggling to find a hobby at all to write about. I dont really get spare time. When I do I like to read or sleep or eat!!
Going to the movies too. But that's hardly creative... Maybe writing is my creative outlet??
Bit of a shame really as my best friend owns an alpaca farm and I have access to some beautiful yarn...
Amy - feeling very boring...
Looking for a Xmas miracle? Look no further. A Doctor, A Nurse: A Christmas Baby out now in the UK and online!
I learned to knit when I was
I learned to knit when I was eight. A few years later my gma tried to teach me how to crochet--but I found that boring. I have taught my bookend dd (oldest and youngest) how to knit and crochet--it so cool watching the three of us either reading together or knitting together. I have a cabinet filled with yarns cause I can't seem to walk past intriguing yarn and not buy it.
Nancy
January 2009 Member of the Month
Participant in Date with Destiny 2009
Participant in Pass the Plot Spring 2009
Amy
I'm sure you're creative in other ways, maybe not just crafty. Your writing is certainly inventive, so maybe that's where your talent lies. I have too many hobbies and only one kiddo though. What I say is that I go to great lengths to avoid cleaning my house!
The Passion Of Romance. The Drama Of Medicine.
Molly Evans
Nancy
What a sight you all must be, working fibers together. Even if I'm watching tv or just relaxing I need something to keep my hands busy, either with a book, or fibers. I just can't sit anymore. My husband and son can sit for hours watching football or movies, but I'm constantly up and down, doing something along with the football or movie. It's productive.
The Passion Of Romance. The Drama Of Medicine.
Molly Evans
Ooh, gotta be cooking! (And
Ooh, gotta be cooking! (And eating. Oh, yeah. That's why I have to diet now
)
I've never been able to knit. One of our friends bought our daughter knitting needles and yarn for her birthday. I'm going to have to 'fess up and ask her to teach Chloe, because it's beyond me! I can sew, though, and used to make my own clothes when I was younger.
But cooking... Oh, yeah. If I know someone's dropping in, it's a great excuse to make cookies, or to suggest lunch and then cook something nice...
Winner of the RNA Romance Prize 2008, shortlisted 2009
http://www.katehardy.com
http://katehardy.blogspot.com
Current releases: Surrender to the Playboy Sheikh; Playboy Boss, Pregnancy of Passion; Temporary Boss, Permanent Mistress
Too crafty for words?
My father taught me to knit when I was four and because DH's father taught him, guess whose job it was to teach our four!
I was trying to think of a craft I haven't tried... I knit, crochet, tat, sew, weave, spin, quilt, patchwork, design and make clothing (well, you have to when you're as short as I am or nothing fits properly <G>)... in fact, all I need now is the time to do any of it!
Having said that, with Christmas coming up, being crafty is one of the best ways to save money and give totally unique gifts, from jars of homemade jams, chutneys and marmalade to puddings, cakes and biscuits in the food line to scarves, gloves, hats and jumpers in the knitting line and lap quilts and throws in the patchwork... the craft work being done in front of the tv in the evening because I can't just sit still, either!
But if I had time to do all of it the whole house would be too crafty for words. As it is, everything keeps overflowing out of the room that 'should' contain it...
Josie