The Blanket, Among Other Things

I intended to write this next post about a craft. I spent the majority of my childhood learning new crafts, raising goats, reading and learning to write. (Those are the perks of being home schooled on a farm; you can navigate yourself into having plenty of time to do the things you actually want to do.)

The thing I realized at this juncture is that rather than just going on about the things I do, perhaps anyone who chances to read this would like to hear a little more about the author. I wouldn’t say I am a strictly interesting individual, but I personally always enjoy knowing the background of someone, finding out what led them to do what they do, the things that make them tick behind the scenes so to speak. Therefore, I humbly offer this little extended introduction to let you in on how I even got started doing crafts, a short focus on the journey rather than the topic, with a little sneak peak into my current project at the end.

Let’s begin at the beginning. The first thing I really latched onto is the fiber arts. Crocheting, knitting, spinning, felting, weaving . . . I tried all of it. I liked all of it. But I loved knitting. At seven years old I fell in love with a craft that has been around at least since the 11th century C.E. It was so long ago now that I can’t remember exactly who it was that taught me the basics of how to knit, but it was either my sister or my mother. To this day I can’t think of how to explain what draws me to it or what keeps me coming back to it, but it has something to do with the process of making. The making of things, the creation of some tangible object, has an innate attraction. It’s fulfilling in its own right. I’m sure I will discuss this more as time goes on, but for now, let’s get to the main attraction: making things.

Lately I’ve been crocheting more than knitting. My newest creation is a blanket, one that has given me both joy and grief. Most of the grief has been caused by the yarn.

I discovered at one point of this project that there was no way I would be able to finish it with the amount of yarn scraps that I had pulled together from my stash. So I went through the process of ordering yarn online to finish it, only to realize that the yarn I ordered was indeed not the yarn I was using for the blanket. So, naturally, instead of canceling the order like any self-respecting human would, I decided that I can use the yarn for my next project, and then purchased some of the yarn I actually needed. The problem with buying yarn online is that I always see another skein that I like, and I can’t see exactly how much yarn I’m actually purchasing. I had a theory that I hadn’t ordered very much. But then the box of yarn showed up at my door, and proved my theory wrong.

However, undaunted, I placed the box in my closet and pretended it had been there all along, that I just hadn’t gotten around to using it. And this is why I will always be a crafter, because I will always have surplus crafting supplies that I can’t wait to use. That is another story, however, for another blog post.

I am over halfway done with the blanket now. It’s been a long project, but a fun one, aside from that misfortune about the yarn. Here you can see the sadness in detail:

Nonetheless, I am still pushing through and finishing it. I will definitely post about the blanket again once I’ve finished it, but for now I will bid you adieu. Happy crafting to all my crafty friends out there!