A Little HistoryI started knitting and sewing when I was around 3 or so. They were my earliest memories. I particularly remember knitting a sweater for my teddy bear. It had a body and the arms stuck straight out so it looked like a "T" and I didn't like it because it didn't follow the actual shape of my teddy bear. I hadn't learned about raglan sleeves or circular yokes. That came later and that "T" shaped top was the driving force towards designing my own creations. I have been knitting now for almost 65 years and not only do I create my own knitting or follow the most difficult of patterns. I guess you could call me a master knitter.
My favorite is knitting shawls, cowls, hats, scarfs, capes, and more. I prefer laceweight, cobweb wool and sock weight wool. I really like fine lace work. The delicacy pleases and appeals to my nature. During my younger years I much preferred knitting over sewing. Sewing machines back in the sixties were just not as exciting as today's machines. In elementary school we got to make aprons and the use of the electric sewing machines that always had a waiting line. I, however, never needed to wait. I was the only one that preferred the treadle machine. To me it required a little more coordination, skill, and control to move forward and backward. My love for sewing developed stronger in my later years and now I own several machines. My ceramics developed in high school. I was a bit of a handful at that time. Especially in art class. However. Ms. Anderson had the solution for my contrariness. She pulled me out of the class and put me in another room with a slab of clay and told me to make something. The first thing I made was a triceratops dinosaur. I always liked them with their two brains. So, I made one. That was my first love of clay, besides sitting in mud puddles. Every time I make ceramics or mold clay I thank Ms. Anderson and her educational ingenuity. |
|