3KCBWDAY7 Eskimimi Knitting and Crochet Blog Week Day Seven

Today is the final day of the Eskimimi Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. It has been such fun participating. I have loved both writing my own posts and reading as many as I can of everyone else's. The inspiration out there is mind-boggling and a huge thank you is in order to Eskimimi for organising the whole thing. As well as the fun of the writing and reading has come the challenge to push the boat out a little into uncharted waters in an experimental way with the craft itself. I have really enjoyed what I have discovered.

Before this week I would have said I was a crocheter first and foremost, albeit a newbie one, and Not At All A Knitter despite the one-off hat I made for my son's birthday last month. To explain why I will quote the explanation I gave in my post Teenage Birthdays:

"The history of knit-sticks and me is a sorry one. At school, along with the rest of the class I managed to knit a strip of squares that were sewn together into blankets to be given away to a nursing home without too many problems and a lurid green teddy bear in garter stitch, with a squeaker from a cracker fitted to its intestines, followed, again without too much trauma, but the following year we were supposed to knit something to wear and choose a Proper Pattern. It was in the seventies when those tank tops, which have now made a bit of a come-back, were coming in the first time around and I started off fairly enthusiastically on one of these, in a rather pretty cherry red wool.

Something unidentifiable went seriously wrong with the ribbing very early on, resulting in my long-suffering mother, to whose lot fell the unhappy task of knitting the other side of this awful garment, after I had given up, having to try and replicate my mistake so that the two sides matched. She needn't have worried, the tension was so woefully out that I don't think I ever wore the thing more than once or twice. It turned out as wide as a bus and you could have fitted half my class at school into it without stretching it! Disappointing to say the least and the memory of the headache of trying to undo rows and pick up stitches again has not been erased with the years. Nor the disbelief that it could really have turned out so gigantic!"

But making that hat was actually rather enjoyable. And despite the legacy of past years, the newly taken-up knitting needles felt at a loose end and out of sorts without something on them. So with the challenge of this week coming up I acquired Jan Eaton's book "200 Knitted Blocks" and began to think about making something out of knitted squares. It was a good getting-back-into-the-water project because each square could be relatively small and the end result cushion cover was also relatively small so if the whole thing was a nightmare from beginning to end, at least it would be reasonably short-lived!

I also wanted to break out from my normal colour palette and experiment with subtler, softer shades (but on a small canvas in case I hated the result). The result was the knitted cushion in my post of a couple of days ago. Complete departure from my norm - knitting, not crochet; muted, earthy colours not sunny, clear, bright ones; no overall design other than the one in my head that I drew out; skills required to complete project acquired on the hoof rather than beforehand.

But it was such fun, I can't tell you! The only real stress was from the fact that I don't know how to pick up a dropped stitch. So if I went wrong I had to frog the whole square and start again. I have to admit this did happen a number of times! I had never done intarsia knitting but although I got in a bit of a pickle with three balls of yarn going at once, it worked! The Fairisle technique required for the rose-stippled trout square was also completely new to me. But after some helpful advice from the Needles & Natter group on loosening my tension up a bit so that the contrasting colour stitches showed through properly, this too worked! Miracles! And the squares came out as, well, squares, not football pitches! Miracles again!

So I can no longer quite say "I am Not At All A Knitter"! Which is all to the good because the expensive yarn hanging around, all dressed up with nowhere to go, after the frogging of the variegated Japanese flowers needs to be knitted, not crocheted, into a scarf. I've started it and in my humble opinion we have a different story from the pile of old seaweed at the beginning of this week!

Knitted rather than crocheted, the beautiful deep sea colours can sing (hopefully!)

I am still more comfortable with my crochet hook than I am with my knitting needles. And I probably always will be, but it is lovely to have both as possibilities. There are some things more suited to knitting rather than crochet so it's great to have a choice I didn't feel I had before. The same is true of the colour thing. I do still gravitate by choice to my original sunny, clear colour palette but so long as plenty of variety is involved, those colours that I wouldn't normally have touched can be an exciting playground of colour exploration especially when combined together. I have found unexpected delight in earthy browns, soft neutral buffs and fawns, chalky greys, muted greens and mustardy ochrey yellows, burnt oranges and plummy wine reds. Had to have one grey in particular - its colour name is "Tittlemouse"! It's the one in the centre of the pic!

The last word has to go to Duck who loved appearing on this blog at the beginning of the week and who has been a bit miffed that he could not figure every day! His view, when consulted about the knitting / crochet balance thing is:

"So long as it makes me another blanket, it's OK by me!
Now which do you want, knitting needles or crochet hook?!"

And once things get his "nihil obstat" seal of approval who knows where it will end?!

Thank you so much for reading and sharing my week, especially those of you who have been so lovely as to comment - I have appreciated it more than you can know.

A hooky hug to you all from me (and Duck of course,

who, as you can see, has really enjoyed editing this week's posts!)

"I am looking forward to next year's already and I hope you are too!

(If Eskimimi is up for organising a fourth one that is!)"