Thursday 30 August 2012

Crochet and the fairy godmother


Once upon a time I knew 'the way of wool'. I crocheted and knitted, I made jumpers plain and cabled, I made rugs woolly and warm and everywhere there was wool. There was even home-spun and hand-dyed wool from Gwyna the Border Leicester. The world was peaceful and simple, content and cosy.

Then one day in the early days of Laptop, at a very stressful workplace, this young maiden was given a cramped workspace and a tight deadline and she got a very very bad case of  RSI  (repetitive strain injury).

The wise men of the clinic and white coat  gave me a plastic brace and lots of physiotherapy but still my RSI put a stop to knitting. I couldn't hold my arms in the right position to knit  and my arms stung each time I tried to pick up needles. I gave up knitting angry that a workplace injury denied me one of my simple pleasures. I guess I assumed that I wouldn't be able to crochet either, in any case I gave up playing with wool and instead channelled my desire to 'make things' into sewing, cooking and gardening.

Many years passed and the other day, drawn to all things textile, I wandered into a wool shop - one of those lovely  wool shops where the skeins are stunning, the patterns are not daggy and young women inhabit in threes and ask questions of wise knitting women and chatter about their next project.

I was about to walk out thinking that 'the way of wool' was behind me when the shop's fairy godmother Ruth spoke to me in her calm, soft, European accent. She said, "are you looking for something?".

I told her of my arms and my love of textile and how I wished I could knit again.  I said , "I wondered if I might be able to crochet seeing it was a different kind of action to knitting - perhaps I could try a small project, to see if my arms could manage it and to see if I remembered how to read the secret code of crochet". It was as if she drew the words from me.

Fairy godmother Ruth said, "I think you like retro, here -  try this pattern book".  She must have looked at my clothes, I was looking particularly retro that day. Or, being a fairy godmother, she just 'knew'...

The book was filled with pictures of beautiful women dressed in clothing from the time before Laptop. Beside each picture was the  'secret code' - it looked familiar, but did I still know how to read it?

Not long after I left the shop with six balls of wool, a hook and a pattern book.  "Start slowly darling, don't hurt yourself" were the Fairy godmother's parting words. I think she also sprinkled me with fairy dust...

I took the book home and, as if not a single day had past since I had last hooked,  the secret code that is only for the initiated - ch, sl st, dc, tr, dt -  was again familiar. I wrapped the wool around my left hand in the configuration that is known to all who hook and soon I was trebling (and trembling) with joy.

So far so good, I have made six  largish squares and not a twinge, not a twang, not a sting, not a burn.  I am still crossing my fingers that  I will once again know 'the way of wool'. I am hoping that the fairy dust doesn't wear off.

Here is a square in progress. 


 I think it's going to be a pretty mad scarf.

I am contributing this to My Creative Space. See what others are doing

12 comments:

  1. What a beautiful colour way - and did you notice how these shades are reflected in some of your garden harvest photos? Welcome back to wool!

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    1. Oh thank you Samantha. And I didn't notice, but thanks for pointing it out. It is true that I like earthy colours or colours I sometimes call 'dirty' colours.

      I think now that I know I can crochet again, I will be trying a small knitting project to see if I can manage that now. Then , heaven help us, I will be onto big projects. I am eyeing off a rug pattern already.

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  2. Lovely muted colours. I have started to learn to crochet and must persist a little more I think...

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    1. Thanks Camilla. I think crochet is great. It is quick so you feel inspired and when you are starting out that is exactly what you want. Keep going and enjoy.

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  3. Yay - what a wonderful suprise for you. Looking forward to watching it grow and become a scarf.

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    1. Thanks Kylie, I will post on it when done. I am so happy that I can again 'hook'. I am looking forward to trying to see if I can get knitting again in my next little project.

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  4. Terrific colors, you make my fingers itch to get back crocheting!

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  5. Gorgeous. Reminds me of some of the "vintage" potholders I found at my mother's place, crotched by my grandmother. I'm going to write about them on my blog soon. Keep up the charming work.

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    1. Oh thanks! I will look out for your blog about potholders.

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  6. I'd love to see your finished scarf. I think it will be madly beautiful. The colours are wonderful.

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    1. Oh thanks, It's turning out quite nicely. I will post on it when it is done. At first I thought myself foolish for choosing such a riot of albeit muted colours, but it's looking pretty fab. A good celebration of my return to the way of wool.

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