2013: A Creative Year

Happy New Year! We are home from our travels again, surrounded by washing and half unpacked bags, catching up with emails and errands. We spent the new year with John's family in Durham - it was really nice, very relaxed. However, I am looking forward to a return to normality next week. This Christmas holiday has been fun but I am ready for routine, order and a lighter, less indulgent approach to life.

Ok, I absolutely promise that this is the last retrospective blog post. But I wanted to review and celebrate last year's creativity before I move on to this year's challenges and projects.

January, February and March:

We have a shoebox bedroom for a mouse (I need to make another of these!), a warm and cosy chunky knitted cowl, some pretty and decorative fabric leaves, a crochet baby blanket for my god-daughter, crocheted coasters, a Valentine's card, a striped cashmerino scarf for Bella, a bag and a bright, geometric cushion.

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April, May and June:

A quieter few months, as time was taken up with a lot of decorating and gardening, and a large crochet throw. There was another baby blanket, a crocheted snake for Angus, new cushions for Bella's bedroom, fun with spray paint to refresh some picture frames and plant pots and a cotton granny square throw for the sofa. 

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July, August and September:

The childrens' playhouse got a makeover, there was bunting for Yarndale, picnic napkins for teachers, felt animals, holiday activity bags, felt ice lollies, a floral crochet garland, a crochet scarf for my niece, and a square crochet garland.

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October, November and December:

My favourite quarter. I made a cushion  from a vintage sheet, an autumnal embroidery (I very much want to make more for spring, summer and winter and hang them together), a knitted washcloth for me, a pile of crocheted washcloths for gifts, two dolls for my nieces, a pile of Christmas and birthday cards, a beautiful rabbit, a little dog and another doll.

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Phew. I love making things, I do.

A great deal of those were gifts, either for the children or for friends and wider family. Most were sewn or crocheted, a few were knitted. Almost all were done in my spare time, in the evenings usually. I am very glad I made every single one of them. I feel like 2013 was the year I got to grips with my sewing machine; I still can't do zips, but I can make a doll or four. It was also the year I branched out of my granny square comfort zone with crochet, and that was fun and rewarding too. And knitting...ah yes, me and knitting. I was on the last row of an alpaca cowl last night, a project I've been working on for months, a project that was actually for me, for a change, and I spotted a huge mistake right in the middle. So tomorrow I will pull back the entire thing and start again, because what's the point of finishing it now? I'll never wear it, it will feel like a failure. I want all those hours of knitting to mean something, I want it to be right, and it will be, eventually. 

When I look around me at the skills and achievements of others I know that I am, essentially, a beginner in most of these areas. Well, maybe more like intermediate in my crochet skills, and embroidery and hand sewing I think I have a knack for, but when it comes to knitting and proper machine sewing I know that I still have a long way to go. But it would be dull to be good at everything, what would there be to discover, to learn? Like living on a budget, I think I have a talent for spinning out what skills and materials I do have to make something attractive and meaningful, to make life more jolly and colourful. It's a good skill to have, I think.