Tangled

Quite a number of years ago I decided that I must learn to crochet. My previous experience with this craft consisted of the pink chevron striped afghan blanket that covered my childhood bed and a scratchy kelly green crocheted bikini that I was outfitted with somewhere around kindergarten age (it became really baggy when wet, not a great quality in a swimsuit). 1970s crochet was really something else!

I love to make things and I was undaunted by the aforementioned staticy acrylic creations. Yarn seemed to be calling to me. It looked so easy. So I sat down with my little workbook entitled “How to crochet” and a set of colourful aluminum hooks and began the somewhat humbling experience of tangling yarn around fingers that felt newly alien. Many hours later I had managed a small square of rather sad and very loopy single crochet but I was started and I was determined. I have never looked back!

Crochet is so sculptural that it seems to encourage wild creations. It is, of course, very important to have sweater tubes to cover the laundry poles and we also needed a rainbow motif cover for the bird’s house and very many stripy yarn cosies for the beach stones in the garden. Yarn mushrooms have sprouted up all over and bunting style peace flags fly over the garden gate braving the island’s wild winds. So much happy!

I do especially love to make play food sets though. There is something so adorable and so absurd about crocheted sushi, cupcakes or dim sum. Filling baskets with cute colourful yarn fruits and vegetables is almost as much fun as growing the real thing.

Years have gone by and my hooks and skeins of yarn are my now my favourite things (next to my garden tools, my metalwork tools and well, any tools actually). I am presently in deep real love with all the different kinds of Japanese Noro Kureyon, my stash of admittedly scratchy, but so very pretty, Kauni Effektgarn, skeins of hand-painted Misti Alpaca and this lovely natural dyed Shilasdair from the Isle of Skye (camel and cashmere, oh my!). My latest wool find is the hand-dyed skeins from Isle Madame’s own Rock Loaf Farm – including two skeins of very pretty blue (leg-warmers I am thinking) and a few pounds of carded roving that will be the filling for a small creche of all natural baby dolls. I do love that lanolin smell of clean wool combined with the “heart” of dried lavender flowers that fills a handmade Waldorf doll.

Even kitty shows an appreciation for her cozy crochet corner! She likes to rest on this crochet pouf with her front paws placed neatly on the heat vent beside it. Smart cat.

Yup, everyone knows that you can never ever have too much yarn! Thank the Pink Fairy that we do not have the room to house sheep or we might really be in trouble!  Love, love, love yarn!