Monday, February 28, 2005

I Be Crafty

Many years have passed since I received my Bachelor's Degree. My BA is in Fine Applied Arts (with the obligatory minor in Swedish, of course), and I spent five years learning about color theory, textile characteristics, fiber reactive dyes and natural dyes alike, and the complexities of shearing sheep, cleaning the fleece, and spinning it into yarn. I spent five years calculating wefts, winding warps, and tying on to looms. I perfected my rya, my bird's eye, and my chain lightning. Six years later, I have finally learned how to knit.

Maybe it was because of all the well-intentioned souls who asked, "So, did you knit that?" whenever they saw one of my Navajo tapestry pieces, my angora-rayon-lyocell concept piece, or even the board game made of felt and handmade paper (our final projects in school were always weird). Maybe it's because I have so much junk in my spare room, it's nearly impossible to set up my loom. Or maybe I instinctively knew that it would bring my cat Milhouse and I closer together as we bonded over the yarn. Either way, I can now officially cast on, knit, purl, cast off, and plan a great many projects which I'll never even get around to, let alone finish.

But for now, I'll continue to be super proud of my very first completed piece, Scarf #1.



Modeled by the Ozzmeister. He wears it well.

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