20 July 2011

our creative space 'hooking & knitting'

Greetings all,
Wow, what a fantastic lesson with Kylie from Mealy&i - i can officially crochet a Granny Square!!  I have a lot to master - tension, shape, consistency . . . but how exciting, it's so much fun & we made good use of my new selection of hooks & bundles of yarn.
Look at these cute 'stage' examples Kylie made for the lesson demonstration & my very first square, glee!!
 It's so darn magical how a circle becomes a square!!
 Kylie had to teach us to knit before i finished my square, so i am not 100% certain i finished it off properly, might have to consult a tutorial + it's a great excuse to catch up with Kylie again & build on my crochet skill set??
 Pretty pleased with myself, it was so much fun!!
 The purpley one is Kylie's handy work, note tension perfection & man she's speedy!!
 All the children got involved, some stopping at chain stitch & making bracelets as their current crochet lesson limit for the school holidays. 
 Then the knitting lesson commenced in the early afternoon - yes, middle daughter declared it a pyjama day & remained in her Peter Alexanders, knitting in comfort.
 My keen French knitting 3rd daughter was very excited to learn knitting too.  Children really only need those 20cm long needles, the ones i brought along were way too long, she's not knitting a blanket, just learning!!
I soon discovered, even after a good 20 years of zero knitting to my name, i picked it up like riding a bike!!  I'm just playing, i want the skills to share with my children, not to knit commercially.  I was thrilled with how quickly it came back to me, even casting on with my hands (Kylie showed me how to cast on with my thumb & 1 needle, which i excelled at, handy when i have to cast on for 4 children too!!)   
Thank you Kylie, you are a delightful teacher & dear patient friend, i'm loving my new lounge craft hobby.  No doubt there is more crochet & knitting action over at Kootoyoo & Our Creative Space this Thursday.  Special mention to Kirsty at Kootoyoo (Queen of tiny crochet perfection) - my youngest daughter wanted to start crochet with a 2mm hook & i said "oh, you're aiming at Kootoyoo dizzy heights already".  Love Posie
   

18 comments:

Leonie said...

Yay for Crocheting and Knitting!! I have always found knitting easy but struggled to grasp crochet. Paisley Jade taught me to do granny squares at a park one day.... craft nerds in public ..hehe!!! I also found a great tutorial, photo by photo online that I refer too when I need to. Will find the link and forward it to you.

Leonie said...

http://www.purlbee.com/granny-square-project/

this is the link I use to remind me :)

Seaweed and Raine said...

You Rock Chicken! :) Isn't it so much fun? When you have been at it a while, try casting on (for knitting) long tail style. I love the finish it gives for scarves and beanies and such.
Can't wait to see what else you get up to with hook and sticks!
S&R xo

Unknown said...

Yay so glad it went well!
Patons make really good learning to crochet and learning to knit books, you can get them at Spotlight or Big W, well priced and very good instructions and projects.

Tina said...

Yippee!! Love to knit and crochet. Your granny square is fabulous and I think it is wonderful that you want your children to learn these skills. I have taught our girls and I can see many wonderful future 'woolly' moments for you and yours:) Love it...just love it! Enjoy ~ xx

Kate said...

Hanging out on the couch in your jammies and knitting/crocheting is the best possibly way to spend a winter school holidays day I think.

Bron said...

What a lovely day -Pj's knitting/crocheting and lots of lazy time.

polkadotpeticoat said...

Once again unstoppable!!!

posie blogs Jennie McClelland said...

Fabulous link Leonie, thanks so much. It will be my forever reference guide for all of us, yahoo, blankets here we come. When i said non-commercial, i mean crocheting 4 blankets for my children will take me a life time!! Love Posie

Kylie said...

Thanks for yesterday - what fun, laughs and learning occurred in a short day:)

Thanks for being the best students. I already have our next lesson planned!

The cast on was indeed the long-tail cast on, again, if you were to google it you will possibly find a different way. (our crafting styles are so similar - make it up as you go along - why do what everyone else does)

My post is up.
http://mealyandi.blogspot.com/2011/07/all-you-need-in-knitting.html

Megan said...

Looks like a fun day for all, lovely to learn something new with your children I think :)

ally said...

Hooray - I love your square

Jill said...

Sounds like fun with your kids! Mine are starting to ask to learn to knit - and I'm struggling to remember casting on and off - the bit in the middle is still in my brain though! I shall have to find instructions on you tube to remind me!!

Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

Rie said...

Congrats - it looks great! Just keep plugging away & you'll get faster. If you think your square is too loose, try a smaller size crochet hook.

Sam Findlay said...

Well done! Great crocheting and knitting going on!

Anna Bartlett said...

GOod for you! I bought a hook and yarn last year but still haven't touched it... maybe next winter...

Unknown said...

I wish dearly that I was crafty and could make things like this. Is crochet easy to learn? If so, how can I learn?

Thank you SO much for stopping by my blog the other day with your lovely comment. It's great to have found eachother :)

Sam said...

Good for you, I have just learned to crochet too, and love it! Can't wait to teach my daughter when she is old enough, what a lovely thing to do together :-)