Skeinspotting

No knitting................


....has appeared here for quite some time. None of mine anyway. However, I have been busy busy busy on the knitting but alas all is confidential until published. I have even been doing some big knitting as in sweaters! No photos of it are allowed up here though. I can confirm that I finished a small item for a Vogue publication Knit Simple and so that will be my first pattern to appear in a US print magazine. i have also received my payments from the Anticraft, which means my three designs are definitely included in their book.

I am fast approaching a deadline on a big project of my own, the first stage anyway, but that won't be released for public viewing until Autumn 2008!

So knitty people, I have not abandoned the craft in favour of dogs, I am still knitting with the greyhounds at my feet. Luckily, they haven't developed a taste for wool although Lily keeps putting her whole head in one of my bags, she does love to hide and block out the light. Anyone who loves sight hounds, especially greyhounds do visit my other blog and if you can foster or give a home to any of them my pup's 'brother' is up for adoption as well as many other loving hounds. I give you random pics of my swatches and sketches that are not being used at the moment.

I am excited that Abi is back in the country, and she too is going to help me out on some knitting. We had a bit of a disaster, poor Kerrie from Hip Knits custom dyed some yarn and knitted a beautiful garment for my project only to post it and for it to go missing in the post! So Abi has kindly offered to knit a replacement. I also have had to have four of my other projects re knitted due to a problem with the dimensions. I just haven't had much luck, it hasn't run smoothly but I do have lots of donated yummy yarns for more projects. The whole collection will be revealed in 2008. The good thing is, once someone gives me a 'story' I can come up with endless ideas to attach to it and I didn't know I was quite this resourceful.

I also didn't realise that I could draw a little bit. Having been chucked out of art classes at the age of about 13 for being a bit rubbish at art, it never stopped me from wanting to draw and sketch. I had private lessons with a young arty genius Royal Academy watercolour painter who was a farmer's son in my village, and he thought I had a little bit of talent and I did do a couple of OK oil paintings. However, I never really had that conceptual quality until I met a talented teacher Eric Peaker who used to teach at Fortismere School where I worked with deaf children. He inspired me to think conceptually and even said he would mentor me if I decided to go for GCSEs in Art as an adult to make up for my lack of support whilst a child. Sadly he died in a car crash during the school holidays, rushing back from Devon to be with his A-level students and support them in his own time. Anyway, I am using my drawing skills to help me knit. My type of naive diagram making skills are invaluable to sketch an idea.

In the meantime, I will have to write about other people's knitting instead!