Tempted to just make a list, I'm fighting off that laziness
and writing instead the kind of almost-poetry that inspires
knitting, that knitting embodies.
Yarn inspires the timid, the tired, and the flustered; yarn
is about colors, colorways, guage (as in, after knitting a
sweater with a fine yarn, worsted can be inspirational);
having "a stash" - buying yarn when you have money means
having yarn when the money runs dry; texture, pure sensual
pleasure, and drape, the luscious body-clingingness of
everything yarny combined to perfection.
Knitting exhibitions inspire: there is nothing like viewing
knitting as sculpture and Art, knitting that explores all
the possibilities of the craft. Knitting huge pieces
hanging and hovering, knitting with metal, knitting with
paper, gossamers to gargantuan things.
Patterns and books inspire, from historical to hysterical.
Sharing with other knitters inspires: blogs, webrings,
tears, frogging, challenges and sympathy, celebrations and
rewards.
Knitting for others inspires: charity knitting for the
needy, the ill, the grieving, the forsaken; gifts for
children and grandparents, girlfriends and beaus.
Teaching someone to knit inspires: frustration and
patience, fumbling and bent needles, laughter and tears,
dropped stitches and extra stitches like extraterrestrials,
appearing out of nowhere. Triumph and resignation.
Luscious photos from consumate artists such as this
spinner, knitter, artisan supreme - brooklyntweed at
blogspot.
Knitting for a new baby, oh the swiftness of tiny projects,
containers of preciously counted toes and fingers,
whiteness and pastels, primary colors and pompoms.
(Don't laugh) Knitting for appliances - such as a tv cosy
to cover an ugly tv, or one for your blender or printer.
Celebrity knitting: Julia Roberts inspires me, as does
Cameron Diaz.
Men who knit inspire me. Years ago I was traveling with
friends and we dropped in unexpectedly on a family where no
one was home. They must have been called out unexpectedly;
bread dough was rising and traveling across the table and
onto the floor. In the living room were two knitting
projects, fisherman knits on large circular needles.
A busy woman, I thought. Turns out it was her sons'
knitting projects. What self-confidence, young men with the
courage to "knit like women".
Historical and/or literary knitting inspires - reading
about such revolutionaries as Madame LaFarge in "Tale of
Two Cities".
And last but not least, nature inspires. Where else do
bronze, salmon pink, orange and purple look breathtakingly
perfect together? Where else do textures and shapes invite
imitation as with icicles, bare tree branches, the grain in
a piece of lumber, the "star" in an apple halved
horizontally, clouds against a brilliant blue sky?
Surrounded by this twisted skein of knitting inspiration,
the knitting muse need never be silent again!
----------------------------------------------------
Kathryn Beach inspires knitters with her free patterns and
knitting inspiration boards at
http://favorite-free-knitting-patterns.com/data/html/inspira
tion/38.cgi
No comments:
Post a Comment