Purls of wisdom
Christine Perry takes the opportunity to learn new knitting skills, and share her own with others
Christine Perry explains how lockdown has given her the opportunity to learn exciting new knitting skills
Have you ever, as a knitter, wished that you could stay home and knit all day? Some people might say that you need to be careful what you wish for, but over the last few months you could certainly say that particular wish has been granted! Faced with an unknown number of weeks stretching out ahead of us, it’s been an ideal time to catch up on the knitting to-do list – and it’s no wonder that yarn shops reeled from an unprecedented number of sales in those first few days!
NEW TECHNIQUES
As I’ve happily surfed my way through people’s projects and stashes, I’ve seen Christmas gifts started and finished, I’ve seen people tackle complex designs that they thought they would never have time for, I’ve seen umpteen stash-busting ideas and I’ve also seen a great number of people try something completely new. I’ve been among that number, finally getting a chance to try out a technique that I’ve been intending to for ages but never had the time for: helical knitting (knitting in stripes without carrying the yarn between colours). What a great trick that is! I used Jen ArnallCulliford’s video tutorial (see right) to help me, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning something new. I’ve also been able to teach people something myself – there has been a rise in the number of new sock knitters who finally had time to cast on their very first socks, and it’s been wonderful to see those socks take shape and be worn.
TIME INVESTMENT
It’s having the opportunity to learn or to teach something new that I think has been the greatest gift of this time. It’s time invested in ourselves – and we are so often at the end of the line when it comes to selfcare – and it’s time invested in others, which is also something that can be lacking in our lives. Perhaps you have been isolating with a family member who wanted to understand what it is that keeps your hands moving and your mind calm, or perhaps you have been the person who has asked someone else to help you. It’s so much easier to learn now, not only because there are online blogs and tutorials such as mine, but also YouTube videos and more recently, a surge in the use of Zoom, Facetime and Skype, which allow us to see exactly what someone is trying to explain to us. Connections are kept through virtual knit nights at our local yarn shops and through social media groups, and by the time this is over our stashes will be smaller, our knowledge will be greater and our wardrobes and sock drawers will be full of the best kind of wearables.
PASSING IT ON
Because I am writing this many weeks before you will read it, I have no idea of what the future holds for us this summer. More and more of our everyday experiences might well be online, but our knitting keeps us grounded, connected to something that we can hold in our hands. Passing on those skills, whether we do that ourselves or someone else passes them on to us, has never been more important, and neither has our inclination as knitters to share our knowledge. This vast, collective encyclopedia is simply waiting for us to open it up, and there has never been a better time to do it!
Check out Christine’s blog at www. winwickmum.co.uk for more snapshots of her knitting and family life.