Wednesday Wanderings with ARR authors
Lisa Ireland shares her experiences of sewing, knitting and crocheting.
Skills her mother and grandmother took for granted…
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When I was eight years old I was given a toy sewing machine for my birthday. This was a perfectly reasonable present for a young girl whose mother was a talented dressmaker. I come from a long line of women who expressed their creativity through domestic arts and crafts.
My mother sewed – clothes, toys and all manner of useful and decorative things. She was also quilter and a doll maker. It’s safe to say she excelled at crafts of any kind. My grandmother was a beautiful knitter, and my aunts (on both sides of the family) are equally skilled in knitting, sewing and crochet.
I was thrilled with my sewing machine, because I knew that soon I’d be knocking up fashions for my Barbies, just like my mum.
There was just one problem.
As it turns out, I’m not actually gifted in the sewing and craft department. In fact, despite many hours of expert tutelage, I never did master the art of using that machine. “Never mind,” said my Nanna, “you’re probably more of a knitter, like me.” Sadly that didn’t turn out to be true either. Nanna did manage to teach me a few crochet stiches, but by then I’d resigned myself to the fact that I was not ever going to be “crafty” and I quickly lost interest.
Mum hoped that as I got older my interest and skills would develop, but sadly that didn’t happen. I bear the unfortunate distinction of being the only woman in my family to fail sewing at high school. When I got married my new husband (a boy scout) quickly realised his attempts at mending and sewing on buttons were far superior to mine. My poor mother must have wondered where she went wrong!
For years this lack of ability hasn’t had any impact on my life, but recently I’ve found myself envious of friends who have the ability to make things with their hands.
I’ve always appreciated handmade crafts, and understood the time and love that goes into them, but I accepted that I wouldn’t ever be able to make them myself.
Until now.
I’m really not sure what prompted this, but a couple of weeks ago I found myself in the wool aisle at K-Mart. I found myself picking up a ball of wool and a crochet hook and taking them to the register.
Back home I fiddled a bit and realised I still knew how to chain stitch and single crochet. I was very excited! From there I consulted YouTube and within hours I was making granny squares like a boss. Mum and Nanna would be so proud.
I’m working on an Afghan now. Here’s a photo of my progress so far.
So what about you? Are you are knitter, a quilter, or is sewing your thing? I’d love to hear about your crafty abilities (or lack thereof) in the comments.
Lisa
Read about Lisa and her books on Meet Lisa Ireland here on ARR
Or visit Lisa on her website LisaIrelandBooks.com
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Absolutely zero crafting ability in these fingers, Lisa. I admire your granny squares!
Never say say never, Lily! x
Lovely post, Lisa, and good luck with the Afghan. It promises to be gorgeous. I was never as good at dressmaking as my mum or sisters, although I did have a fair go at it. When my eldest daughter went away to university, I made her a rather nice hand-stitched quilt, but soon after that, I got serious about writing and have barely picked up a needle since.
I’m sure your daughter will treasure that quilt, Barbara. It’s lovely to have something handmade by your mum.
Hi Lisa. I’m one of those girls who has a go at anything, and in time, usually gets it right. I was taught to knit and crochet by my Aunty or mum if she had the time, and have worked in the pottery arts industry. More recently I got into making quilts, stitcheries, and crafted bags, wall hangings, and other domestic accessories with those skills. I don’t do anything like that anymore, but did recently buy some nice quilting fabrics to make another quilt or two. It is a delightful pastime. I love to dabble in lots of creative ways, and just bought a lovely camera to look at the world in another way. I’m also a bit of a stationery addict too. Now I choose to spend my time writing, and learning about it, between working at my local library casually. Keep up the crochet and have a look at some Pinterest sites on it. Talk about inspirational….and you can plot characters and scenes while you work. ☺️
I’m addicted already, Jay! I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to crochet patterns!
Oh my. Just reading the post by Barbara above, and remembered my travelling around Australia days in my kombi van with a girlfriend. I bought an old treadle sewing machine and used to pull up in beachside car parks to set up and do mobile clothing repairs. That machine eventually got confiscated by the Ranger at Cable Beach, Broome! Must have cost a fortune in extra fuel. I must write this into something one day.
Lovely quilting and embroidery!
I loved knitting and crochet. I used to knit on the train to work, and when I knew my station was coming up, I’d race to finish the row. Unfortunately, it just gets too warm up here to wear knitted jumpers. I’ve tried crocheting tank tops using cotton thread, but they take forever to dry. 😊
The quilting and embroidery was done by my mum, Louise. I can only dream of developing those type of skills! It’s a shame about it being too hot to show off your handiwork. As much as I love the heat I guess there are some advantages to living in a cooler climate!