The universal appeal of the handmade

Yesterday, I met up with most of my old classmates from uni. We talked about many things, but particularly about life AFTER uni and how, for some of us, it has taken a while to 're-surface' and take back our lives. One of my friends remarked that she had only recently started knitting again, and I can relate to that feeling completely. Sometimes I don't notice it, but when I feel stressed or under pressure in some way, I quietly, without noticing, stop doing the things that actually energize me and make me happy. It becomes a circle that is difficult to break out of, because when I do realize that I've stopped, it can seem almost impossible to start again. Sometimes, it is simply because I lack the time and energy, but sometimes, I just can't find inspiration and even begin to doubt my own creative talent.

But as I've written in my 'The point of all this'-section, that is precisely what this blog can help prevent. It almost forces me to think, read and write about creating, and that is just what I need. It is something that makes me happy and inspires me to start up new knitting, crocheting and whatever else.

The blog was also a fun thing to talk about yesterday. Of course, it was nice to hear that some of my friends have been reading along and find my stories interesting, but some also had their own stories to tell. One of the guys, for example, has a woollen sweater that he always wears when he goes fishing, and which was knitted by his grandmother. Apparently, it is quite a big sweater, with a slightly large neck opening, but there is a sort of cowl that he wears and which makes up for that. He was a bit worried that the sweater might start to wear out, so we talked a bit about how the knitting could be reinforced invisibly in the most vulnerable places.

So it seems that these handmade things and their stories don't only appeal to people who actually make this sort of thing themselves. We all love a good story, and we like to have things in our lives that are worth more to us than the sum of their components.

Oh, and to my friend Lilo who has re-discovered the joy of knitting AND taken up the challenge of crochet, you may find some inspiration in Prudence Mapstone's freeform knitting, or scrumbles, as she calls them!