Two needles, two balls of wool and lots of swearing......

Like most women, my last 20 odd years have been focused on building a career and then having and bringing up kids. Sitting curled up with a book turned into snatching a few minutes with a cuppa and a glossy magazine and the most creative thing I've done in recent years is sew on school name tapes.

Now the kids are older, I have time again and am reconnecting with my inner creative goddess. I thought I might have a go at dress making again until I remembered the patchwork skirt I created that made me look like something out of the Sound of Music. Maybe not.

Crochet? An aged aunt taught me how to do it but clearly it's not like riding a bike as I can't for the life of me remember how to do it and she's long gone now. Rag rugs? Hmmm, about as old hat now as stencilling, so perhaps not.

So knitting it is. I was an avid knitter in my late teens and early 20s and I don't think there was a boyfriend who escaped being on the receiving end of at least one of my jumpers or scarves. They must have dreaded being with me over Christmas or their birthday as they knew something woolly was coming their way.

One joined the air force so I knitted him a jumper in - yes, air force blue, how imaginative was I? The early amours fared the worst as I really wasn't very good at it, lots of dropped stitches and uneven length arms. I got better and there's hardly a photograph of me from that time where I'm not wearing something I knitted.

I haven't picked up a pair of knitting needles for 25 years and boy, hasn't knitting changed? It's gone trendy. I found a funky knitting website and bought a kit to knit a cushion. There's something wonderfully relaxing and therapeutic about knitting, the gentle click clack of the needles. Well, there would be if I hadn't jumped right in at the deep end and gone for a fair isle design. Fair isle, was I completely mad?

This one isn't even that tricky, I know my limitations so it's only two colours although the pattern is quite demanding, it appears I'm going to be knitting elks, snowflakes and funny little people.




Hopefully it'll look like this!


I'n now 26 rows in and so far I've managed to lose one ball of wool under the sofa and get myself in a complete knot. Who knew two needles and two balls of wool could be so challenging? There hasn't been much in the way of relaxation, I seem to have discovered new swear words but I'm refusing to be beaten. Whether my cushion will look anything like it should remains to be seen.

Next, silversmithing I reckon.