Pass it on!

Once upon a time I was a knitter. I wasn't a very accomplished knitter, but I could cobble a jumper together if the whim took me.

An old friend invited me to her Hen Do. 

Lots of her friends are knitters. We were talking about all things wooly and one of them looked at me incredulously "you aren't on Ravelry?!" I felt I had to remedy this immediately. Knits to Stay Sane was born!

OH! MY! LIFE!!!!!

My eyes where opened to a whole new world of possibility. My knitting took on a new life. The oportunities now available miriad. 

I decided to knit a lace shawl. 

It was a pi shawl based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's formula. This took me so far out of my comfort zone. I learned how to knit in the round, how to read a chart; and, with a little help from a lady called LaLa on YouTube, I learned how to add beads to my knitting with dental floss - get me!

It turns out that finding LaLa (one half of The Knit Girllls) was the turning point in my crafting career. I found podcasts, I learned new skills. I found crochet, spinning and dying. 

I learned how to be brave in my crafting. To take leaps of faith, to trust in my abilities. To accept failure as a step on the path to success. 

I made friends with people I'll never meet. I took part in KAL's and SAL's.  I learned what a KAL and SAL was!

I blogged

One of those special virtual friends passed on a gem of an idea to me and I'd like to pass that on to you too. 

The joy of Journaling

Throughout all this change in my crafting life I wrote down my thoughts and ideas. I was new to the idea of journaling. Lots of folk record their lives on paper, but it's not something I'd ever felt the need to do. Although, with my goldfish memory, I probably should have started years ago! 

I still don't record the details of my life, but the details of my craft are meticulously saved in my journals now. I use my journal to save my progress and thoughts on projects both current and future. How yarn, needle and pattern meld together. I record what I've learned from a project, what I'd change next time. 

I keep swatches, bits of yarn, I note pattern ideas, shapes and textures that take my fancy. I jot down thoughts for blog entries, things I'd like to achieve. 

There's a fairly huge portion of my note taking dedicated to enabling. Yarn other folk have used. Patterns I covet, projects I just have to have in my life. 

I suppose the purpose of this entry is to encourage YOU guys to do the same

R E C O R D!!!!!!!

E N A B L E!!!!!!

I have grown as a person and as a knitter through the enabling of others. I've experienced so many things that I could never imagined just two years ago. 

More than anything I'd like to do the same for you. 

Open your mind, your heart and your eyes to a plethora of possibilities.

SHARE your hopes, your dreams and your knowledge

PASS IT ON!

www.deramores.com/blog-awards: This blog entry is my submission to the Deramores Blog Awards 2014. Deramores is the UK’s number one online retailer of knitting and crochet supplies.