ConnieLene – KnitDesigner

I needed to knit a hat or a slouchy hat or a beret and I did create that there hat and I also played with the stripes a bit. It can be difficult for me to hold onto stripes in the formal sense – you know – 2 rows col 1, 3 rows col 2, and so on.

I had 4 colours, three different shades of Purple and a lovely soft grey. I don’t know if it is a slouchy hat, or a beret – perhaps it is both.

Now back to another beret or slouchy hat, or neck piece, or ??

Living through two cold winters in the Netherlands has made me knit more hats than I could ever ever need back in New Zealand, along with an excess of scarves. I have given away most of the scarves, to colleagues and friends, as well as to De Schalm. The hats have been fun to play with, and to help me to write up my simple Intarsia information for my 3 different berets pattern Which is available on Etsy now.

There has to be something said for living away from family and friends so that you allow your mind and your hands, and your needles and your yarns do things that would not enter the universe of your knitting thinking.

I have created a doll’s dress. I do not have a doll.

Pretty Doll dress fit for a queen

This dress has been created with varigated 4 ply yarn – a yarn I purchased at a market in Schalwijk (I will check the spelling) before my stash arrived here in the Netherlands. Steinback Wolle Aktiv Effeck – sport und Strumpfwolle. You will see a number of pieces on my site created in this particular colour – shawl, hat and fingerless gloves or wrist warmers. Must because it has purple in it – and I think I have used it all now.

Pretty Doll Dress

I have knitted and crocheted dresses for my daughters dolls – but that is some 30 years ago and there are no patterns or pictures. Pity. I remember one having a skirt of many frills, flounces, and many colours – a Spanish dancing costume.

Here in the Netherlands I do not have my Toastmaster folder so some of the details are hazy – except for that pertaining to yarn and fibres. So I shall stick to the yarn (story).

Sometime in the very late 1990″s I had an opportunity to be a member of a local toastmasters club and what does a fibre crazy individual speak to a group of toastmasters about? I decided to yarn about yarn of course. This was a prepared speech and if I remember it was to be 30 minutes long. Now it might simply I remember it being very long and it may not have been.

I sorted through my stash and found yarns of different plys, different content – 100% wool, faux fur, other crazy fibres, mohair, alpaca, cotton, ribbon and everything else I could find. The yarns were all purples or shades of purple.

I brought my large bag of yarns to the front of the group. They were all sitting in a horseshoe arrangement of desks and chairs – so everyone could see me and I hoped they would also listen. They could also see each other and their reactions to my yarns and my yarn.

I was absolutely terrified to speak in front of a group of people where no one had previously admitted to any type of yarn interest (no knitters, no textile artists, no crocheters, no embroiderers, no weavers – no one passionate about yarn or fibres). These were men and women from all walks of life including managers, business people, software developers etc.

So there I was alone at the front and I had to excite these people about fibres. I passed the yarns around as I spoke about each one and these non fibre enthusiasts were asked to participate by touching, smelling, stroking, resting it on their cheeks, comparing the shades and so on. Some looked a little stunned, but they are all toastmasters and they are open to anything. They did touch, stroke, feel it against their skin, smell the yarns and laughed a lot.

I guess now that speaking to a group like this will never be scary again as the yarn story went quite well. They all learned a lot about me, and I learned just how easy it is if you are passionate to take people along with you.

I do not remember the score or mark I received. I do remember some of the faces and their reactions and then their enthusiasm.