Thursday 27 May 2010

Crocheted dishcloth



Recently I have been spending a lot of time crocheting things for my new house. Above is a dishcloth made out of cheap cotton bought in car boot sales or on ebay. The inspiration and the pattern were kindly given away for free by crochetspot here. I wonder if I will ever get the courage to use it for something as mundane as wiping the surfaces?

There is something so satisfying about making your own stuff around the place. I have always loved making things, and growing somehow fits into that.

When I lost my right little fingertip in November, overnight I realised how lucky I had been to be healthy and able bodied. The ability to make things was temporarily on hold. I realised that I had spent the best part of my life taking this for granted . I had moaned and whinged every time things didn't go my way. I somehow felt entitled to have a job that wasn't stressful, for everyone in my life to do things my way, all the time. For everything to work out just as I believed it should.

Today I am back to that restless feeling of hurrying round my busy life, even the spare time when I seem to feel obliged to do something useful or constructive. I find it very hard to just 'be'.


This is why gardening has always been a great panacea for my soul. It's a way of doing something but nothing. Even five minutes on the allotment seemed to refresh my spirit. It makes me slow down. Although sustained neglect is a recipe for disaster, a bit of neglect often yields unexpected rewards. Gardening, and in particular growing your own crops is a fantastic way of seeing a little investment of time reap a harvest. Since I have got the use of my right hand back, I can't seem to fit enough life in, gardening, knitting and crochet, amongst a busy job, house, husband and children. But how lucky I am to have that full an in-tray again.

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