KnitCroBlo Week - Day 7

So, it’s the final day of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. I’d just like to take a moment and say thank you to everyone who has popped by over the last seven days, to read my meagre contributions. I hope you’ve enjoyed it, and had time to check out all of the other fabulous posts that have gone up this week from everyone else.

I’d also like to give a big shout out to Eskimimi to say thank you very much for planning, organising, encouraging, designing banners and generally doing everything to get this blog week working and make it a success. You’re a star.

Today’s theme is Your Knitting and Crochet Time. I will tie this in to last year’s topic about Location, as it’s impossible to talk about when I crochet without saying where I do it!

Like most people, I suspect, I get most of my crocheting done in the evenings after work, in front of the TV. You’ve seen, earlier in the week, that I have all of my crocheting paraphernalia close to hand in the living room; sitting on the sofa, I can reach yarn, hooks, WIPs and reference books without really getting up.

I’m a bit of a fidgeter, so I’m never happy unless I’ve got something to fiddle with. Crocheting (or knitting, for that matter) is a great way to keep my hands busy without taking up too much attention. I get a lot of work done while I watch TV! It’s also really handy, because I have my laptop in front of me, so I can reference Ravelry, search online for tutorials if I encounter a stitch or technique I don’t have in my crochet bible, or need to watch a brief youtube video to double check how something should be done (you know what it’s like, when you read something and it just doesn’t make sense!). It also means I don’t often have to print out patterns I get online, as I can read the pattern direct from the screen.

If I’ve got a particularly portable project, I will take it along with me on (usually) Thursday evenings, to our weekly roleplay night. Again, because I can work on most things without too much attention, it’s a great way to keep my fiddling hands happy while we play our games. My project bag is essential for this! It’s good, as my friend Em also knits at the game, so we get to see what we’re working on and how it’s progressed from session to session.

A few of my projects, like the fingerless afternoon tea time gloves, and the tiramisu baby blanket, have travelled with me to work. I commute on the train, 25 minutes each way, so if I’m not currently reading a book, or taking my study notes with me, I can get a few rounds knocked out while I travel. I also then use my lunch hour to get more done, sitting in the kitchen in the office; while my female colleagues are mostly interested and impressed by my work, I have suffered the occasional comment from my older, male colleagues, who seem to think it’s funny that someone my age would be interested in crocheting or knitting. I mostly ignore that, but it does discourage me from taking my projects to work.

I do have one more option, though, for a more welcoming time and place to work on my WIPs – the local knitting group that meets up on a Tuesday evening. It’s called Sticks & String. Because of my commute, and my exercise schedule (Tuesday is usually a swimming day), this week was the first time I actually found I had a chance to go along. Hopefully I can engineer it so it's a regular part of my week. In order for this to work, though, I need to have projects that are portable enough to fit in my work rucksack, which at the moment limits me to my several unfinished pairs of gloves. Hey, maybe that will be the incentive to get me to finish them!

Wow, for once a post with no gratuitous photos of my projects.

Thanks again for popping by, I’ve had fun this week!

Don’t forget, to read everyone else’s final Knitting and Crochet Blog Week posts, Google for “2KCBWDAY7”.