I have begun this new blog because I am intrigued by the tradition among many knitters and weavers to undertake a variety of personal and communal challenges with their handwork. It seems in some ways a better idea than coming with the New Year's resolutions which we seem to abandon all too soon. And I like the idea of creating something -- many somethings -- that will worn, draped, and often times given as gifts. For myself, I want to include in this list of delightful challenges -- the pair of socks a month. I love the idea that I could have 12 pairs of handknitted socks come this time next year. I am also working more and more on the loom now that it is fully functional again.
My study is full of books, cached yarns and cones, storage bins of fabrics, and more toys -- ball winders, new reeds, sley hooks, and bobbins. Handwork and writing are very similiar, each requiring a kind of daily diligence, each intellecutally demanding, and each providing rewards in the doing, not just in the finished work, but in what is learned in the process.
Midori Snyder is the author of nine books for children and adults, published in English, French, Dutch, and Italian. She won the Mythopoeic Award for The Innamorati, a novel inspired by early Roman myth and the Italian "Commedia dell'Arte" tradition....
