Knitting and crochet   Knitting         Crochet Knitting I have to confess: I hate knitting. But sometimes I try to convince myself that it can be fun. Once I knitted little babysocks. I started when my sister-in-law was expecting her first baby. I finished this project when her second son was born. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of that "mega achievement" (I mean the socks not the birth). My frustation probably started in primary school ... The first two knitting projects in primary school have cost me blood, sweat and tears. After a year of bungling the white cotton thread had become a grubby thing. (see photo!) I thought it was rather silly to knit a bib or an egg cosy. My little brother had very practical calico bibs and in our family boiled eggs didn't have time to go cold. This blue cotton cap for a doll, a larger copy of the white egg cosy, was a more usefull thing to knit for a little girl. But it didn't help. I was lost for the knitting army. I knitted this little collar in the 5th grade (nowadays it is called the 7th group). At that time I loved the combination of pink and green very much. The "mathematical" principle of short extra rows in pink that made the collar go round, took my attention more than the knitting itself. Even as a grown-up I tried to knit. At the end of the seventies knitting with very big needles was popular. I bought a 1 cm thick pair and made a sweater (my own design!) for Piet and myself. The picture shows Piet (skating) wearing that sweater. The cap on his head is a product of his mum. She loved to knit, but she unfortunately has lost her eyesight in the last few years. Crochet In primary school I never learned to crochet. Perhaps the needlework teacher didn't like it. Or maybe I never got round to it because I needed to much time for my knitting? I don't know. As an adult I did catch up. I did a whole lot of crochet. Especially curtains, they where very "hip" in the seventies. Many of those curtains are lost and can't be shown anymore. They got worn due to frequently washing and are thrown away. I made many meters of this design. At that time I often travelled by train, a perfect place to crochet. I found this design in Ariadne (a former Dutch magazine for needlework). Until recently this curtain was hanging behind my front window. I was looking for a pattern for my kitchen window and could not find anything I liked. Therefore I designed this curtain myself. The row of cups combined with the cotton print brought the pleasent kitchen atmosphere I was looking for. Iron frames with crochetwork stretched inbetween was a great hit in the seventies. I tried to make one too. It is supposed to look like a rose... Oh, my mum hated this cap! I did wear it a lot in the seventies. Every row consists of the same stitches I "invented" on site. Recently I saw a girl with a cap like this. Are they back in fashion again?