Sometimes You Need to Improvise

As I showed you in an older post I am currently working on a shawl. It has progressed quite nicely, but I realized while I was working on it that I was forgetting when to increase. I came to the realization that I needed to come up with away remind myself which row I was on. This is what I came up with:
What is it? A hair elastic attached to the end of my knitting needle. It reminds me that when I am knitting off of that needle I am to increase; when I am knitting on to that needle I am not to increase. Here is a wider angle of the piece:















Part 1

Beginnings

Everything must have a beginning that is fact; therefore all needle craft projects must have a beginning. Here is a picture of the beginning of my latest project:


You may think that this is just a cone of yarn, yet in my imagination it is a beautiful shawl waiting to be let loose. After struggling for several hours trying to conceive of the best way to create the shawl I concluded the a simple garter stitch pattern would do, considering my inexperience with lace knitting. The result thus far is a triangle which size continues to increase:



Part 2

Waste not Want not

Waste is a constant product of our culture. Almost everything we buy or use has some sort of waste by-product. For example when a person buys coffee it comes in a paper cup which is thrown away or when we buy clothing plastic comes attached to it with a piece of paper dangling off. Often times when something no longer wanted it is tossed in the garbage.

The constant discarding of what is no longer needed or wanted was not the norm throughout history. The pioneers had a saying "waste not, want not," meaning if you wasted things that you would want more things. Unlike today they hardly wasted anything.

A while back I took inspiration from the pioneers. I started collecting my old clothing which I no longer wear. The rag rug in the picture is what I produced out of the old clothing. By making it I not only reused my t-shirts, sheets and other clothing I also have a rug to remind me of days gone by.

Unfinished

Many of my crafts over the years have remained 'unfinished' seemingly never to be of use to anyone. Either they are thrown away or pulled a part after years of idleness. At last I heard the saying 'one sock is art.' Now I wonder how about all the other 'unfinished' crafts?. I have confirmed that they too can be art:



This mitten may not keep any thumb warm, but it does makes an interesting picure. Now that it is finished the mitten will never be quite as amusing: