Sunday 3 November 2019

"100gms of yarn or less"

are magic words to those of us who knit or crochet - and perhaps bead  or weave or do some other craft.
   "Black magic or white magic?"  you ask. Let me just say "challenge magic".
The end of year Christmas Party is creeping up rapidly. We are "encouraged" to enter the "100gms or less" challenge held each year. 
How long can it take to make something out of 100gms? Do something with thick yarn and it could be a day or two. 150m of yarn? Nothing could be simpler - apart from deciding what yarn, what project, finding the right tools and the pattern you know you had somewhere and....
Finer yarn? Anything up to 700m perhaps? Mmm...that is a little more time consuming. I mean you always did intend to knit up that skein of fine pale grey lace weight given to you because the original recipient didn't know what to do with it, doesn't knit anything that fine and didn't like the colour.
Or something in between perhaps? 100gms makes a pair of socks if you use "sock weight" yarn. There is still sock yarn there. You need more socks. But socks take time, more time than you have right now?
Well, something else then? 
I made a list of  suggestions several years ago. I wasn't being particularly helpful when I did it. It was just a list I had made for a group of then children I was teaching to knit. They wanted projects that would be useful and that they could actually finish. They most definitely did not want to knit scarves. What they wanted were a variety of small projects so they could practice the skills they were being taught. I added to that list for the Christmas Party group - socks probably appear on it. I do not have the list to hand.
There were some mutterings around me yesterday when people were reminded of this. It isn't compulsory. There is no need to do it. Some people feel they "must". Others feel they "should but don't know what to do". Still others simply can't be bothered even though you can knit or crochet or both and it is only the yarn which needs to weigh 100gms or less.
I feel bound to do it if I go -  because I made the list and because of other things. I have a project in mind - several in fact. 
Imagination can be a curse sometimes.
 

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