HAPPY KNITTING

Several years ago my husband had to undergo surgery, and I wanted to have something for him to be a sort of comfort. A blanket came to mind. It needed to be something bright, something cheerful. Different. Happy.  And so the idea of the Happy Blanket was born. He loved it, and so did everybody else. I’ve made many since then, and happily given them all away. There’s always one on my needles.

I decided not to overthink the blanket. The idea came from Magic Ball Knitting which I rather enjoy, but I’d not until then made anything as large as a blanket or an afghan using this technique.

There’s something joyful about a colorful knitted piece. At least it is to me, but then I do really enjoy bright colors. And the fact that this is such easy knitting makes me all the more happy. My Happy Knitting pieces are not pretentious, they’re not sophisticated, and yet I’m greatly surprised at people’s reaction to them.

Exuberant shawls, wraps and scarves began to spring to life as fast as I could wind sunny little balls of textured color. And that’s the point of my Happy Knitting – I love the knots. I make no attempt to hide them. This is carefree knitting at its best. A dropped stitch? It’s not going to get very far, though of course it’s good to keep a count of your stitches.

Making the balls is all part of the fun. I certainly do use up leftover bits – happy memories of knitting projects – but I cut lengths from my yarn stash. This is not exactly a small one, due in part to my tendency to collect just one ball of yarn where I can as a travel souvenir. My Happy Knitting yarn balls are full of stories of where and when and how the yarn was acquired, and of fond thoughts of the people connected to them.

This is my Grab ‘n’ Go knitting – ideal for driving in the car or situations where I can’t concentrate too much. It’s trouble free, uncomplicated, and the results are most satisfying.

A Happy Scarf cheers me up instantly on the dullest day – and the winter seems to have made a point of being as grayly dreary as possible this year. It’s also a great conversation starter as I’m often asked where I got it. A few brave souls have even been given a brief tutorial!

My Happy Vest has proved very useful – it goes with anything.>

The cats have been as helpful as always while we attempted to photograph a few items here on the Pelion Peninsula. The newest rescue, Haig, is rather taken with his Happy Cat Toy, and slowly learning to trust us.

Jason did his quiet duty as always, quite unperturbed by Olly’s curiosity.

Raki – not to be confused with Olly – is slowing down quite a bit now, and prefers to spend his time snuggled in a Happy Shawl. I reckon he’s got the right idea.

Thanks to my friend Dawn Cusick who provided me the photo of the Happy Blanket I made for her; shown on her balcony in North Carolina.

JASON CHANNELS MEDUSA

My yarn stash cannot be described as small, and it’s certainly very eclectic. Colour dominates the collection of almost every type of yarn, but wool and wool blends are well represented from tweeds to angora, mohair to baby-fine merino, worsted weight basics to the wildest novelties. I confess I collect. Many of my yarns, whether they have been knitted up or not, function as mini travel diaries recording people and places encountered. While delving through the stash earlier in the week, I chanced upon a single ball of Cabaret by Stacey Charles. A burst of colour! Just too, too much but perfect for a zany hat.

Medusa was a beautiful priestess in the temple of the goddess, Athena, which required her to lead a celibate life. Unfortunately, Poseidon rather put an end to her vows of chastity. Depending on which version of classical Greek mythology you read, their love was either consensual (and one hopes so for the poor girl’s sake) or an act of violence. Whichever, Athena was less than thrilled and took a terrible revenge on Medusa, making her face hideously ugly and turning her lovely locks into a seething mass of poisonous snakes. Medusa was transformed into a monster. Shame on Athena, for she was, among other things, the goddess of reason, but obviously reason surrendered to rage.

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Jason Busy Channelling
Medusa, no surprise, fled, and wandered about turning to stone anyone who had the misfortune to gaze upon her ghastly face. Greek mythology is absolutely fascinating, but perhaps not reading material of choice for the faint-hearted!