Like a bee

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I'm happily taking part in the 4th Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! I may not be able to post every day this week, but I'll post when I can. :)

Today, Day One, is when we declare our crafting outlook or style. In my younger days I was House of the Peacock ("buttons, embellishments and a bit of sparkle"), actually sewing feathers (and leather) on my sweaters. Today I straddle two styles.

In my heart I am in the House of the Monkey. In fact, this is the way I learned to machine knit, each project (always a sweater) was designed to learn and thoroughly explore a new skill. I found it easier and less complicated to design my own projects, built around the new technique, rather than follow a pattern. This is the way I learned intarsia, double-bed knitting, multi-color knitting etc. I had no cohesive design style because each project was another learning opportunity. And honestly, I still enjoy exploring new (to me) stitches and techniques that way, though now I prefer the rectangle (swatch, scarf, shawl, yardage) as my finished object.

In practice, however, I flit from one interesting project to another, like those in the House of Bee. It's not just because the project is bright and shiny; it's often because as a professional knit designer, I'm working on the project I've been contracted to complete.

And as a bee is attracted to flowers, so am I when I venture beyond the rectangle -- especially in my non-professional knitting life. Here are flowers recently knitted for Handcrafting and Paying It Forward. 

A rose pin for Robin

A posy garland for Virginia

Instructions for the machine knitted posy are posted here. I'll post the instructions for the rose another day.

“If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live.”
― Albert Einstein

Hmmmm.... or should I say bzzzzzzzzz.  4KCBWDAY1