Let's Get Crafty

From such a young age I have loved crafting and being creative,however growing up I got so busy with my education and life in general I ended up falling out of love with crafts. It probably didn't help that I did textiles for GCSE and A level, so when I came to the end of my education I was no longer interested in crafts having had to sew and be creative in my education. It didn’t feel like fun anymore and wasn't something I wanted to do in my down time. You won't be surprised to know I didn't do textiles at university, I decided to do fashion promotion and communication instead. Anyway fast-forward to my third year of university; three years have past since I did any sort of crafting (not including the odd bit of DIY mending). My university was hosting a workshop, to start off with I didn't know what the workshop was about, all I knew was it had something to do with knitting. I arrived to find what I can only describe as a beautiful blue mess spread across the floor. Sarah Filmed was the woman in charge of this work, which was called the Blue Jumper (It was blue but it certainly didn't look like a jumper).

Sarah explain the concept behind the jumper, she had wanted to create something that everyone could add to no matter what their level of knitting was, the art work grows with each person adding their bit. The concept is beautiful, that so many people can add to this one piece of art and it acts as a metaphor for inclusion and diversity in the form of the blue jumper. Walking away from this experience, I felt a sense of calm and peace, I had enjoyed being part of something that is bigger than me and I felt going back to crafts was very therapeutic. I wanted to get back into crafts but I didn't want to just make things for the sake of it,I wanted there to be meaning and purpose behind it. So I have started to knit blankets for dogs in Battersea dog shelter. Knitting itself clears my mind and relaxes me, not to mention it gets me off my phone, and knowing I am doing it for a good cause makes me feel good about myself . It makes me feel like I am doing my part in helping the world be a better place. I encourage you all to get your needles out and give knitting ago no matter what your ability is.