Handwork as Art

I have a great grandfather and great uncle that were artists on my mom's side. My father, didn't do much artwork as he grew older and had a family, but was always drawing as a child. The family always said that he was very good. My daughter is an amazing artist. Talen seems to ooze from her in fine art and in music. Even though I took art through high school, I never felt that I had the artistic talent. I draw stick firgures. LOL

I have been thinking a lot about it the last couple of months. I learned how to crochet at 11 and knit at 12 in our church group for girls. It seemed as if the moment I picked up a crochet hook, that I was also hooked. From that moment on, there have been very few periods in my life that I have not had some form of a handwork project going.

Through the years I have had capricious interludes with many forms of stitchery. There was bargello, needlepoint, tatting, embordiery and even Brazillian embordiery. I also had a good long love affair with counted cross stitch (I'm not quite sure I am over that one yet:>) I have always come back to my first love though.

I was mainly a crocheter for many years. I knew how to knit, but prefered crochet as a young woman. I made many doilies, Barbie clothes and baby booties and even a few afagans.

When I was pregnant with my daughter Ann, my husband was in the military. We were stationed in San Angelo, Texas. I lived far away from my church group, had no car, no phone and I was going stir crazy. I wanted to make baby clothes. Everything that I saw that I wanted to make was knitted. What better time to get my skills back with two needles? Not only did I make several items for my daughter, but I fell for knitting hard. All of a sudden it clicked, just as crocheting had many years before.

Do I like one over the other? That is really hard to answer. I love them both, but for different reasons. I like crocheting for afagans, accessories, doilies and other misc stuff. Knitting is for clothing, for the most part. Although they do overlap, on many things. It all depends on the look you want.

Knitting is my therapy tool. When I am stressed I can pick it up to relax. When I am working out a problem I can use that time to think things through and come up with a game plan.

Just as any artist I love looking at new colors and shades of yarn. I could spend hours in a yarn department thinking of the possibilities. As I have practiced, and my skill has increased so have my horizons. The yarn has become my pallette and my project my canvas. Just as an artist plays with light and shadows to create an effect in the picture, a knitter or crocheter plays with the stitches and pattern to create the effect that she wants.

Many artists long for the day when the public gets what they are trying to say behind the art piece. For me, it is much the same way. I love seeing the expression of joy on someones face when they open a handmade gift, and know it was made just for them. It makes it all worthwhile. I love the challenge of learning a new technique to use.

Maybe I'm not so far from being an artist than I thought.