The snakes are going well (no current knitting projects due to having just moved). Some musings on fibre arts...
As I work on my mat, I remember corking with all my friends at recess during grade school. This was the early seventies. This memory always makes me think of the scene in Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye, describing a similar reflection - it is called spool knitting in the book and Cordelia is pathetic at it. Has anybody else read this? This part of the story takes place, I believe, in the late forties, early fifties?
Now the daughter is helping with my mat. I bought her a great wooden corker - Canadian made, yay! - to replace the crappy plastic one that came with her craft book. She is becoming quite fast.
Anyway, she took her corker to school the other day and...you guessed it. "What's that?" "Show me how." "Can I have a turn?" Of course, this translates into "Mommy, can you pleease buy a corker for M? She really likes it and wants to make a hairband."
So, I bought two more. A spare won't hurt. I have visions of a circle of children, maybe even some boys in this scene, sitting in a circle on the grass...a knitting idyll. I love the continuity of craft, the tradition. Now I have a tear in my eye and simply can't go on.
2 comments:
I had forgotten the corking references in Cat's Eye! Thanks for the reminder, I should re-read some Margaret Atwood this winter.
My daughters struggle with knitting (they are 8 and 6 and not quite there yet with the fine motor skills). I found a set of large corking spools at Walmart. What's nice is that they are large enough to allow corkers to knit garments!
Lovely blog, btw Yvette!
Cat's Eye is my favourite book by Margaret Atwood, I think, although The Handmaid's Tale was my first and loved for that reason. :)
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