Wendy Blacke

emotional wayfarer

Category: Knitting

A collection of knitting projects I’ve completed.

  • A Whimsical Pond Thing

    A Whimsical Pond Thing

    I like frogs. It’s no secret. Frogs are such simple, funny creatures and it seems pretty stress-free to live one’s days hopping around a pond.

    A few years ago, I knit Gregory, a simple frog who loves to read. Gregory adventured all the way down to Texas, where he lives with 2 cats and a loving man. A little while ago I needed some fresh whimsy in my life, so I knit another frog. Lord Blorp of the Swamp, he was lovingly named. I knit him, in part, to keep me company at work; somewhere to rest my eyes away from the beige walls and fluorescent lighting. I wanted to create a little magic.

    I put out the word at work. A pond is forming. I posted about Lord Blorp and his love for the finest French flies. I posted about wanting to create a lily-pad affirmation pond to bring some joy to the office. Soon, a whimsical pond thing was taking shape.

    I’m writing this post because I want to do more and build onto this lore. I might make some regular posts keeping up with the happenings around the pond. Initially I thought Instagram would be a good platform for this, but at the same time I’m becoming less and less willing to give Meta any more of my time or creativity, so any pond happenings will happen right here. I’m having so much fun imagining this whimsical little world of frogs and their friends, so if you like this kind of post definitely let me know.

    Lord Blorp received a tiny letter today, setting off what I think will be a really fun new member of the pond, so this will be the first post in the coming days. I’m also working on another frog right now who is excited and practically jumping off my needles ready to join the fun.

  • Knitting Season

    Knitting Season

    Knitting is one of my oldest and most developed skills. I started when I was 20 years old. It was 2005 and I was working in a call centre for AT&T Wireless called Startek. There was a young man who sat beside me named Alex, and in between calls he would knit. He had purple needles and they would click away as scarves grew to length. He made them for his friends, he said.

    Curious, I went to the store and bought my own needles, a ball of red yarn, and got online to learn how to turn string into things like he did. Up until that point, my experience of knitting came in the form of gifts from my grandmother. She knit beautifully and I was an eager beneficiary.

    Even before YouTube existed, there were video tutorials for just about anything online. I don’t quite remember the name of the website I found and I can’t find it now, but I sat at my computer and learned the basics from a series of POV videos. I proudly proclaimed my first project to be “my red piece of crap”. It was small, misshapen and barely qualified as a “thing” at all. Next, I knit a scarf, then a hat, then a sweater. I kept challenging myself, learning how to knit with multiple colours, textures, and lace. I learned how to knit with beads and kept adding to my skill set as I went. I joined an online community of knitters and crocheters called Ravelry, where I still visit frequently looking through the database at new patterns and vegan-friendly yarns. I’ve documented many of my projects there over the nearly 20 years I’ve been a member.

    Knitting, like most of the forms of creative expression I enjoy, comes in waves. It’s been a few years since I made anything more than simple dish cloths or warm accessories for winter. Utilitarian knitting, not creative knitting. However, my needles started pricking at the edge of my dreams as soon as I got engaged. I want to make my own dress, and if I don’t knit the whole thing, I want to at least incorporate some delicate lace.

    It got me to thinking I’d like to add some of my favourite completed projects here to my website. I’m playing around with some ideas on how I’d like to do that. You may have already noticed there is a Knitting page currently under construction. I will likely publish each project as its own post, and then add them to that page. I want to add photos, notes, material lists, and links to the designer’s patterns for the benefit of other crafty curious individuals. In an age where I’m trusting external channels less and less, it will feel good to house it all under my own roof, so to speak.

    Knitting has gotten me through a lot of tough times in my life. There is something about the mundane repetitive activity of pulling loops through other loops that makes you feel like you’re making progress, even if you might be feeling a setback in other parts of your life. In some ways, I feel like I stitched myself back together, fortified with yarn. I look forward to showcasing some of the projects that kept my hands busy through grief, depression, joy, anxiety, and illness as I navigate the journey of life.