Wednesday 11 May 2011

Creative Disasters


This started out as a Scarf!

Don't throw out your disasters!  Although not all mistakes are easily rectified many can be fixed.  Great new creations can often be put down to things that have initially gone horribly wrong!
The creation in the photo has an interesting history.  My mother had been making crochet scarves for charity for many years.  When she was in her nineties with failing eyesight and with fingers she could barely move, she continued her work through sheer determination.  With the onset of dementia she battled on with her crochet taking many weeks to achieve small accomplishments that once she would have done in a twinkling!
She began making a scarf but because her memory and judgement were failing she forgot to stop when the correct size had been reached.  Since she was doing crochet rounds the scarf grew and grew in both length and breadth. Eventually it did dawn on her that it had got far too big and she was very upset.  Quickly, I took it from her and put it round my shoulders.  She saw then that she had created a beautiful wrap instead of an awful disaster!
Make sure that you rescue your mistakes in whatever manner that seems to suit at the time.  For example knitting mistakes can be hidden very effectively by the judicious use of a teasle brush.  Out of shape garments can often be pulled into shape with damping and blocking.  The addition of embroidered motifs can be used as a cover up and fringes can add length to smarten up items that turned out too short.


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