I (sort of) Made It!

Categories: imagining-the-impossibilities

Date: 31 January 2012 11:26:39

All over Blogland, there are ladies - and some gents, I believe - proudly posting about their "impossibilities" made into possibilities. We chose something that we'd been putting off for weeks...months...possibly years to try to achieve by the end of January. These projects ranged from making bread through organising a basement to organising the family bookshelves (that would be a job and a half in the Dormousehold - we have books in stacks on the floor, in orange (actually pineapple) boxes made into bookshelves, double stacked on bookshelves...everywhere!) and to cross stitching a beautiful design.

I, somewhat naturally, read the initial invitation, which came from Kari, the breadmaker, over at Thistlewood Farm, wrongly - and thought we had all year to complete the challenge. As I stated in my initial post here I was going to crochet a blanket like the one Nana Disley crocheted for me many years ago

I thought I could (maybe) manage it in a year and so decided that 2012 would be the Year I Made A Blanket. Huzzah! Subsequently, I discovered that the idea of this challenge was to complete it in a month...so the blanket idea was a tad ambitious - especially as I had no idea how to crochet!!

Daunted, but game for a try, I lowered my expectations and thought I could learn to crochet. So I bought my hook and my wool and downloaded instructions from t'Internet. Hah! I couldn't understand a word of them...I couldn't even work out how to hold the wool, the hook and fight off the Very Bad Kittens all at the same time. I needed at least another two hands.

OK, so t'Internet is full of YouTube videos on how to crochet. I'll use one of those, I thought. I'm better when I can see what's happening. So I went on YouTube, and found a lovely American bloke showing me how to crochet. Although he was very patient with me, especially as I kept rewinding him, he still didn't explain in a way I could understand, what the heck to do. He kept showing me - too quickly for me to copy - what to do, but I needed three hands - one for the hook, one for the wool and one to press "pause" at just the right time so I could see what he was doing. And the Very Bad Kittens weren't very good at manipulating the mouse for me.

I was getting dangerously frustrated!

But then I remembered that I had a very patient friend, who crocheted. So I spent an afternoon with Margaret, chatting, drinking coffee, eating biscuits, and most important of all, LEARNING HOW TO CROCHET! In fact, while I had 10 minutes frustration at the beginning, I did soon get the hang of making a chain...and understood what the nice American bloke meant by "Juicy Loosey" (not enough tension in the wool) So we continued chatting and I happily made a 1m long chain. Then I had to learn to do something more complicated...which was OK. We decided I should go for a round doiley type thing for the first effort, which I could possibly make into a mini blanket for the cats.

So I came home, fired up and ready to go!

However, due to my incompetency, my round thing soon started to develop into a hat (I described it to one blogger as a yamulke for a squirrel) (Are squirrels kosher? I'm guessing so...) I have become a little discouraged on two counts.

1. The basic hatt-iness of my work. Here we have the hat being worn by various top models

Here Cadbury the Camel (we bought him at CadburyWorld, hence the name) models the hat while posing on the inspiration for my original challenge.

Woburn the Bear (Yes, we bought him in Woburn, Bedfordshire...we used to live just up the road from there) dreams of winter sports while perched on a former Pannetone tin.

Pooh Bear (who used to be a monk before he became a top model*) looks out of the window at the snow, and is glad of his woolly hat. (I apologise that he looks as though he is wired up...I didn't hide the trailing wool very well!)

* Yes, really. When I was at college, I made a habit for him out of brown felt, and he was known as Brother Pooh. There was also Sister Fluffy, another bear, but I'm not sure what happened to her. I'm not sure she was ever really comfortable in a habit - particularly as she was a he before I arbitrarily chose him/her to become a nun!

Disley the Rabbit relaxes, while wearing the hat over one ear. Disley got his name, not because he was bought in Disley, but because he was an Easter present from my brother the year we were researching our family tree. Disley is my mum's maiden name. He's quite a soft and cuddly rabbit, with his bottom being full of beans. (No rude comments, please)

And finally, SheepySheep wears the hat at a rakish angle. Here I think it has a slight oooh-la-la beret look about it.

My question to you is: WHO LOOKS THE BEST IN THE HAT?

2. My other reason for being discouraged is the basic impossibility of doing anything with wool during the evening, because of the inherent badness of the Very Bad Kittens.

Here is George caught red-pawed in the bathroom with my crocheting. (Note how well coordinated we are here at Dormouse Towers. The bathmats match my crocheting!!) When I tried to retrieve it, he got quite possessive and refused to let go.

This occurrs on a regular basis whenever I get out the wool - I swear he can smell it - as he comes running from whatever corner of the house he has been doing Unspeakably Bad Things in!

So, while I didn't really realise my Impossibility, I made a start. I think I will abandon the hat, and let whichever of the top models you vote for keep it. Then I can start again on the round cat-blanket, taking a little more care about which hole I dig my crochet hook into (it was rather arbitrary) and about where and when I add some stitches to the circle (again, that was rather arbitrary. "Have I added a stitch? No? Can't remember...Well, let's wait and see...")

It has been great fun being part of the Impossible people though, and I urge you to visit the five organisers, who have been doing great things, and from there to link to others who have been challenging themselves (with, I must say, more success than I) to Imagine Impossibilities!

The Cottage Market Andrea reorganised her craft room beautifully

It All Started With Paint Linda painted a vaulted ceiling (without a ladder!) a lovely light blue.

Eclectically Vintage Kelly was the one who tackled her basement (which looks enormous!). I think we need her to visit Dormouse Towers to reorganise our cellar. We have to fit our old fridge freezer down there and it is a dimly lit grotto of fear at the moment!

The Space Between Kara lives in rented accommodation, and can't screw stuff into her walls. Somehow she made a wonderful gallery of art work, hanging, unbelievably from just one screw.

A Sort of Fairy Tale Stacey created a fab tote bag, from,I believe, a large tea towel. Very impressive!

Thistlewood Farm and Kari, who tackles the most daunting decorating projects with aplomb, met her impossibility with making bread for the first time. Her photos of the finished loaf were quite mouthwatering!

Although I didn't quite manage to make my blanket, and although my first foray into the world of crochet resulted in nothing more than a yamulke for a squirrel, I think I can just about award myself the "Badge of Honour". I did learn the rudiments of crocheting and if I can find some way of corralling the Very Bad Kittens, I will continue to crochet. Maybe by the end of the year I will have fully "imagined my impossibility" - but (hush!)I doubt it!