I'm Jennifer, and the idea behind this blog is to share some of the things I make and do, where I get my inspiration from, and to connect with other people with similar interests. I chose Knit-Sew-Grow as the name for my blog for a few reasons. Knitting is my main craft if you like, I've been knitting regularly for a couple of years and am enjoying learning new techniques and making things that I can wear myself as well as the odd gift for other people. Sewing is something I've dabbled in on-and-off before, but with so much inspiration around at the moment I'm definitely keen to get in more practice and be able to make things that I'm proud to wear. The Grow part is a little more all-encompassing. Firstly there's the literal sense that I love gardening, have a vegetable patch that I share with my Mum, as well as growing flowers, mainly because they're pretty. Then, in the bigger sense, Grow is about my wider philosophy of learning, wellbeing and self-improvement. I could have included loads more things in the title - baking, cooking, reading, exercising, singing, exploring... - but I don't think that would have been terribly useful! So, the Grow part will hopefully include bits about all sort of other things that I get up to, and a bit of an explanation of why I enjoy them and what they bring to my life.
As I already said, I've been knitting for a couple of years, but did try to learn when I was younger, just never got the hang of it! My Mum and Nan both tried to teach me, but being left-handed, they got frustrated with trying to show me things 'the wrong way round', so I never got much further than garter stitch scarves for my teddy bears. Then, as I was getting back into various types of crafting, I started reading a few magazines, and found a pattern in one for a little knitted owl motif. Now this involved cable knitting, something my Mum had always professed was really difficult, but as it was only a few rows of pattern I wanted to give it a go. And it worked!
Well that was it, I started reading up on everything I could find in Mum's pattern bag, and headed happily off to Hobbycraft to stock up on new needles, yarns and patterns. I now knit nearly every day and am really proud of the things I've made, getting to grips with not only cables, but also lace patterns, knitting in the round, fairisle and intarsia, and all sorts of shapes.
This year got me even more inspired and I'm doing more research into different techniques, reading other blogs (Tilly is such an inspiring lady), and trying not to be too scared of just giving something a go. I currently use my Mum's sewing machine, which is a late-1960's Singer and pretty basic - straight and zigzag stitch, and that's your lot. But it still works fine for everything I've wanted to do so far, and as I can get different feet to attach (like an invisible zip foot) it will keep me going for a while yet I hope. Getting the thread tension right is a bit of a pain, but that's another story...
Writing this at the end of April, the garden and veg patch are happily springing into life and I'm sure I'll keep you updated of progress over the summer. It shouldn't be long before the first early potatoes are ready, my favourite sweetcorn seedlings are doing well in the greenhouse, and my little patch of bluebells are in full flower this week.
This is some of last year's haul...(a bit out of focus, sorry, must upgrade my camera)
I won't spoil you with too much else straight away, after all I'd love it if you came back to read what I get up to next, I've got ideas to write about all sorts of current projects over the next few weeks and I can't wait to share them with you.
