Although my blanket may look nice with my bedding, I originally told myself in my personal arts proposal, that I wanted to make this blanket and give it away to someone special. A blanket is a lot more than just some fabric you sleep underneath. A blanket symbolizes warmth and friendship. I found an article (https://www.brahmsmount.com/blog/making-a-blanket-statement/) that shared when giving a blanket to someone, it is a real statement of kindness and displays honour. A First Nation tradition with blankets is used to create and seal relationships. This traditional action is used from generation to generation. Blankets are to be held deep and sacred. Often times blankets will have shapes and symbols woven into them to show this meaning. Blankets can also have different colors that represent different meanings. Example being the colors yellow, blue, and orange tell harvest times. The color black is for mourning and the color white is for innocence. A combination of colors can tell a story too.
Blankets can hold cultural meaning and significance. I want to follow through with my goal of giving this blanket away. I want to share this blanket with my Mom. She gave me advice along the way and was so positive with my first blanket making journey. She deserves to snuggle up with this blanket. ~H.
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1/28/2020 0 Comments FInished Hand Knit Chunky BlanketYAY!! I have officially completed my very first hand knit super chunky blanket! I am so proud of myself. I came across a few obstacle that I worked through and learned from. I had to ask my Mom for support and advice along the way too. I focused and worked on this blanket in large chunks to finish it in a timely matter. I took action and did not procrastinate. I would not say this blanket is perfection, as I can see some errors I made, but I know what I can do for the next time I attempt to make a super chunky hand knit blanket! ~H. PS. My puppy, Freddy, seemed to like my blanket too! I would often find him curled up in the afternoon snoozing on it :) 1/27/2020 0 Comments The Last Skein. Obstacle #2EEE!!! I am so close to being done my super chunky, hand knit blanket! I have come across another obstacle though. I do not know how to finish it once I get to the last line. I know I need to save some yarn (but how much?). I found yet another Youtube video that walked me through how to end ("cast off") my blanket. It was actually quite simple to do. I did however save a little too much extra yarn. I will make sure to take note for the next time I make a blanket not save as much. I am so excited to see it all finished! ~H. 1/26/2020 0 Comments The Joys of Hand KnittingSince the semester just started, I was really able to just focus and work on this project. It felt like a break from the busy life I live. I poured myself a cup of hot tea and turned on my favourite Netflix show. I definitely felt relaxed and at ease. I think people should learn how/ take-up knitting because there are many benefits. I was interested to know the positive effects of knitting and found a great website (https://www.katia.com/blog/en/5-reasons-why-learn-to-knit/), that said:
1. Knitting helps reduce our daily stress levels and it acts like relaxing therapy (It's like the NEW yoga ;) ) 2. Knitting helps stimulate the logical part of our brain. This helps the brain stay young and active. 3. Knitting gives ourself a mental workout and allows for total concentration. 4. Knitting encourages our creativity. It unleashes the artistic side. 5. Knitting can also help our self-esteem. When we realize we have done a job well-done and can reward our selves with beautiful piece of art made by ourselves. ~H. I was SO excited to finish work Saturday and get home to figure out how to attach another skein to my first section of my blanket. I felt a little overwhelmed at first because this was something new and I really wanted this blanket to turn out. So I searched on Youtube and found a great video (posted below) that showed me exactly how to do so. I think I watched it about 5-10 times before I got the hang of it. BUT I figure it out, and I was so proud of myself. I then began to hand-knit my afternoon away. I think I hand-knit for about 2-3 hours because I was thoroughly enjoying it. ~H. 1/24/2020 0 Comments Hand knitting a Chunky BlanketOK! Crocheting dish cloths had its challenges, but once I mastered it, I needed something NEW. I thought about making a scarf, toque, or maybe a blanket... So, I started to search "blankets" on Pinterest. I have always LOVED the chunky knit blankets that are on trend right now. So I thought, why don't I teach myself how to HAND-KNIT a super chunky blanket?! And that is exactly what I did. On Friday night I went to Michael's and bought SEVEN large, fluffy and soft skeins of off white yarn. I had to work Saturday morning early, but I desperately wanted to start getting creative. I ended up hand-knitting the entire skein Friday night but had to stop there, because I was stuck... I did not know how to attach another skein to my project. This was another obstacle in my blanket making journey. ~H. 1/17/2020 0 Comments Crocheting a Dish clothSince I was a little girl, I grew up seeing my Amma and Grandma knitting, sewing, crocheting and making jammies for their Grandchildren. My Longa Amma was a seamstress and always made my Mom beautiful pieces of clothing. My Mom in the last few years started to crochet dish clothes because she believes they make the BEST dish cloths for washing dishes. So, I decided about a year ago that it was my turn to start working with fabric and make something. So I followed my Mom's footsteps and wanted to start making some cloths that I could put into my "MOVING OUT" Tupperware container. My Mom and I ran to Michael's and she bought be a couple skeins of cotton yarn and a pretty teal crochet hook. From there, I began "making" dish cloths. I struggled. My fingers were sore. My cloths looked like "melted snowmen"(see the purple cloth picture...). I did not know where I was going wrong and I gave up after I made about 3-4 cloths that were uneven and unattractive. When I found out my EAE class had a Personal Arts Project assignment, it sparked my interest to pick up crocheting again. I began to start fresh and looked up a YouTube Video to see another method of crocheting. I realized my mistake. I was not counting how many loops I had in each row. I was also forgetting to add a loop at the end of each row to make it even and not have a "melted snowman" look. I successfully made about a dozen dish cloths (see the white/green cloths) that I can put into my "MOVING OUT" bin. ~ H. |
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