As a yarn crafter myself I find I notice yarn crafting either in its regular forms or in more unusual guises when I am out and about. The recent festive period has brought me something of a flurry of yarn-craft-spotting opportunities.
On a cold day in early December I found inspiration for a new hat design as I casually observed well-wrapped Christmas shoppers on a shopping centre escalator in Newcastle. A wool hat in a warming shade of mustard would be just the thing for a winter’s day. A hastily scribbled sketch was duly added to my shopping list.
While hurrying our youngest son to his lunchtime optician’s appointment a week before Christmas, I spotted a young woman knitting as she sat alone in a crowded cafe. I couldn’t help wondering if she were frantically finishing a hand-crafted gift. Whatever her creation was, it was a beautiful shade of jade green.
My third seasonal yarn craft observation was a curious one, in my local village supermarket. For a few days leading up to Christmas the staff swopped their normal uniform garb for some rather garish festive jumpers. I was served by a Christmas elf, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and a Christmas pudding!
As Twelfth Night approached and the end of the festive season, like many other families we were taking down our Christmas decorations and tidying up. I was clearing out the clutter and I spotted another festive yarn – on this year’s Cadbury’s Festive Friends carton. These small chocolate biscuits are a firm family favourite in our house and this year the box had been designed as a knitted cover complete with snowman, Santa and reindeer. I found it quite interesting to see a yarn craft being chosen as a marketing tool by big business – an association of ideas with winter warmth and homeliness.
J Peggy Taylor
