Trying Something New

When my grandmother was not as old as she is now (she's nearly 100), but when she was probably a little older than I am, perhaps in her early 60's, she'd forget something and I'd remind her of whatever and she'd quip, "Oh! That's okay! The thing about forgetting things is that a lot of old stuff becomes new again!" and then move on.

I know I've talked about it, so it isn't news, but she has Alzheimer's Disease. I often think of her because she was a knitter. She actually taught me to knit. And one of the last times I visited her, I put my knitting in her hands and she told me that she wished she knew how to knit. 

Anyway, I've been reading a lot about how to keep your brain healthy, like doing some brain puzzles to keep it fit. On the other hand, I've also been reading that the reason some people become forgetful is simply because their brain is so full it can't keep all the stuff in. Kind of like an overstuffed pillow or a burrito with too many beans in it.

I think my brain is pretty full and I'm not yet wandering around wondering who I am (although somedays I'm pretty close), so I'm going to bet on the "learn new things" approach to keeping my brain healthy.

When a friend of mine suggested we do something together using entrelac, my first thought was that I'd much rather learn how to tap dance (which is true), but in the interest of trying something new--especially using a technique, to be honest, that I've never admired--I decided that yes, I will learn entrelac! And it will be fabulous!

So I'm giving you a sneak peek here of what I've come up with. I did take a great course at Craftsy by Gwen Bortner to get me started, though. I'd highly recommend it.

I can't tell you why I've never tried entrelac before, but most of it is that I knew that I needed to turn my work a lot. I also wasn't interested in learning to knit backwards to speed things up. Not to mention, there isn't a lot out there made with entrelac that spoke to me.

But taking Gwen's class made me want to learn how to knit backwards. Do you ever knit backwards? Seriously, it is so crazy-easy that I'm surprised anyone ever purls.

Which reminds me of a gal who says she's knit for years . . . and then follows up her claim with the fact that now she's finally ready to learn to purl. This is a true story, friends. If you want me to prove it, I'm still buddies with the gal who was there when this story was uttered.

More details on this to come. Marly Bird and I will be doing a K/CAL with our respecitve entrelac designs soon and with lots of prizes and tutorials...

BTW: Freia Fine Handpaints Ombre Lace in Denim. One skein. This is an in-progress photo.