This was a very weird year! I did less knitting and made fewer things than I have for many years - even socks took a back seat. There have been a lot of other things going on: taking on a bigger job, work on my house, living temporarily in another part of the country, building new connections and friendships.

I guess it was part of the transition time from one stage of life to another.

Creativity and Inspiration

Voices on Art

This is a local group that meets weekly, led by an art historian, the programme is very much about the interests of the people in the group. A theme this year was Renaissance Art, a gap in my knowledge and I enjoyed getting an overview.

_{Shared under Creative Commons Licence The Entombment by Michelangelo, about 1500-01, National Gallery, London}

I was thrilled that we had examples of Renaissance artists in our national galleries and spent a day in London being a fan. It was also interesting learning how the Renaissance came about, a combination of changing ideas about the world and the growth of money and banking.

Interesting book: Art: The Definitive Visual History

I also spent a day at the newly re-opened National Portrait Gallery.

Art. Community and Co-creation

I was delighted to meet Hive account@clareartista this year and spend some time with her making and talking. Clare has set up the Art. community for making and a group of us met for some online co-creation sessions through the summer.

The co-creation sessions allowed me regular time through the week for creative practice, something I've been trying to get into place for a long time now. It was wonderful to have time with other artists but sometimes the technology was challenging. There were also different ideas about why we were together, I like listening to others talking, but distracting to be in the conversation myself.

I hope we can get something together this coming year, when the stars align.

Knitting Group

This is a very low-key group that meets every Monday in the local community centre. The session opens at 1.30pm and theoretically you could use the room for the remainder of the afternoon until the building closes. I've enjoyed going every week and meeting people and some of us went for a Christmas lunch.

_{Knitting themed table decoration at our Christmas lunch. I borrowed the tape measure afterwards - mine is missing, somehow.}

Hive Friends

Two Hive friends that have seen me through thick and thin are Hive account@akipponn and Hive account@phoenixwren. I love their blogs, the diversity of activities and inspiration, and the friendly conversational approach they both have. Together with Hive account@clareartista, they're beneficiaries of this post - a small gift for all the pleasure they bring through the year.

Travelling Books

My main project this year has been the Travelling Books. Every month there's a different prompt and each participant makes a small sample in response. I thought this would be a great way to generate lots of ideas and small samples quickly. I've learned some interesting new techniques and ideas and started to enjoy experimenting with colour.

In practice, I've found it difficult to jump so quickly from one thing to another. As I start something, I want to spend more time on it and become more deeply involved. I would find it easier if I went to a workshop once a month, did some creative work at the beginning and then spent the remainder of the day making. A lesson for another time.

Here's one of the pieces I made this year:

_{The theme was inspired by poetry - I chose A Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson.}

Workshops and Classes

I've been to several workshops this year: sketching for knitters, working with colour (both by the excellent Xandy Peters), a talk about tweed with Erika Knight and her daughter Arabella Harris, and designing with Chloe Thurlow and Erika Knight.

_{Source Salt Washed, a collection by Erika Knight for Rowan's specialist wool range Pebble Island.}

One of my favourites was about designing from pictures or photographs by Christel Seyfarth:

I am especially taken with photographs of the sky, they fascinate me. I've started a collection of pictures that I like to experiment with different ideas.

Plans for 2024?

Unusually for me, I don't have especial plans for 2024.

Lots of things started in 2023, I want to see where they take me. I'd like to spend more time visiting galleries, perhaps go for an afternoon rather than feeling it has to be a day, and building my sketching skills. And perhaps practice carving out time for practice!

I've become more and more interested in fashion as a form of identity and self expression. I really enjoy watching videos exploring different ideas and then, when I am out, people watching.

I found a new youtube channel The Knitting Man, Gary Ray Smith, who works with lots of colours and has developed an interesting technique for catching all the floats. I succumbed and bought a pattern!

_{Source Mugs by Gary Ray Smith. Gary knits in the round and then steeks the finished item. One of many good ideas.}

Happy making!

_{Part of Needlework Monday, the community for everything needles, fibre and fabric (FAQs).}
^{Founded by Hive account@crosheille supported by Hive account@marblely, Hive account@kattycrochet, Hive account@lauramica, Hive account@neumannsalva and Hive account@romeskie.}