I have been mostly thinking about knitting

I love knitting, its so relaxing, and you get something lovely at the end of it, so I have been looking into the history of it, as you may know I love Scotland and have been looking at the tradition of knitted shawls as wedding gifts, this are knitting in single ply wool and are so fine they can fit through the wedding band, and have a beautiful cobweb look about them. I havent done this type of knitting before so I have looked for some simple ones to start with and will build up from that.

As part of our brief we have been asked to do a performance piece, I am looking to do a sound and vision piece based on Gaelic poetry and the sound of knitting,  The Shetlanders would have evenings together knitting and telling tales I feel this was not only done here but in all the places that knitting was a part of life.

get your needles ready people you may be asked to join in  :-)

Ritual and Commemoration

New Brief time ! this is totally different from the last and I have till May to complete it, after reading the general blurb alot of differing ideas are buzzing around my head, we all know about the basic rituals of birth, birthdays, weddings, funerals, and the normal day to rituals of waking, washing, eating and sleeping. But we need to delve a little deeper I feel. Also Commemoration, I have to commemorate the untimely death of my friend James in June, it will be a mixed day for me, I know he was unhappy but I still miss him and saying a proper goodbye will help me get over his death,  how else do we remember people?  shrines, gravestones, in just in our hearts. Sometimes a little something of theres can be a treasure, I have ornaments that belonged to my Nan, that I remember from being a child, they still make me smile and remember her. Most importantly though I remember her before she got really old and not like herself, I remember the lady who took me shopping in Birmingham so we could try on hats and laugh at ourselves in the mirror.

So remembering... how do you remember people who are no longer with you?  I hope it is with a smile... :-)