INTRODUCTION
I have always had the feeling that we are surrounded by stories. Every item in our homes has a story to tell with attendant memories - every living thing has its own fascinating autobiography. I believe that the things we make have some of the most interesting stories to tell of all: the source of the materials; the inspiration and purpose of the item created; the journey of the maker in its creation. Knitting is empowering. It's importance is unrelated to the skill of the knitter or the complexity of the pattern attempted. The finished article will inevitably embody something quintessentially unique to the individual maker.
This is not the book I had intended to write. I had visions of a sequel to 'In the Footsteps of Sheep'. This time I was going to walk the country of my birth - Wales - and write of all the amazing sheep, shepherds and woolly folk I met. Wales, that land of sheep, has 18 different breeds or sub-breeds of sheep. The adventure was going to be epic. But I was diverted. I became a granny and the time was never quite 'now... until this year, when I had made up my mind it would be 'now or never'. And then came covid 19. So my Wales book is still at the planning stage within my dreams, but I hope it will happen one day. In the meantime, I found myself looking back through some of the many patterns and stories I have written over the past years and organising them in chronological order. I discovered I had created an eclectic memoir.
This is a book of knitting patterns and their attendant stories. It is a potpourri of stitches. I hope you enjoy rambling through its pages and knitting your own stories.