Knit-gate (and my first ever blog giveaway!)

The first time I faced the harsh reality of betrayal was when I discovered that Jungle Oats bars are dipped in white chocolate instead of yoghurt: I thought they were healthy and ate them at a ferocious rate on an otherwise bland diet. Ignorance is indeed bliss.

The second betrayal was when I started knitting.

Little did I know…

Firstly, I wanted to crochet, not knit. Crochet looked cool on Pinterest. Crafty. Fun. Modern. Whereas knitting… Knitting is what grannies do under woolen blankets, making guilt-soaked scratchy jerseys you’re forced to wear out of sheer familial loyalty (I say this based only on movie experiences – the one gran I grew up with knitted me squat.)

Awesome crocheted deer head

Knitting even has its own satirical Twitter feed! If that doesn’t say ‘I’ve arrived’, I don’t know what does.

Secondly, I heard that knitting is easy. It’s a great way to start being a Crafty, Creative Person who Makes Useful and Practical Things for All of Everyone.

After a trip to the overwhelming Joburg knitting staple, Arthur Bales, with my knitting guru, Stacey, I tried to make my first scarf; following the simple process of knitting and purling.

Knitting Yoda.

I literally don’t think knitting could get any easier. You do the stitches it in one direction, then you do them in the other. In and out. Out and in. Over and over and over until a few (hundred) rows later, you have a scarf. So it was with extreme regret and knitting angst that I created THIS:

Please note the precipice of doom. I realized that if a teeny tiny person jumped off the ‘cliff’, they would die. It was at this stage that I gave up on my scarf adventure.

Sadly, with my goldfish memory, I kept forgetting if I was knitting or purling and changed direction with reckless abandon and a ruthless disregard for aesthetics.

So I gave that up.

Understandably, after this ‘knitastrophe’, or ‘knit-gate’, the list of people that wanted my hand-crafted goods shrunk considerably. But knitting for no-one is strangely boring and feels rather pointless, so this was a problem. I needed a willing, helpless knitting recipient.

Cue Ethan, my step-nephew, helpless to resist my knitted products. Two sets of baby booties later…

Aren’t they BOOTIE-FUL?

I realized my niche – knitted bunnies, or Runny Babbits™!

The name comes from my my step-mom in the USA who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s a long distance hug from me to her.

Runny Babbit is full of love. And stuffing.

I also made a ginormous grey bunny for baby Ethan.

This has filled me with breezy confidence and inspired me to run my first ever blog give-away! The prize? A hand-knitted and hand stuffed bunny rabbit.

To win a bunny, simply comment below and say what colour you’d like (there are so many different wools, you can really choose pretty much any colour and I’ll make the magic happen). A winner will be randomly selected, emailed and announced on the blog next week Monday. The retail value of the prize is worth approximately R250, and it will be shipped to the winner anywhere in the world. Entries close at 12pm on 16 June. T&C’s apply.

Thanks to Richard Middleton (@RichM97) for the beautiful photographs of baby Ethan.

Advertisements