Guest blogger "Sewheather" and Harry Hill Meerkat for PM!

Another first for Niftyknits - my very first Guest Blogger: may I introduce SewHeather who I met through her Folksy Shop Heather (I should point out it's not essential to be named Heather to post here!) also has her own blog here. Over to SewHeather:

I've been an avid follower of NiftyKnits for a little while now, I followed heart in mouth, as Harry Hill Meerkat was pipped to the post - and yes I did vote. I still think that HHM was the coolest knitted creature. Anyhow no sour grapes, knitted or otherwise.

I'm a relative newbie to both knitting and blogging and I came across Heather's blog via her Folksy page. I'm not sure whether Heathers navigate together because of some magnetic force, or whether we're just a crafty bunch and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

I was introduced to knitting aged 7 by my maternal grandmother, who guided me through a rather moth eaten scarf with pom poms, which ended up on my teddy. Well at least he was warm! Since then I've tended to gravitate towards sewn goods, until lately when my passion for knitting was reignited by a rather lovely Martha Stewart pattern for a knitted scarflette, you can see the finished article here



A lovely colleague held my hand, knitting along with me and ribbing me (pun intended) for referring to 'sew one, pearl one' instead of 'knit one, pear one'. Old habits die hard!

I'm happy to report that my scarflette contains no holes and is only mildly wonky. My confidence is much boosted and I already have my next project in mind, a lovely knitted tea cosy from Prima (link)

Since my passion has been reignited I've discovered that I love the way simple stitches can be used to create beautiful forms, I've dug out some photos of knitted sculptural peices to illustrate my point:

Patricia Brown,
Knitted installation:



Knitted urchins:



Shane Waltener:
Installation at the V&A



Ruth Lee:
Knitted sponge:



Finally I hope that I've lived up to my duties as guest blogger, in honour of my host I've set up a Facebook group, as I'd like to nominate Harry Hill Meerkat for PM: the link is http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=110088975693847

Back to NiftyKnits: Thank you Heather, it's been fun having you here! I love the installations, they are completely new to me. I have of course joined the group. Just to remind you all, Heather's folksy shop is here and her blog is here.