Anyone who follows me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or Google+ will know I make things. In fact, I make a lot of things. I’ve been knitting since December 2008, crocheting since around January this year, and making jewellery since around April. That’s not to mention the twenty years I’ve been taking photos, fiddling with Fimo soft or fixing broken clothes. Yet I haven’t been blogging about it.
I think part of the problem comes from the fact that all of the blogging gurus originally told you to keep one topic to a blog. According to them, your baking buddies wouldn’t be interested in your DIY tips, and your fiction writing friends wouldn’t care about fishing. That’s one reason why I originally put all of my design related stuff on a separate blog. In trying to promote my writing, I didn’t think anyone would be interested in anything I’d made. But due to the way a lot of us now tag and categorise our blog posts, there has been a sea change, and I asked my favourite blogging guru, Kristen Lamb, if I should keep my writing and crafting separate. She said no – you never know which of your writer buddies might also love knitting, and how many of your knitting friends might like your writing.
I also got involved with the inaugural #craftblogclub chat on Twitter this evening, organised by Emma Berry, and decided I’d start blogging about my crafty endeavours. After all, they take up a lot of my time, so why wouldn’t I talk about them?
I thought I’d blog about my most recent creation, Sidney (the little owl pictured up there). I originally got the parts as a kit from Let’s Knit magazine, and all I had to supply was the needles, the stuffing, and the time. I took the yarn to London on the train last week when I went to the Pompeii exhibition at the British Museum, and ended up knitting the whole thing – I finally assembled him on Sunday. I’m rather proud of him!
I love owls. I’ve got owl ornaments in my room, a satchel I got in Bonn that’s covered in them, various necklaces with owl motifs, and now a cuddly one. As much as I love puffins, I think owls are possibly my favourite birds, particularly snowy owls (Hedwig FTW) and barn owls. They often represent wisdom, in part due to their ability to see in all directions, and they’re the bird sacred to Athene. The ancient Greeks even featured them on coins to keep a watchful eye on commerce. English folklore hasn’t been so kind, with superstitions tying them to death as heralds of an imminent passing, and tales linking owls to death also appear among First Nation tribes in North America. Regardless of their associations, I think they’re magnificent birds, and I’m proud I’ve now made one!
Your first craft post! Fab -love him and yes Owls are awesome.
I’m thinking of making a few in different colours as gifts!
If you start now that’s xmas pressies underway! I did all handmade stuff last year and gifts for everyone -family friends etc came in at under £100 in the end plus it’s much nicer to have something more personal
I’ve never paid attention to the “experts.” If a blog is an online journal, then blogging about only one thing implies that the blogger is one-dimensional. I write, I try to stay ahead of a zillion household maintenance issues, I tinker with code and cars and sheet metal, I’ve raised kids (and now a grandkid) and I’ve blogged about all of them at one time or another. I did spend several evenings going back and tagging old posts when Blogger added tagging, though.
Sidney’s a cute little cuddler, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of your creations. I keep trying to get Daughter Dearest to join Twitter so she can meet you and Katherine for knitting stuff, others for teaching and music, and so forth… maybe some day!
Debbie – True, plus you can tailor things according to personal taste.
Larry – Well I’m going back a few years to when I first started blogging (might have been about 2009 or so) so the advice has changed a lot but I did listen to it as it was completely new to me. And yes! Get DD to join, or at least blog with us.
I love this! So glad you joined in tonight Icy! I definitely think blogging about all your interests can work its what I do! Looking forward to seeing more of your lovely creations!
That’s a cutie beastie!
I had an online journal for years and years, where I talked about whatever was on my mind. When I started Landless in 2008, I made a conscious decision to have it be just about writing. While I sometimes let other interests creep in (most notably with my A-to-Z Month Of Woodworking Tools), I’ll probably stick to that as long as I have something to say.
He looks great!
That’s interesting about the blog content. That’s why I have a separate DIY blog — my knitting friends didn’t want to hear about books, and I got, um, sneered at by certain writers for “wasting my time” knitting (there was a bit of sexism mixed in there too). At this point the “new” blogs have been running since 2008, and I figure if I link to both on Twitter it’s organised enough.
Katherine, that’s really sad that people sneered at you. I assume they’d never tried knitting themselves? It’s hard!