Klutzy Craft

I am super-klutzy, so bad at freehand art that my teacher used to hide my work rather than let the side down by putting it up for end of term displays. At the same time I love craft and design. This Christmas I had a go at lino cutting for the first time, and it was nice to do something where my somewhat ‘rustic’ skills didn’t detract too much from the finished article. I was quite pleased with this for two hours’ work, even though some of the people working alongside me produced something a fair bit more refined.

At the other end of the (time)scale this needlepoint picture took me more than two years. When I started working on it, I needed some shatter proof colour for a corner with a swivel chair, and two boys that couldn’t stop swiveling. By the time I’d finished the boys had calmed down (a little) and the chair had a new home. But what’s nice about needlepoint is that the fabric guides your stitches, so that someone clumsy like me can enjoy putting colours and shapes together without worrying about how neat it is (or isn’t).  The design is my own and made up on the hoof – I just started at the centre and worked outwards.