Texture

I've been thinking a lot about textures at the moment- my knitting basket shown above has an eclectic and unusual mix of blends in there at the moment. There's the cashmere of the Wabenschal, the itchy, scratchy, earthy feel of the mystery yarn from the charity shop, a litle crochet cotton all piled onto the banana fibre bowl, balanced on the polished rosewood veneer. My needles are wood, bamboo, metal- I love how sensual this craft is.
Outside, too, texture is everything. Every footstep is critical, landing safely on the crunch of snow, the squish of grass or mud or the stomp of tarmac. A patch of ice is likely to send me tumbling, yet again, to the ground. In the kitchen, I have a gloopy pulp of orange juice and pith, waiting for the magic of heat and sugar to become marmelade. The stickiness that is a boy and a banana.

I have two major works in progress. A simple bag for myself, where the addition of some friction, the slide of soap, the heat of water will take the hairy yarn down to a thick, solid, dense fabric. Simple magic, especially when done with a washing machine, but I never cease to be amazed. The other, of course, is lace- where a pattern is created with a simple sequence of increases and decreases. Simplicity itself, but fun and fulfilling.

What about you? What are you working on?