Things we learn about ourselves.

It's amazing that no matter how old we become, we are always learning, or re-learning things about ourselves.

In our new class of rughookers with my friend Elaine, I am reminded of things forgotten in the time since we pulled our first loops and took our first classes. But these eager new students are running into the same issues that we did when we were starting out. And when they bring them up, we are reminded of what plagued us in the beginning as well.

One of the things they have already decided they don't enjoy is hooking on the diagonal. It came up twice last week. One student was working on lettering and had lots of capital A's in her piece. The other was not happy with the diagonal roofline on her building.

Aah. It all came back to me, how hard that was the first time. I reassured them both that once they get the wool on either side of that diagonal line, they will feel much better about it.

But the piece in this picture really hit a nerve on the weekend. It reminded me that "I hate diagonal lines" too. This is a wonderful purse pattern called "Bar-Jello" designed by my amazing friend Jennifer Manuell. I bought it from her ages ago and it sits at the cottage as an in-between project. I picked it up again this weekend and started to laugh when I came to the realization that it is all diagonal lines.

I also realized this is probably the reason it is not finished yet. In fact, I started on one side, wasn't happy with the work, pulled the whole thing,and started on the other side (which is what you see at the top). But in looking at it again,(although I has happier with the hooking) I knew that I wasn't going to enjoy finishing a project that has every stitch on the diagonal.

So, I decided to modify it. (I'm sure Jennifer is quivering as she reads this post.) I decided to keep the Bar-Jello at the top of the bag, but to introduce circles in the same colours, in various sizes, over the rest of the expanse. I will duplicate the same elements on the other side (which means I will have more diagonal hooking at some point - just not as much).

Come to think of it, circles are another thing that trips up new hookers, but for me they're an element that I have been incorporating into lots of projects, and I don't mind them in the least.

Let's face it, a life of straight-line hooking would be a boring one. But I think I will keep those diagonal lines as few and as far between as I can.

And I will undoubtedly be reminded of other little things about my hooking self that I have forgotten.