If it can't be done, do it with gaffa tape. Or linen.

One of the things I've always loved about knitting is that it's something I learned directly from my mother and my nana, as they learned from their mothers and grandmothers. A skill handed down through generations.

When I started to make re-enactment clothes for my husband I found myself wondering about the women who would have made the same things back in the late Roman era. The tools they used weren't that different; we have better materials, a wider choice of fabric. If we want to we can use sewing machines. But even sewing machines replicate the basic process we achieve with needle and thread. When I'm making costumes I find myself not using my modern tape measure; I'll use an old shirt that I know fits him well. (This may also have something to do with the fact that my cats are larcenous fiends who like nothing better than to conduct a Sewing Basket Heist at inconvenient moments. But I digress.)

Recently I've started to learn how to do naalbinding; stitches that are at least a thousand years old. (I'm sure any passing viking would just tut my efforts and wander off mumbling how standards have fallen over the years, but never mind.)

My point is: I like the fact that the crafts I enjoy have been enjoyed by (and exasperated, probably in equal measure) generation upon generation of women (and some men) stretching back through time.

I also like taking these ancient skills and trying to make something new out of them. Because that's what human beings do, really. Take an old idea and stick something new on it.

Like glitter. Mmm. Naalbinded glitter-socks.....