Tale of Three...or so: Hoot!

"What is it?" said the husband. "It's an owl," I replied. "Can't you tell?"

"No," he said. "I love you, but no."

I have very vague memories of learning macrame at school as a small child, and being really into it. I remember twisted strands that formed pot holders. There were beads and coarse twine. I don't recall it being overly difficult, at least not as fiddly as it was when I threw myself into it again this week with my 'Woman's Day Complete Book of Handicrafts' (1973) to guide me. After practising the basic knots, I decided to launch myself into a real project - an owl. I found the pattern online and began...well enough.

I tied the strands onto a dowel and taped it to a work surface (the back of a cardboard coffee tray!)

The first alternating square knots were a breeze. More detail was added. A couple of beady eyes, some half hitches, more alternating square knots and some square knot sinnets.

Needless to say, this little number took most of the afternoon. There's meant to be more to it - another dowel for the owl's perch, and more bloody alternating square knots for the tail. But I was done... I'm quite into 'crafting' at the moment. I knit whenever I get a chance, have great plans for getting back into sewing and really look forward to teaching myself some new things, crochet and embroidery amongst them. I rather fancied I'd really enjoy this macrame thing, but no. It was fiddly and fussy and a bit boring. But there's the lure of a few garments in the Woman's Day craft book...