I don't have just one crafting hero as there are a fair few people who've inspired me along the way, and no doubt there shall be more as my life goes on.
First off, well obviously my Mom and my Nan's who taught me to knit/solve dropped stitches etc. when I was little.
My Mom taught me embroidery one day when there was a bomb scare in the town centre, this wasn't long after a bomb scare/thing up the road from my house in the 90's. You don't think of Walsall as a prime bombing location, given that there aren't many people who could point to it on a map, though in relation to this post, Walsall is a town known for leather work and it's art/history.
Though thinking back to my earliest memories I have of these three women, there's always a craft element involved. Actually, thinking about it now, the women in my life have always been crafty to some degree, though the arty/crafty-ness is predominantly on my Mother's side as even her brother is arty, this aspect seems to reside in the women on my Dad's side, though the men can, they just don't use these abilities for fun, only when they have to.
That last sentence sounds like crafting is a super-ability.... though isn't it? Given how most people are shocked and awed by crafting skill, doesn't that make us Crafty Superheroes?
My sister and brother are both 'good at art', my brother also paints miniatures and my sister does leather stitching. My brother married a crocheter, and we pass books back and forth.
My Mom is brilliant at anything she puts her mind to, decorating/knitting/stitching/upholstery/painting (restoring) Victorian doll faces, the woman can do it. So it's no surprise she's a hero of mine.
Nan B (Mom's Mom) showed me how to knit, even though I knit as a lefty (I'm right handed)... I don't know what defines this but my knits look like knits so I'm happy. I inherited her a couple of her sewing/craft books and knitting patterns, if I can remember where I put them, drives me frickin' mad.
Nan R (Dad's Mom) who can no longer knit due to arthritis, gave me her needles, she amazes me with her knitting stories, telling me how she knit an aran sweater in less than a week! Mind blown.
So these are my crafting heroes since birth, let's get recent.
Starting my art course is probably the best thing I've done, this lead me to meet two amazing women who I admire to this day; Sam and Gill.
Sam (Sam Made) was a student tutor on my course, and it's her love of colour and vibrancy which you can see in her artwork as well as her vivid hair. I never thought that she'd be someone I'd have so much in common with, especially the love of Harry Potter.
Gill is the person who lead me to realise that knitting didn't have to be tired old baby clothes when she started to appear at college with fun pattern books such as Knitted Icons. She knit me my Sackboy and taught me to purl. If Gill hadn't been knitting at college, I probably wouldn't have picked up my needles again.
Gill and Sam, those beautiful, arty, crafty friends of mine.
Though these aren't the only people who've inspired me/are my heroes. In the past 6months - a year, I've discovered the online knitting community. The knitters who write comics like Brent (Skein n Bones) to the podcasters who inspired me to start my own, predominantly Elle (Miss Elle Knits), who although I've never met in person, I certainly admire, even though she's a Slytherin.
Finally, my fiancé, Craig, who learnt to finger knit for me, so we could do it together and who tried to knit with needles but wasn't for him, I'll always knit for him anyway.
So those are my heroes for now, who knows how many I'll have in a couple of years?
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