There are few things as lovely, in this age of electronic media, as coming home and finding a handwritten envelope on your doormat. I had that experience today. To enhance the pleasure of the whole experience, the envelope bore unknown handwriting. A handwritten letter from someone unknown! How delicious! I’m sure we’ve all been there and experienced the disappointment when it turned out nevertheless to be from an estate agent wanting to sell the house, or a charity trying to get us to give them money.
I had such a letter today and it wasn’t a disappointment. Quite the opposite. It was a badge.
The badge was to thank me for my submission to the Unfinishable Project. You can find out about it via the link, but the short version is that two textile artists are creating a piece of art based on pieces of craft that their creators have not finished. In submitting a piece, you have to tell the story of why it didn’t, and indeed won’t, get finished. Mine was the back of a beautiful 1940s-style cardigan I was knitting, a style that would have looked great, a colour that was perfect for me, but in between moves, the moths got to it and ate a hole right in the middle. It makes me feel better that the piece will have a life after its death, so to speak. That the work was not for nothing, even if it has felt that way for several years. A project I am proud to be part of.
This post was original posted on the Creative Antonia blog, which has now been merged into this site.
Postscript (May 2023): The Unfinishable was shown at Alexandra Palace as part of one of the Knitting and Stitching Shows held there and so I was able to see my piece in situ. It was a rather wonderful experience!