Who is Miss Minty Anyways?
Well for starters, my friends call me Claire. Born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario. I have lived my whole life in Ottawa, except for 3 months in the summer of 2012 when I lived in Orlando, FL, working at Walt Disney World on an international college program. I've been married to my loving and supportive husband since summer 2018 and we’ve been together since fall 2012. We have an blue merle Australian Shepherd dog, our protector, who joined us spring of 2016. And we became parents to a wonderful, loving, silly boy in summer 2020.
I taught myself how to crochet about 12 years ago. I started by making bunting triangles which I then joined together to make a hexagon. It then grew larger by adding borders, making it into a lap blanket. Since then, I’ve crocheted many dishcloths, a few beanies, a couple amigurumi stuffies, and many many baby blankets.
I originally became fascinated with knitting though, because I grew up watching my grandma knit whenever I visited her. She always had a project on the go. A sweater for someone in the family, or a blanket, or what I think was her favourite: baby items (hat, sweater and booties), often made for my aunt to take to Peru on mission trips. I dabbled a bit in teaching myself how to knit about 13 years ago. I knit a couple panels in what I had hoped to join together for a baby blanket. But I gave it up quickly as I became board with it. Maybe it was the fact that I was knitting on straight wooden needles, which I have since learned are my least favourite needles to use. I picked up knitting again about 4.5 years ago, after I had my son. Stuck at home with a newborn during many a Covid-19 lockdown. I started watching Youtube podcasts with my mother-in-law on her days off. My first project was a pair of socks using an advent from a striped yarn indie dyer. My MIL helped me with the afterthought heels and toes. I don’t wear them now, as I made them a little bit too small. But they’re hanging on the wall by my craft desk as a reminder of where my love of yarn and knitting started. Since then I’ve made many beanies, a handful pairs of socks, and a couple of sweaters for myself. Oh, and a gnome. I also have a 3D printed circular sock machine (CSM) which I play with every now and then.