Today I am thinking about comfort food. My very first felted project – a felted muffin – prompted me to learn how to crochet, which led me to The Oxford Bluestockings (for assistance!) and from that point on I was almost instantly drawn into the world of knitting. Distracted by alpaca yarns and the lure of learning about sock-construction, I all but forgot about felted/crocheted/knitted buns and delicacies for a time.

However, when I began weight-watchers last year, I found myself returning to thoughts of handcrafted food. I found the felted muffin, lemon key pie slice and jammy dodger were pleasing mascots for my weight-loss programme. Far from inspiring me to eat sweet treats, they offered a pleasing alternative. Instead of eating actual chocolate, for instance, I could knit some. And I often found the knitted results more pleasing than the edible ones, since I often feel bloated and lethargic after high fat/sugar content. When I originally made the felted muffin I was fascinated by how much more appealing and comforting than an actual cake or biscuit the felted/crocheted version was, and began visualising a huge dresser covered in such items and labeled, simply, ‘Comfort Food.’ I thought the idea that people could come along and touch, cuddle, hold, stroke and enjoy the pretend food very engaging, offering interesting perspectives into deprivation, overload, decadence, sensuality, and our emotional relationship with food. I quickly learned that this was by no means an original idea and began collecting information on other artists working with knitted food. The results were surprisingly prolific; there is Donna Wilson with her machine knitted cupcakes, the relentless and flawless efforts of littlecottonrabbits, all the non-edible food created lovingly for The Knitted Wedding and the knitted 1950s room complete with food created by the folks of Strathaven. Add to this the decandent and beautiful knitted gingerbread house, the stock carried by ‘All the fun of the fair,‘ and the proliferation of etsy sellers like Alice Wood who make knitted treats and it becomes immediately obvious that such items are extremely popular. Often in the strapline on ebay or etsy listings makers are keen to stress the low-calorie benefits of knitted cakes as compared to the sugar and fat varieties, so I’m certainly not the first to think of these things myself.

In spite of all this, neither the proliferation of knitted food projects or the popularity of websites dedicated to it have put me off the idea of my ‘Comfort food’ exhibit. If anything I am galvanised and inspired by what exists already and there is an amazing array of patterns to choose from should the food-knitting urge kick in. It may have to wait until I have either a studio or a larger kitchen for the overspilling dresser that I dream of, but until then I will squirrel away oddments and turn them into splendid, inspiring creations and tuck them into drawers everywhere as friendly reminders and mascots to myself. This will be one of several strategies I’ll employ in coming weeks to wean myself off the amazingly emotional eating patterns I seem to have established over winter/bereavement/Christmas.

Other strategies include revisiting the WW brochures and pamphlets, restocking the fridge with items that are not blue cheese, clotted cream, Christmas Cake, butter etc. and energising myself at a local gym. I was inspired by Ellen and Lara last night to make the golden dress Isolde gave me for my Christmas present into a kind of goal dress. When I can do up the zip, I’ll be at my goal weight. In the meantime, I will be mainly enjoying this for inspiration.