You get up very early, go into costume, make up and then generally wait. You can be waiting for a long time as they like to have you there and ready, sometimes long before you get on set. So I would be waiting and getting restless, reading the script, fiddling, wasting time basically.
I sometimes fell asleep. This is not great as when they are ready for you you have to be ready, you can't be sleepy, disorientated or have a zip mark on your face from your warm jacket...
I could never read as I felt anxious about not being in the world of the character I was playing so someone suggested I take up a hobby, maybe knitting. I wish I could remember who as I'd like to thank them.
I asked my mum as my Christmas present from her, to teach me to knit and I was instantly hooked! Like completely hooked. I have basically never stopped. I knitted awful lumpy scarves to begin with, they went on forever as I didn't know how to cast off. I'd take them on set with me hoping to find someone who could free me from this mile long lumpy thing.
I have always had good tension but I have really started to develop as a knitter in the last 2-3 years. A friend of a friend suggested I join Ravelry and I have never looked back. I love the community, the patterns available, the resources there from forums to ask help to yarn shop suggestions.
I travel quite a bit nowadays as I am mainly doing theatre work. It's an odd life, packing your suitcases, leaving your home behind for several months and setting up home in someone else's home. We poor actors live in digs when we're away, we rent rooms from people living near the theatre we're employed by. I have been very lucky and stayed with some great people but it is my knitting projects that I take with me that make me feel settled.
I also make a point of finding local yarn wherever I stay and one day I shall knit it all up into a nomad's afghan blanket. I shall look back on it and say 'that was from that funny little shop in Wales/Scotland/Manchester/Birmingham/Belfast'.
I also love love making things for friends and family's birthdays, Christmas etc. I recently made some friend's a baby blanket for their first baby and I felt so proud. It helps me express to people how much they mean to me so much more then if I'd bought them something.
So, yes, I love knitting, I am a yarn obsessive and through this 'hobby' I feel in a lot of ways I have found myself.
Anyway, if you fancy, you can find my knitting projects here on my blog. Maybe you'll share yours with me!
