I will never get any readers if I don't post anything. I needed one more post for December so my archives for 2008 don't look at pitiful as my knitting.
Speaking of knitting since this is supposed to be a knitting blog, this is how my journey began:
I have wanted to learn to knit for many, many years. The whole concept of taking some pretty yarn and turning it into something useful (or something other than a skein of yarn) was an exciting proposition. The desire was there - the knowledge was missing.
My Grandmother crocheted. My Mother crocheted. Both were very good. Impressive. Grandma tried teaching me. My only accomplishment was a cast on chain that extended about 12 miles. I ripped it out and did it again. I did finally learn to the single crochet and the double crochet. Even made a plain ole "afghan" that consisted of strictly double crochet stitches, uneven sides, and measured about 2 feet long. Never got too much past that.
Neither knew how to knit and I didn't know anyone who could knit - so lessons were hard to come by. As a young adult, I found a class listed in an adult education brochure. The class was tauted as beginning crochet/knit classes. I sent in my $10 and anxiously awaited my first class. I was the youngest student by about 40 years. All the other students wanted to learn to crochet, so the teacher focused on that. I think I might have managed to learn how to make a slip knot, but that was about all I learned from that class.
Fast forward several years. I am now the mother of two toddlers and I have a mother in law that knits beautiful blankets, booties and sweaters. Unfortunately, she lived many states away and lessons were not possible. Instead, I began a long term love affair with counted cross stitch. I was already fairly good with a sewing machine - making almost all the clothes for the kids and myself. Counted cross stitch was my surrogate knitting. I was able to create a multitude of designs with a needle and thread. Not quite knitting, but it satisfied my desire to make something from woven materials.
I never got over the "I wanna learn to knit" phase though. A few years ago, I once again decided to take up the yarn and needles and see if I could teach myself to knit. I bought all the "Teach Yourself to Knit In a Day" books I could find. No luck. I couldn't even figure out how to cast on. I stared at pictures, I watched videos online - nothing clicked. I mentioned to a friend at work that I wanted to learn to knit but my bumble brain was too dense to figure out how to even start. She immediately took my needles and yarn and within 5 minutes, I had mastered the "Slingshot Method" and was beside myself! I spent hours casting on, uncasting on and then casting on again.
I guess I thought the rest would just fall into place once the knitting brain cells were activated. It took some practice, but I finally mastered the knit stitch. I started collecting my yarn stash at that very moment. I bought skeins and skeins of bulky weight yarn and started my first mission. I was going to knit scarves for all the women at work. Part way through the first scarf, I decided it wasn't nice enough to give as a gift. It wasn't even worthy of using to mop the floor. It was hideous. Uneven tension. Crooked rows. Bleah! I couldn't begin to pass this off as a handmade gift with "character".
So, I did what any good crafter would do. I improvised. I went back to the big box craft store and bought some furry yarn. I discovered that knitting some of that furry yarn with the multi-colored bulky yarn produced a decent looking scarf. And that furry stuff hid almost all the imperfections. I knitted up a ton of those furry, fuzzy scarves and passed them out at Christmas. Everyone smiled politely. I am sure they were wondering what on earth they were going to do with this shaggy gift. I didn't care. I was knitting!
I bought a "Teach Yourself to Knit" kit. It came with some yarn, some needles, and some instructions to make a hat and a scarf. I had already mastered the scarf, so I thought I would whip up my first hat. I knitted that hat up within a few days. It was just a panel like the scarves I had been making. I was the Queen of Rectangles! After knitting, I sewed up the seam and proudly displayed my new hat. My daughter and her friends promptly pointed out that the top looked like cow udders. Okay, so maybe it did. But was it really necessary to pass the hat around, taking turns putting it on and Mooooo-ing like a freaking bovine?! I think not!
I continued making scarves. Tons of them. All colors. All sizes. All with just the garter stitch. It was the only one I knew. I still have a bag of them somewhere.
To be continued......
