Saturday, July 23, 2011

My knitting beginnings...

   Since I had some time today to actually sit down and knit, I got to thinking about how I started, who taught me, and what that was like. I was maybe 10 years old, in 4th or 5th grade when my grandmother taught me to knit. Being as she was such a kind and gentle teacher, I now refer to her as the Knitting Nazi.
   She only let me use the cheapest acrylic yarn she had, in the ugliest colors, and made me knit with pencils with thumbtacks stuck into the erasers, so as not to perhaps damage her precious knitting needles. I am not kidding.
   This woman, the mother of my mother, made the whole experience so unpleasant for me, that after knitting a small purse for a class project, I gave it up completely, and never looked back.
   In 1976, when I was pregnant for my own daughter, I taught myself to crochet, and continued to crochet for the next 34 years. Then I met another karate mom, Laura, who invited me to come to this little knitting group she belonged to. I went, once assured they would welcome a crocheter. What a great group of ladies they were! I was hooked. With their encouragement, I picked up a pair of knitting needles. It was like I had never put them down!
   Don't get me wrong, I still crochet. I am now working on another tire cover for my Jeep. A more manly one, in a camo yarn, so my Hubby won't be embarassed to drive it.
   Once I started knitting, I discovered the joy of wool. My friend and knitting mentor, Kim, introduced me to all the soft and wooly goodness of the different breeds of sheep, and the blends of wool with silk, and bamboo, and other things. Amazing! Now I even smell the yarns when I shop.
   I was flabbergasted to discover that crocheting used so much more yarn than knitting! So now when I knit, it's usually in wolly goodness, and when I crochet, I usually use acrylic yarn. I still love the machine washable-ness of acrylic.
   In the first year of knitting, I knit four (yes, 4) sweaters. The last one only took me 18 days from first cast on to last cast off.  Two of the sweaters were acrylic and two were wool.
   Over the winter, I knit my most ambitious sweater yet. I has knitted-in pockets, and shaping, and a (gasp) pleat in the back. I was very nervous, but pushed myself. I messed up the pleat a little, but it looks good anyway. I am very proud of how it came out, and can't wait for the cooler weather so I can wear it!
  I was going to say, my grandmother would be proud, but realized I don't really care, since I came to knitting this time despite her!

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