In the beginning
Posted by Andi on February 25, 2007
I thought that a great way to start a new knitting blog is to explain how I got started knitting in the first place.
At some point in 2003 I was watching a morning show, and there was a segment on knitting. I stopped whatever it was I was doing, and started paying attention. There was a woman who was showing off some finished objects, and they were garments I would actually wear. Up until that point I thought that knitting was something that older people did. My mom tried to teach me when I was a little girl, and I just didn’t pick up on it. Since then, all of the knitters I saw were older women who knit things that older women would like. I didn’t like those things. I didn’t know anyone my own age who was knitting at time, nor had I ever seen anyone out and about who close to my age knitting. To be frank, I never considered picking it up as a hobby.
I had a few thoughts as I was watching that morning show. First, I thought that it might be a nice hobby. Second, I thought it would be a nice way to give gifts. I had recently returned to graduate school to finish my PhD, and money was an issue. I figured that yarn was cheap (I had never been to a local yarn store before, and the only yarn I had ever seen was at Michael’s) and I could use my new hobby as a way to give gifts.
Later that day I called my mom and asked if she would teach me how to knit. I told her that I wanted to make a scarf for my boyfriend. She told me to go to a bookstore and find a book that explains how to knit, and to find a pattern for a scarf I liked. Then she would go over it with me, and take me to buy some needles and yarn.
The next day I found myself at Borders. I started flipping through some of the knitting books, and the ones I was finding had all of those older woman patterns I spoke of earlier. I was feeling discouraged. After about 10 minutes I picked up a copy of Stitch ‘n Bitch by Debbie Stoller. The first page I opened to was the one with a photo of the Alien Illusion Scarf. It was a sign! My boyfriend is a bit of a sci-fi geek, and I thought that the Alien Illusion Scarf would be the perfect scarf for him. I flipped through the rest of the book, and I noticed that the patterns looked familiar. It turns out that Debbie Stoller was the woman I saw on that morning show. I fell in love with some of the patterns right away. I also saw that there were instructions on how to knit in the book. Great patterns and instructions, this was the book for me!
As promised, my mom took me to Michael’s to get some knitting supplies. Michael’s didn’t have the green yarn I wanted, so I decided to make the scarf in black and white. I bought some knitting needles, a tape measure, and a crochet hook. I wasn’t sure what I would need the crochet hook for because I wanted to knit, not crochet, but my mom assured me that I should get it, and now I’m grateful!
I went back to my mom’s house, and she taught me how to cast on, how to knit, and how to purl. It took me a bit of time, but I got the hang of it. Soon I was knitting away. It took me a while to finish the scarf. It was my first project, and I wasn’t very adept at reading the pattern. It took me a long time at first, but I finished it in time to give it to my boyfriend for Christmas.
I know what some of you are thinking. The curse. I read about the curse in Stitch ‘n Bitch. I didn’t think it applied to me for two reasons. First, I wasn’t making a sweater. Second, I knew my boyfriend would appreciate the time and effort I took to make his present. He had made me a present in the past, so I knew he would understand and appreciate my efforts. And sure enough, he did. He loved the scarf. I hid the fact that I was learning to knit from him, so he was really surprised. He still wears his scarf religiously every winter.
And I was off and running. I haven’t stopped knitting since, except for the time I had a knitting-related injury and was told by my doctor to stop knitting for a week. It nearly killed me!
Oh, and I guess there is a bit of that curse that haunts me. When it came time to knit a sweater for my boyfriend, I showed him many patterns and had him choose the ones he liked best.
