Knitting? Who knits
these days? A year ago, when I thought
about knitting, I pictured a wisp of a grandma sitting in her living room,
busily working away at a tiny infant-sized hat that she’ll later donate to the
local hospital for the newborns. It was
easy to picture this because the grandma in question is my husband’s and she
has knit for like, EVER. Her name is Eva
and she is awesome, by the way. But because
of her longevity at the craft, and the fact that she’s in her 90s and I’m quite
a ways from that (although not as far as I’d like to be), for over a decade I
resisted my husband’s attempts to have Grandma teach me to knit. I mean, I had other important stuff to do and
I’m too young to sit and knit, right? I
tried crochet as a kid and never produced anything but a few ugly doilies that
my mom set out to make me feel special.
And compared to the speed and skill with which Grandma produced lovely
items, I was sure that my attempts would produce an epic fail. No one in my
family knit. My own grandma was into
needlepoint, which I tried but was never all that excited about. Besides, who
knits these days??
December 2011: My son
and daughter-in-law come for Christmas (they’re north, I’m south – long story,
not relevant). Lots of moms have issues
with their daughters-in-law. Mine
rocks. Seriously. Anyway, shortly into their visit, I see
Christine pull out…knitting. She’s in
her 20s. Says she learned from some
other women at her church. Really? Before you know it, we’re down at the local
Michael’s looking at (read: buying) yarn and needles and accessories and…I’m
learning to knit.
Little did I know then that I would become completely
obsessed with knitting. I have had at
least one knitting project going at all times since last Christmas (the current
count is four). First it was scarves,
then shawls and wraps. In less than a
year I've gotten into sweaters and little stuffed toys and…well, it really doesn't matter what, as long as I’m knitting.
I carry knitting with me in my purse.
Our beach bag we bought in Cozumel two
years ago while on our cruise? Yeah,
it’s filled with knitting. My closet in
the bedroom used to be stuffed with shoes.
Now it’s stuffed with shoes and yarn.
I learned it’s called my “stash”.
I also found a fabulous LYS (that’s
Local Yarn Shop – took me a while to figure that out). It’s 20 minutes from home and they have a
weekly “knit night” and offer free help and lessons all the time and oh, they
also have gobs and gobs of YARN. Really
nice yarn made from fibers that actually come from nature and not a lab. Yarn that, when you touch it, makes you all
warm and fuzzy inside. You shouldn't laugh unless you’ve tried it. Go
ahead. I dare you.
They say you should blog about what you’re passionate
for. So, here I am. Welcome.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to knitting…
Let me know how you
got started with knitting. Or if you
haven’t started yet, what’s kept you from jumping in?
I love this post. Great job.
ReplyDeleteThanks!!
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