Our ‘Where Bloggers Live’ prompt was about my 5 favorite things about winter, but as usual, I went rogue and decided to share my knitting journey instead.
Besides, my top 5 things would be 1-knitting, 2-knitting hats, 3-knitting sweaters…you get the idea.
Quote of the day: “Give a woman a sweater, and she’ll be happy for a day; teach a woman to knit, and she’ll be happy for a lifetime.” Unknown
The truth of the matter is that winter has never been a beloved season of mine…until I started knitting. Not to say that I don’t knit in summer, but if you’re a knitter, you know what I mean.
While my skill of writing an entertaining story is average at best, I thought I’d also include some life lessons learned throughout my knitting journey to give everyone a reason to follow along.
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My knitting journey started after finishing dental school. I finally wasn’t studying at all hours of the day or somehow coordinating the things that needed to be done to graduate.
This meant I had TIME on my hands.
It was a new frontier for me. For 20 years, I had been schooled and studying (okay, a little partying too), but there was no real time for hobbies.
In my youth, I had done some needlepoint, and I picked it up again after graduation. I made a Noah’s Ark quilt for my friend’s baby, along with other things here and there.
And then it happened.
I was strolling through Michaels’ crafting area, and saw a woman in front of a yarn bin. She picked up some yarn and caressed it.
And I said to myself…”Maybe I’ll try to knit.”
My mother had taken up knitting some years back when I was in college.
In fact, I’ve worn the red sweater she knit me many times.
I hightailed it over to my mom’s house and asked if she had the supplies for me to start knitting. She sent me home with pamphlets (this was 1998–way before YouTube) and some limited needles and such.
She even had a couple of skeins of yarn, which I decided to use for the pattern in the pamphlet.
Let’s talk about the pamphlets that I used to learn to knit.
One was the typical, this is how you cast on, knit, and purl, which I followed to the letter.
Then there was a pamphlet all about how to correct mistakes. I tried to read the section on how to pick up a dropped stitch, and I just couldn’t understand the concept.
It was then, I said to myself, “Well, I just won’t make any mistakes,” and if you’re any type of crafter, it’s here that you are guffawing to no end, right? Because there are ALWAYS mistakes.
The pattern that I first attempted was a dickey. It was a ribbed turtleneck dickey, and I had this leftover tan yarn from my mom.
I worked diligently on that project for weeks. In fact, I redid the turtleneck portion over a dozen times (no exaggeration) because I was so new at this that I couldn’t tell a knit from a purl, and would mess up all the time.
When I finished, I layered it under a red, crew-neck jacket and wore it to the office. I told my assistant that I had knit it, and she didn’t believe me…until I opened up the jacket to show her the “dickey” part, which was uneven and wonky.
I only wish I had taken a photo of it or at least kept it. But alas, it got thrown out.
Then I visited a local knitting store where I was SHOCKED at the prices of yarn (remember, I’m a poor girl just out of school).
I bought some blue and white yarn, thinking it would be plenty for a sweater. The newbie in me didn’t realize it could be helpful to have a pattern in mind before choosing the yarn.
But I got creative and used some black leftover yarn my mom had given me with the blue and white yarn, and created my first knitted sweater.
It was everything I had imagined. Full of my hard work, easy to wear, and it looked great. In fact, I wore it recently, just to prove that I still wear my old items.
Are you wondering when this was? I finished this sweater in November 1998. I know that because I used to be good about taking a finished photo of all of my creations and labeling them.
Above is the album where I keep the photos (not surprisingly, I now have a couple of these booklets), although I’m not as good about the habit anymore.
I don’t know why I didn’t take a lesson. Well, maybe I do. I’m one of those who thinks I can figure it out on my own. And sometimes it works…sometimes it doesn’t.
My 3rd ever sweater had issues. In reality, issues are a common theme in my knitting journey, but I like to think of them as lessons.
By now, I was buying yarn at the thrift stores and eBay auctions. I was still backwards in planning out a sweater by assembling the yarn, and then trying to find a pattern for it.
This sweater is knit from thick, cotton yarn. It’s super heavy, and I’m sure it’s not what the pattern called for.
I don’t remember all the specifics (give me a break…it was back in 1999), but when I soaked the garment to block it, the green bled into the white yarn.
It looked terrible, so I took a Q-tip with bleach on it to try to fix it.
However, the bleach seeped into the green and made it yellow.
So I did what any poor, persistent knitter would do. I ripped out the back portion and cut out the yellow spots, and then tied the yarn back together so I could still use it.
Proof is shown on the inside of the sweater.
My knitting journey was just starting. I loved everything about the craft…
the textures of the yarn, the beautiful knitting pattern books, and even sewing the pieces together to create a masterpiece.
I wanted to knit everything and anything. It was this passion that I credit for saving my life. It’s a long story, but suffice it to say that it saved me from a suicide plan.
Funny: My mom used to call it my obsession with needles…as a dentist and a knitter.
One of the things I appreciate is that when you are done with a project, you have something tangible to show that lasts for years (unless someone throws it out).
As opposed to cooking a meal, which is gone in less than half an hour.
Knitting has turned out to be many things for me:
-A relaxing hobby that soothes away any Stress from the day.
-Even after retiring (and thus saying goodbye to my stress), it feels calming to knit.
-An activity that has introduced me to other wonderful women.
-My Love language…if I knit for you, it’s only because I love you. Knitting is not cheap, and the time commitment is more than non-knitters realize.
-Another way to increase my love of clothing.
Insider info: An average sweater will take about 10 skeins of yarn. “Good” wool yarn can be $6-$10 (or MORE) a skein. You do the math.
As for how long it takes to knit a sweater, this can vary depending on how fast a knitter knits. I’m not particularly fast, so I used to estimate that a full sweater would take me 1-2 months if I were able to knit every night.
As someone who analyzes (yes, you could say overanalyzes) everything, I feel like there have been many life lessons over the years.
Some of these I learned myself, and others I have gleaned from others.
When I read the prompt for Where Bloggers Live asking about why we love winter, I knew I wanted to share my knitting journey.
Sweaters and everything cozy are how I think of winter, and yet knitting is way more than just creating something to wear.
It’s become part of my identity.
And I’ve shared glimpses of this in the past with my yarn storage.
Much like life, not every stitch goes as planned, and not every outcome matches the original vision, but that doesn’t diminish its value. If anything, it makes the finished piece more personal and more mine.
What is Where Bloggers Live?
It’s all kinds of different prompts that started with our homes and have evolved to all different kinds of fun prompts.
Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and hear all about the personal backstories and interesting details? The best part of this group is that I learn something new from everyone’s different perspectives.
FYI, we don’t all post at the same time since we all have different schedules and live in different parts of the world.
Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Em at Dust and Doghair
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Sally at Within a World of My Own
I hope I thank you enough because your support allows me to continue this journey, which I LOVE!!!
Supporting a blog can be easy and free. Just visiting my pages, clicking my links (especially for Small Businesses and sponsored posts), and sharing the things you like on your social media make a huge difference. Spreading the word is how I can reach more wonderful people like you!
Or feel free to “buy me a coffee” which is a monetary way to tell me that you enjoy reading my blog (and allows me to purchase more yarn patterns, haha).
The post My Knitting Journey: How Learning Something New Changed More Than My Wardrobe appeared first on Jodie’s Touch of Style.
