Knitting is something I’ve decided to pick up because I want to develop a hobby and also see an end result product. Just a little background on me and a shameful confession—I’ve never been one to complete many projects and I’ve been one to quit things early on. Usually I start with much enthusiasm and good intentions. The many skeins of yarn, needles, knitting books, and magazines I’ve accumulated are a result of my wanting to jump right in. I don’t exactly remember how I started “getting interested” in knitting. I remember a few years back poking around my mother’s attic I found some yarn and knitting needles and asked my mom to teach me. I learned a basic “knit and purl” stitch. With this newfound knowledge I thought to myself, “I can make anything!”
Well the reality of knitting is before it becomes enjoyable it’s like learning a new language. If you’ve never knit anything in your life here’s my lay term explanation. First, knitting is not just about picking up yarn and needles and just whipping up something on the whim. It’s almost like a science. There are different types of yarn, different sizes of needles, and here’s where the scary terms come in gauge, reductions, increases, and jargon in patterns like sl1, k1fb, yo … all these things can make you dizzy.
I’ll admit I’m stubborn and I want to see immediate results. I like the thrill of jumping in and getting my hands dirty. Well then other knitters may say this is not the hobby for you. So why am I insistent on learning this craft? I want to teach myself to learn something new and to follow through. When I was younger I’d quit if something was too hard—I just gave up without second thought. It’s my shameful secret—I gave up piano, clarinet, soccer, softball, Chinese lessons and countless of other “hobbies.” Often times I have heard the best way to overcome an obstacle is to never give up. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t want to be a beginner but I have to learn the fundamentals. You can’t run unless you learn how to walk right?
I’ve made some pretty horrible scarves all because I wanted to try a new challenging pattern without fully understanding of some knitting basics. And so I’ve decided in order for me to really taking knitting seriously I need to start fresh. I need to practice because just like we learned in school—practice makes perfect. What I hope to accomplish is not just learning how to knit well but to prove that old habits can be broken. I want to prove to myself that I can follow through and that hard work will get me to level I want to be at eventually. I know I won’t be an expert knitter in a few months, but with good practice of the fundamentals, I can get there.
My husband said, “Why don’t you join a knitting group?” I thought about it but I want to try to teach myself and then when I want to advance maybe take a class. This is an exciting time for me because I finally admitted my big fault of giving up. I admit my guilty pleasure is Googling knitting blogs and admiring the work of others. I feel like knitting is such an art. And I hope one day I will create a blog about my knitting adventures (just like the ones I read) so that someone out there like me may read it and get inspired.
Until then it’s all about the fundamentals and if I make mistakes, I’ll just rip, stitch, and repeat.
