I've had this fabulous post in mind that I should do for the past bunch of days and weeks. I wanted to tell you all how I started knitting. It does seem like something one should do when you first start a blog about knitting, so I'm gonna do it now.
The very first time I learned to knit, I learned from my grandmother. I was somewhere about in fourth or fifth grade.
This is my Grandma Dode.
She was a wonderful grandma that was always knitting things. She knitted booties for every little baby she heard about being born and knitted sweaters and Christmas stockings and everything under the sun (or so it seemed). She taught me how to knit and purl, so I made a scarf. The scarf was a bright magenta and black striped one. (If I ever find a picture of it, I will make sure to scan it so that you can all see it) It matched a bright magenta and black checked winter coat that she gave me for Christmas one year. It was great to learn to knit from her because she was left handed and I am as well and I wish that I would have kept on knitting all the time after that. Then I could say all of the techniques that I used were the same as my grandma's, but I didn't. I stopped knitting not too long after she taught me because she lived far away and I had a hard time figuring things out.
Then sometime when I was about twenty or so or something I started knitting again by looking at an old knitting book that was my mother's and grandmother's. I also asked my mom some questions when I was confused. She doesn't knit much, but she knows how to do it.
Here's the book!
The first thing I did was relearn how to cast-on and knit and purl and cast-off. Guess what . . . one of the first things I knit was a regular garter stitch scarf for a friend of mine that was going with the Peace Corps to Kyrgistan. Then I made a scarf for myself from one of the patterns in the book (look above). I also started some mittens that matched the scarf and made some mittens for a couple nieces and a couple hats all with patterns from this book. It took me a year or so to finally decide to finish the mittens for myself because the thumbs confused me, but I finished them and wear the scarf and mittens all the time.
Here they are!
Anyway, I have made a ton of patterns from this book that was published in 1947 and I love them. Someday, when my husband and I have children, I have an idea that they will be dressed a lot like little babies from the fifties. This book has a ton of patterns in it included knitted neckties and vests for men that go well with those 5 inch above the belly-button pants. I have seen quite a few patterns that I would be very willing to wear if I would ever get around to making them, but I have a hard time finding anything my husband would wear. (This has nothing to do with learning to knit-but my husband has absolutely no sweaters. He wears leather gloves-not knitted ones, he wears cotton button-up shirts-not sweaters, I did make him a knitted neck warmer for skiing and he loves that, but I would love to make him a sweater someday-it will have to be extremely special though)
Well, I keep learning all the time and like to try all sorts of new things. I love to make things that are challenging and beautiful. Well, I hope that you have a great day!
No comments:
Post a Comment