Thursday, December 11, 2008

Trying Something New

My dear Mrs. Pivec from Golightly Place has inspired me to try a new hobby...knitting! You know how I'm always whining about wanting to be creative and really make something with my own two hands, well this is my latest attempt at satisfying that need! It has been fun so far and not too terribly frustrating.

I have found that I CANNOT learn to do craft projects from written instructions and diagrams, I have to SEE them done, so I was so happy to find videos online for beginning knitters (again thanks to Mrs. Pivec!).

I will now dazzle you with my new found knitting terminology... I have learned to "cast on" and I think I am getting the hang of the "knit stitch". Although I have difficulty when I get to the end of a row. There is this weird loop left over, I am sure due to operator error of some kind. Any help from the knitters out there? I started out with the Continental method but couldn't get the hang of holding the yarn in my left hand. I am having more success with the English method. There you go. Impressed yet?

My husband has taken to calling me "granny" when he sees me knitting. I can always count on him for moral support.

While perusing knitting books at Barnes and Noble the other day I found one with ideas for using knitting for good. For example, beanie hats for chemo patients and teddy bears for kids who have been abused. Wouldn't it be amazing to know that something you made brought comfort to others in the midst of pain? I hope I can gain enough knitting skill to do something like that.

5 comments:

Creative Life Studio said...

Hooray, hooray, hooray! :)

You will love your new adventure. There are many, many, MANY charities you can knit for. Really. They can keep you knitting forever.

Your husband will quickly learn that knitting is HOT. :) As in so popular right now that it might just blow his mind. So many more than grannies do this nowadays. The over 250,000 Ravelry users can attest to this. (In fact, I would urge you over there at Ravelry.com, to get on the waiting list to get on... SO much fun and so much info). So can the yarn vendors at events such as Rhinebeck, Stitches East, Midwest and West, etc. They're not hurting for customers, I can assure you. :)

Plus, The Friday Night Knitting Club was a NY Times bestseller for months and is currently being made into a movie starring Julia Roberts. The sequel, Knit Two, newly released, is doing exceptionally well too. Stephanie Pearl McPhee, aka The Yarn Harlot (see the sidebar on my blog) is like a knitting rock star. I promise, I am not kidding.

And Granny knew what she was doing. There is nothing like the combination of rocking and knitting to take you to a new place.

Looking forward to following your progress! :)

Mom to 5...Daughter of the King said...

Good for you!!! What fun! Í've tried knitting and crochet. Neither of which did i master. Keep practicing!

Becky Avella said...

That's awesome, Jen. I'm jealous! Will you teach me? I think in January we are going to get the Friday night crafts going again, so maybe you can bring your knitting needles or scrapbooks or both. : )

Nikki Hoover said...

Fun! I'm jealous...I learned a couple years ago to knit dish cloths. Pretty simple project that I highly recommend! BUT I think I've forgotten how since I haven't worked on one for about a year.
I completely understand the "not being able to read a pattern" thing. They make no sense. Looking forward to seeing some completed projects. = )

Aimee said...

way to go!! I am a newbie knitter and would love a local buddy to teach me more than the basics. have fun!!!