I learned to knit about 20 years ago. The practice hasn’t been steady. I made a few wonky scarves. I used a loom to make a couple of hats. I then learned crochet because I wanted to make stuffed animals (amigurumi) and knitting them seemed too complicated when I was still adding extra stitches by accident.
The crochet helped me become a better knitter, and I picked the craft back up again several years later when I needed something to help me cope with a heavy course load – I’d knit while I listened to the audio book version of what I needed to read, with the kindle app open to the same on my iPad, taking breaks from stitches to highlight text that I wanted to refer back to or making a quick note. Knitting helped me remember, helped me relax, and gave my brain a break from academic work. I started my knitting blog, on blogger, around that time, as well as a knitting Instagram account, back in the days before it was sold and monetized.
My guage became predictable during that time, and I started to grow my skills with the help of youtube tutorials and knitting blogs (I link to some of these on my Resources page).
Knitting also carried me through my (first) divorce, helped me calm and regulate, and I started to explore more complexity with colorwork, lace, and cables. I made my first pair of socks, in worsted weight yarn, which I recommend for any first-time sock knitter.
In 2017 I had a moth infestation take out most of my yarn, and that put my knitting on the back burner for a while. I would pick it up occassionally to make a hat or a pair of socks as a gift, but I didn’t want to do something large-scale after loosing a sweater quantity of good yarn ($$$), a big cozy shawl, and a number of other beautiful skeins I’d been dreaming of turning into more complex lacework.
I knit even less once my kiddo was born mid-2020. I’d made a few baby things while I was pregnant, but this kid did not want me making any more, not until she was nearing 4 years old. I started back up again making a few things for Waldorf preschool life – slippers for inside play, a hat and a kercheif for outside winter play, etc. I started to knit for myself again, too – kercheifs and triangle scarves.
This year has been my big return back. I frogged a cotton top that I had started in 2020 and worked it into a pattern I’d purchsed back in 2018 that was perfect for summer in my new town (hotter than I’m used to). I started a sweater – at last! – and made socks with tiny needles and sock yarn, when I’d only ever done house socks before. I made more slippers. I made a new hat. I knitted stuffed animals for the first time. And I have an extensize list of things to make before this year is up, too, both for girfts and for the kiddo’s winter faire at school.
And while I have been knitting a way this year, I have had a request to teach, and a suggestion to share those same lessons with another group, as well.
While I used to blog and share tutorials, I was not the most qualified to do so and am certainly surprised (and maybe a bit delighted) at my audaciousness at that time of life. I only shared what I knew, thinking that perhaps other beginners would enjoy the beginner perspective, and hoping it would push me beyond the crippling perfectionism that had me taking on new skills at a snails pace.
I am still perhaps not the most qualified, but this year I noticed that I’ve grown quite a bit and am now able to do something that I could not before – I can accurately read my knitting. What I mean is, that if I make a mistake, I can look and see what I’ve done wrong, and I am able to go back and fix what is fixable. And because I’ve got a stead pace, tension, and gauge, I knit without really looking and make more mistakes than I did when I needed to pay close attention. These mistakes have relaxed me, made me more confident, and helped me to let go of the type of perfectionism that stagnates progress; I still strive for neat and beautiful stitches, but I no longer fear ruining things or being unable to come from what feels like disaster.
So, I’ve decided I will say yes to teaching – at least the beginners – and I will help others to read their knitting and set them up to grow and maybe even become better knitters than I will ever be.
Knitting has given me so much more than warmth on a cold day. In fact, my child would not exist if I didn’t knit (which is a story for another day). It is empowering. It is active rest (quite necessary for my AuDHD brain). It is good for my brain. It is good for my body. It’s a tool for sharing my love and affection. It is a way to have high-quality garments in the age of fast fashion. And on and on… Who am I to keep the knowledge of the craft to myself?
My hope is that after teaching this class a couple of times, I will be able to publish the materials, and maybe even a virtual class, here. This way, more folks can access it and those who studied with me will also have the resource readily available and shareable.
So, do keep an eye out for something in the Spring! In the meantime, I will share bits here and there as they come to mind.
I wish you well!
Stephanie
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Parting Note: At this moment, I don’t know how to set up this blog as a newsletter, so you can also join me on Substack until then, but the ultimate goal is for all newsletter/blog activity to be on this platform where you are guaranteed your information will not be sold off.
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