Wednesday 20 July 2011

K is for... Knitting

Well it couldn't really be anything else could it?

I thought I'd do the story of how I got started knitting, and show you my amazing first creations.

My gran used to knit, although I never remember her knitting. There are, however, lots of pictures of knitted jumpers which I am assured she knit for me, and she did teach me to knit when I was about 6

This is the amazing garter stitch scarf I created between the ages of 6 and 7. I was really impressed when I fished it out at how even my gauge is, and that there are no yarn overs or holes anywhere!

And here is the grateful recipient (yes I still have him) Bongo the monkey, and one of my favourite toys when I was little.

And after successfully finishing that wonderfully loud piece of knitting, I put it aside for the next 9 years. At 15, our GCSE textiles group took a trip to the Harrogate knitting and stitch show, which had a section teaching people how to knit. We got a free set of needles, a free ball of yarn, and a few minutes of teaching, then we just sat around and chatted and knit for about an hour. It was great fun and so I finished up my ball of yarn, then ran out. I wasn't given the ball band, so the knitting went into a bag at the back of my wardrobe, and there it stayed.
Until I discovered MochiMochi Land. I have talked about it before, and I have no idea how I stumbled upon it, but the toys there really took my fancy, and I discovered amigurumi. After a lot of amigurumi pattern trawling (and I didn't even know about Ravelry at this point), I decided that I really had to make one of my own! So I headed up to a local yarn store I had spotted up the road from where I was living, to buy some lovely cheap acrylic yarn to make the toys. Then I spotted something on one of the dark shelves behind the counter. It was my yarn! I could finish my scarf!

And knowing nothing about dye lots or anything, I bought 2 ball of the lovely James C. Brett Rio and started knitting. But the indeterminable stockinette stitch got so dull, and I put it down again to make my cute toys (which also never got finished)...

Then, I picked it up again recently. It's hideous! It's so bright, far too wide, holey and gets wider as it goes on. Also, it suffers horribly from the stockinette stitch curl, as well as being pretty darn itchy and uncomfortable. I'm trying to force myself to frog it and soften up the yarn, so I can actually enjoy it.

I'm thinking I might make it into either Honka or one of these because I think if it's paired with black it'll tone down the colour somewhat, and make it into something I will wear.

As soon as my gran found out I was knitting again, she gave me all her old yarn and needles, as well as some needles that belonged to her grandmother. There wasn't much yarn left, but it's all very appreciated!

And that is how I got started knitting. I always like to know how people got started so share your stories!

For more K posts, check out here

5 comments:

  1. Love that you got your Gran's stuff!
    I learned to knit from a friend in 2006. We (about 6 couples) meet in Maui every September. I called Pam and asked if she would teach me to knit while we were there. She said bring some "stix" and some cotton yarn. Off to Michaels for Sugar and Cream cotton and needles. I bought kids plastic needles with cute faces on the ends! She taught me to K and P, Inc and Dec and how to CO and BO. That trip everyone got washcloths from me! I have never looked back!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! Your first project is really impressive. I couldn't decide which of those two scarf patterns I liked best...though Honka has the best name.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am quite impressed with your scarf! One of the first things I ever knit was a hideous striped sweater for my mom. She loved it but I doubt she ever wore it. At least, I hope not in public. It was really awful, so I took some lessons and now I can knit things fit to be worn in front of people without them laughing or getting nauseous.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a lucky monkey to have is own monkey-sized Dr. Who scarf! lol. Sweet story though, loved it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love hearing how people got started knitting, and I'm very impressed with your first scarf :) I think combining the purple with black will tone it down nicely too :)

    ReplyDelete