About

I began knitting about two years ago and haven’t been able to put my needles down since. The story of how I became a knitter is actually a multi-generational saga.

It all began when my mom was about my age (early twenties) and wanted to learn to spin. Being the practical, home economics major that she is, Mom felt she needed to have a purpose for the yarn before she learned to spin. So she took up weaving. She took a class and obtained a table loom but cost and lack of portability limited her progress in the craft. She then took up needle point, but it was too expensive for her newly-wed budget. So, after a couple of projects she moved on to counted cross stitch. And that was her crafting passion when I came along.

My first memories of needle crafts are sitting at my mom’s feet while she cross stitched and I played. Sooner or later, she gave me a spare piece of adda cloth, a blunt needle and the scraps of thread from whatever project she was working on. I would create the fiber arts version of scribble scrabble. Mom would put them in small frames and give them to relatives as Christmas ornaments. Eventually I moved on to using patterns and especially enjoyed stitching words.

Sometime when I was in middle school, Mom went back to needle point because it was easier to take to ballet lessons and other outings. By then her budget was bigger and she was introduced to the basket weave technique (so much better than flipping the canvas upside down all the time). Of course she passed the skills she learned on to me.

But throughout all this, I was a social crafter. I would stitch with my Mom during holidays or college football games or with my aunt and cousins during holiday get togethers. But I was loathe to pick up my needle and canvas on my own. Mom still teases me about a needle pointed strawberry scissor fob. I finished the first side (smaller than the size of my palm) in one afternoon and then let it sit for a full two years before I picked it up to finish it.

In college, I did complete a large project as a gift for my future husband and also made several college themed needlepointed Christmas ornaments for friends. I also made a sampler for my Mom and my mother in law as thank you gifts  for helping me plan my wedding. But when I moved cross country with my husband after being married only two months, I only brought one (still unfinished) needlepoint project with me along with one needle and a small pair of scissors.

 That January, my mom and her best friend, Kathy, made it their New Year’s resolution to learn to knit. They took a class at their local yarn shop and completed their first scarves. Mom was off and running. Over the next year I received seasonal shipments of my mom’s latest scarf projects.

By the time she came to visit that August, I had submitted to letting her teach me to knit. Along with my dad, husband and cousin, we went on a sailing trip and Mom taught my cousin Kati and I to knit along the way. After a few practice rows, I began two scarf projects: a drop stitch scarf out or varigated silk ribbon on size 17 needles and a pass through scarf out of chenille. Finishing them quicker than I expected, I was quick to go back to the local yarn shop for more yarn and needles.

Two facts guided my initial yarn purchases. First, I’d been crafting long enough to learn that quality materials were worth it to me. And second, after having abandoning several needle arts genres before, I was afraid that if I didn’t keep knitting and knitting everything I wanted to knit I would abandon the craft and have projects of shame hanging around my new apartment.

That, and the fabulous and generous advice from the folks at the Churchmouse.

Soon, I moved on to larger projects with more shaping. I tried to teach myself a new technique with each project I selected. By Christmas, I’d made my first sweater and was working on another one fore my husband.  And, was thoroughly shocked at how easy cabling was.

Over that Christmas vacation, Mom and I knit almost continuously. When one of us got too tired to keep knitting we would read to each other from the Yarn Harlot‘s first book to cheer each other on. I soon discovered her blog and the treasure trove of information and stories available through the internet and the knitting blog community.

I was a ferry commuter at the time, so I had some serious time dedicated to practice my new craft. Plus, so many other ferry commuters knit on the ride across the Sound, that it was easy to identify folks I could ask for help if I got stuck.

By the next Christmas I had caught the spinning bug. Since we still live in a small apartment, I asked for a drop spindle for Christmas. I thoroughly enjoy it and can’t wait until I have more time to practice. I think I might see a spinning wheel in my future.

So here I am. Practicing guerrilla knitting when ever I can. If anyone aside from Mom finds this little project interesting I will be slightly surprised and greatly flattered.