Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Learning something new

This weekend, I decided to learn something new -- how to knit.

My mom taught me how to crochet when I was younger -- and I learned how to sew and do cross-stich in home-ec -- but I never managed to learn how to knit.

On Sunday, while shopping with some friends, I saw this kit -- which seemed to be aimed at children -- and figured that it couldn't be too difficult.

Last night, while watching TV, I started making the first couple of stitches. Today, I think I'm starting to get the hang of it:



Admittedly, this is very simple. It's a scarf, so there are no complications like sleeves, or round edges, or anything. Plus, it's only one color yarn, and a simple pattern where I'm knitting one row and then purling the next.

Still, I'm kinda proud of myself.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

My sister got into knitting a while back. So far she has only mastered scarves -- i.e. knitting in a straight line. I was yelled at for a) mocking her scarves and b) drumming with her knitting needles.

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Good luck.

A coworker at the conference yesterday was knitting a sock during the breaks. She'd already finished one and was a third of the way through the second one.

But her needles are really small compared to yours - I guess there are different needle sizes for different clothing. :)

Ryane said...

Dara--that's so cool!! I have wanted to learn to knit for a long time now...where did you find this kit??

dara said...

Jason: I drummed with the knitting needles too, before I started.

I think I'm going to be on the scarf thing for a while. That way, I can experiment with the type and number of stitches and see what they look like.

RJ: Socks are way out of my league. Straight lines. Maybe one day, I'll be able to knit a blanket.

Ryane: Honestly, now that I'm doing it, I think the kit was overpriced. Basic knitting instructions are available on the internet. Buy some needles and a skein of yarn, and you're good to go.

But they have things like this in various craft stores and museum gift shops. I bought mine at Strathmore Mansion on Sunday, at the annual museum shop-a-round. Some friends and I decided that it would be nice to have a knitting circle.

Anonymous said...

Nice! You're a fast learner. I'll take this up one of these days ...

dara said...

Sweet: I have this need to keep busy all the time -- so I sat on the couch teaching myself while watching tv. Once I figured out the logic to it, it seemed kind of easy.

I think I have some kind of high-functioning ADD. Which also explains why, in the middle of the work day, I relish the opportunity to respond to comments instead of getting some actual work done.

DSL said...

I need to get started! I'm still wondering if I should have gotten the simpler yarn, but we'll see.

By the way, in addition to long and short knitting needles, I've also seen people using bent or curved ones. Something for everything.

dara said...

Debby: I don't think your yarn will make a difference. I do, however, think that the varying color in mine made it a teensy bit easier to see the stitches when I was first practicing how to do each kind.