My First Encounter With Knitting

To be honest, I was really excited about learning how to knit.   I love clothes so I figured making my own would be pretty fun.  When I first began however, my enthusiasm was quickly replaced with frustration.  (The photo to the left was taken as I was well into my scarf and knitting had become fun.)  I started off with not being able to do the first step, which is making a slip knot.  However I had a friend who was able to do it for me and I was back on track.  I picked up on casting on pretty quickly, or so I thought.  I finished the process only to find out I had done it wrong, so I wound up with double stitches.

I wasn’t going to let that get me down though.  I unraveled everything I had done so far and tried it again, with the correct technique this time.  Now the hard part came, actually knitting.  I grabbed my other needle and dove in head first.  I caught on to it faster then I thought I would, but just as I began to get into it, class was over and I had to go home.

It was a Friday and I had big plans with my friends to go to the movies and hang out.  It was going to be a lot of fun, however that was about to change.  My friend sent me a text message saying something had come up and she couldn’t make it tonight.  I thought “oh well just one friend, at least my other buddy can still go”.  I was wrong.  He called me and said he forgot he already had a prior engagement tonight, so he apologized and said next time he’d come.  That left me with nothing to do on a Friday night.  I couldn’t go to the movies by myself, people would think I was a loser, and all my other friends were busy.  I had an idea.  I drove to Wal-Mart and headed directly to the crafts section.  I got some funny looks as I carefully paced the aisle trying to decide which color yarn to get.  I walked confidently through the store and up to the cashier, who took my items and seemed to carefully inspect each one.  I paid her no attention and paid and left.  I got back home and started my big Friday night plan.

Luckily I had worked out the errors in my technique at school that day, so I was able to start correctly.  Before I knew it I had twenty five stitches and I was ready to knit.  After several rows I began to get into the rhythm and I was able to occasionally glance at the television and watch the shows.  I soon had figured out some little tricks, like holding the yarn in my left hand, and keeping slack on the yarn, so that I could work even faster.  Pretty soon there was a sizable piece of knitted yarn in my hands.  I was excited.  As of now I am still working on my scarf, it is about one third of the length I want it to be, and I has a few mistakes in it, but for a first project I am happy with it. (My scarf so far!)

This process of learning to knit has had its ups and downs, but I have had so much fun learning to do it.  When, in the beginning, I made mistakes like accidentally making double stitches and letting the stitch slip off, it was indescribably frustrating.  I wanted to throw my needles across the room and quit, but I am very glad that I stuck with it.  Now, thanks to hours of practice I can carry on a conversation and watch some television while knitting, and I almost never make mistakes anymore, although I will occasionally miss a stitch or something like that.  Overall it has been a very fun and enlightening process.

Besides just being fun, knitting has also taught me a lot of valuable things.  I have found a whole new respect for people who make their own clothes.  It is a very time consuming process and you have to be truly dedicated to it, or else you will get nowhere.  I have come to also appreciate all the modern technology that we have, because I could not imagine having to actually sit down and make all of your clothes.  If that were the case I would wear a potato sack or something because knitting is a arduous process.  Besides the obvious things like learning how difficult knitting is, I have also learned how fun it can be too.  It is a great way to pass time, without just mindlessly staring at a TV or computer.  It is a useful craft to have and it is a great way to keep your hand nimble and your mind sharp, since you have to watch everything you do.  So thanks Mrs. Washburn!