In the Winter of 2007, Jake and I were living in Portland, Oregon and I was working for the Portland Boys and Girls Club. One day, a co-worker came up to me and asked me if I could supervise her "Yarn Club" while she ran a few errands. I agreed, and walked into a room with about 6 elementary school aged girls in it. They were practicing making slipknots, finger knitting, and some of them were actually knitting! It was so cool to see. Each girl had to complete a certain number of steps before they could actually pick up a pair of needles and start knitting. Some stopped at finger knitting and were content with creating the cutest little scarves that they wore around, but a couple had worked their way up to the needles and were really good.
Inspired, I went to Wal-Mart after getting off work and bought a skein of the ugliest green acrylic yarn (don't know what I was thinking.... it was hideous), a pair of size US 9 needles, and a "Teach Yourself How To Knit" book. I got home, learned how to cast on and make a knit stitch, and I was off. I knitted for about 30 minutes and made a gross blob of garter stitch, full of holes and uneven stitches. It had, of course, many more stitches on it than I had cast on and was, in general, an eyesore. I showed it to Jake, disgusted with the hideousness of it, who did a wonderful job reassuring me that it was my first try, and of course it wasn't perfect. So I ripped it out. And I tried again. And eventually got garter stitch down (I made my mom a scarf for Christmas, and she still wears it. I cringe every time I see it, it's so obviously handmade by someone who had no clue what they were doing!). I didn't continue on with knitting too much - I enjoyed it, but didn't know much, and was quickly getting bored with scarves.
Fast forward to Fall 2008, which is when I say I really learned how to knit. We had recently moved to Athens, Georgia, and I needed something to occupy my time, as Athens wasn't really my favorite place. I picked the needles back up, decided I wanted to knit a hat, and at the end, this is what came off:
Ugly. But, hey, it was a hat! And I didn't stop there - I learned cables, and made a bag
Tried lace for the first time a couple of months later,
And I haven't looked back!
Over the years I've tried many different crafts - jewelry making, painting - but none of them have clicked like knitting has. It relaxes me and brings out my creativity in a way that I never thought possible. Plus, I get to make my own clothes and accessories! Not many people can say that!
Hope you enjoyed my story - if you write up your own knitting story, please leave me the link in the comments - I'd love to read it!