A Glance Back – Knitting
When I was in 5th grade I took a 4H class and learned how to knit. I was not good at knitting, and, despite how much I loved my instructor, when I finished my pin cushion and my little hat, I was done. No more classes. I tried a few projects on my own, but nothing turned out like it was supposed to, so I eventually put away my needles and decided that knitting was just not my thing.
But you never know about decisions like that.
Eleven years later, my knitting became a lifeline for me. We had just lost our firstborn, a baby daughter, to meningitis, a painful and horrible disease, and I found that to preserve my sanity I needed to keep my hands busy, so I took out my knitting needles and began a project. Those needles, that yarn, helped ease my pain, and, even after I no longer needed to knit as therapy, I found joy in creating projects.
Basically, I’m still the same kind of knitter I was in 4H, slow and with a tendency to make mistakes. My rows are never even, and nothing really looks great, but I enjoy the challenge. I just finished my latest project, a pair of fingerless gloves.
I spent at least 6 months knitting them, and I made a host of mistakes, including leaving out 20 rows of knitting between the start of the thumb and the rib cuff, so the gloves fit strangely. I also made a mistake in the bottom edge of one glove and purposely duplicated the same mistake on the other glove so they looked the same, and then I sewed on buttons to hide the mistakes. The fingers are strange, too. I haven’t yet figured out why, but they are. One glove is bigger than the other, (but that’s okay, because one of my hands is also bigger than the other.)
Nonetheless, despite my mistakes, I’m proud of my new gloves. I can’t wait until the weather is WARM enough to wear them!
Do you knit?
Blessings!
Sue
Thank you, Jason! Repetitive handwork really does calm the mind and lift the spirit!!
Hi Sue, sorry for your loss. Glad you found a healthy way to come through it.
The gloves look great! It’s amazing how something that’s really repetitve helps to keep our minds occupied. I remember in school I tried sewing, well actually, I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t even fit into my pants I made. Although I never tried again haha. Good work for giving it another crack 🙂
Take care!
Jason
Thank you, Jackie!!
I LOVE them Sue… great job!
Well…. The fingers sort of fit. LOL Patti, what a fun pasttime, though, making baby blankets, and they mean so much to those who receive them.
I used to knit – sweaters & scarves for very understanding relatives. If I put down my project before a section was finished, the tension would be different the next time I picked it up. And, then I discovered baby blankets. I could knit with tiny yarn, do patterns and change stitches…it was much more satisfying. 🙂 You are very brave to do gloves. I would never be able to get the fingers to fit. lolol