Becoming a Knitter

I think that Mrs. O should be a person who knits.  Now, she might never be an Elizabeth Zimmerman, but she should at least know the basics.  And who knows, with time and practice she could become a pretty great knitter.

My knitting journey began one summer long ago when I joined a 4-H knitting group with some of my friends.  Our leader, Mrs. W, was the mother of one of those friends.  Since Mrs. W lived across the street from me I spent a good deal of my childhood at her house as I played with her daughters.  She was always knitting, sewing, or taking care of her house plants.

That summer, everyone in our 4-H group learned how to knit by making a pin cushion to enter into the county fair.  My pin cushion was so poorly done that Mrs. W told me I had to make another one.  So while I worked on a second pin cushion the rest of the group learned how to knit something else…I think it was a scarf.  Ironically, my second attempt at a pin cushion won first place at the fair that year.  That second pin cushion was my last knitting project for roughly 25 years.

Last October my mom and I spent a week at my Aunt M and Uncle B’s house in Arizona.  My mom is a crocheter (she doesn’t knit because it’s too slow for her).  My aunt M on the other hand does both.  During that visit my aunt re-taught me the basics of knitting.  I say re-taught, because I had long since forgot the skills I learned as a child from Mrs. W.  After working on a short sample made with some scrap yarn, I picked up my needles and started my first project since that second pin cushion I had entered in the county fair so many years earlier.

Now most new knitters probably start off with a scarf for their first project (I’ve still never made one of those).  Instead of a scarf, I choose to make a dishcloth, which was a natural choice since I had taken cotton yarn with me to crochet with.  The pattern I choose was the typical knitted dishcloth that you see everywhere.  On Ravelry it is known as Grandmother’s Favorite by Traditional Design.  And speaking of Ravelry, if you are either a crocheter or a knitter and you haven’t joined Ravelry yet, you should head over there pronto and sign-up.