In the beginning, it wasn't knitting. It was crochet. I was maybe nine years old and I watched my great aunt crochet. In those days, there was all of that shiny acrylic yarn. She used to make me dress from head to toe in crocheted dresses with hair ribbons and berets. If you ever fell asleep at her house, you would wake up covered in a crocheted afgan, usually sweating profusely, but still warm. I didn't realize it then, but it was really her hands that made you warm. Those hands that touched every thread of yarn and created the most elaborate granny squares made those afgans personal. I still have one on my bed now. And everything was in that shiny acrylic yarn. I still like that yarn, actually, I've yet to meet a yarn I didn't like and could not find a use for.
Anyway, I stole one of her bobby pins and fashioned it like a crochet hook. Then, I sat there for hours making an awkward chain stitch with my little homeade hook. When she saw how hard I had tried to mimic her, she gave me my own hook. I made all sorts of nonsensical, abstact things. I hung lopsided starfish from the Christmas tree and tortured the dog with ill fitting sweaters, but I was making something while I was waiting instead of sitting idly by. When you're a kid, you're always waiting. In the 80's no one had a hand portable device to entertain them. If you didn't have your library book with you, you might be S.O.L. I have a fear of wasted time. It's like being really hungry and not knowing when you're going to eat because lunch was really bad and there's three hours until school's out. I think that's why I started this hobby. I was waiting for my mom to pick me up. My great aunt Juliet was famous for her potato salad, and her crocheted everything. I was a captive audience. And what I realized was that to knit is to leave no time wasted, or to be left waiting. I can be wherever I am, comfortably for hours without a hint of angst. It's a balming agent. It calms and gives the creator a sated sense of tranquility. The reason why I persist is that there is that the danger of wasted time still lurks....
Oh, and a few other reasons as well!
I've finally decided to take this craft seriously. Here is evidence of my attempt to raise it to a fine art. I've returned to knitting and crochet as an adult after a looooooooooooooooong absence. This blog is how I go from novice to expert, about my experiences with knitting and travel, and the challenges I encounter when I try to learn something new. I will always include a mini project, pattern, or idea. And pictures. Lots of pictures.
Talk to you soon.
Thanks for reading!
Ginger
