My mother bought me a book from Mary Maxim on learning to knit*, a pair of needles and a ball of yarn. I remember reading the book and studying the drawings. It was a good book but while it showed how the needles went into the stitches and the yarn went around to form new stitches, it did not show how to hold the needles in your hands. I had to figure that out for myself.
I had problems with the cast on method described in the book. I know today that it is the long-tail method. My mother showed me the long-tailed thumb method instead. The end results are exactly the same but the thumb method is so much easier especially for a nine year old. The cast on my mother showed me is still my go-to method unless some other method is more suited for a particular project. While my mother did not knit, she knew how. Like so many children during the forties, she learned to knit for the war effort in WWII.
I knit on and off until my early twenties. Mainly I knit doll clothes for my Tammy doll and my younger sister's Barbie doll.
Then I stopped. Partly it was lack of money; partly it was time. But, mostly I had a hurtful experience and to knit reminded me of that pain.
Then about almost 20 years ago now, I went to an auction sale. I bought a lovely wooden tray. As a bonus gift it came covered in balls of yarn. The whole package cost me $1.00. Now, what was I going to do with the yarn? Christmas was coming and I had three nieces and one granddaughter. All the girls had their Barbie dolls. I pulled out my patterns from my youth and started knitting up the yarn into doll clothes.
This was fun. I practiced techniques and learned new skills. Each outfit was a little practice swatch. I could try out lace, cables and finishing techniques. I purchased plastic containers that would hold a doll on one side and lots of clothes on the other. I filled each with doll clothes all the right size for Barbie.
That Christmas the package to my granddaughter was mailed off. The three for my nieces were wrapped and taken to my mother's. Hubby was in charge of handing out the gifts. His beard made him the natural choice. I told him that he had to give out my packages to the girls at the same time.
He handed the first girl hers. She had the paper off before Hubby could hand the second girl hers. Her eyes were huge. Her package was the same size and shape as the other and she could see what was in the first package. By the time the third girl got hers she was jumping up and down with excitement. She knew what she was getting and could hardly wait to start playing.
My cash outlay was probably around $10.00 per child that Christmas. There were hundreds of dollars of toys, clothes and other stuff lying around once all the presents were opened. The girls only wanted to play with their Barbie clothes. They dressed and undressed dolls, compared outfits and had a grand time. Their joy and excitement was intoxicating. I was hooked and have not stopped knitting since.
All four girls are adults now and still enjoy getting knitted things from me, especially socks.
Progress is still happening on the Fair knitting front.
I finished the child's vest category.
The gansey is longer.
This is turning out to be perfect lunch 'n learn knitting and hockey knitting. That was the only time I worked on it this week. I am saving this for the playoffs. Essex finished first in the regular season and Alvinston finished 8th. They start their series on Tuesday. Essex has home ice advantage for all their league playoff games.
The top four teams have home ice advantage and the top 8 teams get playoff spots. The really sad thing is that there are 9 teams in the league. Only one team does not make it. The regular season does not end until tonight. There are several games ongoing and they will determine who has 2nd through 7th place. Essex is so far ahead and Alvinston is so far behind that no matter what happens tonight their positions as first and eighth won't change.
As discussed before, I am trying to keep three project on the go any given time. While I was deciding what project I should cast on next, I worked on the Levity Shawl. I am now half-way through the border. I am getting bored with this project so I might just work on it more than the others to finish. Then I can start something new and exciting.
This morning I decided to start this one.
Design A from Sirdar No. 280 Early Arrivals Knitting Book
I am knitting it in Cherub DK from Cascade Yarns in Classic Blue and Ecru. I don't know where I got the yarn from or when. For some reason, I did not enter this yarn into my inventory system. I found the yarn in a bag in the basement where I store my inventoried yarn. There is no store name printed on the bag. There was no sales slip in the bag nor any price tags on the balls. I don't remember buying it and I don't remember getting it as a gift. It is a mystery but turns out it is perfect for this little hoody. It is almost like I planned it. The pattern calls for 4 balls of blue and one of white. That is exactly what was in the bag.
I also decided that there was no chance of starting the child's socks unless I converted the skeins I picked out for them into cakes. Did that this morning.
If you want to track my progress and see how many projects are still to go, there is a progress report on the right sidebar which links you to the worksheet where I track the projects. I update it before starting my blog post each week.
* The book is still in print.
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