The Zen of Knitting
I started knitting like everyone else: I made a scarf, using big fat needles, and made a lot of big fat mistakes. But surprisingly, I didn’t give up and I eventually decided that it might be more interesting to make say, a hat or, gulp, a sweater.
At that point I had never heard of Ravelry, the website dedicated to all things knitting.
Ravelry is a game changer for a knitter. It is a fabulous site, with a terrific search engine so you can find any pattern or yarn or finished object (fo in knitting parlance) your heart desires, and a place for you to record all the details about your own projects.
How to pick a project? For me, it’s really hard to just go to a yarn store and pick out a few skeins and buy them. There’s such a range and abundance of possibilities, it’s all quite overwhelming.
Oak from Pam Allen
Had fun styling this one.
Anemone Vest from My Favourite Things
For my adorable two year old granddaughter
Instead I developed a modus operandi in my quest for projects to add to my knitting queue. First, scroll Instagram to find images of garments that appeal. Note the specific yarn type and colour and needles used. Then go to Ravelry to find the pattern and decide if I have the skill to make it. It’s also fun and instructive (although beware the rabbit hole😉) to look at all the versions of the pattern made by other knitters.
Over time I’ve come to prefer a certain needle size (six or seven US), sweater technique (top down) and of course I have my favourite pattern designers like Petite Knit and My Favourite Things. I’ve always liked natural yarns like wool, silk and cotton.
Knitting has definitely become an addiction. And I still make my share of mistakes. But at least now I know how to fix them!
