K is for....

(note, I had forgotten that I did J last week, and I had a great post all set to go about the hardest journey I've ever taken.. I'll blog it next week.)

K is for Knitting

(it's all I've got, I'm exhausted)

I don't think it's any secret that I am a knitter. There. I said it out loud. I am a knitter. I didn't used to be a knitter. In fact, for years I fought it. My mother offered countless times to teach me. I always claimed klutziness. I couldn't possibly knit. You had to use TWO needles in order to knit, and I'm lucky I can walk up the stairs on a good day and not trip. She wouldn't say anything, but kept quiet, with that look on her face. If I was more observant, I would've realized that the look said, " It's ok, you'll come around."

I was a crocheter however. I taught myself crochet when I quit smoking. Something to do to keep my hands busy, and I got it into my head that I wanted to make my best friend an afghan. So I taught myself. And when I was in such a frenzy that I almost gave it up, my mom came over and showed me what I was doing wrong. There's not a big jump between crocheting and knitting. A different way to manipulate the yarn and different tool is all.

Crochet has it's place, and I still enjoy it. When I want to make an afghan (which isn't too often these days as it's so much time invested) there isn't anything better. Knitting is much slower than crochet and I'd rather have my eyes burnt out with a hot poker than knit a blanket. Unless it's for a baby. I crocheted this blanket for my brother and his wife for their wedding. They love it. I only create things for people that I know will appreciate the time invested. My SIL is one of those people.

But for sweaters, and other such items, I prefer knitting. I love knitting for babies. Babies are small. Therefore, baby knits are small. Which means they don't require a lot of time to work up. A few years ago, one of the girls at school was pregnant, and I decided I wanted to give her a baby sweater for a gift. So I went to the yarn shop, and fell in love with this little cute sweater that the shop owner had worked up as a sample. I had to make that for her. I taught myself to knit, and then made my MIL two Eros scarves for Christmas. I don't know what the heck I was thinking... using a ladder yarn as my first knitting project, but they came out great and there was no turning back. I was a knitter. I don't know that my MIL has ever worn those scarves, which makes me sort of sad.. but I decided to forge on and start that cute little sweater. After about 23 rows I decided I was in over my head, and found a super easy pattern using a chunky yarn and knit that instead. The pattern for the baby sweater and the yarn got put away.. and actually last winter I knit it up for my neighbors brand new baby boy. I knew he was going to mostly get hand me downs from his older brother and I wanted him to have his own sweater.

The next thing I made was that little sweater up at the top of the page. I knit that for my godson... before I knew better than to put ducky buttons the whole way down the sweater. In fact, I generally stay away from funky buttons these days.

I love everything about knitting. I love the yarn.. I love soft yarn, and I love the rainbow of colors yarn comes in. I love my birch needles. I love how warm they feel in my hands after I have spent a good spell knitting. I love the process of knitting, and the end results. I enjoy knitting. It calms me when I am stressed out. It passes the time when I am bored. It makes me feel useful and productive when I feel neither of these things. And I like to think that some of my love gets knit into the items I produce and passes onto the recipients. I knit because it's become such an interwoven part of who I am that I am not whole without it. I am a knitter.