Beyond knitting... why I start to knit

#21

Well, here’s my story of how I started knitting.

Hurricane Katrina came and my sister and family moved in with us in Texas for about 4 months. They have two sons aged at the time 9 & 4 and I have two daughters aged at the time 6 & 3. My sister and family decided to move here after being here about two months or so then my other sister didn’t want to be left in Louisiana without both of us so she and her family also decided to move here who also has two sons aged at the time 10 & 6. Since I was the only stay at home mom I had the pleasure of getting the four boys in the morning before school (sometimes dropped off at 5:00 AM) getting them ready, fed and brought to school along with my two girls so that’s 6 kids, 4 greyhounds and 2 cats for me to handle in the mornings. Then I’d pick them up after school and have 2 of them until 4:30 PM and the other 2 until around 6:30 - 7:00 PM. My stress level was over the charts, I was used to two girls and let me tell you boys are so much different than girls. They would fight all the time, throw shoes at each other, pick on my dogs torture my girls, I was ready for the loony house. I was reading a magazine one night and there was an article in it about how knitting was making a really big comeback and that so many women, children and men were picking up needles and learning to knit. So I decided that sounded like a great idea, I needed a hobby and it sounded like it would help with the stress I was feeling. Knitting has totally been my lifesaver, it really did calm my nerves but not before my sisters could tell I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown so they put their kids in before/after school care. Not a bit to soon either cause I was heading for a breakdown for sure.

I’ve enjoyed knitting so much, it was a year in December that I started my knitting quest and have improved so much from the first projects I made, I’ve even been teaching my now 7 year old how to do the knit stitch and we practice together. I’m so excited she’s interested in this wonderful craft and I hope to teach my 4 year old when she gets a little older.

#22

I like knitting because !) it’s portable, and 2) I can still be doing something fun and constructive in the same room as my family when they’re watching TV!

#23

I’m one of those few. I learned when I was about eleven. I was playing a grandmother in a play and my mother taught me so I would have some business on-stage (I’ve had two other on-stage knitting roles since then :)). I picked it up again a couple of years later when my first nephew was born because I wanted to make him a sweater. Haven’t looked back since.

#24

I learned how to knit as a child - we even took it in class one day in elementary school - the boys too!. Then I didn’t do any knitting but did some crotchet baby blankets and afghans when I had my first child, then switched to knitting and have not looked back since then. I love knitting. I find it very relaxing and a great way to watch tv and not feel guilty, and I love seeing the finished product that I have made with my own hands. Sometimes it still amazes me that I actually made it, LOL.

Patricia

#25

I used to knit & crochet a bit when I was a kid, but I never kept it up - I couldn’t remember how do increase/decrease long enough to finish a project, and I got bored of straight lines. I was not a patient child… :doh:

I’ve just gone back to knitting last month, after about twelve years - it’s been on my mind to give it another try since the summer, but my sister’s impending baby kind of gave me impetus to get my mum’s needles out and give it a try. To my surprise, it’s not as diffcult as I thought when I was 10! Also finding it as a good stress-reliever.

#26

I was bored “just” watching tv at night, I felt like my hands should be busy. I checked all around for knitting classes and finally found one taught by a lady from Scotland who was taught in school and had been knitting for 40+ years. Not only was I able to learn how to knit but I was also able to get out of the house for 2 hours a week for some adult time. :happydance:

Now if my bank could match all the stuff I want to make! :thinking:

#27

I started to knit because I needed something to do with my hands.

I’ve worked at my current employer for six and a half years. For the first five years, I worked out on the production floor, building high end circuit boards, where I did fine, detailed soldering and generally working with my hands. All of my off-work hobbies were very cerebral type things (like writing and web design). About a year and a half ago, I got promoted into the offices, where I work at the computer all day and give my brain a good working. After awhile in my new position, I spent less and less time at home on my computer (and writing and doing web design), but I found that I had this need to be doing something with my hands. Someone I was acquainted with had taken up knitting and that looked interesting to me. My husband and I inherited a sewing machine a few years back and in the sewing box was a very large collection of knitting needles. I had all these needles sitting around the house, this interest in learning to knit, and so I started looking at books, and I bought a skein of yarn and I started to practice.