How Far Have You Come?

#1

I don’t know many knitters IRL, so I was thrilled to discover one of my new coworkers is a knitter. She mentioned it in passing when I pulled out my knitting during some down time at work. I have been telling her all about the projects I have been working on lately…

She was hanging out last night in my office (we were slow) and I had just printed off the pattern for Dashing. I read a few lines, casted on, and got started. After a few minutes, she suddenly asked how I knew what I was doing. I asked, did she mean the Magic Loop, or the cables, or which part? All of it, she said! She then told me that she only knows how to do garter stitch, and had someone cast on for her. I can’t believe I’ve been babbling on all this time and she was probably thinking “what are you talking about?!”

I am going to see if we can get together for some lessons, and was so excited thinking about everything I want to show her last night. I realized WOW, I have come a long way in the past year. :mrgreen:

How about you, do you remember how it was to be struggling with your first stitches, or the first time you figured out how to fix a mistake? That pulling up the working yarn so the first stitch looks like 2 stitches was the bane of my existence when I started. I was making a scarf that kept getting wider and wider! :rofl:

#2

Oh yeah, I remember coming to KH and asking what I thought were probably the silliest questions. That’s funny that you were talking away like she knew what you were talking about. :teehee: Now you can teach her some basics!

#3

(Jan, I love your avatar!)

After crocheting for about thirty years, I had to come here to ask questions. Now I realize that they were really simple things, and I should have looked at Amy’s videos (what videos?), or Youtube.

Still learning not to get frustrated with myself when I have to tink or frog.

#4

I remember I used to wonder why ribbing was stretchy. I was just knitting away when it did the scrunching thing, and I was all OMGWTFBBQ what’s going on. I posted so many questions and looked all over the internet to try to find the answer.

Now I know it’s supposed to do that :teehee:

#5

I remember sitting there with this little learn-to-knit book, trying to figure out how to cast on, and doing a garter stitch scarf in bulky yarn for practice. The scarf is my 4 year old’s now; its edges are all uneven from my accidentally picking up extra stitches all over the place. I am not typically a very crafty person, but knitting just clicked for me. I found the videos here and it was off to the races. I love it!

#6

I was fortunate enough to have a really good knitting teacher (the lady next door) when I was young. I was unfortunate enough to be young and immature and I did not stick with it. I tried several times, and my pieces were presentable, but I did not have the patience for it. Then time passed and my DD (who was not born when I first learned to knit) got pregnant and I was “off to the races” with the knitting again. After I knit a cute little layette for my DGS, I put away the needles again. Then I picked them up and started knitting. I knit for five years straight before finding this site. My knitting was presentable and neat, but it was nothing spectacular. Then I found KH. OMG have things ever changed since then. I am trying things I never thought I would, and I am trying things that, if I did not have this site, I would NOT have tried. I have a stash (in it’s own cabinet) now. I am well organized. I have a binder of “to do list” patterns. I am knitting socks, toys, lace, cables… there is no end to what I can do now!

Once again I would like to take this opportunity to thank Amy and Sheldon for their fabulous site and all the good things that come with it. I would also like to thank my fellow KH members for the support, answers, questions, comments, compliments and most of all for their friendship.

[B]Sometimes movitation comes from a few kinds words, sometimes it comes from a virtual kick in the butt, but always at KH it comes!!![/B]

So in answer to your question… [B]I’ve come a LONG LONG way, baby![/B]

#7

Oh criky i can remember sitting in bed with a pattern from lion brand that was described as easy for beginers and not having a clue what rib was, just doing a really badly tensioned what was suppoed to be sqaure. it was awful. i had no internet at the time so no help. i almost gave in but lack of money to buy my son clothes drove me on. Then got the internet and found amy’s video’s. speakers weren’t great so i couldnt hear, but i learnt enough from watching them.

i know i binned what i did first as it was that bad :teehee:

#8

I made a bookmark and was so frustrated I put the knitting away for about 3 years. Then I picked it up again one day for whatever reason I can’t remember.
I remember wanting to do it so bad that I just googled “free knitting help.” Been here since that day! I am a bit of a slow goer-I like to learn a few things and stick to those for a while. I am still trying to get a successful sweater out after 3 years, but heck, I can make more than a bookmark now!:yay:

#9

I’m still a newbie to several techniques… but I think my lack of confidence in knitting was a result of a couple of things: 1.) I learned basically on my own (and watching alot of Knitty Gritty and visiting the videos here on KH) 2.) No one in my immediate family showed any interest in ‘domestic/needle arts’ so I was made fun of for wanting to try it. 3.) My life has been so crazy busy these last 2 years that practicing hasn’t been at the top of my priority list until just recently and 4.) I learned just 2 years ago in my 30’s and I am a real VISUAL learner - so reading about how to do things doesn’t help me.

I struggled and struggled for the last 2 years. It was just this last summer that I decided to knit every day (thereby practicing and ENJOYING it) and have started to attempt ML, DPNs, and more… I hope to become a proficient knitter soon. And now when my family and friends laugh and snicker when I pull out my knitting bag (calling me the youngest grandma they know), I just smile to myself and knit on!

#10

Oh yeah, HUUUGE props to Amy & Sheldon! :cheering: :yay:

I never would have gotten to where I am without KH. No teacher would have been as patient as Amy was. I had her tell me how to do the cast-on about 20 times. :rofl:

#11

Oh man, I remember sitting in bed, needles and yarn in hand following the Stitch N Bitch book step by step…lol…Even then I’d get confused! The book really is a great book for learning from, but, I learn best by actually seeing exactly what I need to do. Of course the book had pictures, but, they didn’t make much sense to me as I didn’t know what a real knitted item was supposed to look like.

I got the knit stitch fine but I remember struggling with the purl stitch :teehee: I had to go upstairs and watch Amy’s videos…I’d sit in front of the computer with my needles and yarn and watch a video for a sec then pause it and try to repeat what I saw…lol…I even posted about knitting seeming so overwhelming and how on earth does one learn all they need to know?!

I also remember not being able to tell the difference between a knit and purl stitch, and, if a stitch was on the needle the right way.

In the beginning I decided to let my mistakes go. I made only swatches for the longest time, until I was comfortable enough to actually try to knit something worthwhile. I figured since I was making swatches it didn’t matter if there were mistakes and I focused instead on the actual stitches. Once I got the hang of those, I’d intentionally drop stitches or frog just to practice fixing mistakes and putting stitches back on the needle. Made it a lot less stressful knowing I wasn’t making anything worth keeping anyway…lol

It’s funny when I think back to when I first started knitting and how it seemed so incredibly overwhelming. I know I still have a lot to learn, but, I also now know that if I just try, I can do it. I’m comfortable enough to try pretty much anything now, even if I don’t know exactly how to do something, I [I]know[/I] I can learn how to do it.

#12

My knitting history goes back to the 60’s when I was in high school. My mom agreed to let me take a class at a department store which entailed her taking me on Saturdays during one summer. Since the class lasted about an hour or so, she would wait for me so I’d have a ride home.

I remember my first garment, which is probably the only project we did while in class, unless it was a practice swatch to learn the stitches. I don’t remember making a practice swatch, but I do remember the sleeveless top that I knitted. Funny thing is I don’t remember wearing it! After that first sleeveless top, I knitted a pullover with cables, and I remember making an error on the back. I knitted one row instead of purling and it created a ridge across the back. I didn’t notice it until I was assembling the pieces. I never wore that sweater!

The next thing was a diaper soaker for my then newborn child.
We were in Germany at the time, Vietnam era. Hubby was stationed in Ansbach, and we were living in an apartment just outside of town. I vaguely remember going into a store to look for needles and yarn, and not having very much knowledge of German, I managed to find it. A lot of people there spoke English somewhat, so it wasn’t that difficult.

I finished that diaper soaker, and she actually wore it a few times until she was too big for it.

Then I “rediscovered” crochet after having taught myself when I was in high school. It was a lot faster than knitting, and since I was working by then, I stuck with crochet and gave away all my knitting needles and patterns. It wasn’t until we went to New Zealand some years ago that I picked up knitting again when I found the ladies there were knitting scarves and hats with furry yarn (aka fun fur).

Then I discovered I could knit socks on 2 circular needles, and even later magic loop, and I have been both knitting & crocheting ever since!

#13

I remember nearly pulling my hair out trying to knit a simple ribbed scarf.

#14

I have been knitting for longer than I like to admit (30 years) and since joining KH I feel I have improved by leaps and bounds. The biggest change is understanding shaping and choosing the appropriate yarn for a project. I have also learned to take mistakes in stride and understand that an ill fitting piece is not lost, there is frogging and reusing and that is not a failure but a learning experience.

#15

:notworthy: I think that’s the best advice about looking at your progress as a knitter!

#16

That’s my Spore creature! There is a thread in OT about it. :wink:

#17

I actually think I remember you posting about it! You and I joined around the same time and I remember following (and grumbling to myself) your progress, you always were jumping into new things before me! You made a sock before me!
I also think I remember your first scarf!:roflhard: Seems so long ago!

#18

I wanted a hobby. I had done latch-hook rugs and cross-stitch and even wrapping yarn around 2-bound hangars to make one cushy hangar (I don’t know if there is a name for that?). But, nothing was very satisfying. And I really wanted to knit. I thought it looked fun to do and you actually make useful things, which was a huge plus.

I, like many of you, bought a book and a kit and started. Those first few row were touch and go, but I stuck with it. Been knitting for about 2 1/2 years now I think. When I got stuck I Googled “Free Knitting Help” too and here you lovely folks all are! I loved Amy’s videos (THE most helpful things in the world!). And I love this site. (Confession - when I feel real stressed at work, I watch Amy’s video for knitting the heel of a sock and it calms me down. Isn’t that ridiculous? I don’t bring knitting to work because getting called away in the middle of a row would make me mental, but watching her videos does the trick.)

Other than making socks I don’t think I’ve really challenged myself too awfully much though. I made a sweater, but the cost of making sweaters just seems a bit more than I’d like. Sweaters are not my forte. I enjoy making socks and so I do. I’ve already started my Christmas knitting! Thank you KP sock sampler! 6 pairs of Christmas socks right there! :yay:

Thank you Amy and Sheldon and all of you for making my hobby make me feel like a part of a greater “family”.

#19

I taught myself to knit in the 7th grade (I’m talking about the 1970s) with a booklet. However, I could never figure out how to bind off–it seemed completely foreign to me. So I kept knitting on the same scarf for about 3 years [B][I]CAUSE I COULD NOT STOP :roflhard: [/I][/B]I gave up on knitting for decades–did other things: cross stitch, crochet, miniature dollhouses and finally decided to try again and that how I found KH.
Thank goodness–cause I stop now.:wink:

#20

:roflhard::roflhard: Man, that must be one heck of a scarf! :teehee: