Knitting Toys Patterns
Knitting For Pleasure – Could This Be Your Next Hobbie? by Shawn Wilson
No one taught me how to knit. There was no one in my family who ever knitted save for my Grandmother who crocheted doilies with the finest yarn and the smallest gauge crochet hook. For whatever reason crochet didn’t interest me but I was fascinated at how quickly my grandmother’s hands worked the yarn effortlessly in her hands.
I can recall my Godmother giving me some knitting needles as a child of about 8 years of age and she trying to teach me. I was hopeless at it and gave it up before long. But then at the age of 16 years I can recall walking into a store and falling in love with a beautifully knit sweater. I had to learn how to knit.
I purchased a book called “Learning How To Knit” which I still see available at yarn stores, read it through and began my assault on the innocent yarn that I subsequently massacred with all my mistakes and knotting together. Eventually I casted on a row and finally began to “knit” my first few stitches together.
It took me a very long time to learn how to do it well. As I look back now I’m surprised and impressed that I had the perseverance to continue to teach myself how to knit. It was no easy feat doing alone.
Before long I was happily knitting in the old “English” method of wrapping around the yarn with your right hand. I knitted scarves, sweaters, vests, and hats; just about anything I could get a pattern for. Some were great success some were miserable failures, but that didn’t ever stop me from trying again.
I knitted this way for over 22 years. Leaving it for several months at a time only to pick it up again. The longing to feel yarn between my fingers and hearing the soothing clicking of the needles made it impossible to abandon knitting for very long.
I began to knit every day for at least an hour or more after my son was born. I loved knitting him sweaters and little knit toys. It was a whole new word knitting for children – the yarns, the patterns and it went so quickly too!
Knitting was something that was just for “me” and my down time. It was and still is a time of reflection for me and helps me to think clearly and just calms me in general. Don’t laugh but I actually dream of knitting if I have not knit during the day. Sounds crazy but it’s true.
I ran into a problem about a year ago while knitting. My right pinky, which holds the yarn to control the tension, began to bother me. At first it was just sore from time to time but eventually it began to get arthritic and had become too uncomfortable to knit for more than a few rows at a time.
I couldn’t give up knitting and I’m not one to take medication, so I decided to do a little research on the internet and came across a knitting video which demonstrated the “Continental” method of knitting which uses the left hand to hold and control the yarn tension.
I gave it a go, as I wanted very badly to knit without difficulty again. It was not easy.. it reminded me of being 16 years old again and frustrated by my miserable attempts to learn how to knit all over again.
It took two weeks of at least 1 hour a day of using the new Continental method. I was sorely tempted several times to just revert back to my right hand and the English method. The most difficult part was getting the dexterity in my left hand as being right handed I had very little in my left.
I finally finished a dishcloth in that time and was reasonably happy with the results. It’s been over a year now and I love the Continental method way of knitting. I’ve since learned to do all knitting stitches with my left hand and am amazed at how much quicker (and eventually) easier Continental knitting really is.
As I sit and knit with my new method, I’m reminded of my Grandmother again and can feel her sitting beside me crocheting her little doilies beside me. I smile – it’s a great feeling to have.
This article was written by Shawn Wilson, a member of the customer support team at Datepad, where internet dating is always free. Datepad has a massive directory of informative dating articles along with a great list of dating site reviews on their dating blog.
Article Source: http://www.earticlesonline.com/Article/Knitting-For-Pleasure—Could-This-Be-Your-Next-Hobbie-/408919
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