Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Knitting and Reading



I am so excited to be joining along with Ginny's Yarn Along for the very first time this week! I have wanted to learn to knit for years, and it always seemed so very complicated. And now, I present to you... my KNITTING!!

During our "homeless" period when things felt really dark, confusing and more than slightly scary, I had a good friend who saw my need and wanted to do something to help. She is a fellow homeschool mom, cool thing is she even homeschools grown-ups on occasion! One day, during that time, I was visiting her I told her how I wished I had brought something with me to my parent's house to occupy my hands while my mind could rest. Creating something pretty is such a wonderful thing, one of the best sorts of therapy I think. I had packed away every single bit of crafty/art supply type stuff I owned because I was sure it would be boxed up such a short time that I wouldn't even have a chance to miss it. Well she declared that I should learn to knit, and proceeded to teach me!

 It was wonderful. Seriously, I had always thought knitting was so scary and had to be just perfect or the fabric of the universe might come apart at the seams or something equally disastrous might happen. She said no, that if I realized I messed something up all I had to do was un-knit it to back before the mistake, and hey, she was teaching me to knit a square washcloth. Even if I frogged that thing 16 times, all the way back to the very beginning and rewound the yarn into a ball, no harm done, I'd just have an everlasting knitting project that way! :-) I think I knit that very same washcloth 8 or 9 times. Every time I started to feel overwhelmed with stuff, I'd grab the needles and start knitting. At one point I had a 2 foot wide washcloth, when I was super preoccupied and not paying any attention to casting on.I never did worry about finishing that thing, it was purely for the joy of the movement.  So I decided once we moved that it might be time to branch out! 

I found a simple shawl pattern on Ravelry that could be tied in the back. I love those! My notes are here. So far so good. The lovely yarn is one I won from a giveaway on Frontier Dreams, from her sponsor Luna Grey Fiber Arts. It is super soft and feels so nice to knit, and the color is gorgeous. Not at all difficult to handle, even for a total novice like me!

And I am reading An Everlasting Meal, Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler. It is sort of a cook book, sort of a compilation of cooking essays. I am really enjoying it, and I very much like her style of writing, but it makes me extremely hungry. Lots of talk about good crusty bread and olive oil and garlic on most everything! It's a book about good simple food well cooked.

15 comments:

  1. what a great first project. and the yarn is fab! love that color. enjoy your knitting.

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  2. your shawl looks beautiful already. can't wait to see it finished.
    And that sounds like just the kind of book i love.

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  3. Congratulations on learning to knit! I haven't visited here for awhile so I am going to see what happened recently to you - praying you are all well.

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  4. The shawl looks lovely, I just added it to my favourites, might have to knit it up :) That book is on my ever growing list of must reads.

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  5. It's looking fantastic, good job. What a wonderful colour.
    I've just been and read about your 'homeless' period. My goodness what a scare you must have had with your mother. Glad you found a new home, I think it looks lovely.

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    1. Thanks Emma.
      It has been 6 months now since she was ill, and she is fully recovered now. But I still break into a cold sweat when I remember how very close we were to losing her.

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  6. The knitting is so appetizing. The book also sounds like one I would enjoy reading, and yearn for Italian bread, olive oil and garlic while reading, yummy. Yiour two foot-washcloth made me giggle. I admire your spunk, and th humour with which you tell of tough times. Welcome to the magic of knitting.

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    1. Thank you! I think I might be addicted...is that normal, I wonder?

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  7. Rachel, Hi! I'm so glad you learned to knit. Your yarn is beautiful and that's an amazing project for your first knit. Happy for you.
    Jeannine

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  8. your shawl looks fantastic! WAY, way, way better than my first knitting attempt! I love the color, too.

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  9. YAY you! Your project looks great - that neverending washcloth clearly honed you knitting skills. I like how the pattern ties up, makes it seem very practical. I added the pattern to my Ravelry library. And that yarn? Delicious!

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  10. Beautiful knitting! I find that knitting keeps me sane. I can always tell when I've gone more than a day or two without it. I also really enjoyed all the support from the Yarn Along community when I first started. Keep linking!

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