second beginnings

My friend Kylee gave me a kit for this past Christmas - a ball of yarn and wooden size 10 needles in a cup. I had tried to knit before, and earlier in the year a friend had taught me the long-tail cast-on and straightened out my problem with twisting stitches, but I had not gotten to the point where I liked knitting.

I'd gotten a little stifled with the crochet. It seemed less versatile than I liked and I had done about a million scarves and enough afghans to cover all the people I liked. There were babies getting blankets still, but very slowly. Wireless internet in front of the tv sounded more fun.

So I got this kit from a beloved friend, I cast on and started knitting. There was driving for the holiday, and car time is great yarn-crafting time. There was this garter stitch scarf or there was a diagonal baby blanket in a crazy block stitch that was in the long cold winter of somewhere-around-halfway-through that happens with diagonal projects.

And then the playoffs started. I had recently moved to Indianapolis and the Colts were doing well. But not consistently. And one day in front of a game, I realized that it was much easier to watch while knitting the garter stitch than while crocheting the blocks. So that scarf got finished. And then there were a couple balls of a cotton-wool blend that needed a use. So I knit them into a ribbed scarf for my mom. That got the whole knit-purl thing into my head. And the yarn was yummy. It was a happy thing.

I think it was the wooden needles. And maybe the yummy yarn. I'd been playing with acrylic and aluminum before, and that wasn't as pleasant for me. And then I found a knitting group. And that just cemented it. I've been learning fast since then, and it's pretty awesome.