Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! The blooms above are from Cath. She tried to make the flower before I was able to revise the pattern. The results were less than floral prompting her to send me an email titled "Bra Cup?" Apparently the old pattern produced something structurally similar to a Madonna-esque cone bra. Yeesh! This week's question was answered partially by some of you already but maybe you could elaborate a little.When and from whom did you learn to knit? Do you have a particular story?
I am especially interested because my own story is not very exciting. I worked at a cafe in the main library at the Ohio State University for a year as an undergraduate. We were next to the computer lab and one of the computer lab assistants would knit to kill time. She made mainly scarves and she put the idea in my head. A portable activity with usable results to do during down time at a boring job. Then I saw Debbie Stoller on the Today Show promoting the first Stitch n' Bitch book. I was a budding feminist and I wanted to be her. I went to the Columbus Metropolitan Library and borrowed the book with the best pictures (they didn't have a copy of Stitch n' Bitch), bought some needles and a skein of Red Heart and spent a weekend cursing and fumbling. After many ugly hours, dropped stitches, and sticky needles it clicked! I was knitting! Everywhere! Class, work (by this time I was tending bar at a pool hall. Very Madame Defarge), outside, inside, I couldn't stop. The first project I finished was a wonky scarf for my gram. Of course she loved it. She was a defunked knitter herself who learned from her mother but never developed much love for the craft. She prefered to build doll house furniture. But my efforts reminded her of my great-gram and that made her proud. Who taught you to knit? What do you remember about learning?
One summer in undergrad, my flatmate told me that she was going to teach a sweater design class in the fall. She wanted me to co-teach it with her. "But I don't knit!" I protested. "That's ok," she said, "I have a whole pitcher of margaritas." So she taught me to knit, and I co-taught her class.
ReplyDeleteMy then-boyfriend's mother was (is) a huge knitting fanatic. I was afraid that if she knew I knit, she'd want me to be as crazy about it as she was. You know, several Guild meetings every week, a house stuffed with yarn, oohing and aahing over specific designers, spending all my free time yarn shopping. I hid my knitting from her for the better part of a year. My fear was justified, but I still married her son and she calmed down a lot over time.
My Granma taught me how to crochet first. I did pretty well with crochet so then she taught me how to knit... which I did not do as well with. But eventually I mastered the knit stitch. Then about four years ago (after making 20 garter stitch scarves...), when I was in college I realized that I didn't know how to purl or bind off or really how to do anything that you should probably know to knit. I just knew how to cast on and knit! Since my Granma lives in Minnesota and she can't just drop everything to come teach me something she sent me a video on how to purl and bind off. It was so sweet!
ReplyDeleteMy sudden curiosity in knitting again was brought on by the store Knitters Mercantile which had just opened up and it was so cool. It reminded me of my Granma especially since a woman there was super nice and told me I could do more than just scarves. Her name was Phyllis- just like my Granma. Anyways, she gave me a pattern for a super simple knit hat and once I knit that I went crazy for knitting. LOL, ramble fest.
When my Dad had bypass surgery I spent many hours in waiting rooms with his very dear friend, Wilma, whom I barely knew. She was knitting cotton dishcloths one after the other. She said it was soothing to her. I didn't understand that, but I figured that teaching me to knit might give us something to talk about since we'd just about run out of conversation....
ReplyDeleteSo off we went to a big box store and I got needles and ridiculously inexpensive cotton yarn.
After a dozen dishcloths, I asked Wilma to show me how to knit something else. That's when she confessed that she didn't really knit anything EXCEPT dishcloths! My new hobby might have fizzled out right then, if it wasn't for the internet and especially knittinghelp.com. I bumped into knitty.com and magknits and various knitting blogs and I was so energized by those projects and designers. I am so grateful to Amy at knittinghelp for the hours of patient video help. I must have watched the kitchener stitch about 50 times!
Each time I'd visit Dad & Wilma, I'd bring my current project or finished object. Wilma was always so encouraging and even asked me to show her some stitch patterns (she was just being nice, she never finished the hat). :)
Wilma passed in 2007, but I still think of her when I finish a project. I look at my work and remember what a positive reaction I always got from this wonderful woman. And it soothes me.
My first introduction to "fiber arts" was in 1963, when President Kennedy was assassinated; my mother taught my older sister, brother and me to crochet to pass the time we were off school but (due to showing respect) needed to be quiet and were not allowed to play outside. I was 13. I crocheted rugs from string that had been collected by my grandfather when he worked at a local grocery that received it's boxes tied with cotton string. He had tied every piece together with strong knots and wound it into balls, which were stored in our attic after his death.
ReplyDeleteIn my early 20's, with three small children, I taught myself to knit to make the kids sweaters. Over the years I have taken classes to learn new techniques - and in the late 70's I even learned to spin so I could create my own yarn. My mother once said, while watching me spin, that if she wanted yarn that bad, she'd go buy it!
I can knit, crochet, spin, and weave; my true love is knitting however. It's very portable, creative, and opens lots of conversations. I agree that it is very soothing -
I just blogged this, funnily enough. I learned to crochet when I was 7, and tried to learn to knit from one of those ubiquitous craft tabloids that were around in the late 70's/early 80's, but all I could figure from the printed directions was how to cast on (I was really good at that, it was like those crocheted hangers so many of us made back then). I was content with crochet until my Gran died suddenly in November of 2000. That holiday season was a blur, I remember being at a Barnes & Noble and seeing the book The Knitting Goddess. Something about that book just said pick me up, and even though I didn't buy it that day ("I don't knit, what do I need this for?") it continued to bug me until I ordered my copy from the local Little Professor. I found the book not quite enough help and used video tutorials from the internet to learn the basic stitches. I did nothing but garter stitch for a few months, but eventually did move on to the purl stitch, again thanks to the online tutorial. Since then I have continued to expand my skills through the use of stitch guides and "great determination".
ReplyDeleteI learned to knit when I was eight. My grandma taught me, because we were going to our family reunion that afternoon and she was worried I would be bored and a little freaked out. (I was still into hiding under tables when company came over). I knitted a skinny scarf for hours that afternoon. For a while it was only a hobby I practiced on the farm when I was visiting her, and then in high school I knitted baby hats for newborns at the local hospital for volunteer hours.
ReplyDeleteI kind of left it alone for a few years, and then picked it back up when traveling overseas with my husband. It's the only thing I can do when riding in a car or plane without getting sick. I've made tons of scarves since then, and then went through a hat phase. Every knitting project since then has been a "I wonder if I could learn to do..." kind of project. I've done a couple of lacy shawls and a sweater. I'm doing more sweaters these days, and look forward to learning about cables. I am also inspired to try more hats after seeing thousands of super-cute knitted hats worn by people on the National Mall during the inauguration (I live in DC).
My maternal Grammy always had a knitting project in her lap. I can remember watching her fingers for hours it seems. She was a mass producer of knitted items from sweaters to scarves and mittens. She had eight kids and 15 grandchildren to knit Christmas and birthday gifts. My Grammy loved to knit cables. Cables always fascinated me. There was a particular Cabled Jacket both Grammy and my Mom knitted over and over for them to wear. When it wore out they would make another.
ReplyDeleteLast year I knit a Cabled Jacket using that same pattern for my Mom. She is no longer able to knit due to arthritis in her hands and fingers.
Neither mom or Grammy sat down and taught me how to knit. I learned by watching Grammy for hours. I always could go to either of them for guidance when I was having a problem with my knitting. I didn't take my knitting skill seriously back then. It almost seems like it didn't become a serious passion of mine until the year Grammy died. Perhaps it was her passing the torch to me.....
I taught myself with Stitch N Bitch and the how to section in several magazines ( mostly simply knitting and creative knitting) I teach myself new techniques whenever I have a project requiring it. I was knitting into the back of the stitch for my first few projects and purling correctly. Then I was using a pattern that wanted you to do that and I realized I wasn't doing it right. Took about a week to get the hang of the correct way.
ReplyDeleteI learned from a co-worker in early 2006. She would knit during lunch, and I commented that it looked great and that I was jealous. She offered to teach me and I took her up on it.
ReplyDeleteMy co-worker was far more successful in teaching me than my mom.
Mom tried to teach me once, my senior year of high school. I needed to knit for a play (we'd decided my character needed to sit & knit), so she tried to teach me. It didn't take. She ended up knitting something for me to "knit" during the production. She said she could tell that I wasn't doing it right.
I don't remember a lot about learning to knit. I learned from my mom when I was a young 'un of 8 or so. My main memories of it are that I made a swatch that grew every row until I figured out how to not yarn-over in the first stitch, and that I quickly got more into it than my mom was.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have anyone to teach me to knit. My grandmother sewed and taught me that but never had anyone to sit and teach me. One point my first husbands grandmother attempted to each me but was very hateful and hard to learn from so I gave up. About a year ago I picked it up again, got some needles, a how to book and never looked back. Cracy Addicted.
ReplyDeleteI learned from my aunt and mrs Wallace my 6th grade teacher, that was when I was 12 I knit off and on for the intervening years but not often and only little things, In 2003 I started again and haven't put the needles down since, I have really honed my skills although there are a few techniques I need to learn.
ReplyDeleteMy paternal grandmother taught me how to knit. She didn't teach me anything beside the basic cast on, cast off, knit and purl stitch. That was enough for me as a 10 year old and I made everyone scarfs, potholders, and pretty much anything that could be knit in a square or rectangle. She never taught me anything about gauge swatches, needle size or even working with different types of yarn. I found all that out for myself at a later date, however if she hadn't taught me to knit I don't think I would have ever picked it up in the future.
ReplyDeleteOn behalf of Stefanie:
ReplyDelete"I learned to knit about six years ago from a crappy book (knitting for dummies - insulting AND not helpful - yay!). eventually i figured it all out, but it was about a six-month learning curve. i was pretty broke at the time, living in portland, so taking a class wasn't an option, but i probably should have found a stitch n bitch group or something and saved myself a lot of pain!"
Running by in a quiet moment to answer some of the earlier post's questions. . .
ReplyDeleteI learned to knit from my hubby's grandmother about 10 years ago. At the time, I was an avid crocheter (learned from my grandma around age 9 or 10) and I really did not like the way knitted fabric rolled. Of course, I did not understand the nature of knitted fabric at the time, and it seemed to also take much longer than crochet!
A few years later, at an out-of-town baseball tournament for my son, some of the moms and sisters on the trip decided to learn to knit those furry scarves on teh GINORMOUS needles. Since I knew the basic knit and purl stitches, my dear daughter (then 11 or so) were in! After a dozen or more fuzzy scarves, I decided I wanted to learn to knit socks. I launched my campaign via internet "how-to" sites, adn learned to knit socks. . .then hats. . .then sweaters. . .and the rest, as they say, is history. Now I am a knitting fool!
Since I have learned to love knitting, I have also taught a few others here and there. I htink it's best to learn face-to-face, but I sure am glad about the internet! I think most instructors would not have started me on socks, but I would start someone who asked!
My story isn't so interesting but probably more common. I learned to knit from my Mom. She decided she had wanted to learn to knit. I watched her teach herself. A lot of cussing involved. She kept asking me if I wanted to learn and I said "No, I don't think I want to. I don't think I'll get it." After a few more times of asking, I gave in. My Mom tried to show me how to cast on. I couldn't get it. She then would cast on for me and tought me how to knit. So the first few weeks of knitting I would mess up, take my scarf over to my Mom's house. She would either fix it or tear it apart and knit it back to the point of where I messed it up and give it back to me. After successfully, and I say that term loosely, finishing the scarf, I finally learned how to cast on and made my own scarf by casting on and knitting it completely myself.
ReplyDelete1998 - I joined a spinning guild while living in Atlanta, GA. While hiking one day, I came across a lady giving a spinning demonstration. I got her phone number and went to the next guild meeting (which I thought was funny - I didn't think they still had guilds of this nature!) So, I joined the guild and learned how to spin. The next spring, I went to a semi-annual spinning retreat where someone took the time to teach me how to knit. See? These women were amazingly talented. They were ablt to knit, crochet, weave, spin beautiful yarn from fun novelty / chunky yarn down to gorgeous lace-weight yarns that you'd never know were made by a real person except for the look of prided beaming from their faces when they handed it over to you. Of course, the pride wasn't so big it was the constant amazement of how gorgeous their creations always were...and everyones' creations. We all shared a love of fiber and all things creative. Because they made so many gorgeous things, I wanted to open the door to make some myself, so I learned to knit.
ReplyDeleteThe lesson on purl stitches came about 6 months later - at the next semi-annual retreat! Seriously - why rush these things!
I learned to knit from my Mom. I remember briefly expressing an interest in it when I was about 7 because my Mom and Gram owned a yarn store where I'd frequently hang out, but it didn't click then. After a few failed attempts at following my intrigue I finally got it New Years Eve 2001. I had some miserable flu type thing and my Dad was putting hardwood floors down in our house. My Mom and I became confined in my room and she taught me to knit. I made a garter stitch scarf in purples and black. Color changes were trying, but I finished a scarf worthy of wearing.
ReplyDeleteEven though I've been knitting for eight years now, I don't feel as though I really "got it" until the last year or so. It's taken this long for me to be able to recognize and fix my own mistakes. I still get hung up sometimes on new stitches, but I usually figure them out with a little help from either my Mom or various books/websites.
Months ago I took a class on continental knitting and I'm still having difficulty with it. I feel like I'm learning all over again! I switch back and forth between methods depending on whether I'm feeling patient or not.
On behalf of Ingrid:
ReplyDelete"My Nan taught me to knit when I was perhaps 5 or 6 (I'm 32 now). She lived on the Isle of Wight off England's south coast and I would go on holidays to stay with her and my grandad. She was a prolific knitter and sewer all her life and could easily adapt patterns to fit anyone. She also crocheted and I think kept all this going to ease the pain in her hands from arthritis: the more she used her hands, the longer her joints would keep going. She taught me garter stitch firstly and I knit an awful lot of scarves for teddy bears out of the gaudiest wool I could find, on short green metal needles!"
My mom taught me to knit. She swears I asked to learn at age 5, she was busy getting ready to make dinner and took 5 minutes to show me how. By the time dinner was ready I had knit quite a sample. She was amazed. I have taught all 3 of my daughters to knit and they have taught their friends. One of my daughters did her senior project in high school with knitting, making caps for premies with her friends.
ReplyDelete