I have a little cartoon on my Pinterest page that says “It’s not a hobby it’s a post apocalyptic life skill.” My husband and I L.O.V.E “The Walking Dead” (which I still can’t believe, even after watching all this time since I am NOT really a zombie kinda girl), so that gave me a chuckle. If this justifies the amount of time I spend knitting, then that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! 🙂 I wish I had more free time to knit, but as a mom of three, my knitting time is snatched in bits and pieces at soccer practices, waiting for doctor’s appointments and sometimes for an hour or so watching tv at night when the kids have gone to bed. I always tell people it’s so relaxing and therapeutic for me. There’s something about the rhythm that calms and quiets my mind. LOOOOOOOOVE it!
I’ve been knitting for about 6 or so years now. My skills have improved greatly over the years, so that now I’m not too shabby and actually give what I make as gifts. See!! Not just a hobby!!!! 🙂 I get asked all the time how I started knitting. I think most people expect a heartwarming story about how my grandmother taught me at her knee, or something like that. Truth? Knitting for Dummies. For real. I had tried crochet when my first two were born so that I could make them little baby blankets, and while I did produce a blanket for them each, I was NOT good and really hated it. Sooooo, while expecting #3 I walked past a copy of Knitting for Dummies at a store and grabbed it thinking maybe this knitting thing would save me from the torture of crocheting another blanket. I tried it and LOVED it. If you’ve always wanted to try and didn’t know where to start, that’s my secret! 🙂
In paperback:
On Kindle:
If you’ve always wanted to learn, I highly recommend that book. You can also find tons of instructional videos on YouTube, or if you need more hands on instruction, you can’t beat a class at your local yarn shop. I am going to share my current projects here from time to time. I hope that those of you who are knitters will enjoy the posts and perhaps find a great new pattern to try. If you are not yet a knitter, then I hope to entice some of you to try with pictures of pretty yarn and fun looking projects.
My other knitting secret weapon? Ravelry. Knitting any pattern is a commitment. You have to buy your yarn and invest your time into it. I hate wasting money and I hate wasting my time even more. Ravelry is super awesome because so many patterns are offered for free or at low cost. It’s always great for me to be able to buy a single pattern instead of buying a whole book just for one or two. Plus, you get to look at tons of pictures other knitters have posted of their results and read their notes, which is always helpful when I am trying to choose a good pattern. I am not affiliated with them in any way, other than being a member. If you are cool enough to read this blog, I want to make sure that you know about some of the best things I’ve found along the way if you don’t already.
Free pattern. Skill level is easy peasy lemon squeezy (as my little dude loves to say). This is a quick knit and would be great as one of your first projects if you are just starting or one of those easy take-along projects for more seasoned knitters. Big bonus is that they are really sturdy and work really well! I’ve been using one for a couple of months now and it’s still working great and hanging together. Knit a little stack and they make a great gift too!
Skills needed:
yarn over (Yarn over instructions can be found at the bottom of this increase page)
My daughter loves rainbows. I think she came by it naturally. 🙂
This was my first experience with knitting dishcloths, but it won’t be my last.
Next time we talk knitting I have a very special, year long project to share with you. I was so excited to start it this year and am far behind and trying to catch up before I share.
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I’m actually a fairly decent crochet-er (okay, I can crochet rectangles rather beautifully) but I’ve never been able to knit. I really should try and figure it out! Zombies and all! 😉
Besides, your dish clothes are gorgeous!
Thanks!!! I’m sure your rectangles are spectacular! 🙂 I never got past lines of double crochet. That never would have helped me with the Zombies. haha! Good luck if you try knitting again!
760598 453193Really excellent publish, thanks a whole lot for sharing. Do you happen to have an RSS feed I can subscribe to? 146582
Came here through a Pin. I love the fun bright colors of these dishcloths. I wanted to give my “How I Got Started Knitting” story and checked your ‘About’ page first, and it’s weird. My name is Alicia, I’m a thirty something mom of three married to an awesome guy. Some of the things I love are gardening, knitting, and baking. I tried crocheting during my first pregnancy and didn’t take to it much, although I’d like to get better. I taught myself to knit for my 25th birthday with the book Stitch ‘n Bitch. I also love Ravelry.
So, in short, I think you’re pretty awesome.
I am laughing so hard reading this! I have a name twin somewhere and didn’t even know it! Well, I have to say you sound like a super-cool chick! 🙂 If you ever find a trick to that whole crochet thing, you’ll have to tell me. I have a blanket pattern saved on Ravelry with these cute little flowers that I am soooo wanting to make if I ever stop stinkin’ at crochet. Come back and visit! We can’t have too many awesome Alicia’s around here! 🙂
What is going on with these comments? And why do they all sound like they’re from the same person? This is like crossed wires or something lol.
I am soooo sorry if you got a zillion notifications from comments!! I had 868 spam comments in my folder from the past 2-3 days. I would have closed comments until I fixed it if I had realized even spam marked comments were causing notifications to go out. :/ I have no idea what changed, but I have it set now so it won’t happen again. Stupid spammers!
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