The idear first came to me when my friend countered my crocheted blanket with her knitted scarf.
And to clarify the matter, I am no expert at crochet. I can chain and double crochet enough to granny square and ripple blanket, but that's as far as that yarn ambidextory goes.Learning to knit became a clear intention after a coworker described his new hobby of model aircrafts and asked me if there was a hobby I enjoyed.
Oh, the destruction he has wrought.
I learned to knit from Sally Melville's book and by watching Lily Chin demonstrate on Knitty Gritty. This was the first episode I ever watched. I took it as fate.
I promptly burned myself out on scarves and didn't knit for a few months, until I read the Knitty review of Mason Dixon Knitting. This book changed my knitting life.
Once I figured out how to knit anything on a circular needle, I stopped buying straights and I have yet to regret it.
I have knit more washclothes than all other projects combined. Most were given as gifts.
I'm a thrower. It is faster for me to throw than pick, as odd as that may seem.
I do know how to knit continental, just not very quickly. I plan to become faster as I knit the Fair Isle.
I have since discovered that most women in my family have at one time or another participated in some variety of fiber art. It makes me feel like I'm that much closer to them.
I knit socks on two circulars, and to be honest, prefer the Addi Turbo over any other needle (crazy sharp Knit Picks included). They are not too blunt for my taste; I have knit a shawl with a p5tog nupp that they handled just fine.
I have discovered a great deal about GAUGE and knitting too tightly/loosely. ALWAYS knit a GAUGE swatch. And ALWAYS wash it the same way you would wash the finished garmet. When yarn is spun, extra air is hidden inside the wooly fibers. You just never know for sure how the fabric will behave until it has been wetted, throughly dried, and (ZOMG!) blocked.
I've discovered that learning something new isn't always as difficult as it may seem. If I can learn to knit, so can anyone else that sets their mind to it.
