I always forget about this place. It's hard enough keeping up a regular blog, let alone a specialty one. I guess because it's hard to separate knitting from the rest of my life, since knitting is such a big part of my life (weird as that may sound). But I want to make more of an effort at least to record things here, projects I've made and such, just to have it.
Right now I'm working on: a scarf, two blankets, and a cardigan. Blankets are for some of the MANY people I know who've gotten married this year. There are a lot of them, and I've been trying to knit blankets for all of them. I could do something easier and quicker, like placemats or towels, but I really love knitting blankets. I love having blankets, too, so I sort of just assume everyone does. Even if it gets stuck in a closet somewhere and never sees the light of day, it'll be there for that day when they need an extra bit of warmth. I still treasure the first package I ever got in college - an afghan my grandmother made for me. I actually don't know if it was knit or crocheted - I think she crocheted a lot more than she knit, but it sort of looks like knit stitches. It's hard to tell though. In any case, I love it. I really wish I had been more into knitting while she was alive. I didn't start until my sophomore year in college, I think, and even then it wasn't nearly to the degree I knit now. She died when I was a senior, and I probably only saw her a couple of times in person in the interim, so I never really got a chance to bond with her over that. But that's the way life goes, I guess. At least I can keep it going, though I can't glean pearls of crafting wisdom from her.
Well that went off on an unexpected tangent. But that's ok. You know, I'm just so very very thankful that I have knitting. Throughout my life there have been lots of things that I pick up, enjoy for a little while, and then let go of for no good reason. (Violining comes to mind. I really regret not keeping up with that.) But knitting has weaved itself around my heart (ha, get it?), and I don't think it's ever leaving. And thank God for that. It's funny - I don't really appreciate how good at it I am (please understand I'm saying this in a modest way, because I know there's still so much about knitting I don't know) until I get around other people who knit occasionally. For me, I just taught myself to knit and I was off and running, and I've never really struggled with it or had many mishaps or difficulties. So I can make some really pretty things. I mean, I still don't know how to do much with multiple colors, and I certainly have not yet gotten up the courage - or desire, really - to start designing my own patterns, but I have yet to meet a pattern that I can't pretty easily figure out. It just really works for me. It works well with the way my mind thinks. I take it for granted sometimes, and expect that everyone should be able to pick it up that easily, so it's no big deal what I can do. (Really, it's all just a matter of following the instructions.) But then I get together with other people who knit as a hobby, and they're often surprised by what I can do.
Ok, that probably all just sounded incredibly prideful and braggy. It's not how I mean it. Anyone who knows me knows how much I dislike admitting that I'm good at anything. It's not about me, though, it's all God. He really gave me this gift of being able to create beautiful things with my hands. Practical things. Warm, cozy things. Oh, how excited I am for fall, winter, colder weather! Snuggling in around bunches of blankets, wrapping myself in mounds of scarves, throwing a deliciously warm hat over my head. Knitters love winter weather. I am no exception. I may have been known to knit blankets during a ridiculously hot DC summer, but knitting in winter is just so perfect. And it may seem silly to associate God with knitting, but I know that I couldn't do it without him having given me the skills to do it, the mind to easily adapt to knitting lingo and patterns and symbols, the heart to embrace it more and more every day - and to want to spread that love to everyone else!
Boy oh boy, am I ever and always thankful for this craft.
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