Christmas 2010. I request and receive from my mother-in-law a set of Knit Picks interchangeable knitting needles. I am grateful. I immediately ask her to teach me the basics, then (as I did with crochet) I take those basics to the internet and start a slow and arduous journey of learning how knitting really works.

I tried and failed many small projects. Well, I failed one, got bored with many others, realized I didn’t have enough yarn on yet another. My first completed item was a 2×2 rib scarf. In April I finished my first hat, which worked because it was worked flat and sewn up the sides and the top.

I’d been pining over a pattern by the name of Owlings pretty much since I started showing interest in knitting. I tried casting on once in the beginning of summer because parts of where I work are freezing all day long, but I frogged it because I couldn’t get the tension right where the rows turned into rounds, and because I didn’t like the color.

I eventually found the yarn I wanted: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, in a beautiful green. These would be my gloves. Once I finally cast on a few weeks ago, and figured out my tension, they worked up remarkably fast. Granted, they still took a few weeks of on-and-off knitting, but it was a lot faster than I expected, and MUCH more pleasing than the crochet mitts I was working on for the holiday markets last season.

I find that I have a hard time knitting at home sometimes. Most of the work for these was done in a car or at the market when business was being slow. But I’m really glad I kept up with these ones because they are beautiful and just what I need in the office!

Hat pattern: “Fat Hat” by Judith Swartz, published in Hip to Knit. I forget the yarn. Ravelry link to pattern page and my project page.
Scarf pattern: 2×2 rib with a few rows of garter stitch on the ends in Loops & Threads Charisma.
Owlings: Pattern by Kerrie James. Link to pattern on Ravelry, designer’s website, and my Ravelry project page.