Sunday, April 14, 2013

What the Baby Blanket Taught Me

I'm on the last section of the baby blanket I'll be sending to my cousin and I'm very much enjoying this process. I think I needed to do this project, really. It's helped me get past an issue I was having. Though, I find that quite often when I work on long projects, as cheesy as it sounds, I really do learn a lot in the process.

For quite a while now, I've been doing loom knitting. I've got various sized round looms and two knit boards. The majority of my projects have been done on those, so even though I learned to knit no needles, I'd not really messed with the needles in a couple of years. In a way, I think I'd almost gotten afraid of them.  When I started thinking about doing the baby blanket, in fact, I really tried to find a way to make the blanket happen on the knit board. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that the yarn wasn't agreeable.

Reluctantly, I picked my needles back up and started the blanket. I managed to screw it up, of course, and I had to start over, but I kept on. This yarn had a purpose and I really wanted my cousin to have the blanket. My lack of skill wasn't going to stop me. Even now, the thing isn't perfect, but it looks a lot better than it did. By the time it's finished, I think it will be lovely.

In the meantime, I've regained my confidence in my skill with needles. The wonderful feeling of just being part of a knitting machine has returned to me. This is something I'd really missed. I've also improved on my tension and speed. Over all, I have to say I've fallen in love with knitting needles again and I'm quite happy about that.

Knitting is very compelling to me because I know don't possess this great talent for it. It took me a long while to actually even figure out how to do it and once I started, I created things that, while wearable, were mostly awkward and strange. I usually have to watch tutorial videos over and over again to even figure out what they're talking about. Most projects just turn out wonky.

And yet, I keep with it because I know that sticking to the hobby is proof of maturity for me. I was always one of those kids who lost interest in anything that I didn't pick up quickly and wasn't just adorably good at. I know I'm not great with my knitting. I also know that I'm better than I was last year.

Maybe when I'm about to turn 50, I'll find that I'm one of those knitters who can make ANYTHING and it turn out to be beautiful (and unsnagged and even and reasonably logical). If that is the case, I'll know that it's because I worked hard and practiced at this craft. I committed to learning it and improving my skills.

If I'm not there by 50, maybe I'll be there by 60. Here's hoping, anyway.

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