Saturday, November 14, 2009

Great Beginner Projects

When I caught the knitting bug, I was reading Sue Henry's The Tooth of Time. It is the third installment of the Maxie and Stretch series and in this one they are travelling to Taos to find materials for a ruana. The more this item was described the more I wanted to learn how to knit.

The gist of the book was around weaving and the shop Southwest Weavers but the idea of knitting this traditional Celtic shawl was too much for me to resist.

I ran out to the local craft shop and bought a Lion Brand beginner knit kit, called my mother for pointers and looked up some information online. There has been no turning back.

Truth be told, I finally own the pattern for the ruana however I have not knit it for myself yet. But I have knit lots of things that maybe, as a beginner, I was testing my boundaries, like socks only eight weeks into my adventure. No one had told me that socks should be difficult or for more advanced knitters. I was just like a sponge and soaked up anything I could find about knitting techniques.

I tried all kinds of projects the first year to find my favorite things. So far these include hats, socks, handwarmers, felted clogs, cowls, scarves, and any version of adding texture to the knit fabric.

One of my favorite things I knit early on was blocks for an afghan that lays over my couch in a kitty theme for my favorite boy, Pedro. I found different textures that created designs in kitties, hearts and even an alien. It was a fast project with lots of learning involved about what it takes to create designs.

I believe that anything can be a beginner project if you are open-minded enough to believe that you are capable. I know someone that tells about her first knitting project, it was a cabled vest. Again, no one told her that it should be difficult.

Some tips for anyone who wants to get started: find a knitting magazine and browse through it for something you would like to learn, take a class at a knitting shop - you will find like minded people, google beginning knitting and see what you find, and have a good time learning something new.

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