Knitting
I'm a day late (d'oh!) but I get there in the end :-) For the December talking meme (which still has lots of empty slots later in the month here, 
paranoidangel asked me to talk about knitting.
Which has been sadly neglected over the last few months, but maybe talking about it will finally spur me to finish my damn socks.
I started knitting over ten years ago, to give myself something to do with my hands of an evening. My mum taught me and started me on easy squares using knit and purl to pattern them, which eventually turned into my enourmous knitted blanket. And then I made a second patchwork blanket. And one for my sister.
(I've got such an itch to make another blanket, actually. Something nice and mindless could be good for me.)
After that, I graduated into learning to make a baby cardigan when a friend was pregnant. From there, I learned to knit in the round so I could make myself a pair of fingerless mittens because my office was cold. Knitting in the round led to sock knitting, which is surprisingly satisfying. Pretty warm socks for horrible Canadian winters! My preference for making things with actual practical use led to cardigans and hats, as well.
I've made the odd lacey shawl, but I've got no patience for the fiddly stuff. Knitting, for me, started out as a way to occupy my hands while watching TV and do something productive at the same time. It's still primarily about that for me, although I do like my productivity to be pretty. My skin is very sensitive to wool, which is why any clothing-type knitting is always done in merino. Not cheap, but at least what I make is wearable.
(Blankets don't need to be wearable, but I like them to be easy to manage and hard-wearing, so they're usually a wool-acrylic blend. Much cheaper.)
I enjoy knitting because it produces something at the end that I can use. I prefer knitting with fine yarns--fingering or DK weight--because the fabric is more comfortable for me to wear. Blankets, again, are the unwearable exception where I use a heavier yarn. My mother loves making things with hugely complicated cable patterns and so forth. She says that she gets bored otherwise.
I like making things that are fairly simple, because watching TV is still the only time I knit, and I want to pay attention to the show. If I'm trying to read a long pattern, my concentration for both knitting and TV is shot to hell. So, I stick to simple things.
Both of the blankets I've made for myself see heavy use all through the year, even all these years later. And I catch my sister snuggling under hers when we're Skyping. So far, my blankets have been my most used finished items.
I should dig out those socks tonight. And maybe look at what I've got around for another blanket.
If I can just get the cats to stop chewing my circular needs and pretty yarn for long enough...
This entry was originally posted at http://selenay.dreamwidth.org/517002.html. There are currently
babbles on the entry on Dreamwidth. Leave comments at http://selenay.dreamwidth.org/517002.html?mode=reply
paranoidangel asked me to talk about knitting.
Which has been sadly neglected over the last few months, but maybe talking about it will finally spur me to finish my damn socks.
I started knitting over ten years ago, to give myself something to do with my hands of an evening. My mum taught me and started me on easy squares using knit and purl to pattern them, which eventually turned into my enourmous knitted blanket. And then I made a second patchwork blanket. And one for my sister.
(I've got such an itch to make another blanket, actually. Something nice and mindless could be good for me.)
After that, I graduated into learning to make a baby cardigan when a friend was pregnant. From there, I learned to knit in the round so I could make myself a pair of fingerless mittens because my office was cold. Knitting in the round led to sock knitting, which is surprisingly satisfying. Pretty warm socks for horrible Canadian winters! My preference for making things with actual practical use led to cardigans and hats, as well.
I've made the odd lacey shawl, but I've got no patience for the fiddly stuff. Knitting, for me, started out as a way to occupy my hands while watching TV and do something productive at the same time. It's still primarily about that for me, although I do like my productivity to be pretty. My skin is very sensitive to wool, which is why any clothing-type knitting is always done in merino. Not cheap, but at least what I make is wearable.
(Blankets don't need to be wearable, but I like them to be easy to manage and hard-wearing, so they're usually a wool-acrylic blend. Much cheaper.)
I enjoy knitting because it produces something at the end that I can use. I prefer knitting with fine yarns--fingering or DK weight--because the fabric is more comfortable for me to wear. Blankets, again, are the unwearable exception where I use a heavier yarn. My mother loves making things with hugely complicated cable patterns and so forth. She says that she gets bored otherwise.
I like making things that are fairly simple, because watching TV is still the only time I knit, and I want to pay attention to the show. If I'm trying to read a long pattern, my concentration for both knitting and TV is shot to hell. So, I stick to simple things.
Both of the blankets I've made for myself see heavy use all through the year, even all these years later. And I catch my sister snuggling under hers when we're Skyping. So far, my blankets have been my most used finished items.
I should dig out those socks tonight. And maybe look at what I've got around for another blanket.
If I can just get the cats to stop chewing my circular needs and pretty yarn for long enough...
This entry was originally posted at http://selenay.dreamwidth.org/517002.html. There are currently
babbles on the entry on Dreamwidth. Leave comments at http://selenay.dreamwidth.org/517002.html?mode=reply