About a month ago I had a quite unexpected sudden urge to take up knitting. Not possibly the wisest choice, being in my third year of Graphic Design, and just about to start the busiest term so far. Nevertheless, as eager as I was, I made my first attempt...with chopsticks. And a stray piece of wool I found in the drawer.
Having proved to myself that I could do it I set out the next day to purchase a cheap pair of needles and whatever wool I could find, hopefully in a fairly nice colour. I didn't fancy waiting for an online order until I knew more about it, and besides, the vast array of wool available is quite intimidating. My first creation, I had decided, was to be this simple but rather lovely head wrap by Elisa McLaughlin. The slightly warmer weather was proving too much for my usual winter hat, but my ears still got cold without it and so this looked like a perfect solution. It really was the perfect beginner piece as it's a straight forward knit until it fits your head snugly, then just seam and cinch together to create the bow effect. And voila! My first finished knit, and it didn't look too bad either! Even better, it works a treat. My ears don't even feel the smallest shiver of wind.
Right, I thought, I am clearly a natural at this, lets try something more difficult. How about cabling? Perfect! Lets try a difficult pattern where I have to figure out the abbreviations and remember what row and which stitch I'm on while also figuring out how to do an actual cable stitch. Hmm. Not quite as easy as I expected, but I was determined. I spent many a night counting stitches and undoing rows and trying to figure out what on earth went wrong. This time I was making a cereal bowl cosy (yes, my hands get cold holding my cereal bowl in the morning...) so with a lack of patterns for my particular need I used this one for a hat, shortening it a bit to fit the bowl. After a restart it went much more smoothly, and eventually I ended up with something that looked more or less like it should!
Now I am officially hooked on knitting, and started the next project last night. I am looking for patterns to practice my knitting skills, and found this this cute little phone cozy to try out. It looks fairly simple so should be finished soon!
This may be an incredibly busy time for me, but I've found knitting to be relaxing (even when it goes wrong!), and a much needed break after a day in the studio. I don't think working constantly will be very good for my work, so hopefully these breaks will make me more productive!
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