hopeful

I taught myself to knit in the fall of 1997. I was in India on study abroad and, after three months spent with a large group of American students at a monastery in Bodh Gaya, found myself alone and very cold in the mountain town of Darjeeling for the independent study portion of the semester. After months of intense communal living, the solitude was somewhat comforting, and when I came across a shop that sold yarn and needles, I picked up a few supplies. A college friend had shown me the basics prior to this, so I was easily able to get started. I knit a scarf for my mother, who I was missing, and another for my then boyfriend, who I was missing as well. When it came time to cast off, I toted my project down to the front desk of the Tibetan guest house where I was staying and, without a common language, asked the Tibetan woman there who was often knitting to show me how. I can see her smile so clearly in my mind.


When I decided to join the Peace Corps a year and a half later, I once again found myself alone and very, very, very, very cold (I was assigned to northern Mongolia). I knit a lot. I mean like a crazy lot - I made my friends sweaters and scarves, mittens and hats. I constantly wrote home asking for more yarn, and I collected yarn on countryside visits (which is why I still have six skeins of scratchy camel wool under my bed waiting for a project). I mastered the art of knitting while reading at the same time, so I'd sit by my wood stove with needles in hand and a book balanced on my knees while outside temperatures hovered around -40 degrees. I spent months and months like this.

When I reflect retrospectively on my fifteen year relationship with yarn and needles, there's a theme that runs throughout; I seldom knit for myself. For me, knitting has always been a meditative act; there is something about the rhythm of moving two sticks and a length of yarn together that breeds a reflective quiet in my mind. I like to think of each stitch as a thought for the recipient, be it a distant friend or a soon-to-be-born baby. Okay, that is a bit overstated: there are plenty of times when I am on a timeline and just want the darn thing to be finished...but I'd like to think that the majority of my gifted projects are knit up with tiny little wishes worked into the stitches.

This long-winded introduction is to bring you up to date with my thoughts as of late. My wonderful and amazing mother had gastric bypass surgery last week, and I knew months ago that I wanted to make her an afghan to have around the house during her recovery. That does not mean that I had the wits about me to get started on a afghan months ago, however, so when it suddenly got to be January, I found myself frantically looking for a quick pattern online. Two words. Big needles. Really stinking big needles. This Lion Brand pattern claims to be a six hour project. I don't know if I finished it in six hours since I don't think I've had six consecutive hours to knit since I got home from Mongolia. But I can decisively report that it was really fast, really easy, and super cozy. I particularly like the heft of the blanket - the four strands of yarn held together lend a lot of weight to it. As a bonus, it kept my knees warm while I worked on it.

My mom is recovering beautifully, and it was an absolute joy to present her with this blanket last weekend. I like to think of her covered in my stitch thoughts as her body figures out its many changes..and I am glad, on these cold winter days, that she is warm.

I first started knitting when I was studying abroad in college. A friend had showed me the basics the year before, and for some reason I picked up needles and yarn somewhere in northern India during that long ago semester. I particularly remember knitting during the independent study portion of the program, at which time the forty or so of us studying together all branched out to different places throughout India and Nepal to do a field-based research project. I was in Darjeeling, high in the tea-covered mountains, and boy, was it cold. Maybe that is why I started knitting, now that I think about it. Anyway, I had a lot of time to myself, and I knit my first scarf. I remember bringing it down to the Tibetan woman who worked at the front desk of the guest house where I had been staying for several weeks and somehow explaining to her, without words, that I had no idea how to cast off. She, without words, taught me. I've been knitting ever since.

Like any knitter, I love me a good yarn shop. I love fancy yarns and unusual fibers and hand dyed wools. I have a gigantic stash of yarn that I just had to have, with no particular project in mind, and I love going to new yarn stores when I visit new places.

Some of my favorite projects, however, come from your average balls of yarn that I buy at Michael's or Jo-Ann's and from patterns that I download for free from Lion Brand. As I've previously mentioned, I'm not the fastest knitter. That said, I love projects that use thick yarn, and I particularly like the Lion Brand Thick and Quick. Over the last few years, I have made probably a dozen of these hats: they stitch up beautifully, are very warm, are flexible for sizing (which helps, since I'm typically mailing them to the receiver), and look adorable. As an added bonus, I can usually finish one in the time it takes to sit down and watch a movie.



Last week, I got an email from Lion Brand with a link to a pattern for socks made with Thick and Quick yarn.  Interestingly enough, I learned to knit socks from a Mongolian friend entirely in Mongolian and to this day the only "pattern" I've ever used are the notes I scratched down during our demonstration-based lessons ten years ago. So I think I'm going to give this a try. The floors in my house are always cold, so I'm happy to have a pair of thick warm slipper socks in my near future. I'll let you know how it goes! 

Lion Brand Longford Hat

Lion Brand Slipper Socks

A lapful of knitting

It was a blissful October afternoon. A sprinkling of clouds, abundant sunshine, and a breeze that subtly shifted from a little cool to a little warm throughout the day. And for two incredible hours, Emmett napped, Finn tossed a football around the backyard (supported by my whoops and hollers), and I sat on the back porch watching Finn and working on the yoga mat bag. None too soon, as we were scheduled to stop by Patty's house to say goodbye that evening, and I was determined to have the mat done to give to her. The last minute magic worked, as my children were happy, my fingers nimble, and, by dinner time, the bag was complete.

As mentioned in my previous post on the topic, this pattern comes from Joelle Hoverson's book Last Minute Knitted Gifts.  The finished length of the project was 48".  I had no idea how long it would take to get to 48", even using size 10 1/2 needles, and I've been slowly working on this project all summer and into the fall. The pattern is essentially a great big bag with a big wide strap and, when finished, it looks like it would hold a yoga mat for an ogre.

Finn and 48" of unfelted yoga mat bag

I loved this project because I didn't have to pay a whole lot of attention to what I was doing; after deciding what colors I was going to use, I could change the yarn whenever I felt (ha!) like it. I wanted playful, sunny colors and was able to find exactly what I needed in my yarn stash.

Pre-felting

Post-felting

I felted the bag in my front-loading washing machine; it took about twenty-five minutes total and I checked it every five minutes. Once complete, it was the perfect size for a yoga mat.


It makes me so happy to think of this mat accompanying Patty on her journey west. She loved it, even if it was still a little damp...hopefully it'll dry out by the time she gets there!

My husband Sean, who is an excellent runner, often jokes that he has a difficult time making himself go running unless he is signed up for a race. I'm kind of the same way with knitting projects; I love to plan them, I love to work on them, but I am terrible at finishing them unless I have a very specific deadline.


Case in point: I recently knit up this little acorn cap and matching swaddle for a gift for my cousin Suzanne's baby. I found the pattern and bought the yarn well in advance, but I was still up until 2 a.m. the night before the baby shower. It turned out pretty sweet, though; I'm particularly fond of the acorn hat and will probably stitch it up for a few more babies I know.


I have two projects on the needles right now. My niece Caroline is dressing as Hermione Granger for Halloween, and I long ago promised her a Gryffindor maroon and gold scarf. Suddenly, Halloween is just around the corner, so I've got to finish it and send it off.  Not a particularly stimulating project, but it is always fun to make a gift that will be adored, and Caroline is the biggest Gryffindork I know.

I'm also hard at work on a retirement/going away present for our close friend/superstar babysitter Patty. It's a felted yoga bag that I found in Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Knitted Gifts (there are a few pics on the Ravelry description). Let's just say that Joelle and I have a really different idea of a last minute gift - I've been working on this all summer! I love this project because it allows me to use up bits and pieces of wool that I have laying around. Felting projects always take a while, since you have to knit them so much bigger than the finished size; this particular piece needs to be 45" long before beginning the felting process. I'll post some pics when it's off the needles and ready to felt; she's moving in the next few weeks, so I know it will actually get done.

Even though it takes me longer than the average knitter (or so it seems), I love the process. I'm pretty sure that I have had something on my knitting needles since I started knitting fifteen years ago, and I hope I always do.