After that, I didn't knit for years. Between 2002 and 2003, I struggled with racing thoughts from a severe depression and my therapist suggested I take up knitting again to calm those thoughts. At the time, I was volunteering at the a clinic's information desk where I would get very bored and sleepy. I decided that knitting an afghan and scarves might be good way to occupy my time and relieve the boredom as well. I think my first project was to crochet an afghan out of Lion Brand Chenille Thick and Quick yarn in the Kaleidoscope color which was all single crochet. It was very heavy an warm.
I then proceeded to knit a lighter weight afghan on out of Red Heart Super yarn. That was made in 5 panels of 2 different lace patterns. The pattern was called Lavendar and Lace but I made in the Navy Fleck color. I worked on it as we traveled back and forth to our time share as well as while I volunteered. It took me years to complete. Then it came time to sew all the panels together and didn't know how to do it. A friend finally suggested I single crochet them together which I did. I was very happy with the way it turned out.
During 2004 and 2005, I also was trying to lose over 100 pounds and decided that knitting was a good distraction from eating when I was trying to watch DVDs or TV. So I made an afghan out of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick yarn in the Cranberry color. Since that was done on the Size 50 Speed Stix needles, it went very quick and I completed in about 9 hours over several weeks. That was not very wide but turned out very pretty. I will probably make that afghan again sometime.
Then I deicded to start making afghans for others since I was getting an overabundance of them. So I asked my mom if whe would like an afghan for her living room. I made that out of the Lion Brand Chenille Thick and Quick yarn in the Bordeaux, Champagne and Forest Green colors. I used a pattern called Gentle Waves. I decided that the chenille yarn is sort of hard to knit with because it becomes very tight on the needle if you let it set for awhile. Also, I don't think I like the bamboo needles I used for the first time. It took me about a year to complete the afghan as I mainly worked on it while traveling on trips and watching DVD's which I hadn't been doing very frequently lately.
In a future blog, I will post some other scarves and afghans I completed but I need to take photos of those in order to show what they look like.
I like the red one but can't imagine how you don't lose count! I only crochet and I find it hard to watch something and do anything with any kind of pattern except the same stitch over and over. I never got the hang of knitting. When did you learn?
ReplyDeleteI learned to knit when I was about 9 years old as part of a 4H project. Our leader taught us how to knit. There is a local group here called Stitch and Bitch that I'm thinking about joining. Actually there is no membership fee and you just a come whenever and leave whenever you want during the meeting time according to their leader. She said they have all levels and ages and often teach each other how to knit or do various techniques. I think you just bring whatever project you are doing and work on it there. You might want to see if there is a similar group in your area.
ReplyDeleteWhen I watch TV as I knit, I actually have to pay more attention to the knitting than the TV. Basically, I'm listening to the TV while I knit. If something on TV gets intense, I usually stop knitting for a few minutes while I watch what is happening.
Actually the pattern for the red one was pretty easy. It's a free one from the Lion Brand site which is called Textured Treasure. You just keep repeating 4 rows over and over again and only 2 of the rows really have any pattern to them. With those 2 rows, it tells you where to place stitch markers to tell when the pattern changes. The other two rows are just knit the first and last few stitches of the row and purl the rest.
Yeah, I think it's probably to late to teach this old dog new tricks! Just checking in to see how you're doing! I'm getting ready to move so I don't see any projects in my near future. In winter I tend to want to make quilts but I also do scarves & a hats. If I had a camera I'd share. I hinted to my family I want an inexpensive digital camera for my bday next month but we'll see if they come through! ha ha!
ReplyDeleteI don't think you're ever too old to learn. I had a friend just learn to knit who is in her mid-50's and my husband's uncle was still taking college classes at 80.
ReplyDeleteIf you ever take pictures of your work, I would love to see them. I'm not sure I would have the patience to make a quilt. Even though I sewed when I was in 4H, I never really liked it much. So I probably wouldn't like doing it even though I think they are beautiful.
Good luck with your move!