Questions from Bobbi (SP10 hostess)

[ghoti_mhic_uait]

How old were you when you learnt to knit? Who taught you?

I learnt to knit when I was seven. I started with a scarf for my teddy
bear, garter stitch, and changin colour every 10 or so rows. There were
ten stitches - most of the time - and I would sit down every so often,
knit another few rows, and despair at how uneven my tension was/how many
or few stitches I had, get my mother to fix it, an dput it away for a
while. It took me years to finish the scarf, and even when it was done,
it was only with help from an ufo of my Granny's (I've no idea what
she'd planned to do with it).

Funnily enough, my second project was a perfect doll's skirt, and from
there I went straight into lace and cable. The disparity between my
first several years' struggle and the ease with which I moved on never
ceases to amaze me.

My mother taught me to knit. She told me I could do it, that I could do
lace and cables and whatever I wanted. As a result, I did - she never
told me it was meant to be difficult, so I didn't find it difficult. I
really value that :)

Crochet is different. Apart from some giant granny squares, one for Jon's bed and one for ours which I am half way through, made from knitting scraps, I am teaching myself now. I bought the book 'The Happy Hooker' and that's great. I recently, as previously mentioned, made my first crocheted item from a pattern; pictures of that when I get the model :) Also, I shall make other things with other stitches, and so my crocheting skills will grow.

Comments

[alison-lees.livejournal.com]

Is this meant to be repetitive. And it's 'for me' not 'for I', (I'm paid to notice these things, but you can have that for free). Is the 'Happy Hooker' book good? does it have lots of nice clear pictures?

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

No, the editor went wrong. And yes, you're right.

the book is brilliant - you can have a look when you're here/

[alison-lees.livejournal.com]

Looking forward to it. Although, if my pattern that I bought on ebay gets here in time, I'll be doing some knitting. Was trying to remember when I started to knit. I know I got the knitting badge in the brownies, so probably 7-10; I did a square mat with a garter stitch and that stitch where you wind the wool round twice each stitch and then only knit into one of the loops the next row, so that the stitches are just very long., and some kind of edge, or Mother maybe did the edge. I learnt the rest of knitting mostly from a book, just by knitting along without making anything special, until I felt ready to try the next pattern. Grandma was very impressed that I could 'learn from a book'. However, I was given a pair of number 9s for this project (still have them), and I think my knitting has been too loose ever since. Either that, or I just don't hold the wool properly.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

It doesn't really matter so long as you bear your guage in mind.

Do you remember that blanket you made for me, the year that I got the dolls' pram? It's still on the pram. I loved that, and was so proud that you'd made it for me.

[alison-lees.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. I forgot all about that.

[jacquilynne.livejournal.com]

My crafty history seems exactly the opposite of yours. My mom taught me to crochet when I was 7ish. I had one horrible scarf and then moved on to some much better blankets. I taught myself to knit with pamphlets and a little help from a colleague at IBM when I was 23.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

That's cool :) I quite like crochet, but I don't think it'll ever replace knitting as my main thing.

[jacquilynne.livejournal.com]

My mother loathed knitting, which is why she never taught me. I *much* prefer knitting for everything but blankets. Blankets, I prefer to crochet, because It's approximately 98 zillion times faster.

But crocheted clothing tends to be a bit holey and yet bulky at the same time.