I thought it was the most charming and quirky craft book I had ever seen. Who wouldn't want to receive a knitted Loch Ness Monster as a gift?! I knew I must learn to knit at once, so that all of my friends and family could look forward to their very own handmade mythical creature. (I have awesome family and friends.)
I had no reason to believe that I could actually do this. I had utterly failed at crochet in undergrad, but I convinced myself that knitting would be easier. So instead of buying the book I coveted, I went to my local Michael's and bought one of those teach yourself to knit kits. Amirigumi Knits was like the summit of Mount Everest - I would have to start at the bottom, train hard, and eventually become skilled enough give it a go. Over the next year or so, I had a couple of starts and stops, making a"scarf" that was decidedly triangular and ripping out more stitches than I care to remember.
Eventually I stopped making unintentional increases and my tension slowly improved. I made the prerequisite Gryffindor scarf, a baby hat for charity, a winter cap and a lace scarf. I learned increases, decreases, eyelets, and cables. And I gave away every single thing I made.
I received Amirigumi Knits for my birthday last October, and last week I finally made it to the top of the summit. I made my very own Nessie:
And I'm keeping him. :)
Love this, Em! I'm so inspired. I am still at the bottom of the mountain with my sad garter stitch scarves... lol but you give me so much motivation seeing all that you can do!:)
ReplyDeleteKristen! I wish we still lived in the same city so we could knit and drink tea and watch Felicity. I'm in season 2 now and Felicity cut off all her hair and quit pre-med and I kind of just want to shake her a little bit. I'm Team Noel all the way.
DeleteAnd don't give up on yourself! If you still don't want to purl you can start making hats and things in the round. Knitting in the round is much easier than it looks and you can create stockinette without ever purling.