Your Knitting. Your Journey

I started my knitting journey when I was a young teenager in the late 90’s. I started this journey before Ravelry, before all the new yarn stores, before Etsy and before Youtube. The available resources for information were very limited. I could go to the library and look at knitting books there. However, most of the books were older and didn’t accommodate the young knitter. As a 14-year-old, I wasn’t interested in making cardigans designed for those in their golden years. I also had the box craft stores and the books they had available. But again, the target demographic of those resources at the time, was…well…not me.

 As I got older, I stayed with the safe garter stitch projects because I didn’t know what else was out there. I hadn’t heard about Elizabeth Zimmerman or Barbara Walker so I didn’t know their booked existed. I didn’t know that some techniques even existed. (Can you imagine not knowing about cables or how to do them?) But I would see these amazing, knitted items and I just wanted to know how to make them. I just didn’t know where to even begin or who to ask.

When I went to college, I went to Art School in Hartford, CT. There, in one of the classes, we were tasked with recreating a picture out of any medium and no students could use the same medium. For example, one student used crushed goldfish and someone else used pipe cleaners. Another student used various colored leaves and someone else used cotton balls and nail polish. A friend of mine recreated the picture by knitting it with various colors. I remember being SO JEALOUS! I didn’t know how she did it and when I asked her, she told me she didn’t have time to start another project.

When I was 21 I dropped out of college and moved cross country. That is a story for another time. During that time, there was very little knitting being done and I wasn’t really looking for it. I took a hiatus from knitting and all things yarn related for a few years. It was a chaotic time in my life.

But when I was about 25, I picked it back up and did a swan dive back into the knitting world. Or belly flopped, however, you want to imagine it. I was knitting like crazy. I was in a toxic relationship at the time (don’t worry, I canned him shortly thereafter) and knitting was my escape. I would spend hours on my computer looking things up online. By this time in my life, the internet started booming. The level of information I had access to exploded. It was not at the same level it is now, but in comparison to 1998, it was a lot. I had the ability to look up how to do things, maybe not the right way, but there was something there.

I still wanted to do colorwork and I finally had the ability to find out how. I found this pattern for a snowman Christmas stocking. Some of you have seen that project in real life in a previous class. It had 10 different colors in it. Did I know what I was doing? NOPE. Did I do it with all my heart and soul? ABSOLUTELY.

Shortly after I knit this stocking, I went to my first yarn festival that was called Stitches East. This is where I found Webs – America’s Yarn Store. This was the first time I had seen yarn wound up in the hank rather than in a cake like the acrylic yarn from Michaels. I didn’t know how to wind it up. I remember undoing it and being like “I’m In Danger!”

After finding Webs, my knitting world expanded exponentially. I started taking classes. I found Ravelry. I found Etsy. I found YouTube. I started meeting people who also liked to knit. (At this point, I didn’t know anyone else who did.) I found my tribe.

I stumbled through this whole journey. But I wasn’t going to give up. I knew how much I loved knitting and how it made me feel, so I wasn’t going to let any of the limitations to get in my way of learning more and figuring out how to do all the things.

The time span between casting on my first stitch ever and finding my tribe was probably around 15 ish years. For 15 years, I stumbled. I fell. I lost it. I scavenged for resources. I did all the things wrong. I was frustrated at times. And there were even times when I thought I was absolutely crazy for continuing with a hobby that was so limited.

I remember when I made that Christmas Stocking, I thought it was the most amazing thing I had ever made. I was so proud of it. However, when I look at it now, I hate it. It is owned by my mother and every year I ask her not to put it out. I even made her a new Stocking so that she never had to show it to anyone ever again.

After thinking about this, it is really unfair of me to make this comparison. Younger me didn’t know what I was doing. I used acrylic yarn, which was all I had access to at the time. Whereas me now has soft, luscious wools and animal blend yarns and a wealth of knowledge from my schooling and mistakes. The comparison is like trying to compare the beauty of a drawing of a 4 year old to a drawing by a professional artist. It is not the same.

So for you, my knitter friend, don’t compare your knitting skills to anyone else. Do not compare to anyone else because they are on their knitting journey and you are on yours. You have access to resources that others might not and vice versa. Perhaps you struggle with making socks. Comparing yourself to someone who knits socks with their eyes closed it not a good comparison because that other person might be blind and have to knit with their eyes closed.

Also, one of the wonderful things about knitting is that you can knit home alone on the couch with your dog or you can go to a local knitting group and knit with friends. Your journey is just that. YOURS. It doesn’t matter who can do what and when. They are on their path. Their path might be a dirt road and yours is a 7 lane highway. As Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the Thief of Joy.” Don’t let anything take away your joy.

The long and short of it is your knitting journey is yours. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else and their skills. You are an amazing knitter and you should be proud of the things you have accomplished. Whether you have only been knitting a few months or since the 1990’s, your knitting is fabulous and I am proud of you.