This is not a “look at what I can do” post. The actual accomplished knitters out there would bust-a-gut laughing.
This is more of an “I’m learning to knit and you should try it too” kind of post.
Last year I wanted to learn how to knit. My aunt showed me the basics and then I watched a lot of how-to-knit YouTube videos, which were so helpful. I liked this one from Good Knit Kisses.
I’ve made a couple of headbands, a scarf, a pillow back (more about that in another post) and now I’ve tried dishcloths. This is the first time I’ve used a pattern and I have to say, I liked it! It was helpful for me to know where I was in the process and motivated me to finish when I could see how many rows I had left to go.
I found a cool site called knittingknonsense.com with free dishcloth knitting patterns. I liked the ones that included outlines of the 50 states and the ABCs.
So far, I’ve made a “J” dishcloth…
I’ve also made a dishcloth with the shape of Oregon on it…
These are far from perfect. I definitely messed up one line in the “J” cloth – I think I forgot where I was on the pattern and knitted when I was supposed to purl or vice versa. I thought I did the Oregon one pretty well, until I realized that the initials of OR were backwards. So, I’m guessing at some point I, again, forgot where I was and flip-flopped the whole pattern. And, I thought I was doing such a good job of keeping track of which row I was working on. Next time I will do better!
Dishcloths are supposed to be knitted using cotton yarn. I, uh, well, I think I used some sort of cotton blend. Note to self: save the info that comes with the yarn when you purchase it. I have washed and dried the cloth and it did fine, so I’m going to count this as a success and move on. 🙂
There definitely is truth in the statement of practice makes perfect. I’m slowly getting better, but I have so much to learn. I’m interested in learning more complicated types of knitting and hopefully, someday, I will become faster at this process too!
It makes me happy to have a productive hobby. Instead of having idle hands while I’m waiting in the carpool line or at karate practice, I can pick up my knitting needles. Eventually, I’ll end up with something I can wear, use or gift!
If you have any knitting tips or other places you go for patterns, let me know!
Thanks for hanging out with me! I’ve continued to practice knitting and other crafts.
Knitting Practice + a Sweater Vest = A Pillow
Embellish Skinny Jeans with Embroidery Thread