It seems fitting that Nanna’s always give the advise to “just keep trying”. I bet they learnt that mentality from trying to knit garments for themselves back in the good old days. In a time when you had to make or find your own resources I have no doubt that people would try and try again.
Since I’ve been attempting to knit mittens I have had to develop a lot of patients with myself, and determination not to give up. In general I’d say I’m very patient with others after years of teaching swimming and sailing. However, I get seriously cranky with myself when I know what I have to do, but have difficulty executing the task.
My Nan taught me how to knit not long after she taught me how to sew a button. Sewing a button was only one lesson after a day at primary school, but knitting took some patients from Nan. She is yet to teach me how to pick up a dropped stitch. So I still knit with an element of anxiety after all these years.
I’ve been knitting scarves and very simple projects for many years…I was an 18 year old girl knitting on the train on the way to work, receiving lots of strange looks. In my true form not really caring what others thought of me. I was making “something to show for at the end of the day”, another thing I’ve heard my Nan say many times.
In these days of being thrifty, and craft becoming cool again knitting is making a resurgence. Internet resources that show you how to do tricky things like making a stitch are readily available. So, I made the plunge to take on a knitting challenge.
For the first time I started knitting before winter, with the idea of being cosey warm throughout the cooler months. It was time to take on more of a challenge than simple knit, purl, add one and drop one. I think I missed a few too many lessons between making babies booties on 2 needles, and knitting mittens in the round on four needles. Not to mention learning the language of knitting patterns mid project through the use of YouTube.
Am I disappointed that I had to knit 4 mittens to get 2 wearable pieces? Yes!
Is it a little frustrating that my mittens don’t match even though I followed the pattern, obviously not well? Certainly.
Am I going to give up completely on knitting paired things? No, I’m going to embrace the handmade look.
On a musical note, as I am typing this entry I am listening to Kate Miller-Heidke. She is a talented, Australian singer/song writer who creates and performs uniquely cheeky songs. Her music is modern and with her operatic training I could listen to her sing all day.