I’ve wanted to be a legit knitter for decades. I’d dive in with great enthusiasm, clacking away with bamboo needles to create a lap blanket or scarf or — misguidedly — a sweater, only to realize that I am unable to keep track of stitches for some mysterious reason. I would watch in horror as my project morphed into something entirely different from what I’d planned, would get super confused when consulting books and videos and then…I’d give up. Inevitably, autumn would roll around again, and the cycle would repeat itself.
Over the holiday season I decided that enough was enough and what made the most sense was to start small. Itty bitty. I’d overestimated my abilities, and that was okay. I also learned fairly recently that my mom had taught me the continental style of knitting which is not what most books and videos show — no wonder I was befuddled!
Luckily, a friend had gifted me a basketful of yarn that she herself had been gifted by another friend. I have only one skein for most colors, and I decided to practice with these.
Which brings us to this little number that I’m sporting:
It is, in fact, a cowl. But the extra bulky yarn made for a snug cowl and I think it looks better as a headband. I love these types of thick, knitted headbands in lieu of hats. I don’t know why, but I find most knitted hats uncomfortable. The pops of color are so fun and I believe this is an acrylic, rayon combo.
I knitted more cowls, concentrating hard on counting and learning to identify the difference between knit and purl stitches.
The grey one was my first attempt and it’s actually a hot mess. The beauty of knitting is that the mistakes often look intentional, so I just kept going.
See? You can’t even tell that I couldn’t K1, P1 to save my life. The texture of this wool was very enjoyable, I have to say.
This pumpkin-hued cowl is my favorite. I love the richness of the color, the drape of the shape (ooh, I didn’t mean to make it rhyme). It’s acrylic, but feels remarkably luxurious.
The cowls and headband were knitted in the round with circular needles. I checked out a number of library books to get a sense of how to knit a cowl, and I made up the pattern(s). I’m currently venturing to knit a scarf that I will actually wear (previous attempts have languished in my dresser drawers, unloved). The off-white wool is lovely. I spend a few minutes every evening knitting and purling and now, at the age of 53, I understand why so many people find this simple, soothing craft so addictive.
I’m definitely getting better at keeping track of my stitches, so a sweater is feeling very doable in the not too distant future. Knitting always makes me think of one of my favorite sayings: little by little, a little becomes a lot. I didn’t know that it’s a Tanzanian proverb — at least that’s what the Google AI tells me.
Sewing is happening too! But like knitting, I’m sticking to small projects at this juncture. I’m still working on my next book so the lion’s share of my focus is on that. Little by little, a little becomes a lot…
Alright, I hope your 2025 has been going well so far, and I’ll see you here next month!
Sanae, I think you would like the knitting blog/website Modern Daily Knitting. Fun but also some very in-depth knitting lessons. I think you would enjoy some of technical discussions, plus Ann and Kay are interesting people and write well.
Thank you for the rec, Laura! What a fun site!
Hello Sanae. I’m not a knitter but LOVE these cowls. They are a great alternative to a full turtle neck shirt. I haven’t seen such available for sale ready made, so I guess I’m just meant to drool over your hand made ones.
Thank you Carole! These are ridiculously easy to knit and calming to boot!
You sound as if your philosophy of learning a new craft is the same as mine: start as small as possible. I wanted to learn to knit when I was in my teens, and after an elderly friend had coached me through a “sampler” of the most basic knitting techniques, I searched for the smallest, simplest project I could find in the knitting book I had, a project that utilized only techniques I had actually learned: cast on, knit, purl, yarn-over, decrease, and bind off. (What i found was two-needle baby booties. I didn’t have a baby, but found someone who did so I could give them away.)
Are you familiar with the knitting book series One-Skein Wonders? Lots of small but interesting projects for those of us who tend to collect our yarn at random.
I’ve seen the One Skein Wonder books but this was before I started knitting so I didn’t pay much attention. I’ll check them out! Thank you, Barbara!