Third time's the charm So, to cut to the chase: I guess I’m a guy who knits, now. I’ve been inspired by knitters such as Cynthia, Anna, and Daniel, (and many more folks!) who not only share their beautiful projects online, but have also helped me a lot with their advice and encouragement. Thank you all! I’ve always had fond memories of knitting: I’ve learned it from my Gran as a child. I don’t remember knitting anything more substantial than a scarf for my stuffed monkey. We made him jeans overalls too; in addition to knitting, my Gran was always sewing. She made all kinds of sweaters for her grandchildren, which I now remember mainly from the photographs. I wish I could say the knitting all came back to me once I picked up the needles, but the only thing I could recall was the mantra Gran used while teaching me: insteken, omslaan, doorhalen, af laten glijden (litt. “insert, wrap over, pull through, let it slide”). All well and good, but which thread should go where? This is where I went into full research mode. I decided to trust Norman from Nimble-Needles.com for all my knitting needs, and binge-watched most of his beginner tutorials (thanks Norman!!). At this point, my Gran’s knitting bag arrived, and I could get started. After all this “research”, I already knew my Garter stitch from Stockinette, could tell you how to join in the round, how to make a selvage, that you should always block your swatches, and that the right tension is of paramount importance. I hadn’t touched a knitting needle in at least 25 years, however, so I decided to start with a simple square. To jazz that up a bit, I followed Norman’s tutorial on how to knit a coaster. The only yarn left in the bag was in the most screaming primary colours, probably used to make said accessories for toys and such. I chose the yellow to begin with. It was surprisingly difficult, but after a few tries I had roughly the right amount of stitches cast on, and could get going. I must have tried the cast on at least three times, but was slowly knitting my first rows in no time. After two days or so, I had finished my first “project”! It isn’t flawless, but I had a lot of fun making it. My first three wonky, but serviceable "coasters".Alt. textThree knit squares: a yellow one, a green one, and a blue one. They’re full of small mistakes and of various sizes. The first one is in Garter stitch, the other two in stockinette with a Garter stitch edge. After the first coaster, I thought it’d be nice to learn how to purl, so I could use different knitting patterns like stockinette stitch and a 1x1 rib stitch. This was much harder than it looked! Especially because I used a finer yarn, that should be paired with 3.5mm needles. The little loops were going in all directions except for the right ones. This is when I first learned that frogging is an integral part of knitting. As I unravelled my work, I felt like a Buddhist monk, blowing away their sand painting. Although a lot less calm, and with much sweatier palms. But I tried again, and saw the desired pattern emerge from the fabric in the end! Learning a new skill brings me great joy, especially such a creative one as knitting. I really love the feeling of yarn gliding through my fingers. That little tug on the needle that lets you know you’ve caught the loop. The small success of sliding the stitch off of the old needle. In short, once I fell into a rhythm, I started to experience how satisfying knitting could be. And the third coaster, a swatch to determine my “gauge” (for fabric sizing), was finished half a day sooner than the first. It, like the other two, was full of interesting mistakes, but I could feel the knitting becoming easier after each attempt. My next project, for which I made the swatch, will be quite the challenge for me. I’ve already had to frog it four five times, probably because I thought it’d be fun to learn the Tubular cast on, the rib stitch, and knitting in the round on double-pointed needles all at the same time. I have no idea how my final project will turn out, but I do know this: I’ve got a small stash of yarn, a full bag of needles, plenty of time on the couch, and high hopes of success. Wish me luck! Thank you for reading this via RSS! View this article on my website. Replies: E-mail / Fediverse / Webmention