I use the left side of my brain a lot in my profession. When I was in grad school, I decided that I needed to learn to do something that exercised the right side of my brain a little bit- enter knitting! My sister taught me, and I haven’t looked back since. I started out with scarves, and quickly got bored. Then I attempted a sweater (I am nothing if not ambitious- jumping from straight lines to clothing, yikes!) Sweaters are fun, but they involve a lot of sewing (which I still don’t love, especially hand sewing) and yarn. and time. I moved on to socks, and I’ve knit a ton of those (don’t ever let on you can knit socks, because then everyone wants a pair!).
A favorite place to visit for knitting inspiration is Ravelry. It’s like facebook for knitters (and crocheters)!! I have found many great patterns on there- some free and some paid. Here’s a collage of just a couple of things I’ve made in the past two or three years:
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| Top left: Jaywalker socks. Top right: French Press felted slippers. Bottom left: Teddy bear. Bottom right: Selbu modern |
I don’t actually keep a lot of the things I knit- I honestly really enjoy knitting for other people. Watch out though, if you ask me to knit you something, you might not get what you ask for. A friend of mine recently had a baby and she asked for baby socks. I got really excited and knit her a blanket, a teddy bear and a sleep sack before remembering I was supposed to knit her socks, so knit up 2 pairs really quickly before her baby shower. Whoops!! The sleep sack ended up being really popular, and I actually had a couple requests to knit it for other people:
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| I started with this pattern, but heavily modified it |
I’ve discovered I really like knitting colorwork lately- something about knitting with more than one color. It’s actually fairly easy to do too- as long as I don’t get some hugely complicated chart, which I’m guaranteed to screw up. Here’s my very latest knit, a Christmas present for my sister (yes, the same one who taught me to knit. I can now out-knit her!):
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| Opus spicatum hat |
With all the projects we’ve been doing around the house in the past year, it’s been a lot harder to find the time/energy to knit. It’s also really hard to be interested in knitting when it’s 90+ degrees outside with 90% humidity! But now that things are cooling off, and we aren’t painting every room in our house, I foresee more knitting time in my future.
Any other knitters/fiber artists out there? What’s your favorite project that you’ve done lately?
DavenportDIY 
My grandmother taught me how to crochete. I want to be better at it, but with only a one day lesson every four years it’s difficult. I want those shoes you knitted!!!!
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Wow! That hat is amazing. I’m also dying over the slippers. I took a knitting class and kind of let it go. Then, I took a crochet class and liked it better. I’ve been trying to get back into it, but I go with really simple projects for now.
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Thanks so much y’all!! The slippers are super easy, and I’m guessing someone could crochet a version of them as well. I haven’t made any in awhile because we have a front loader washer and felting is a lot harder with a front loader. I am the opposite- I learned to crochet years ago and never got into it. Once I learned to knit, I never looked back. 🙂
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