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One thing I love to do while I am at work is listen to any knitting podcast or video I can find and one new channel I have recently been into is ComplicatedKnots on YouTube. She had a new video out today answering questions that subscribers had sent in. One of those queries asked when she started crocheting. ComplicatedKnots proceeded to give out two different dates, one when the skill of crochet was first learned and the other when she fell in love with the craft. I also feel similarly and have two different dates so I thought I would share and see if any one reading can relate.
Each profile on Ravelry has a space to put in the years you have been knitting or crocheting and I have written, 12 but, obsessively since 2022. Now, I am 29 years old so if we do some math and subtract 12 we get 17 years old being when I first learned to knit but, that is incorrect.
I first learned how to knit when I was 9 years old (which would be 20 years ago) and like many new knitters I started with a scarf. I remember going to the new yarn shop that had opened and picked a textured skein of purple yarn and a pair of needles. I don't remember who first taught me to knit, my mother attempted to show me which usually ended in chaos, I had a book with drawings I couldn't quite understand, and the owner of the yarn shop hosted knitting lessons but, I don't remember going until I was a bit older. I remember feeling frustrated but, also cozy and by the time I couldn't stand to work on a scarf anymore I casted off and looked at a wobbly rectangle of garter stitch fabric that could barely be considered a scarf. I put down my needles right after and didn't try again for a long time.
I must have made one knitted projected every so often throughout the years leading up to college and the local yarn shop near me was so helpful in encouraging my creations, recommending books, patterns, and showing me inspiration but, after I would cast off I was never super happy with the finished object and quickly forgot any techniques I was shown. I was starting to get that feeling of coziness while I knitted though and that's what always drew me back.
Fast forward to 2016/17, I was in my second year of college and stayed on campus during Winter break. I was freezing, broke, and bored so I got out my needles and found some yarn I must have gotten for free, a free slipper pattern and worked on that project for a whole weekend without stopping and came away with two somewhat nice fitting slippers. They were terribly ugly but, I wore them a ton in the dorms and felt a nice sense of accomplishment. From there I eventually got a job working at a bookstore and was able to take home old knitting magazines when the new ones arrived. These were the magazines with the plastic wrapped goodies on the inside so I was able to stash so many yarn samples, needles, and notions. I began handing out little knitting bundles to friends as well as using some of the patterns to create gifts. I remember I had a friend who had a baby and in one of those magazines there was a pattern for a knitted hippo in a tutu which I sent off to her along with the book Angelina Ballerina. I was getting excited for knitting and doing it more often which I use as my start start date on Ravelry and started referring to knitting as my hobby. This was also when I started to take pictures of my projects but, it would be a few more years until I would figure out Ravelry and start tracking all my WIP's and FO's.
I didn't fall in love with knitting till Feb/March of 2022. My last few months of acquiring my Bachelor's degree were so stressful I needed an outlet to deal with my heightened anxiety and discovered Stephen West's patterns. I chose the Curvette Shawl and in just over a month I had a giant shawl and better managed anxiety. Win win!
After the Curvette it felt like everything clicked into place. I graduated and instantly had more time, donated my acrylic yarn and admitted to myself it was ok to be a yarn snob, had reliable internet so I could look up patterns and watch tutorials easily so techniques would stick, and I decided to prioritize reaching out into the fiber community which welcomed me wholeheartedly. Now I am at the point where I have no end in sight of inspiration and am excited to see where this hobby that I love takes me next.
I would love to know about your start date/s of your hobbies.
Until my next post, happy fiber arts!
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