Sometimes When You Knit, Something Cool Comes From It

Months ago when I found out my friend was expecting her first, I knew I needed to knit her something special. Mostly because I had literally just learned the art of knitting and it seemed like a special gift to give.

I eventually found what I wanted to create. It was perfect and cute and I know this friend would LOVE it. What I didn't have the knowledge to know at the time was, this was going to take forever. No joke. Maybe making a big project in the midst of getting ready to move/prepping for a vacation next week wasn't the smartest choice. But I had to stick to my guns and finish what I started (AKA I had already bought the yarn).

Knitting As a New Knitter 

While I gloat all over this blog about how I am so good at knitting while I'm still under a year mark of when I started, I am not as talented as I make you think. Don't get me wrong, I GET A LOT OF HELP. I don't just "figure it out" and trying to learn via YouTube feels almost impossible. So all of my finished projects basically need an asterisk next to it, with the name Jennifer next to it. She's the one that bought me my so-called "starter kit" for knitting last year and has been with me every step of the way. I literally would be in the middle of all of the projects I've finished if she wasn't nearby to rescue me. 

I've noticed I'm a kinesthetic learner, meaning I need to physically do it to learn it. So my friend telling me through a text the steps I need to take to do this section... yah. That won't resonate.  When I move to Scotland, it'll become very interesting on what I can remember and do on my own. Wish me luck knitters.

Cruising right along

I think there is also a naive side to being a new knitter. I can't grasp what projects are harder than others — that is until I start one and realize I don't know 50% of the terms. I think there is this idea that once you know how to knit, you are good to go. But there is so much more to know. It's never ending.

So... What Did I Make? 

After three months of knitting (obviously on the side... if this was my full-time job, it would have been done much faster), I was able to complete a sheep baby blanket. I chose a gold thread since they are not finding out the sex of the baby. It really turned out! I was shocked. You just spend so much time knitting and changing from one yarn to the other, learning how to add in the feet and heads, blocking, tying in loose ends, etc etc etc. Somehow I ended up with several stitches more I started with, but luckily it's not noticeable. It's as close to a perfect square as I know how, and blocking really helped bring it all together. I was going to put a back on it but I'm running out of time, and it seems a bit trickier than I imagined. 

I did finally give the blanket to my friend at her shower this past Saturday. I'm pretty sure she at least liked it and appreciated the time and effort it took to create such a thing. Her mom asked how long I have been knitting and seemed shocked that it hasn't been a year. I think the most common response I get when I show people the blanket is: "Can you make me one?" and my answer is always yes. I loved working on this. I loved doing something special for someone special. I like the busy work of knitting, and the patterns you can create by doing something with yarn in a certain way. 

So, without further ado (and the first time using a slideshow tool — I promise I'll get better!) here's what I made: 

Love, 
A