I confess - I'm a GRANNY WANNABE (Knitting)

Member Name: hulahoop

Product:	Knitting
Date:	20/11/00 (176 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Therapeutic, stress-relieving, skillful, constructive, creative......

Disadvantages: Time consuming and can be difficult at times

Until about four weeks ago I had never even held two knitting needles in my hands, but now you are unlikely to see me without. I used to sit and watch my friend knitting, and had a very strange urge to grab it off her and take over. But, as any knitter will know, your own work is your pride and joy, and no one must come near it until it is finished.

So she taught me how.

Knitting is a relatively simple, and superbly old-fashioned, craft in which you tie 'knotted' loops around a needle, in a repetitive motion, going from one side to the other, hopefully ending up with a lovely thick bit of woolly fabric. Moving on from just plain ole' knitting we have purling, which is pretty similar, but when combined with knitting gives a diferent overall look. And after that, well the skies the limit. As far as I can see you can do just about anything with knitting. However, it does have some pretty big limitations because whatever you knit must be exactly the right size and shape for whatever it is you are making. Also you must get every stitch right, lest it looks imperfect in the end. There's no cutting down to size, readjusting a bit here, there, sewing it, hoping no one will notice - oh no.

At the moment I am experimenting with purling, which takes patience because you are doing the same actions as knitting, only back to front. I have used different sized needles (i.e one huge one tiny) which gives interesting effects, and tried things with string, wire, ribbon and washing line, all of which look quite strange but are good for my textiles projects. I want to knit hats, but am finding it difficult because you have to learn whole new techniques and their jargon. DPNS are double pointed needles, but goodness knows how you use them!!! You also need things like circular needles, and then it all starts getting a little complicated and you need someone experienced to teach you. This is where knitting is limited to people who have patience
and don't mind imperfection at first attempts.

As time goes by, experience brings perfection in knitting, and it becomes easier and more relaxing. I find it so therapeutic because I am actually creating something nice from virtually nothing. In fact, so much so that everyone's Christmas presents are going to be knitted, even the cards. How's that for talent!! (Well maybe thats a bit of an exaggeration - I'm making a scarf for my boyfriend, but don't tell him).

Knitting has become quite a distraction for me, an 18 year old who wanders around town knitting while walking. Dressed in our duffle coats, head scarves, woolly (knitted) mittens and socks, my knitting friend and I have become the Gilbert and George of Portsmouth. We are starting a revolution in which knitting and making tea IN POTS is the way forward. You can often see us sitting on the park benches comparing tips and techniques. It's great fun.

On a more practical level, knitting is great for everyone. From men who need warmer underwear, to trendies who like the new chunky knit look to artists who work with textiles, knitting can help. It distracts me from the long waits on the internet when Dooyoo is being optimised, and is proven to have radically reduced my impatience and temper tantrums.

Knitting really does need to be taught more, as a skill that should never be forgotten. Although people these days really don't take time to do such 'pointless' things as knitting, it is a skill that should be taught to skint students and school kids.

THE KNITTING REVOLUTION - start one up in your town. I am currently knitting a lovely pink stripey scarf.


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For more information on knitting there is a fabulous knitting empire that exists on http://knitting.about.com/hobbies/knitting/mbody.h tm which has everything from teaching yourself to knit, to complicated patterns and all
SORTS of mad knitting things. It's amazing what these knitting people get up to. There are free patterns which I find a little difficult to understand, but there is a good glossary available on the site. Yey more knitting adventures!! They even have a forum and LIVE CHAT!!! in case you have any problems or want to tell people about your brand new knitting experiment in hats. Grrrrreat :o)

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