I love to knit. Give me an invigorating skein of yarn, a pair of wood needles and a fun pattern, and no drive is too long, no extra-curricular activity too mind-numbing. (Provided I’m not the one driving, or my child in the spectator seat isn’t needling me to entertain her because she’s bored.) One of my girlfriends once said, “I wish I felt free to bring my knitting into the church service. I could concentrate on the sermon so much better if my hands had something to do.” I think many of us who love the craft would concur with that sentiment when we find ourselves having to sit somewhere, idle for too long. Oh, the rows we could have logged in that amount of time!
I fell into the art of knitting at random, if you ask me, though the idea had intrigued me for years. At some point soon after I graduated college, my grandmother gave me her mother’s array of knitting needles, my mom supplied me with your basic “Learn to Knit” pamphlet, and I was off and running. I don’t even remember having conversations about wanting to learn, but I suppose I must have needed something to do with my free time now that school work was out of the way.
My first project—a baby blanket—was a flop. Then again, most first projects are; do I hear an “Amen”? Over the ensuing decade and a half, I have since made umpteen successful baby blankets for cousins, girlfriends and my own two girls; when knitting all those rectangles became too tedious, I switched to knitting stuffed animals. I’ve knitted hats, mittens, and scarves; ponchos and sweaters (when my girls were little and one skein went a long way), and a few years ago I finally tackled the daunting Cabled Riding Jacket by Teva Durham as a gift for…myself! But my favorite things to knit, by far, are projects that I later felt in the washing machine and sweater tops for my BJD, Ellowyne Wilde. Below is my latest sweater from one of Becky Colvin’s pattern using Patons super fine yarn.
For more fun knitting patterns for Ellowyne Wilde and other BJDs, you’ll want to visit Becky Colvin’s website, http://www.sew-coolseparates.com/dollclothing/. She’s an incredibly talented knitter and seamstress! Kudos, as well, to sites like Ravelry.com, which provides thousands of patterns (some free, some not) for people like me who typically grow bored after knitting the same thing more than once.
So what’s a girl to do to fuel her passion for knitting when clothes and accessories fail to inspire?
Try needle felting, of course!
Scattered Whimsy 
Beautiful sweater. I’m tired of knitting scarves all the time. I’m tempted to try something different like knitting socks or a sweater but a bit intimidated by some of the patterns I’ve come across.
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Trying new projects can be daunting, but very rewarding. I checked out your blog and I think you mentioned something about not liking the idea of having to rip back. I actually knit the bodice of that cardigan twice! Even though my gauge had been spot-on, the bodice still came out too small. It sat, finished, in my closet for over a year before I had the guts to take it apart and rip the bodice all the way back to row 1! I told myself it was either do the work required to fix it (and did I not love the act of knitting??) or simply stare at a project I could never wear. A blessing in disguise: Since I had already knit it once, I knew where to tweak it to make it fit. I realize you already follow several knitting sites, but if I may, I’d also recommend knitfreedom.com, for Liat has a lot of video tutorials that walk you through knitting socks (and a whole lot more!). While it’s true a more challenging pattern might take longer to finish, just remember that when you’re done you’ll have the knowledge of a new set of stitches and how they work together at your disposal for the next project!
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