A non-technical note on technique and tools

As I said, I'm not an expert. This is not going to be a 'how-to' blog. There must be hundreds of those already, and YouTube has lots of great tutorials. This is just my inexpert two penn'orth on the subject. 


Tools:

The Book

• The book I've been using is Stitch 'n bitch (which I'm sure should have an extra apostrophe, but that's a whole other subject, and is hereafter referred to as The Book) which I chose because a) it was a modest price b) it had good recommendations and c) I mildly chuckled at the title. (The author has also written The Happy Hooker which as a title made me chuckle more, but I don't want to learn to crochet. Yet.)
• Needles: I have only about five pairs: size 6 (never used), bamboo size 4 (because The Book said bamboo needles are ace), size 3.75 (which apparently is a continental size not stocked everywhere, but I just happened to asking about gauge in a yarn shop owned by a Swedish lady), two size 3.5 (I forgot I already had a pair) and my newest (and as yet unused) purchase - circular needles. Does that count as a pair? Ok, six pairs then.
• Other tools: I recently got rather excited in my nearest and not that good really knitting shop and purchased the following: aforementioned circular needles, stitch markers (frankly annoying; even the smallest size keeps catching on my stitches and I've actually found one or two of my daughter's smallest hair bands much easier to use), a crochet hook (as yet unused), a cable needle (as yet also unused; one of the blanket squares I'm planning on doing on commission has cabling - a new skill, rather exciting), a stitch holder (guess what, as yet unused, it looks just like a big safety pin to me) and finally a row counter. It took me far too long to work out that you push it onto the pointy end of the needle and move it all the way along [facepalm]; I've used this loads, although it always seems to be upside down. I felt like a proper knitter after buying all that. Who knows what I'll feel like when I actually use them all?

Gauge:
Now, I know patterns and The Book bang on about gauge, but I am lazy and short of attention span. And I know from my first square that I'm rather a loose knitter. So what I tend to do is just go down half a needle size (or if the pattern calls for size 4, to my continental (yes I am going to italicise every time) 3.75 needles). That seems to suffice just fine. 


Bag:
Apparently a decent knitting bag is A Good Thing to have. I use one of those crappy cloth bags that you get free with either BookStart or in this specific case, Bare Minerals make-up (love it! Give me free samples! Oh right, people actually have to read this blog.. ah well, never mind) and it's not good enough. I need something with sections, and zippy bits and... frankly I've no idea what I need. One day I will find it and then bore even myself to death by writing about it. 


Patterns:
I bloody love Ravelry. It's ace. Oh and Pinterest too - although I've only found one pattern so far that way (bootees; I'll write about that minor disaster crowning achievement tomorrow. Maybe). Just today I have created a subfolder in my bookmarks imaginatively entitled Knitting to save patterns and sites (a lot of free patterns require you to sign up to the websites). Anyway. Ravelry. Brilliant. I subdivide by: has picture (I cannot work out from the pattern alone what something should end up like), knitting (as opposed to crochet) and then FREE. Because I am cheap. There's lots of $1 or so (most links seems to be US) patterns, which of course is very reasonable, but since yarn costs so much I like to economise by using free patterns. RAVELRY!
I print out the patterns usually, or if they're short and easy I write them on a piece of A4, fold it up, throw it in said crappy knitting bag and then it gets all crumpled. Oh and in the days before my row counter I punched a hole using a needle in the paper, which didn't get messy or confusing at all, no siree.


Yarn shops:
Not that many where I live actually, and my nearest John Lewis doesn't stock yarn [wails]. But can I just wholeheartedly recommend Masons in Abingdon, which has a very Grace Brothers feel (except it's all on one floor). Actually, it  reminds me more of the shop in Through the Looking Glass (although that's apparently based on a real shop in Oxford) and, of course, it's not staffed by sheep. But it does have lots of lovely yarns. And wool. I know not all yarn is wool, but it looks like wool, ok? Can't we just call it all wool?

What's this all about?

Well... I used to knit as a child. Badly. Very badly. I knitted myself a jumper (of sorts), proudly put it on and went to show it off.

My dad's response? 'But it's got lots of holes in it.' 

I was embarrassed. I brazened it out for the rest of the day pretending that those were intentional holes, and never wore it again. I put away my needles and didn't pick them up again either.

Fastforward over twenty years, and some children of my own later, and the website forum Mumsnet organised a blanket for a member who had very sadly lost a child. Anyone who wanted to could knit a square or two, post them off, and another member kindly crocheted them together and sent the completed community blanket onto the grieving family.

My contribution was tiny, just one square:

(I'm new to this, I'm not sure how to rotate, apologies).

But I found I really enjoyed making it - partly because it was nice to be part of something that hopefully made a small difference to a family going through hell - and also because I just enjoyed the process of making something. Also, I think I have quite a short attention span and squares are perfect - you can't get bored really.

Again, I didn't knit much after that. I didn't have reason to, and I couldn't think of anything to knit (even for my children). But then, just recently I started feeling a bit anxious, and down, and I picked up my needles. And it really, really helps. 

Knitting's amazing IMHO. You pick up some yarn, two sticks, and voila - eventually - you create something. Something that wasn't there before.

It's February (just!) 2012 and just in the last two weeks another two families have also lost family members. I can't even begin to imagine what they are going through, but again I am knitting for their blankets. I'm also knitting 'on behalf' of other Mumsnetters who don't know how to knit. 

There's still a LOT of stitches I don't know. I am NOT an expert. But I'm aiming to learn more as I go along, and try out new techniques, and this blog is going to be a record of that.

I don't expect anyone to be interested in it. This blog is also therapy, and that's an end in and of itself. Maybe my children will be interested one day (I'm also planning to knit them blankets as a sort of heirloom - I'm hoping they will be finished by the time they leave home). And if anyone is inspired to pick up some needles and have a go, then great. 

Enjoy.