Learning New Tricks - Knitting
- Jan 26
- 4 min read
It’s January, which means it’s time for resolutions and starting new projects. I’m slow to the train but crocheting and knitting has seemingly exploded in popularity over the past few year amongst my personal circle. Just about everyone has been crocheting or knitting figurines, coasters and sweaters. While I’m not a big crafter, I am interested in trying knitting out since I really enjoy nice wool sweaters and good ones can cost several hundred dollars and I’m trying to consume things more slowly - which includes thrifting, buying locally made goods and yes, making your own items.
My History with Knitting
A very very long time ago, when I was a teenager, I remember I made a scarf. It’s been so long that I can’t exactly remember how old I was. But, I do remember that the scarf was hard to make, counting stitches was not very enjoyable, repetitive work seemed boring and my end product was terrible lol. It was bad enough that I’m pretty sure I donated my scarf or threw it out because I don’t remember seeing this scarf around my parents’ house at all.
From then on I vowed to stop knitting.
Fast forward for 20ish years.
Imagine that the quality of clothing has significantly gone down, but the price has gone up. Not only that but the amount of in-person spaces for hanging out and being with others has gone away - in fact, it’s easiest to find your community via the internet then in person. But the internet is also a double edged sword - it’s the place where social media sites attempt to loop you in with addictive algorithms and encourage ever more divisive views - all to get users hooked on engagement and rage.
In the past 2 years, I’ve made an active effort to do more things offline. With the pandemic, I got in the habit of going for a daily walk during week days - as a way to get some fresh air and exercise during the many shutdowns. In 2024, I started using the Peloton app to exercise more regularly and spend more of my time in a positive, rewarding way. My company opened a new office in the last year and I’ve been making a point to go twice a week, which has really helped me with mental health and getting more exercise in. But still, I find myself watching a lot of TV and going on Reddit and BlueSky a lot, which is probably bad for my mental health - I needed more hobbies, something that would add to my existing repertoire and social calendars…
I noticed my sister starting to knit and they seem to make super cool items! Many sweaters and hats with all sorts of wonderful patterns. Thinking back to my knitting experience from long ago though, I was hesitant to start. The scarf knitting was not fun and I just feel like knitting wasn’t for me…
What changed was talking to a coworker recently, she mentioned she was trying to finish a sweater and she should be almost done soon. I mentioned my admiration and said that it sounded really hard - she then mentioned that actually, it’s not too bad - its like 3 long tubes that you have to make and then you combine them to be a sweater. It was like a light bulb had gone off in my head - 🤔 maybe this is not so hard and it could be doable after all. I had been wanting to consume more slowly, and get higher quality pieces of clothes and what is slow consumption if not making your own item?
Breaking Out of Old Patterns
To ensure that I’ll be on a better path of success this time, I decided to try some new things this time around:
Ask for help - My sister seemed to be an expert having made so many items, and rather then getting overwhelmed with yarn types, needles, and patterns, I asked them about copying a recent simple sweater they did. One colour, one set of needles that I’ll borrow from them and buy the same type of yarn that they did. Fancy things can come later, my goal is to just finish.
My supplies borrowed from my sister
Pick a project that I like - while I used to really like scarves, in recent years, I’ve found myself reaching for the same scarf year over year every time it gets cold. It’s a merino wool scarf from Aritzia that I got years ago but it’s so soft, so warm and so large that I don’t want to wear any other scarf. Theoretically, it’s easiest to make a scarf but perhaps, I should just focus on the item I like and will use. That will help me stay motivated throughout the course of the project, rather then lose steam halfway.
Set my expectations low - I remembered that knitting was hard. It’s easy to miss stitches and have to start all over. Since I’m a newbie, I want to anticipate new beginnings in my project and more importantly give myself lots of time. It’s called slow consumption for a reason and I’m in no rush. Realistically I won’t be able to wear this sweater for 6 more months since I’m pregnant and getting bigger right now anyways, so it’s a good time to start knitting for next winter.
Progress So Far
My sister was more than happy to help me get started and we did a few hours of practicing together over Christmas at my parents which really helped me build some muscle memory. Currently, my first step is to make a gauge so I can use it to help measure stitches. So far, it’s going along well but I’m glad I have YouTube to help me learn and re-learn the knit stitch and the purl stitch since I seemingly have the memory of a goldfish.
I’m also uni-tasking this and just knitting in silence at home which helps me to concentrate and make less mistakes. It’s not perfect by any means but I find the process almost meditative. Focusing on each stitch before moving on to the next and it feels like a nice break.
After this step, I’ll be procuring some more yarn and hopefully get started on my sweater so I can finish it before the end of 2026.
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