My grandmother taught me how to crochet when I was only five. I have been crocheting ever since. It is one of my favorite creative activities. I make crocheted baby hats for my local hospital’s nursery. It is a ministry my quilt guild adopted.
When I was in elementary school, I lived in a different town than my school. So after school, I went to the CYO facility near there until my grandmother was done work for the day. It was a great place to spend time. There was a full-sized gym where you could play basketball or volleyball, and all kinds of classes you could take such as knitting, embroidery, painting, photography, and many more that I can’t remember.
I took a knitting class. It was the first time I had ever tried to knit. I had the most difficult time learning to use two needles at the same time. Finally, I got the hang of it. I would cast the stitches onto one of the needles and work my stitches with the other needle. I would get a good bit done and stop and examine my work. Satisfied that my piece was looking like it was supposed to look, I would continue knitting.
Finally, the day came when we were to pick a project. I decided to knit a sweater. I thought, “How hard could it be?” so I chose a pretty aqua color yarn and the prettiest pink knitting needles. The following week our supplies came in. We dove into our projects with excitement.
I hurried to cast on the stitches for the body of my sweater and began knitting. I became more excited as I watched my sweater grow. It still amazes me when I see a ball of yarn turn into something beautiful and functional. Anyway, the time came for me to start the sleeves.
This is where it all went terribly wrong. I was supposed to drop a stitch every two rows. I lost count of the rows and dropped too many stitches on one sleeve. I didn’t notice it until I was finished. I ended up with a pretty aqua sweater with one sleeve shorter than the other. I was always going to take it apart and fix it. I kept it for years. Finally, when I married and moved into my new home, I tossed that sweater.
Many years after my first knitted project, I took up knitting again. Every time I cast a stitch on a needle or begin to knit a stitch, but especially when I have to drop a stitch, my memory of my aqua sweater comes to mind. Maybe it keeps me focused so that I don’t make the same mistake on my current project.
Cookies & Moo 