Curious.. Do you remember first learning to knit? - Page 4

ladyjessica · 06-21-2011, 02:37 PM

I learned about 8 years ago while I was recovering from surgery. I took a class at the LYS and my first project was a sampler scarf that had a bunch of different patterns. It seemed like a pain at the time but I'm glad that I learned with that project because it taught me how to read a pattern and do cables and 'read my knitting' right from the start. My first attempts were awkward but as I got used to it things improved. I remember the teacher telling me that I was a natural, and I picked it up fairly quickly. I do still have the scarf somewhere but I never wear it because I made it way too long, and I don't know why I ever picked that particular shade of blue.

gramkracka22 · 07-07-2011, 08:06 AM

i started today or technically yesterday

i live in the middle of the country with next to nothing to do, seemed like a good way to kill time and can make my self some cool hats while doing it

time flew by today while i made a rectangle over and over

crazykntter83 · 07-07-2011, 01:46 PM

I was 17 or 18 when I first learned. My Mom taught me how to cast on. She taught me the backwards loop method. Then my Dad taught me the knit stitch. After that, that's all I knew how to do for a few years. But I made a garter stitch blankie and a garter stitch scarf that way.

And lots and lots of incomplete projects in-between lol. Anyway, in 2008, I found knittinghelp. I tried to learn the purl stitch but couldn't get it. It just confused me(for reasons unknown now lol). But I learned things like k2tog, ssk, yo, and a few more.

After that, this January, I finally learned purl, so I'm super happy with myself now lol. And I'm still learning new things.

The first project that's still around is a garter stitch blankie. You can tell that I had some issues with tension when you look at it. There's like some really loose parts in there in the beginning and middle of it. After that you can see that I'm starting to get the hang of my tension, bc the stitches are a lot tighter. Othen than that I have some dropped stitches that I didn't know how to fix so they're knotted lol. I'll have to see if I can find a pic of it to post.

Arielluria · 07-07-2011, 04:18 PM

I've always been interested, I have a pic of myself knitting at age 10....but I had no help so I simply knit and frogged the same stockinette swatch for years :D I guess that gave me a lot of practice.

I finally took it up seriously in 2007 when I found this site! Yay for KH! I think I was a decent beginner knitter, I still have most of what I knit. I started with dog sweaters (knit flat, not in the round), and when I wanted to make human wearables

I make 4 easy ponchos from Lion Brand (2 ea. of the same 2 patterns because after I made for myself my mom wanted one too). The worst part about those early ones was my overly tight seaming, which made the seams look bulky and ugly, but we still wear them around the house and it's nice to be able to wear them out to the garden and not obsess if they catch on a rose thorn or something. They're Red Heart, because that's all I could get at Walmart at the time.

Thanks to KH my knitting advanced by leaps and bounds because I watched videos and realized things were not hard, cables, fair isle (my 2nd dog sweater), etc.

TreshaRuthe · 07-08-2011, 01:16 AM

I started teaching myself in the last week, and I know I have tension issues (too tight, now too loose). I know the early pieces will be hideous and nothing to show about but I just keep reminding myself of why I'm learning.

You see, a little over a year ago my Mama (adopted mother figure) passed away after a long battle against lupus and a two year hospitalization. It was her dream to knit me a wedding ring shawl for when my husband and I finally have our wedding. She had even purchased the yarn. Unfortunately, with only the cast on done, hurricane Ike hit and she became very ill. So, in her honor, I will postpone my wedding until I can finish the shawl she started. At the moment I have it all packed away in a space bag under my bed, but whenever I get frustrated I just pull out my first square crochet square and remind myself, that this phase of learning will pass.

Stockinetter · 07-08-2011, 03:35 AM

I learned how to knit around February and March this year. A lady at this group I got to taught me. I had a rough start, especially with small plastic needles and tight tension. At that time, I held the yarn as if I was grasping a cup. I learned English style, but I like Continental better.

CeCeKnittingN00b · 07-09-2011, 08:57 AM

Let's see. I was a Junior in High School and a girl in my study hall class was knitting. I thought it was cool and decided to take Fashion Design my Senior year in High School. She told me that that class taught you how to knit since one of the projects was to knit a scarf. Wow, my scarf was so crappy, but I still wore it with pride. There were increases, decreases, and dropped stitches all over the place. I'm pretty sure I still have that scarf in my closet somewhere. I was a VERY loose knitter, too.

Olha · 07-20-2011, 08:52 AM

My mom first taught me to knit when I was 6 or 7 y.o. I remember making a scarf for my doll, 6 stitches wide cause I didn't want to do too much 'extra work'

. Surprisingly, I even tried knitting on 5 needles and managed a few cirles but that was too hard and I gave up. Fast forward a few decades

I started knitting when I got pregnant following my friend's advice as a relaxation technique. Well, let me tell ya, those few weeks of struggling with patterns were more stressful then carrying my first baby

So I gave up on using patterns... (I can't express how much I admire people who have the discipline to follow them). So, again, I gave up knitting after making two scarfs... A few years passed... and about 6 months ago I decided to start again. My mom gave me tips on the phone and the most useful piece of advice after reading some instructions was 'you will just see'. And that's exactly what happened

. I still have my first scarfs that I made for my husband and myself almost 5 years ago

Breezed · 07-21-2011, 09:21 PM

I started knitting almost a year ago. I looked at my bf one day and said something along the lines of maybe I should learn how to knit, and he was very encouraging and excited. He took me to JoAnns that same afternoon and bought me a beginner's project. It was a terrible instructional dvd, and I kept trying for several days and gave up. I finally went back to it a week later maybe, still hated the DVD so I jumped on youtube and within 10 minutes, I finally understood it. The DVD and many videos online do this stupid method of videoing from the front, where their movements/hands can not be clearly viewed. That is such a waste of time. Anyway, I quickly found KH during my search and watched all the videos several times. I made a cowl for my bf's mother for Xmas 2010. That was my first FO. I know it took me a while to get an FO because I just couldn't settle on a project. I looked at everything, bought yarn, needles, etc and didn't start anything for months. lol But once I did, it was perfect! Can't say the same for much of the projects since then. I do love knitting now but I wish I could do continental better. I keep trying but my coordination is off. I still have issues with tension because regardless of the method I use, I just can't get the yarn wrapped right. I end up doing english throwing but with the yarn hanging and I pick it up each time. I wish I had someone to help me get better but I'm too shy to go to any groups in public.

Arielluria · 07-22-2011, 03:32 AM

I'm glad I have a pic of myself knitting as a kid

I was 10 in this photo but I knit & frogged that same little ball of blue yarn for approximately 6 years

I would make a little square, put it on my Barbie and wish I could somehow close it and make a mini skirt, but no one to show me how. So I'd frog and start all over again, just plain stockinette.

So I guess I got a lot of practice that way and by the time I took it up seriously almost 30 years later I took right to it. I still have my first scarf (below) and it looks perfect, tension, etc. I can only attribute that to all the practice I got with that little ball of yarn as a kid.

My first real project 2003, that scarf I winged and also discovered accidentally what garter stitch was, and that it kept the item from curling: