Thanks Amy, I'M ACTUALLY KNITTING!! All Bcuz Of U!

Contiknitter Kelly · 02-14-2005, 07:09 PM

Oh Amy,

What a sweet, sweet girl you are. I can't thank you enough! Really i'm knitting bcuz of you. No doubt about it. Let me tell you a little where i'm coming from. (To others this might get a little long so feel free to stop reading anytime, this is for Amy anyway.)

I've been a quilter for several years now and since my sewing room is now in the back house I don't do it much anymore. (My 4 kids like to spend most of their time in the front) So I thought I should learn to knit, I can do that anywhere. (i've been saying this for a couple of years now too) My mom in law was/is self taught and said she'd help me so great!, I went to JoAnnes got me a learn how to knit kit w/ an hr. long video for $14.00 (Which I wouldn't mind sending you since your the one that actually got me knitting :D ) Good, I got the cast on no problem same as yours but with a slip not ( which like you said u really don't need.) but it was teaching me the English method which was fine since I didn't know any different. Well I got stuck right away I 'bout ran out the tape rewinding it the 1st night. So I had my MIL stop by the next day she showed me soo fast and it was so easy for her I just got more confused. She did say though "She wished she knew how to knit the european way, that it was so fast and she thought easier. So I honed in on that and got on the internet for a book on "european" knitting and went on to amazon and was pointed in the direction for the Elizabeth Zimmerman books. Well I bought 3 of hers for 60 + $'s. I waited & waited got the books finally and got stuck immediatley. I had to put my needles with my very nice cast on (since I got very efficient at doing that by this time) down. I told my husband, forget it I can't do it... It's not for me.(I was soooo fuming inside...) The next day I went to Google (Maybe yahoo) and looked up Elizabeth Zimmermans website and noticed they were selling videos from her PBS broadcast in the 70's. So I told myself I have got to get these videos they were 90 sumthin $'s i believe. Luckily my husband wasn't home bcuz I was gonna hit him up for the money

So I searched a little more (I had already searched and read and read and searched and really thought all I was gonna find was what I had already seen!) But....... Then..... I found your site and I said "this is it!" this girl sells videos that aren't already 30+ years old (nothing aginst E.Z. god bless her.) so I looked for prices and COULD'NT find any! DUH, you are giving them away free, bless your soul! Considering all the time and effort you've put into this site (and of course your own money!) I don't see why you don't charge a fee of somekind. Geez, I was gonna pay. and i'm not the only one that would! I even looked into a neighborhood knitting class, I couldn't find one! Especially teaching Continental knitting. I'm just really thankful and really grateful and speechless that your not making a buck off this site. You certainly deserve to in my opinion. I'm now knitting and gonna actually finish the scarf that came in my learn how to knit kit. And not because of the video either (which wasn't as insightful, slow and close up as I had need it be.) It's really bcuz of you and your website. I sat down with my needles and yarn and learned in a matter of minutes. (Countless practice hours though

) But what else can I say? Kudos to you Amy. I hope you do make a mint off this site someday. You should.

Oh! 1 more thanks 2 u, i now have a somewhat wittier screenname. not as bland as just, "Kelly" :D :D

beldaraan · 02-15-2005, 12:48 AM

Hello Contiknitter Kelly!

I love the name, it's very witty. I read your "whole" post and thought the story was great. Perhaps, you'd be surprised at the number of other posters around here who have been through the same experience as you. Most, if not all, of us landed on Amy's site because we were looking for help. I was lucky that I found Amy's site before I started knitting.

Be sure to come back lots!! We have a great little community here.

kitkat · 02-15-2005, 01:43 AM

I read the whole thang too....I am also a quilter, and my quilty stuff is upstairs....I felt like I was never with my kids!

Without Amy's site, there is no doubt that this left handed old dog could NOT have learned new tricks. Period. Everything else I read totally confuzzled me.

Hildegard_von_Knittin · 02-15-2005, 03:40 AM

Welcome CK! I started knitting, too, because it is a portable project (and b/c i had to one-up my BF who knits too). I'm also a quilter, and while I still LOVE to do it, it takes more effort and planning than I have time for during the school year (and who wants a quilt in the summer??). It's the best hobby I picked up.

yay! I love knitting!

(sorry for the cheese

)

amy · 02-21-2005, 06:48 PM

Welcome Contiknitter Kelly! Love your name.

Thanks for the lovely post! (I'm still catching up with the last week's posts, because I've been busy, so sorry it's taken a few days for me to read it!)

That's a great story. I'm glad you didn't spend a ton of money to learn to knit!

I did create this whole site just to share the stuff, with no plan of making any money off of it. It was the happy coincidence of me being a knitter that loves to share, and being married to a web designer who happened to have a sort-of-a video camera.

I'm lucky, though, in that I do, now, get some money back from this site. I've been making the site available on CD for folks with slow internet, and people have been buying the CD's, so that's become a nice perk! Now I'm also working on a DVD and a pattern book, so eventually that will bring in income too. It's so neat, because I never planned to make this into a business, just a hobby site. It's great that it's turning into something I can really focus my life on! I feel very lucky and grateful!

Thanks for your nice post! Glad to see you on the forum.

Amy

amy · 02-21-2005, 06:51 PM

P.S.

You've definitely got the right idea about knitting being nice and portable. You're going to LOVE that about it. It's also amazing how much you can accomplish while your mind is totally on something else. Lace work takes a lot of concentration, but anything done in stockinette stitch is so great to work on when you're multi-tasking! (Mom's are always multi-tasking of course!)

Happy knitting!