Knitter's Group

I learned to knit simply because we have a small neighborhood knitter's group (called Knitwits, of course). The group meets monthly and it soon became obvious that I needed to attend whether I knitted or not. My thought was that joining a knitting group without knitting was similar to joining a book club without reading the selections (although a surprising number of people do just that). So I grabbed a how-to book and some supplies and started knitting. There is an amazing amount of Online information, including videos of exactly how to do some of the stitch combinations.

I was amazed at how calming knitting can be. Now, I knit almost every evening. There are times when it interferes with my reading, but not often. I never set deadlines for finishing a project. There is something very satisfying about starting with rolls of yarn and some needles and creating a beautiful article of clothing.

Here are just a few of the things I have done lately:

This is done in cotton for summer. Its wavy pattern and light weight make it the perfect summer scarf. The color of the yarn is "Emily Dickinson" but I couldn't help calling it rainbow sherbet.

Beads complicate a knitted piece. Before knitting actually begins, the beads must be strung on the yarn and pushed far down the skein. The beads are pulled forward as needed. Periodically the knitting reaches the long string of beads and all of them must be advanced along the skein to make room for more knitting.

This beaded scarf is done with red silk yarn. There were TWO knots in the first skein of yarn. Knots are not often a big problem, but if you have beads on the yarn, they cannot be moved further along the skein. The yarn must be cut, the beads removed and then restrung. Bummer!

A similar pattern in white silk with pearl beads.

The Entralac pattern which looks much like a quilted piece.

The clapotis pattern which looks (and is) simple. But it is tedious with lots of stitches. It is begun on the bias with solid rows of stitches. At a certain point, every nth stitch is deliberately dropped. The dropped stitch runs down the entire piece making a pattern.

The process results in a light-weight scarf that is fun to wear.

Sufficiently wide to wear as a shawl, it can be twisted and worn as a scarf.

You may find it amusing that I wear scarves only when it's cold or I'm dressed up in the winter. However, I am amazed at the scarf lovers out there who wear them year round. My dear daughter-in-law is one of those people. I do so love knitting for people who excitedly wear the items rather than sticking them in a drawer somewhere. After I sent the last scarf to her, my son called me to say that she had worn it around the house since the mail came. That warms a knitter's heart.