Knitting Without Fear

The knit and purl stitches are simple things.  I think that given time anyone could master those two stitches.  When I started knitting four years ago I was scared of complicated patterns, or rather what I thought was a complicated pattern... I had no idea.  I made things in either straight stockinette or possibly a rib but I could not convince myself to go farther.  I looked on the abbreviations with trepidation; ya, ssk, M1, psso, p2tog, etc. 

Then I made a decision to start a skirt.  I would be knitting in the round* for the first time.  The pattern had me learn to work short rows* and pick up* stitches.  The project helped me to overcome that basic fear that knitting is one of those difficult skills that you either have or you don't.  Yes I had to do the first 20 rows of the ruffle, like, 5 times but in the end I have a lovely skirt that I am proud of every stitch of.  And the middle section that was just knit for 18 inches (using sock yarn* by the way) went on forever.  Even that repetition was great though since I am now far more uniform in my stitches.  Tackling a complicated project like this was completely empowering.

Now I kinda feel like a project isn't as fun if I don't have to acquire some new skill.  I made a cabled* scarf of my own pattern last month and it was hard to keep at it because it was almost boring.  After my skirt I learned basic lace and picot* edge on a scarf in prep for moving to the UK.  I am currently working on a intarsia* bag that's argyle with K9 (from Doctor Who) which leads me to want to try fair isle*, the original pattern had scottie dogs by the way.

So if all this is scary it doesn't need to be. In the end it really is mostly just knit and purl, the rest is easily picked up by online videos or well done diagrams.  I tend to go the diagram route, Vogue Knitting has the best diagrams and is very easy to follow.  Their diagrams appear in their books but also in their magazine which also carries lovely patterns.  So knit, don't worry about not knowing how a technique is done, even the lifelong knitter creating her own complicated cables had to learn each thing the first time.

*For those unacquainted with knitting here is an explanation of terms
Knitting in the round - this is where you knit in a circle, knitting the last stitch to the first one to create a seamless tube
Short Rows - knitting a short row is where you knit a certain number of stitches across but rather than carrying on to the end of the row you knit back in the other direction only finishing the row when you knit back again
Picking up stitches - This is where you use stitches on the edge of something you already knit to create new stitches
Sock yarn is a rather thin yarn used primarily, surprise, in socks
Cables are those twisty stitches you see so often in sweaters (jumpers)
Picot - basically a bumpy edge to your work
Intarsia - this is picture knitting, you use multiple colours of yarn to create pictures in your work
Fair Isle - this is where you use two or more colours in a the same row of knitting, unlike intarsia the colour is used all the way across the row instead of just switching in blocks