Lord - Knitting basics

Contents

Introduction

The dwarfs said, 'If you will take care of our house, cook, make the beds, wash, sew and knit, and if you will keep everything neat and clean, you can stay with us and you shall want for nothing.'

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, HOUSEHOLD TALES, Little Snow-White

My first knitting lesson was not a great success. Tired of me whining to be taken to the swimming pool or the shops on one of those hot summer holidays, my grandmother made an attempt to keep me still and quiet for a short time by teaching me the rudiments of knitting. I suppose it worked, although I dont recall knitting more than a few rows of that scarf or whatever it was that I began but never finished.

I can still picture my grandmother, sitting in her favourite silk brocade armchair under the lamp, contriving jumpers, hats and other garments for her multitude of grandchildrenI was one of twenty-one cousins on the maternal side. Gran would sit and knit and recite poetry shed learned in her own childhood, about the giant Pindunderagig, with eyes so big, or Little Orphan Annie.

Despite my initial lack of success, which was mainly due to a lack of patience and persistence, I remained interested in the art of winding wool around a pair of needles and creating something that could be worn by a baby, a child, or even a teapot.

When my youngest sister was born, my mother knitted her a very stylish outfit consisting of a pair of purple leggings (with feet in) and a purple jumper with a large golden sunflower on the front. Seeing this marvel of stitchery, I begged, again, to be taught how to knit. My mother helped me to begin an orange cardigan for my favourite doll, a miniature baby doll called Sweet April, and this time I actually managed to finish the task, although I dare say that Mum did most of the decreasing and probably half of the knitting, by the time she picked up all my dropped stitches and corrected my other mistakes. Still, I remember how proud I felt showing off Aprils new outfit to my friendwhose own Sweet April doll delighted in the nickname Fatigue, pronounced Fatty-goo.

Once the skill was acquired, there was no stopping me. I soon found that I could knit while I read, which allowed me to enjoy two of my favourite activities at once. I knitted at schoolsitting on the weatherboard verandah at lunchtimeon the school bus, in the car, in front of the television. I haunted the yarn section of our small towns only department store, tore patterns out of magazines and invented my own designs according to the colours and yarns that I could get my hands on.

When I was at university, I knitted while I studied. I took on my first commissionsnot for profit: I loved knitting so much that I told friends that Id knit whatever they wanted if they bought the wool. My housemate wanted a gorgeous black mohair cable knit, my boyfriend a Fair Isle vest to wear to work.

I knitted my mother a tea cosy that looked like a miniature jumper for the teapot, except that one sleeve was long and thin for the spout, and the other sleeve was wide and short for the handle. My sister liked it so much she asked me to knit her a tea cosy that she could wear as a jumper!

Knitting is so much like second nature to me now, it would be rare to find me without a project on the go. Having furnished my family and everyone I know with more knitwear than they know what to do with, I spend quite a lot of my knitting time these days creating blankets, hats and scarves for charity. Two of my favourite knitting causes are Wrap with Love (http://www.artsandcraftsnsw.com.au/Wrap.htm) and the Victoria-based group Knit One Give One (http://www.knitonegiveone.org/). Its a challenge to come up with classic and comfortable designs for those who need a bit of extra warmth, but I love to think that the warmth of my thoughts as I knit is tied up in the scarf that keeps off the chill for an unknown person far away.

No limits

There was a time in the recent past when knitting was out of fashion. Knitting was seen as a skill relegated to the pre-feminist days when women didn't work outside the home, and hand-knitted jumpers and scarves took on an overtone of poverty as mass-produced knitwear hit the shelves of stores. Ironically, as machine knits became more inexpensive, the cost of knitting by handin terms of both time and dollarsbecame prohibitive. You could buy a good quality jumper in a department store for less than the price of the wool to knit it yourself, and wear it to the office the same day.

The last few years have, thankfully, seen the resurrection of knitting as a craft. People have learned to value the skill and creativity that goes into a hand-knitted garment, and yarns and patterns have caught up with the fickle moods of modern fashion too. Now you can seek out Internet-based communities of like-minded knitters, or gather in your local caf or pub for a Stitch n Bitch session. You can even participate in the slightly underground movement known as yarnbombing, in which you knit a cover for a local landmark and sneak out at a quiet moment to sew your creation over the parking meter, statue or other feature.

Once almost exclusively considered womens work, knitting is also being taken up by men and boyssuch as my own son, who has accompanied me to many a knit-in, although hes yet to complete a project on his own. Designer Kaffe Fassett is one of my favourite knitting dudes, although there are a growing number who are happy to show off their work on the Internet, if youre interested.

This may be the future of knitting but, in the meantime, youre keen to get started. So lets do it! In this book Im drawing on my own experience of learning to knit, trying to cover the basic knowledge that I learned from my mother and grandmother, or picked up along the journey. The best advice I can give to a knitting novice is to find a friend who can knit (its not difficultjust hang around a yarn store and ask questions, or strike up a conversation with a public knitter on the train or at a caf). Begin with a small, easy project so that you get the thrill of achievement: there a quite a few in this book for you to try. Dont expect your work to be perfect first go, and dont give up!

The portable craft

Maman would bring her knitting to the garden and watch them.

Willa Cather, ONE OF OURS

One of the great advantages of knitting is that you can take it with you, almost wherever you go. The trip from my rural home to the high school I attended involved a one-hour school bus trip, which was the perfect opportunity to pull out my latest knitting project and work away while I chatted with the friends who joined me during the trip. Later, commuting to work by train afforded me the opportunity to increase my wardrobe and occupy my time creatively. My father actually banned me from knitting in the car, pointing out that knitting needles were potentially dangerous missilesin the event of an accidentand they were to be carried in the boot.