Today's blog topic is about what you have learned about and from knitting over the years. It suggests looking at different projects and commenting on what you've learned. One project immediately comes to mind - The Swallowtail shawl. Let me say that again. The Swallowtail shawl. Prior to this shawl I had only knit one other shawl - The Forest Canopy Shawl. I'm not sure what made me want to knit the Swallowtail shawl, I mean besides the beauty of it, but it probably had to do with the fact that (at the time) it seemed like everyone was knitting it. I also happened to have a skein of Alpaca with a Twist Fino in the gorgeous burgundy red color show in the picture. Why did I have the skein of yarn and was it always intended for this shawl? The answer to those questions are "I bought it because it was pretty." Yes, the answer to both question is that I bought it because it was pretty.
I bought this particular skein back in 2006 or 2007 during a time when a friend of mine, also named Kate, and I did quite a bit of knitting together and if we weren't knitting, then we were buying yarn for knitting or stash purposes. Then around 2009 I started looking at this beautiful yarn and thinking that it would work well for the Swallowtail shawl AND it didn't hurt that I also had a pair of Addi Lace Turbo circular needle in just the size for this shawl. So, I cast on and started knitting away. I knit this whole shawl from the written directions (which were available by this time, initially I don't believe that they were available). I did not follow one single chart for this pattern. In fact, I couldn't even have imagined myself EVER following charts for a pattern. Shortly after completing this shawl, I started knitting a lace scarf where I was forced to use the charts (the written instructions had errors).
I'm not sure I can even put into words all that I learned knitting this shawl. I think that the biggest lessons involved understanding knitting and what a knitted piece is doing, if that makes sense. I learned to tell when I had made an error in the stitch count just by realizing that the stitch I was doing wasn't right. You know when you are knitting and suddenly the pattern doesn't seem right? Well, it probably isn't right because you might have miscounted a stitch or similar error and you are off in where you should be - I learned to trust when I had this feeling that it was the right feeling. Instead of blindly continuing to knit the incorrect pattern, I was able to stop and either fix the mistake right there or back knit (aka rip) to where I had made the mistake in that row. I was also scared of having to do the nupps - something else I had never done before. But, the Internet is a wonderful thing and I quickly found videos online that showed clearly how to do them and they weren't that scary or hard at all! I know for sure that this piece of knitting is really what has given me the confidence to tackle any knitting project. I've gotten many compliments on my shawl and always hear the "I could never knit that" - but I always say "yes you can!!" I know that anyone can knit anything as long as they just try.
Since this shawl I've done tons of projects I never thought I'd be able to do. Just look at the posts in this blog - the Fair Isle coasters and my Chincoteague Shawl! I never thought I'd be able to design my own shawl. In fact! In 2006, Mr. SpiderKate and I had a dialogue that went something like this:
Mr. SpiderKate: Do you ever think you'll be able to design your own stuff?
Me: I don't know. It seems hard.
Mr. SpiderKate: I hope that you can someday.
At that point, I thought to myself that he was crazy. I had just started knitting and didn't really feel like I was doing that all that well. Anyhow, here we are some five years later and I have designed something. I could probably go on for even more posts about how much I've learned from knitting, but I need to get back to swatching for my next shawl design.
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