This was why I've been busy the month of April. I took on a knitting project for Jen's baby. For several months prior, I had the idea in my head that I wanted to make something. I still have blankets and personal growth charts and projects that my mom's friends made for me when I was a baby and I love them all. The only problem is, I am not half as talented as they are. I don't know how to sew. I don't know how to knit. I don't know how to crochet. I remember taking on a simple sewing project about a decade ago, and failed miserably. To learn how to sew in such a short amount of time and make something decent out of it seemed too ambitious. So, I walked into a really cool yarn store about a block away from work and asked for help.
I told the lady what I had in mind, and she asked me if I've ever knitted before. I told her that I have knitted a scarf many moons ago, but it had no patterns, and even that, I've forgotten everything. She said to me, "Oh..... then you will have to take a beginner's class. You cannot just pick up needles and start knitting without all the basics." The classes they offered were $60-80. My instincts told me that I could do this somehow on my own.
The next step was YouTube. I watched all the YouTube videos you can possibly watch on knitting. I got the technique of "casting on" and "casting off", and "knit" and "purl", but for some reason, I didn't know how to put all those things together to make something, anything, out of it. People kept telling me it's easy. Just pick a pattern and do it. I flipped through a stack of pattern books and the gibberish of "k1, p2, k2tog, yo, k1" meant nothing to me.
My last resort... my own mother. She was really good at knitting eons ago, and unlike forgetful me, she remembers everything like she's knitted all her life. True. Knitting isn't hard. But it does require a bit of concentration and brains to count stitches and stay on track with patterns. You miss a stitch, your whole pattern can shift. I learned much later that it's not knitting that is hard or following the pattern books, but when you screw up... it took me HOURS to fix.
Nonetheless, when I finally learned all that I needed to learn, I became one knitting machine. I refused to bring it to work in case I dirtied it. But everyday after work, I parked myself on the couch and knitted away. Even the days I bummed at a friend's, it came along with me.
And look! I finished it. Borders and all.
I packed it in a pink box with a white teddy bear and a card. I wrote "lap blanket" on the box because it's not all that big, and I thought it might just be something to cover a baby's lap while sitting in the car or stroller. (I'm imagining when the baby is about six months old in the dead of winter). Honestly, I don't care if this becomes a floor mop for the baby. Some of the baby blankets I got from my mom's friends became blankets for my stuffed animals. Or a cape for me to fly around in. Or even something for me to chew on. (I have a blanket with dirty corners). Maybe this baby will take this blanket and wrap it around their doggie and drag it around on the floor. Who knows. It doesn't matter. Let your imagination run wild with it. It is yours to play with.
But baby, do know, it was knitted with love.
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