Commemorative marker

I learned to knit on this date two years ago. If you've been here from the beginning of this blog, you might recall that my practice piece looked like this:

Needless to say, I've come quite a ways. In my early days as a knitter I knew I had a lot of improving to do, but what I lacked in skill, I made up for in enthusiasm. I knitted twelve scarves for Christmas gifts and finished one for myself shortly after the holiday. Thinking about it now, knitting thirteen scarves in two and a half months sounds like madness. Maybe it was. After all, I did learn on Friday the 13th, not that I believe in that superstitious stuff.

In actuality, I was under a great deal of stress at the time, and knitting provided a necessary outlet. It's a bracing reminder that as overwhelmed as I can feel right now, I was facing bigger stresses then.

I would say that it wasn't until my fourth scarf that I made a good one, and even then it probably was too long since I failed to account for garter stitch's stretchiness. As proud as I was of those early ones, I'm sort of embarrassed by them now. I couldn't exactly see the sloppiness or read the knitting. I had a rudimentary understanding of purling. I had difficulty undoing my mistakes. My yarn knowledge was minimal, so I made some fiber choices I wouldn't make now. That's all part of the process, of course, but I'm offering to knit new scarves for one of my brothers and his wife since they got my first two messy creations.

Although it may not seem so now, it's remarkable that I learned to knit, stuck with it, and have achieved whatever level of knitting competence can be applied to me. I still keep my knitting secret from most who know me and get weird looks when sitting in public with needles and yarn. There was no guarantee that I was going to love this craft. I'd like to think that it has made me a better person--more generous, more open, more at ease--but perhaps that's just me patting myself on the back.

This blog will have its two-year anniversary in eight days, but this time is just as good for saying thank you for reading. Knitting has brought its share of surprises, and blogging about knitting has delivered others. I've come to know some wonderful people through this site, a few of whom I've had the pleasure of meeting. My readers have been encouraging and helpful with their comments and don't complain on those days when I write nonsense no one should put up with reading. I appreciate your support.

I'm not sure what I'm going to knit next, but today seemed like the right day to get some yarn I've never used. I bought two skeins of Noro Silk Garden for a scarf for my mom, although now that I've looked at some patterns, I probably didn't get enough despite what I was told. The learning continues. I hope you'll continue following along on my journey through the knitting world.