My Knitting Journey

I began knitting in December 2010 when I started a stressful accounting job and needed a way to relax that wasn’t staring at yet another screen (read watching TV). A few friends had tried to teach me to knit over the years previously but it never really stuck. Well, this time it stuck and in a BIG way!! I quickly became obsessed. I started the job on December 20th and by that Christmas, I had already made several (now embarrassing) Christmas gifts. I look back and laugh at how bad they were but luckily my family were gracious recipients. I was fearless in everything I did. One of my first few projects was a cable blanket…that only had charts. I wrote out the charts for myself. Well I made the blanket… and read the charts incorrectly (always reading left to right regardless of which side I was working on). I thought the panels were labeled incorrectly, they weren’t. It was a disaster! But I learned a ton! That is how I have approached everything I’ve done in knitting so far, with zero fear. After all, it’s only yarn. It’s easily ripped out and the only thing you have lost is your time; however, you haven’t really lost your time if you learned from the experience. I made the same blanket again but for my sister the following Christmas (correctly) and it was gorgeous!

After these few blunders at the beginning, I became fairly good at knitting and fairly quickly. It wasn’t long before I was knitting cowls, hats, mittens, scarves, and shawls. I was knitting for anyone that would take my items. I began curating a stash. I purchased lots of books. I took classes and went to every fiber festival I could get to. Knitting consumed most of my free time and, if I’m being honest, a good chunk of my work time ;). I’d rather be knitting than doing just about anything else. In 2015, I decided it was going to be “the year of the sweater”. I went on to knit 4 sweaters in 2015! Once I got over that first scary sweater, I don’t know why I was so intimidated. I was hooked.

In mid-2016, I stumbled on a design class and I fell in love with the craft all over again. I saw it through whole new eyes. I could come up with designs of my own! I could use that gorgeous yarn I hadn’t found the perfect pattern for. I could go through stitch dictionaries and find the perfect stitch. A whole new world felt like it was opening up for me.

Then through one of the classes I was taking, I found a technical editing class. This, at last, is my dream come true “job”. I’m an accountant so, of course, I don’t mind math and spreadsheets. I love puzzles like Sudoku. Tech editing feels like what I’m meant to do in life. I love that I am using my skills to help someone perfect their pattern. I am just as invested in their finished pattern as they are.

So this is how my journey began and the direction it is heading in.

Happy Knitting!