When I started knitting, I was deeply entranced with the v shaped knit stitches  marching in straight lines, all working together to make lovely stockinette fabrics.  I was particularly entranced with small gauge projects, things that there was no way I could achieve at that time with my slow and deliberate pace of knitting.

As time moved on and I had grown past garter stitch scarves into knitting hats in the round for my new baby. Hats gave way to sock knitting for that same baby.  A voracious learner, I was willing to read a pattern and work through the challenges of knitting new things. I made a worsted weight sweater from Knitscene magazine that I was so proud of, managing to work the shaping of a raglan  with a seed stitch border. It had 3/4 sleeves and no buttons on the front. I uses a shawl pin to close it and was horrible proud of the whole thing!  I was growing as a knitter, I had knit hats and socks and now a sweater!

The very next project I attempted was a beautiful green February Lady Sweater, just like the one Pam Wynne modeled when adapting the pattern from the February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman .  I could not, for the life of me manage the raglan increases in the garter stitch yoke.  It was too much… my mind could not see the difference the increases subtly made, causing a slight ripple in the ridges.  I could not process weather the increases were right leaning or left leaning not to mention the juggling of stitch markers. I never made it down to the lace skirt on the sweater, which was my primary reason for picking this project.  It was elegant, classic, and at this point out of my reach. Looking back, my new knitter status was also the daily companion to new business owner and mother of an 1 year old. Did I mention I also had a full time job at a bank at that time?  All in all, life plus some knitting projects was just too much for my brain.

I retreated to a different project after consulting my trusted shop manager.  We must have discussed at length the purpose of directional increases, and fully fashioned garments and there benefits. Then as a team settled on me knitting a Clapotis as my next project. We had oodles of hand painted DK weight yarn from Unplanned Peacock Studio, it would be a great shop sample and  it would be good for practicing decreases and increases.  It would train me over a 1,000,000 stitches to move my needle tip back and forth knitting into the back of stitches as well.  And at the end, I would get to drop ever so many stitches and have a wonderful lace project.

The Clapotis was a wonderful jumping off point to introduce me to lace and the world of knitting textures. I developed a love for lace edges on shawls and after another year or so, I did finished that February Lady Sweater. I have no idea where that sweater ultimately ended up since that was a good 9 years and two yarn shops ago. (Photo circa 2011)

Now my knitting skills have made a jump and I find myself continually drawn to stranded color work sweater projects.  I love knitting with two yarns at once, playing a color changing strand with a subtle solid and ending up with something marvelous. Even with that passion I want to challenge myself and work outside of my natural proclivity and grow.   I see knitting as an art, one that I want to continue to develop.

My mind is constantly thinking about knitting.  My job as a sales rep has me traveling all the time and driving all over the western part of the USA.  I spend lots of time in silence, which is very comforting to me.  I cherish the time to think.  That time becomes the seeds of my designs.  I realized that during the silent time I was trying to think through projects and move stitches in my mind.  I was completely stumped by how to move a field of twisted rib to mimic a moving stream… This idea crossed my mind while traveling in Montana, where I am continually entranced with the water dancing across the landscape like ribbons dropped down from the heavens.  Not being able to move the “mental legos” of knit stitches in a design in my head was frustrating.  I began to think about the deficancy in my work.  What was the last textured project I had knit?  Did I enjoy it?  Why do I keep going back to the same familiar projects?

So this year, 2020 I resolve to introduce more texture into my knitting and not just cling to stranded color work knitting.  I know I can’t absolutely say I will give up color work knitting because I have a few to many unfinished projects that I am committed to finishing.  And it isn’t like knitting any style project is harmful… there is really no service to be done by abstaining.

Honestly, once I made this realization I began to seek out textured projects starting in October. My holiday hat gifts were all textured hats. I finished a long languishing linen stitch scarf for my mom that I started one spring day in Michigan back in 2016 and I dove head first into a textured sweater project for my darling husband which I had started back in July.

I am happy to report that this has already  been a fun task.  I have crossed off a few smaller projects off the list, completing a pair of fingerless mitts and a matching hat which will become a new design.  I have also finished a second pair of fingerless mitts to match a separate hat that I knit back in October. These mitts will also become a new pattern. The fruit of my new year challenge is already appearing.