I've never been too good at sitting still. "What's next?" "Where are we going?" "What are you doing?". I think it's like that for many of us side-hustling-tired-of-being-called-millennial-liberal-education types.

Playing nintendo and watching those super creepy 90's morning cartoons, evolved into smart phones, vlogs, live streams... ceaseless slideshows of images and actions. In that environment, silence, or peace, almost seemed to implicate a personal failure.

"What should I be doing?"

I'm sure this is something I will have to face and come to terms with at some point, but for the time being I'm along for the ride yo!! With this lassaiz-faire approach to my non-stop ride of 'doing things', I decided that right before my spring/summer collection launch, before re-doing my website, before creating my newsletter I was supposed to make ages ago, before finishing all my 95% done patterns (of which there are several)... I should learn to knit.

Part of me never wanted to learn to knit. It seems much more technical, more restrictive. I think of a crochet hook as a pencil, you can go in any direction, choose any stitch, inc/dec, all as you go along. Oftentimes my patterns evolve out of whims and "eh, this works". With knitting, I felt everything needs to be planned out, the patterns, the stitch counts. I looked at knitting needles like fascist little sergeants that dictate where your design goes with little room for changing your mind. But oh.... the fair isle! The cables!

At the same time I began to accept that a lot of my more successful patterns, like the Ottershaw Sweater, were just attempts at recreating knit techniques for crochet. While I am proud of those endeavors, I think that expanding my fiber arts technical knowledge can only improve and expand my overall design process, and push my boundaries in creating knitwear.

Begrudgingly armed with this knowledge I sought a class to learn to knit. I didn't look far. CraftJam is where I've been teaching crochet classes - the basics, granny squares, and more specific projects. It's a BYOB craft collective where you learn tons of DIY crafts and skills. And who better to teach me than the smash bang fusion that is Alexi from Two of Wands?

I showed up with an over-sized bottle of rose and my doubts. I left with circular needles and cautious self-confidence. I learned how to cast on, the basic knit and purl stitches, and how to read a knit pattern. Leaving after that first class was frustrating only because I wanted to go right into the second class! I wanted to learn how to decrease, how do I finish? And most importantly... how do I fix all these mistakes I made??

Overall, and unsurprisingly, I'm glad I learned to knit, but now I'm nearly overwhelmed with all the possibilities I've unlocked! All the stitches I can learn, all the cable techniques, all the kits, and the future designs I can make! I have so much to do! There are so many next things!

...I guess they'll just have to wait til after I've redesigned my website, gotten that pesky newsletter out, and finished all those nearly-finished patterns.

3-27-17 Learning to Knit