Craft Corner: Knitting!

Hi, Tangerine Tea here and I am taking over the blog this week!

I’m sure you have tried your hand at many different things over the last year. You found that since you had to be home a lot, if not literally every second of every day, there was more time to do fun things! I also had this notion and tried many different craft projects. One of my favorites has been learning to knit!

When I was about 8 years old, my mom started teaching me how to sew and knit. I think back then I leaned more towards sewing. Both I gave up after a couple months, which was (and still sort of is) on brand for me. Up until recently, I thought of knitting as a middle-aged or old lady activity. I admired women closer to my age who had the patience to knit, but I thought it was not something I even wanted to attempt. A couple months ago, my mind was completely changed. I often binge watch shows and I had started watching Grey’s Anatomy from the beginning. I was so invested that when Meredith mentioned she enjoyed knitting, I decided I wanted to give it a go. It’s funny that a TV show turned me onto a hobby, but I am so glad it did!

I went out and purchased needles and yarn that I felt were cute. Cuteness is a big motivator for me. I watched a YouTube video on how to do a basic knit. I decided to knit the whole ball of yarn straight as if I were going to make it into a thick scarf. Doing this made me more comfortable with the motion of knitting. I highly recommend doing this if you are just starting out. Especially when you learn the purl stitch. I did not practice like I did for the knit stitch and I ended up having a harder time with this stitch. Doing the same thing over and over again may sound mundane, but it was so calming! As someone who manages anxiety, knitting helped to take my mind off the things that were bothering me and focus on a tv show or movie while my hands still had something to do.

After knitting to the end of the yarn, I decided I would take on trying to knit a hat. Again, I found a great YouTube video that walked me through each row. I finished the hat, and realized it was too small around, as well as not tall enough.

So onto attempt #2! This time, the width was about right, but still too short.

I have not made a third attempt yet, but I look forward to it! A hobby I really thought I would never be interested in has been one of my favorites! You never know if you are going to enjoy something until you give it a try. Knitting has been great for my creativity and my mental health! In the future I want to make a temperature blanket and learn to knit a sweater!

Do you knit? Would you consider it if you don’t? What if your dream knitting project? Let me know in the comments below!