Square one

It all started with a square. Actually it started with me deciding about a year ago that I wanted to learn a new craft. On an impulse I thought, what about knitting? I never like doing anything without purpose so I had to have a goal to work towards. Since I was looking for a new TV blanky it seemed only logical that this would be my first ever knitting project.

My darling hubby took me to the local wool shop where I bought a pair of knitting needles and some lovely balls of red and orange wool. I went home with a big smile, confident that I was going to somehow turn these balls into a fluffy blanky that will keep my family warm for generations to come.

The only little hiccough in my master plan was that I had not held a pair of knitting needles since I was a little girl and even then my granny used to put the stitches on, pick them up again when I dropped them and cast off the rows when I was done. Not that I was going to let this little detail get in my way.

I turned once again to my trusty friend Google and went searching for a 'how to start knitting' tutorial. It's amazing what you can find on the web when you know where to look. I was surprised to find how many different ways there are to just get the stitches onto the needles in the first place. After trying a few, I started to remember the way my granny did it; she used to twist the wool around her thumb and then hook it over the needle. I was amazed at how the memories started flooding back. It was like my hands remembered what to do and soon I was busy knitting away with a huge grin on my face.

The first little square took me about four days to complete but after a few weeks I was getting much better and although I would never win any speed-knitting competitions I was eventually able to do about one and a half squares per day.



I loved working on my blanky and was looking forward to the day I could cubble up under it to watch my favorite movie. Unfortunately after a few months I got side tracked and slowly but surely started to fall behind on my knitting. Eventually it got packed away along with my scrapbooking stuff, half-completed cross stitch projects and other bits and pieces I always tell myself I still want to make time for.

Currently we are slap dash in the middle of another blistering hot summer with temperatures reaching up to 39 degrees celsius and the heat making even breathing feel like a chore. Well what better time could there possible be to get back to my knitting? I know it seems insane, I mean who wants to sit with a bundle of wool on their lap while the sun is trying its best to boil your insides; but the thing is, the summer is not going to last forever and if I get going now I might just be able to finish my TV blanky before the winter has time to unpack its bags.



I calculated that my blanky will need ninety squares, nine squares wide and ten squares long, to be the perfect size to cuddle under, at the moment it has twenty seven squares, and since autumn is only a few weeks away I'd better get knitting.