#SOL18 Day 27: Learning to Knit and Crochet

I’ve always wanted to learn how to knit and crochet. My grandma and my great-grandma (on my dad’s side) had these skills, but my mom didn’t. She must have tried at some point, though, because in the very back corner of our hallway coat closet was a Pringles can with metal knitting needles sticking out through the lid. I checked out library books and tried to figure out the steps, but I never really got past casting on, maybe row 1. My grandma and great-grandma each worked with me a couple of times, but apparently I needed more than sporadic practice.

Fastforward to a couple of years ago. I decided it was finally time to figure out these arts. Thank goodness for YouTube! I followed step by step, rewatching many times, producing my very own crocheted dishcloth! I had figured it out! I made one more basic dishcloth before trying a shell design. Having the video as a guide made it surprisingly easy.

This winter, my daughter and I decided to learn how to know. The video approach to learning was perfect since visual help was available whenever we needed it. We each made a couple of nice looking dishcloths without too much trouble.

Even though you can really never have too many dishcloths, I felt that I needed a different project, something to wear, but something still pretty simple. If you ever need this kind of project, I highly recommend trying fingerless gloves. The pattern just uses two stitches, and in the end you just stitch together the sides of a rectangle. I’m very happy with how mine keep my hands warm, and my kids have requested that I make pairs for them, too.

Now, I need to work on my knitting while I still have some morning quiet time!