I'm a knitwit (Week 39)
"You get something out of it in the end. You get a nice present. For someone who wants an oddly shaped, off-putting scarf."
Box office hunk Ryan Gosling learned how to knit while filming a scene with a roomful of old ladies in Lars and the Real Girl. He described it as one of the most relaxing days of his life. With that in mind, I set off on a week of knitting with the intention of making my own oddly shaped, off-putting scarf.
Spoiler alert: I never finished the scarf. The learning curve turned out to be a little steep for yours truly and his clumsy man hands, and it wasn't until Day 5 that I started to feel comfortable with knitting. I pulled apart countless attempts and only had a 6-inch section done by the time it was pencils-up at the end of the week. Oh well.
But why knitting in the first place? For one thing, I had always admired Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante who, besides being perhaps the greatest goalie in hockey history, was nutty about knitting. So much so, there's even a book written about Plante and his pastime. You quickly discover there's nothing un-manly about it.
Like Ryan Gosling, Jacques Plante found solace and relaxation in the activity. Maybe they were also aware of some of the many other benefits: improved hand-eye coordination, better health from lowering your heart rate, prevention of brain aging, and just gold old-fashioned practicality. As I learned from Carol at a local wool shop in Victoria called Beehive, households a hundred years ago required so many knitted items that everyone in the family took part.
Carol was so encouraging, and eagerly sought out the information and materials I needed to launch myself into knitting. Together, we decided on a medium-length scarf, grey on the ends and black in middle. Then she hooked up my four skeins of wool to a fascinating device called a skein winder that magically transformed them into wound balls. She also started me off with a basic learn-to-knit book from the Churchmouse Classroom, and then a pair of 5mm needles before sending me on my way. By the way, this week's blog post is also a shameless plug for Beehive. For one thing, they go out of their way to source yarn from local suppliers whenever possible, and they are infinitely tolerant and accepting of beginners.
Back at home, I ventured into my scarf project with gusto. Luckily, Val was by my side when I began, because it did not start well. She patiently watched as I tried to learn the techniques of knitting and purling, obviously realizing there was some disconnect between my brain and my fingers. I might as well have been a head injury patient, and I might as well have been wearing hockey gloves. In one attempt after another, I managed to drop stitches, insert knots, slide entire sections off the needle, and create unsightly gaps and bunches into my work. It was pretty much a horror show.
Like just about anything, though, persistence pays off, and Val was always able to set me straight while encouraging me to continue. Although frustrating to begin with, knitting eventually became relaxing as the week progressed, and the more relaxing it became, the better I got at it. I am now completely confident the scarf will be finished some day.
Odd and off-putting maybe. But all mine, and made by my man hands.
Next week: re-connecting with long-lost friends on the phone!
Box office hunk Ryan Gosling learned how to knit while filming a scene with a roomful of old ladies in Lars and the Real Girl. He described it as one of the most relaxing days of his life. With that in mind, I set off on a week of knitting with the intention of making my own oddly shaped, off-putting scarf.
Spoiler alert: I never finished the scarf. The learning curve turned out to be a little steep for yours truly and his clumsy man hands, and it wasn't until Day 5 that I started to feel comfortable with knitting. I pulled apart countless attempts and only had a 6-inch section done by the time it was pencils-up at the end of the week. Oh well.
But why knitting in the first place? For one thing, I had always admired Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante who, besides being perhaps the greatest goalie in hockey history, was nutty about knitting. So much so, there's even a book written about Plante and his pastime. You quickly discover there's nothing un-manly about it.
Like Ryan Gosling, Jacques Plante found solace and relaxation in the activity. Maybe they were also aware of some of the many other benefits: improved hand-eye coordination, better health from lowering your heart rate, prevention of brain aging, and just gold old-fashioned practicality. As I learned from Carol at a local wool shop in Victoria called Beehive, households a hundred years ago required so many knitted items that everyone in the family took part.
Back at home, I ventured into my scarf project with gusto. Luckily, Val was by my side when I began, because it did not start well. She patiently watched as I tried to learn the techniques of knitting and purling, obviously realizing there was some disconnect between my brain and my fingers. I might as well have been a head injury patient, and I might as well have been wearing hockey gloves. In one attempt after another, I managed to drop stitches, insert knots, slide entire sections off the needle, and create unsightly gaps and bunches into my work. It was pretty much a horror show.
Like just about anything, though, persistence pays off, and Val was always able to set me straight while encouraging me to continue. Although frustrating to begin with, knitting eventually became relaxing as the week progressed, and the more relaxing it became, the better I got at it. I am now completely confident the scarf will be finished some day.
Odd and off-putting maybe. But all mine, and made by my man hands.
Next week: re-connecting with long-lost friends on the phone!
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