Bestitched

My friend told me a very entertaining story about how a famous knitter (yes, they exist) called the “Yarn Harlot” was speaking about how knitting is really a form of magic. This was exemplified for her by her nephew bringing her red yarn and asking her to make him blue mittens. It’s neither the process nor the product that makes knitting such a compulsion, but it’s the mystery of how it all works. I never cease to be amazed with what complicated, three-dimensional objects can be achieved with two sticks and some thread. Despite having made hundreds of items, I still don’t really believe that patterns are going to work when I start new projects, even though there is a photo of the thing right at the top of the page. We can safely assume that these instructions have worked at least once.

I’ve come to understand most of the mechanics of knitting, but every so often, something new crops up that just blows my mind. I just finished my first top-down sock, which ends by grafting stitches at the toe together. I used the video from knittingatnoon.com as a guide and grafted the 28 stitches together. It was my first time ever doing this, so I was amazed at how it worked. I had set aside enough time to do it once, pull it out and then redo it correctly. But no need; I got it first time! Only that the yarn is variegated can I even tell which row is the one that was grafted using one darning needle rather than knitted on four double-point knitting needles! It is stunning to me that the same stitch can be achieved either by sewing or by knitting – magic! It’s probably not that great being my first attempt, you be the judge. I still think it’s amazing.