Knitting

I learnt to knit when I was about ten, and a few of my school friends did too. One day, my mum offered to help me, but was bemused by the way I was doing it - putting the needle into the back of the stitch instead of the front. She told me that would result in twisted stitches and I should change it. I found it difficult to change, got frustrated and cross, and resolved to keep doing it my way, without her help.

The school craze for knitting didn't last long, and although I always intended to come back to it someday, I was left with the feeling that I was doing it wrong and would have to unlearn what I knew then start again from scratch if I was ever to knit the way Mum did, i.e. fast.

Recently I decided that the time had come to get over that barrier and learn to knit again. During the house move I'd uncovered a lot of old children's books, including the Usborne guide to knitting, which seemed like a good place to start teaching myself the basics. I opened the book and, clear as anything, the picture showed the needle going into the back of the stitch. I was vindicated!

My sister is due to have her first baby this spring and baby clothes, being small, seemed a good project to start on. When I suggested this idea to her, she made it clear that hand-knitted clothes made by an aunt who's just learning to knit were not quite what she had in mind for her baby. She did suggest a blanket made of knitted squares, which I have to admit is much more sensible. That's the trouble with my sister - she's bossy, but she's always right!

Don't ask how I came by that ball of pink wool - it was just in a drawer, OK?

I decided to try different stitches for the different squares, and started with the most basic, garter stitch, knitted MY way. It came out fine, and I moved onto stocking stitch; alternating rows of the two basic knitting stitches, knit and purl. I found that following a row of purl, it's the front, not the back, of the stitch that presents itself most naturally to the needle, so I switched to putting the needle into the front of the stitch. Easy. It really isn't the big deal it was when I was ten.