Beginnings: A Tribute to First Teachers

I began knitting in earnest about 2.5 years ago now. This photo is from one of the first projects I never completed: an entrelac scarf that is currently–and will perpetually remain–about 2′ long. I cannot frog it, and, in fact, I think I should memorialize it somehow. It was knit out of some “wool” I found at Michaels with a variegated colorway that kinda looked like the pattern I was emulating.

Now, I knew next to nothing about knitting at this point. I was watching YouTube videos of a woman making this exact scarf, rewinding them, setting them on repeat, and trying to figure out how to pick up stitches. I believe at this point I had learned to knit English, but I was purling Continental. Yep. Just give yourself a second to imagine that . . .

Despite all of these idiosyncrasies, the scarf came along inch by inch and I started to understand some of the basic principles of construction. I sure wonder how anyone learned to knit without YouTube and the ability to pause the instruction. Heck, at this point, I didn’t even have the pattern she was working from–I was, quite literally, following her stitch by stitch.

So, this is a tribute to my first teacher–virtual as she may have been. Thank you, “iknitwithcatfur” for bringing me into the fold. I had no idea where this rabbit hole would lead, but I’m sure glad we spent so many hours together, knitting that unfinished entrelac scarf.

If you are interested in stitch dictionaries and lots of terrific instruction, check out her alternate egos: Sapphires-n-Purls  AND The Weekly Stitch I think she may be on a break at the moment, but the videos and other resources remain available.