Free Write Fridays exercise; The Map of a Journey

My journey into the world of knitting mapped out visually is very circular in nature. In my head, it looks like the ‘yellow brick road’ with every spiral outward representing growth in some degree. And when I think about the question, ‘why is knitting important to me’ it is best to start at the inside curve, my introduction to the knitting experience.

Several years back I was in New York City with a very good friend of mine, Donna.  Now Donna is a knitter who is always on the hunt for new yarn. As I would learn later, all knitters are. We were doing a bit of window-shopping on the Upper East Side and had decided to stop in at the local yarn shop. It was a wet, blustery April day, and my umbrella had turned inside out while standing at the corner waiting for the light to turn. I had become soaking drippy wet.  Once we were inside the store and after dabbing myself dry, as best I could, with the paper towels the Owner had handed me upon entering, I sat at a nearby table hoping to keep my dripping to a minimum.  I looked up and around and noticed that every inch of wall space was covered with the most beautiful colors and textures of yarn that I’d ever seen.  Talk about eye candy.  There was a lady sitting at the other end of the table busy knitting with a beautiful aqua-blue color yarn.  I asked her what she was making and she said she was knitting a sweater for her daughter.  I can still visualize the intense colors of the yarn she used as it reminded me of the Hawaiian Ocean.  I thought to myself, I want to make something that beautiful, I want to learn to knit.

Once back home, I went to my local yarn store, Yarning for You, and signed up for a knitting class. Everyone was so welcoming and helpful that it made it fun to learn. One class led to another until I found that I too could knit. Ever eager to learn more, I hunted out other resources including books, magazines, YouTube, blogs and pod-casts, all of which have been great tools for building on knitting skills.

I feel such a sense of accomplishment and pride with every piece I complete, that it fuels my desire to search for projects and patterns to continue creating. Slipstitch, yarn-overs, knits, and purls have become my new best friends.  Hence, I find that I too am on the never-ending quest to acquire new yarns.  In the blink of an eye, I have gathered quite a collection of yarn stash.  All of which is hiding quietly in the cupboard waiting for its turn to come out and play.

Since most of what I have made has been gifted, I searched for a way to document my completed projects and that led me to the website; Ravelry.  It is such a great resource for all things knit. I set up an account and began listing and describing my projects.  Once firmly established as a member I realized I needed to add to my skill set in order to fully enjoy the experience.  Words like flickr, up-load, digital camera and photoshop became part of my vocabulary. Challenging yes, but really fun!

I’ve learned a lot about photographing my work from Kim Klassen at the Café.  She has been so generous with her sharing of the ‘how to’ in photo editing, textures and composition.

My desire to share this journey with like-minded knitters led me once again to the web.  The internet is amazing in that it makes sharing possible. I have been in such awe of all the creative Blogs out there and I think they are the best part of what the internet has to offer.  I developed this site that I lovingly call ‘knitalatte’. I have had the best time this past year telling my knitting story through my blog. I love to ramble on about what’s on the needles, yarns textures, patterns used and the designers behind them. 

As I look back on this journey, I think, wow, it has been amazing! Much of what I have experienced was totally unexpected. My acting on the wants and needs as they popped up along the way has opened me up to growth that I could never have imagined. To me, the obvious answer to ‘why knitting is important to me’ is because it brings me such JOY.  I feel effervescent, like I’m surrounded in luminous bubbles whenever I’m involved in any stage of the process.  The world of stress and anxiety disappears as I sit and knit, play with yarn, read my favorite blogs or work on photographing projects. As I continue along this path, I realize that I still have much to learn and I am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead.

Most recently, wanting to become a better writer for knitalatte led me to Gigi at the Magpie’s fancy, and for that I am very grateful.  Her Free-Write Friday series is just what I was looking for. What is the saying; When the student is ready the teacher will appear?  What an adventure!