Just Some Yarn, Needles, or Hook

I had to share this with you. This shows how you never know how you touch someone's life, in a good way. I was talking with one of the ladies from the knit group that I started on Thursday’s. I told her she made my day and that this is when it is all worth it. Why? Because she told me that she had lost her husband of 50 years, five years ago. Can you imagine, 50 years – Wow! And that put her in a slump.

She came to the knitting group starting August of 2009. I can’t believe how time flies. She crochets beautifully. But she didn’t know how to read a pattern. So I started her with a basic pattern, not for the crochet, because she knew that, but for the pattern reading. I can’t remember what the first project was, but she made it. Then weekly she would ask me for another pattern and another pattern. We went over the things she didn’t understand and we discussed why sometimes the pattern is wrong and why sometimes things are not written as we might think they should be, to make it easier to follow. The weeks went by and in between our meet up she would sometimes struggle with a pattern but never quit.

Now she is reading patterns and enjoying the end result of what she has made. She told me that before she would crochet only what she knew, but now being able to read a pattern has opened her world to stitches and patterns she never thought she would make. Wow, I am so happy for her. It has helped her get out of her slump, she has a place to come and enjoy other crafters, and she is able to grow with every new thing she learns. It is so therapeutic.

She has also taken out a couple of patterns that were on her wish list. You know those patterns that become the ‘one day I will’. Well that one day has come. She has started on a sweater she had wanted to make but didn’t understand the pattern. I’m happy because she is happy and so excited. She also has found a couple of items that she started making but didn't finish. You know those UFO's (unfinished objects). Well, she wants to get back to those. To hear the excitement in her voice was great. And I was just as excited for her.

I told her that I had a pilot class at the library over two years ago just to start my teaching experience. I had no intention of starting a knit group. It was one of those things that just happened. And here after two years the group has grown and there are those that are just hearing about it now.

I want to encourage you to take a class in pattern reading, if you don't know how to read one. It is so beneficial for growing more in the needle arts. As I have said before, there is so much to learn and do and it is all exciting once you understand the written words and not to forget the chart reading also. Again I will repeat myself, it is nice when people at the knit groups help you with your project, but it is so much better to get the full understanding of patterns in order to pick up any pattern and dissect it so that you can understand so much more.

It just shows what you can get from just some yarn, needles or hook. Try it, you’ll like it. And if you already are in it, then expand your knowledge by trying a new technique or stitch pattern.

Happy crafting!