I confess, I have a bit of OCD about certain things in my life. I prefer square objects over round, I always properly align my silverware upon sitting at a dining table and, when I make something, I am disappointed if anything is less than perfect. So, a few weeks ago when I decided that I needed to knit a baby blanket for a friend just weeks away from giving birth after years of not knitting a thing, I knew I was about to face a challenge.
My mom is a professional knitter. I do not think I have a memory of a time in my life when my mom was not knitting something for someone. She taught me the basics of knitting at a young age when an elementary school assignment required me to teach the class something. My mom taught me to knit, I documented each step on my piece of paper and then, in true show and tell fashion, showed my class the craft.
Knitting is sort of a hobby but it is not something I do regularly. I have to be in the mood – odd, I know. In college, after many years of not knitting, I picked up a pair of needles and started making winter scarves. All of my friends loved them, so I made a lot of them and gave them away as gifts. People even paid me to make scarves in time for winter each year. Scarves are easy, they are fun to make and they do not take much time. I have never made a blanket.
I thought this would be a fun project that would give me something to do during the day. I have never been as good as my mother but I constantly push myself by picking patters that are of a higher difficulty than my skill level at the time. Let me just say – thank God for You Tube.
After days of searching the web to find a craft store that I did not think existed, I hit the jackpot with Spotlight. I made my way downtown, up to the fifth floor of Plaza Singapura and entered the closest thing to Hobby Lobby that I will find in Asia. I picked some yarn, circular needles and spacers that I had never used but always saw my mom using.
It has been a few years since I knitted anything, so I knew this project was aggressive. I had to laugh at myself when I got all set up and could not remember how to get the yarn on the needle. “OMG this is not going to work…”
After a few minutes, I did remember what I was doing and I suppose that term about riding a bicycle also applies to knitting. I got the hang of it. It has been more than a week and I am still on the practice yarn. I have started over four or five times (I stopped counting after four), but I am now confident that I can do this. I am going to give myself a few more days and I think I will be ready for the real thing next week. Of course, any mistake I make means that I will be starting over…mostly because I do not know how to fix my mistakes.
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