StashFit: A Walk Down Memory Laine

I hope you're as excited about the StashFit adventure as I am! 

it seems only fair to share my responses to the exercises I'm asking you to do, so look for my work on the exercises here on the blog on Fridays.

Without further ado, here's are my best knitting memories:

One of my first powerful knitting memories took place in my dorm room in college. It was after dinner, I was on my own and I was wrestling with my needles. I'd discovered sock knitting about three months before. Having knit one pair of very basic socks from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks and primed with the over-confidence only a teenager can muster, I'd bought a copy of Fancy Feet by Anna Zilboorg. I was determined to knit colorwork toe-up socks (having never done colorwork or toe-up socks before), and nothing was going to stop me - except the %^(*% figure-8 cast-on! I could not figure it out. This was before videos on the internet, and it was just me and the book and some very bedraggled yarn that had been knit over and over and over. Finally, it clicked - a tiny little square of a toe-nubbin emerged, and I knew I had it! I was so excited I yelled out loud and did a victory lap of the common room.  

Another favorite knitting memory involves trains and Japan. I was traveling to Takayama, a snowy northern town, with my husband and two friends. We left Osaka in the morning, and were hurtling along at high-speed through snowy forests and beautiful countryside, with the entire scene bathed in clear winter sunlight. I was working on a zip-front hoody-style sweater with a fun snaky-cable pattern on the front. The yarn was dark chocolate brown, and while I loved the color, the sweater was taking forever because I hated working on it at night or in low light and I was starting to doubt the wisdom of my color choice. Seeing the rich brown in the natural light of the sun, I could finally appreciate the natural simplicity of the color - it matched the trunks of the bare trees going by, and fit perfectly into the landscape.

A list of favorite knitting memories would not be complete without mention of the Shanghai Stitch and Bitch group. This was a group that called it like they saw it, laughed hard, swore like sailors, and could put away a bottle of wine before you could say Bob's-your-uncle. You did not bring anything complicated to SnB, nor did you bring anything which couldn't handle a wine stain or a chocolate smear. The specific night that comes to mind involved a pair of socks I was knitting in Noro. In order to get the socks to match, I had fussy-wound the skein into two similar balls. This left pink and bright pink yarn left for the toes and heels. I was also attempting a round toe for the first time. I thought everything was fine, but the socks were eliciting highly suspicious giggles. It takes true friends to stage a knitting intervention to let you know your socks resemble... Well, you can look at the photo, imagine the socks partially knitted from the toe up, and fill in the rest. 

I hope you'll consider sharing your favorite knitting memory in the comments!