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Knit, purl, sl1kw, RT,2/2LC, yo, those are some of the codes of knitting.  That is the current language of my life right now as I decided in early November that I would knit hats for my two youngest nieces, but that idea grew to add my two daughters, other nieces, nephews and two of my siblings.  Maybe it’s my way to connect with them from so far away. Or maybe my inner self was just trying to help me come up with an idea for an essay. Either way I am loving reconnecting with knitting, I am loving thinking of the person as I knit their hat.  This is a labor of love, my way of showing I care about them. I don’t knit very often, I am a sporadic knitter. I learned to knit in grade school. As I looked at the three finished hats I feel a sense of accomplishment, they turned out much better than I expected, the color chosen by the recipients work well with the patterns I chose for them.

As the yarn slipped through my fingers onto the needles to create the first few hats I tried to focus my mind onto the movements of my fingers and needles as I followed the pattern.  I took the opportunity to practice being in the moment, to push the chatter that had nothing to do with what I was doing. A type of meditation in itself. I have a habit of daydreaming, as soon as I allow my mind to wander something goes amiss with the pattern.  I first learned to knit in grade school, I don’t remember how old I was or which grade I was in when I was introduced to it.  

As I kept knitting, old memories bubbled up to the surface of my mind, the torture of double pointed needles as I struggled to knit a pair of socks, in my mind the yarn was red, I was not having fun at all, it was a hard battle to win, too many needles for my small hands.  That’s probably why my socks ended up looking more like puppets than socks. That was the last time I ever knitted socks. My second memory is of emerald green yarn and a pattern for a cardigan. I can’t recall my age but I have a clear memory of the color and the pattern, seed stitch, which is k1,p1 that you alternate.  I thought that I would have not problem with what seemed like an easy pattern to me, but I had not taken into account my daydreaming. My best friend had no problem with it but I on the other hand struggled as I kept knitting when I should have purled and vice versa, I could not stay focused long enough as my mind wandered to exciting adventures that had nothing to do with reading but much to do with my favorite show.  The few centimeters that I had knitted looked pockmarked. My mom who doesn’t knit suggested I go ask my aunt upstairs for help. She had knitted two beautiful dark blue and white ponchos, one for her daughter and one for me, that we loved to wear. I remember the warm and cozy feeling I felt when I wore mine. So as I climbed to the second floor I felt confident that she could help. After she took a look at it, she unravelled it back to the ribbing and had me start again.  I started working the seed stitch with good intentions but my mind wandered off again. As we both knitted, she kept an eye on me, she stopped me after I had done a few rounds to take a look. She decided I was hopeless with the seed stitch, I felt I would be old by the time I was done with the cardigan. She wanted me to succeed and impress my teacher so after she unravelled it she started a pattern that she promised me I could not mess up: the double seed stitch.  She felt I would notice my errors right away rather than on the next rows.  She was right, the double seed stitch was the pattern made for me, it allowed me to finish the dark green cardigan.  My mom help me saw the zipper on it.  I was very proud to have accomplished that feat.  For whatever reason I gave it to my brother to wear either because it didn’t fit me or I did not like the color on me.  He did wear it until one day his dog chewed through my double seed stitch work while we rode in the car.  There was no way to fix it.  As a teen I did not care for knitting. I did not knit again until many years later when I moved to an area where I commuted to work by bus where I met several ladies who knitted during the hour long commute.  After a few months they encouraged me to join them, they thought I should give it another try which I did.  A couple of years later we moved, I did not start knitting again for several years until my daughter started kindergarten, I knitted her a couple of sweaters that her sister got to wear a few years later.  I enjoyed knitting sweaters and hats for my youngest stuffed animals, dolls and barbies, I loved how impressed she was when I handed her the finished item.  My knitting needles got put away again until my oldest went away to college where winters are colder so I got requests for a thick headband and a 7 foot scarf for Christmas.  I could not stop there so I made another headband and a hat for my youngest.  Some of the items I make turn out better than others but it doesn’t seem to matter to them.  

In early November, just after I had decided to knit everyone a hat, my youngest daughter sent me a picture of a headband that she had seen in a Paris shop.  The headband was a challenge, like the seed stitch, I had to unravel it several times.  This time the culprit is the English rib.  A stitch I knew nothing about. I am still a daydreamer.  After unraveling and restarting at least five times I became comfortable with the English rib, it doesn’t look as good as the one on the photo she sent me but it is done.  Thank goodness the free pattern for the headband came with a link to a video tutorial.  The hats I have knitted turned out much better than the headband. 

My youngest niece asked if I could make rounded ears and add eyes to her hat.  I think that since we made fairies together this summer she thinks that my talents are limitless.  I knitted the hat but outsourced the ears to a friend who has a lot more experience than I have at knitting.   That freed me to work on the next hat and to think about how to make the eyes.  

When I decided to make hats for my family I chose to shop at the little local yarn shop.  The wool they sell in the shop is from Peru.  It is soft, pliable, washable and the colors are beautiful, although several of the hats will be black as requested.  I really enjoy knitting with the yarn I purchased.  I would love to travel to Peru to watch the carding and spinning process, to learn about the people who created the beautiful yarn I was able to purchase in my town.  As I dreamed of going to Peru I turned on Netflix, a new documentary series in Spanish with English subtitles titled the Magic of the Andes came up on the home page.  I decided to watch it as I knitted.  I felt transported to the Andes by the great cinematography.  

So far I have finished and mailed 9 hats, I am currently working on two hats, and have one more to go after that.  I have been busy but it has been fun to make the time to knit for my family.  It has brought me joy and contentment.  The simple things in life are often the most rewarding and fulfilling.