One down, one to go

Ta-da! I finished one mitten, not without stress, as you know! I think the flip-top has a slightly fishy shape but my Darling Daughter doesn’t seem to mind.


(That's my hand modeling the mitten.)

The good news is that with all your helpful hints about how to stay on track with circular needles, I have almost finished the SECOND mitten. Look at this baby!



I only had to restart the flip-top once and that was after just a few stitches because I almost instantly recognized I was going the wrong way. A big thanks to everyone on this blog for keeping me on the straight and narrow! I appreciated not only the practical advice but the moral support: I felt I was never knitting alone.

Which brings me to the concept of community in knitting. Even though it would appear to be rather an individual craft, it seems to bring folks together in wonderful ways. Many of you talked about the pleasure of your Local Yarn Store not just for purchasing yarn but for inspiration and assistance.

I’m not an especially outgoing person and yet in my LYS, I find myself addressing total strangers when they’re buying cool yarn. I ask them what the yarn is called and what they’re making with it. Oddly enough, I run into people from my own very little town there (although the store is located in a much larger neighboring town). In some cases, I’ve heard their names but never actually met them face-to-face. Everyone seems to be friendlier when they’re hanging out in a yarn store.

In addition, knitters are very generous to others with time, expertise, and materials. My LYS most recently recruited knitters to make squares for blankets for those who can’t afford to buy them. I’ve also seen all sorts of such projects on knitting blogs: socks, baby blankets, mittens, and more.

That got me to speculating about why knitters are this way. What do you think? Why does the craft of knitting create such a strong sense of community?