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Confessions of a
by MMK
Monogamous Knitter
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away…
Well, if I must be honest, it was 2008 in North Carolina.
This state wasn’t home, I knew no one, was recently divorced,
and traveled 48 weeks out of the year for work.
While that may sound glamorous (in some cases, it still is),
I was overworked and lived, breathed, and thought about
my clients 24/7. This included booting up my laptop or
(gasp) looking at my Blackberry before the boarding door
closed.
This may seem an odd beginning to becoming a knitter,
but I quickly realized that I needed to find something else
to do in the evenings while in a hotel room far from home
that didn’t include drinking in the hotel bar. I also had no
social life when I was home for a mere 36 to 48 hours
every week.
I had been taught how to crochet as a young girl and
was obsessed with cross stitching in the past, but neither
suited me any longer. Through YouTube, I taught myself
the basics of knitting but sought out fellow knitters to
grow my skills and interact with others who were not in my
industry.
This was the heyday of meetup groups, so I found a
local group that met on weekends and dove in headfirst.
This group was eye opening for a newbie like me. The
group was, and I’m sure continues to be, a varied group
of women and the occasional man who are supportive,
knowledgeable, and of varying skill levels.
Just like a child learning to ice skate who has no fear, I
felt the same in learning to knit and try different techniques
and construction methods. In the first few months,
my knitting group decided to learn 2AATTU (2 at a time
toe up) socks. I bought the book, yarn, and 40” circular
needle and was excited to learn this special magic. My
first project was a cable scarf, and this would be maybe
my third project. My second project was a long-forgotten
cotton potholder that was uneven and made with double
pointed needles, which I didn’t grow to accept into my
repertoire for many years, but I digress.
I still remember learning Judy’s Magic Cast-On with the
help of a sweet and patient park ranger who had actually
made toe up socks before. When the technique clicked in
my brain while sitting with her, I felt like a special secret
had been imparted to me that I would treasure. Every
time a new pair of toe-up socks are started, I still think
about this moment and her (thank you Deb).
Needless to say, I was off and running with this special
knowledge and have never looked back. Be it Judy’s
Magic Cast-On or Turkish cast-on, toe up, cuff down, German
short row heel, eye of partridge, Dutch heel, vanilla,
patterned, twisted rib, brioche (the list goes on)… it is always
an adventure!
In the years that followed, I found a love of different
construction methods for garments, accessories, and even
a love for different types of pattern writing. I definitely
have my favorites, but I won’t divulge those here. My journey
has been tip to toe; hats, scarves, cowls, gloves,
sweaters (including colorwork), socks, and blankets.
Some things have stayed consistent, such as my love of
color and fiber contents. Something else that stayed consistent
until recently is my love of being a monogamous
knitter. You read that right, I was the unicorn that is a monogamous
knitter.
When I first started knitting, like with the sock project
above, I had a project in mind, purchased the necessary
yarn, needles (because I had very few), and book with patterns.
I had NO STASH!
This no stash thing went on for many years. Always the
same story, pick a project, purchase the yarn, knit the project,
weave in the ends, block and either use or gift. Leftover
yarn was given away or donated; very small scraps of
less than a few yards were thrown away.
For the most part, this is how my knitting journey continued…then
came the ability to find yarn stores anywhere
I traveled for work. One of my biggest regrets is
that I was not a knitter with a capital K when I lived in the
UK…though my wallet was probably much better off.
I can happily say I have been to some of the most
unique, quaint, unexpected, and friendly yarn stores out
there. Some of my best experiences have been some of
my most unexpected. I am still in contact with a hand dyer
I met at the Alaska State Fair. I fondly remember buying
yarn at a grocery store in Norway when on vacation. I even
bought yarn at a Christkindlmarkt in Bavaria while visiting
family. My love of yarn and knitting cross language and
age barriers. If I was in charge, I would have kids learn
fiber arts in school so they could better understand what
goes in to making a garment, where the fiber comes from,
how to care for it, and how it affects the environment. I’m
into slow fashion and sometimes very slow fashion.
I can hear you now, “Where’s the confession?”
Somewhere along the way, I realized that more than one
project in progress is a good thing for a few reasons:
STASH – Yeah, I have a stash and I’m not sad a about it.
I’m not going to call out anyone for having a small or a
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