Then last winter a friend from church was expecting a baby. I began searching online for a pattern for something to crochet for the baby. A Bernat hoody caught my eye and informed me it was meant to be the little one's gift.
I bought the yarn and crocheted the body of the hoody. When it came time to make the sleeves, the fabric seemed too open and was sure to catch on little fingers as they went through. So I dug out an old pair of knitting needles and cast on the sleeves, then the hood (if baby needs a hood, then baby needs a warm hood!) and knit them. The hoody turned out all right but did look a little strange, with its crocheted body and its knit sleeves and hood.
So the hoody went in the closet. By this time the baby had been born, a beautiful little boy. I had also found another pattern I wanted to use, this time all in knit. There were a few small problems though. The pattern was for a Henley-type shirt with a collar, button tab, and to further complicate matters, two bears to knit into the front of the sweater, with a graphic chart--which was another thing I had never done.
It took most of a week,and there was some frogging and starting over, lots of counting, recounting, and a bit of under-the-breath swearing, but the bear shirt was finished in time for the baby shower after church the next Sunday. Sure, the bears bulged out a little because I held the tension too tight but they actually looked like bears and the shirt was in the right proportions for a baby of about three to six months of age. The mom was thrilled and everyone commented on the cute shirt.
Thus a knitting monster was born, one who pounces on yarn sales, downloads hundreds of patterns she wouldn't have the time to knit even if she lived to the age of 200, and answers questions with "just a sec, I'm counting" and "I'm ready to go, I just have to finish this one row", and "Too much yarn? Do you really think so?" A monster who can't figure out why her dearly beloved would even mention returning the yarn that was left over from that sweater or that shawl. Who returns yarn anyway? As an added bonus, this knitting monster discovered that she could sometimes even knit the blues away.
She can be found most evenings in the living room sitting at the right end of the sofa, just next to the trunk full of yarn, needles in hand, doing what knitting monsters everywhere do best.
More later, friends...if I can just put those needles down long enough...
