Knitting season begins

Suddenly summer is over. In the last week, the temperature suddenly dropped by 15 degrees and across the city people are scrambling to dig out our mitts, scarves and warm jackets. Here at home, my knitting needles have begun clicking away.

I tend to knit year-round, but I really pick up the pace between the first cold days of fall and Christmas. ‘Tis the season to yarn together a hat that fits my daughter’s ever growing head, or a pair of mittens to warm her hands. Then, as soon as I fill the immediate demands, I turn to Christmas gifts – which I usually am knitting right up till Dec. 25th.

Once Christmas is done I’ll continue to knit for the rest of the winter, but at a less frenzied pace. I’ll finish a sweater, perhaps experiment with new yarns or ideas. As spring approaches I lose the momentum – it seems odd to start a cozy knit project when the snow is melting. And projects that weren’t completed during the winter tend to languish half-completed until the weather turns cool again.

Today I finished up a little hat for Miya – I had planned to make something a little more elaborate, but this sudden shift in the weather had me quickly knit up something that she can wear for these cool mornings. And for some reason she keeps requesting legwarmers, so I have to get cracking on those. She’ll also need mitts.

For our 4-year anniversary, V gave me some beautiful, fine silk yarn. As soon as I’ve finished my immediate projects for Miya, I’ll be eager to get working with that. And then my knitting circle friends and I have come up with some knit graffiti ideas... never enough knitting hours in the day!

For anyone out there who has never tried knitting, I fully encourage you to give it a try. And yes, that includes men. There are plenty of guy knitters out there. Sure, looking at a sweater pattern can be intimidating – but don’t try to start there. Scarves are no-fail for beginners, especially with funky yarns. Then you move on to hats, then mitts, and soon you’ll be lost in wonders of yarn.