Getting Crafty!

Remember when Grey’s Anatomy had a big plot line involving Izzie and Meredith knitting away? Right around then, one of my best friends taught herself to knit. On Grey’s it had something to do with being between relationships and/or a metaphor for masturbation. My friend picked up the needles to help get her through the first weeks of sobriety.

One night she came and hung out with me at my brother’s house where we were living at the time. We sat on the floor and she patiently taught me how to cast on. “Do it again,” she said, over and over. She’d unravel everything I’d done and make me start over until I could do it myself. Then she left me some chunky yarn, needles to practice on, and a book.

I’d like to say that in the two years since then I’ve become awesome at knitting, but the truth is I still sort of suck. I can’t read patterns well. I lose my momentum on large projects. But I enjoy turning a ball of yarn into a fluffy, soft scarf. And once in a while I’ve challenged myself and knitted hats, including a somewhat awesome striped hat.

My friend, on the other hand, got pretty good. She made some reall cute owl dolls that hold condoms and vibrators. Hilarious. My brother’s girlfriend and her sister are also really awesome at knitting. They can handle some fairly elaborate patterns.

I love that knitting has become pretty popular with younger women. I know it’s sort of a hipster thing to do, but I don’t care. I might suck at at, but I’m proud of it. Mostly because in general I completely suck at arts and crafts.

In high school I made beaded jewelry and friendship bracelets. Neither were complicated but it was fun to give away projects. I even sold some necklaces at a local skate shop. (Like, two.)

When I was pregnant, I got really into baking. But in the post-pregnancy-weight-loss bonanza, I stopped making giant batches of caramel brownies and whatnot. I think I lost my mad skills because last time I made my favorite browned butter sugar cookies they sucked. (My husband still ate them all.)

I’m going to try to get back into knitting this fall. It’s hard to be motivated when it is FOUR MILLION DEGREES outside, but I know I need to finish stuff before Christmas because I try to give handmade gifts when I can.

Here’s the mess that is my stash:

For holiday gifts, I make: Collage picture frames, bath salts, and scarves. That is the extent of my craft-tacular-ness.

How about you?