BLOG

Last May (almost a year ago!) I wrote this in the newsletter…

I’m learning how to knit!

Again. 🙄

The last time I tried, I thought I hated knitting. But what I did was make a very, very basic mistake.

I know how to help beginners learn. It’s what I do!

But I went against all of my own advice from this post about choosing an applique pattern for a beginner.

Friends – I chose a boring pattern. Truly, the most boring pattern ever.

Let me back up. . .

A few years ago I decided I wanted to learn how to knit. Jo (my daughter and now also my business partner) is an excellent knitter, and she offered to teach me.

I bought some inexpensive-but-nice-feeling yarn and started to make The Most Boring Scarf in the Whole Wide World.

It was just knitting back and forth. Endless knitting. Boring knitting. That photo above is my progress after, I think, three years.

Yawn.

I don’t even wear this kind of scarf! I was making it just to learn how. There was nothing exciting about the thing itself.

This year [this was in March 2025] I decided to try again.

I chose the Sophie Hood, a very popular pattern from Petite Knit. It’s an intermediate-level pattern, with increases and decreases, and a built-in i-cord edge. I decided to complicate things even more by adding a second yarn and striping them. Some experienced knitters were dubious about choosing this for a first project, but it’s a thing I’ll actually wear, and I know I’m a patient learner. I’m okay with stopping to get help/watch some videos whenever I need to.

Jo and I went out and enjoyed the Rose City Yarn Crawl, and she helped me choose yarn. Look at how pretty it is!

Now I was ready to start again.

Here it is after (I think) a week.

I had to learn again how to cast on, how to knit, how to do that pretty i-cord edge, and how to change colors. I made some mistakes and had to learn how to un-knit my stitches. (It’s way harder than just pulling out crochet stitches!)

I’ve been making slow and steady progress, and now I’m halfway finished! [This was in May 2025.]

Look at those yummy color changes in the stripes!

So here’s the thing – all those things that make the project more difficult are also making it more interesting.

Yes, sometimes I forget to switch to the i-cord stitch and I have to un-knit stitches and do it the right way – but that i-cord edge looks so finished and nice! And knitting with two balls of yarn is annoying and I have to keep untwisting them, but I love the stripes! And every time my contrast yarn changes color I get a little frisson of excitement.

I’m having fun, and I can’t wait to wear my finished scarf.

A long time ago, I heard someone (I don’t remember who) speaking about kids learning to read. Learning to read is hard, and he was talking about the importance of writing books that kids will enjoy, because putting a lot of effort into decoding a boring book is not very rewarding. But if a book is a pleasure to read, the kid will be more willing to practice, and that practice will make them more proficient, which will, in turn, make the activity more pleasant, and around and around we go.

All of this is a very long way of saying that if you want to learn something new – whether it’s knitting, quilting, crochet, embroidery, cooking, whittling, playing the cello, or whatever – do it with something you’re excited about!

So that’s the end of the original post, but today I have an update. I finished it!

I actually finished it in November, but it’s taken me this long to take a picture. 😂

Here it is from the side.

And here it is laid flat.

It’s a hood with long scarf ends that come to a nice, small taper at the tips. The scarf hangs down just past my knees – long enough to wrap around my neck from front to back, and around front again.

(It was very windy out at the tulip farm and the tip of the scarf has blown to my back in the side view photo, but you can see it in the front view.)

Here’s why the Sophie Hood is a great first knitting project…

• There’s no purling. The entire scarf is just knitting and slipping stitches.
• The i-cord edge is super easy and gives it a real pro look – very satisfying.
• Knitting has (I am learning) a kajillion different ways to increase, but this pattern uses only one. And it’s easy. And the rows when you start are so short that you get lots of immediate opportunities to practice it. By the time the rows get longer with lots of stitches between your increases, you’ve got them down pat.
• I highly recommend striping with two yarns. It’s not hard, and the stripes actually helped me keep track of where I was in the pattern at all times. That was especially helpful because I’m still learning how to “read” my knitting.

For those following along in my Wardrobe Project, I’m wearing this with my new blue dress, some me-made-pants (which I’ll blog about soon) and one of my favorite kimono-style jackets.

And I’m not done knitting! Or choosing what appear to be complicated projects!

I love the look of cables, so I’m working on a vest that’s basically all cables. Here’s my swatch.

I also wanted a smaller project that’s easier to schlep around. I love the socks that Jo has knit for me, so now I’m working on a pair of socks! There’s enough weird shaping to learn for them that I just picked a simple ribbed sock pattern. I’ve finished the first one (it fits perfectly!) and I’m well on my way through the cuff of the second, so there will be more knitting to report on soon.

I’m making clothing! I mean, I guess it’s technically an accessory – but I wear it, so it counts! 🙂