Wool and Honey

I first learned to knit when I was around 11 years old, and couldn't quite figure out how to stick with it. I made a scarf. Or something that somewhat resembled a scarf. It was a mustardy-yellow thing with haphazard edges, barely reaching long enough to wrap around my little neck. Needless to say it never got worn.

My next project was a much more adventurous scarf intended as my sister's Christmas present. Never mind the fact that I made the entire pattern up with my vast knowledge of the two basic stitches, and what combination of them I thought might look cool. When I had barely anything done I pushed the deadline from Christmas to Piper's birthday, completely forgetting that her January 2nd birthday didn't really give me much more time to finish anything. Her birthday came and went, the scarf was never finished, and eventually the only reminder of that hobby was a box of yarn and knitting needles sitting in the corner of my childhood closet.

Fast forward to my junior year of college, in the midst of the busiest semester I've ever taken with 20 credits of classes and a daily schedule of 8 am to 6:30 pm on campus. One Saturday morning I had picked up Natalie, one of my closest friends, and we were driving back to her apartment when she jokingly said, "Hey can we go to the knitting store?" On a whim I said why not.

We walked around this cozy, inviting store with skeins of yarn lining every wall from floor to ceiling, and the friendliest staff I have ever met in a knitting store. Natalie showed me her favorite yarns and as I ooh-ed and ah-ed over the most wool I'd ever seen, I had a gut feeling that I needed to make something right then and there. It just so happened that Blazing Needles was having a beginner's beanie class as I made that decision. Natalie helped me pick out my yarn, Cynthia (the wonderful owner of Blazing Needles) handed me the pattern and a generously free pair of old circular needles, and off I went.

That sunny morning in April 2018 sent me down a new path to a new hobby and a renewed sense of inspiration and purpose that I hadn't felt in a long time. Natalie is an extremely talented knitter who always has multiple projects in the works and always has the time to encourage whatever I try to make. She invited me into a community that day, and I am forever grateful. She and the incredible women at Blazing Needles have supported and cheered me on through the increasingly difficult projects I've embarked upon throughout the last 11 months.

My latest complete project is my biggest to date, and also something I am incredibly proud of. The satisfaction of wearing my finished Wool and Honey sweater is greater than anything I think I have ever felt. To have a tangible thing that I poured countless hours, swirling frustrated days, and happy motivated days into is a feeling I cannot accurately put into words. It was so worth the time, the effort, the money. It was worth everything to be able to wear it and say, "I made this."