What does this mean?
By Sarah | December 4, 2008
Blocking board and T-pins.
First I started making **gasp** gauge swatches and now this? Dare I say it? Am I a hard-core, grown-up knitter now? When did you feel that you were no longer casual knitter (you know, you had to graduate from dishcloths, etc.)? That it was becoming, or had become, an all consuming obsession? Was it your first big lace project? Tackling socks? DPN’s?
For me, I think it was definitely powering through the terror of sweater knitting. I am, by absolutely no stretch of the imagination, a pro at sweater knitting but at least I’m not scared any more. That’s progress, right?
14 Comments
mai on December 4, 2008 at 10:49 am.
good for you
i’m so lazy when it comes to swatching and blocking 
catsnrabbits on December 4, 2008 at 12:00 pm.
Oooh, lace knitting! Congratulations. Remember, lifelines are your friends.
Lauren on December 4, 2008 at 1:31 pm.
It was sock knitting for me. Somehow it seemed so daunintg…now? There is always a pair on the needles.
Keri on December 4, 2008 at 2:14 pm.
That’s a tough one! I don’t think I can point to any one tool or technique or project that made me feel like a Real Knitter. I think joining Ravelry had a lot to do with opening my eyes to all the possibilities. I still haven’t knitted any sweaters yet, but I have done lace, and socks, and cables, and nupps… I do think of myself as a Knitter now, and not just someone who happens to knit sometimes. But I have SO much to learn!
mick on December 4, 2008 at 4:04 pm.
Mine was my sweater last year: Notre Dame de Grace. It fit, I seamed it, and when I wore it, no one assumed it was hand-knitted. I felt like the real deal then, for sure.
Oooh, a blocking board. That’s on my Christmas list!
christine on December 4, 2008 at 4:22 pm.
Good question! I think socks first made me a “real” knitter, but I still have a total fear of sweaters!
stacey on December 4, 2008 at 8:32 pm.
I felt like when I figured out cables by myself. And socks of course – my favorite!
Emily on December 4, 2008 at 11:32 pm.
For me it was when I could confidently knit socks! I was scared of heal flaps for a long time.
Luinelen on December 5, 2008 at 3:34 am.
I knit socks in school, and a sweater (with a couple of cables, with no pattern, in mohair yarn…I guess not realizing it might be hard helped). I have knit ever since, though much more in the last couple of years.
I don’t really know when I started to feel like a Real Knitter. The ‘net has affected a lot, I remember I used to read more before I stumbled into the world of knitblogs. Now I mostly only read in the subway, and when I happen to get my hands on a new, really good book. The rest of the time I knit, or read knitblogs and Ravelry, or sometimes do some other crafts (like spinning).
Or maybe it was the first time I bought yarn for a sweater, a couple of years ago. I had knit sweaters before, but they were all from yarn bought by my mother (she’s a knitter, too).
Emily on December 5, 2008 at 9:02 am.
Good question! I attribute my shift to a combination of two things: 1)When I started to take it for granted that I would just keep knitting all the way through the summer (obviously, but I hadn’t done it until this year) and 2) when I started deciding what I wanted to knit next without necessarily needing patterns for those things (still only simple projects like socks and hats) because I felt comfortable enough that I could make them work…
Although I hadn’t realized these things at the time — it’s only when I reflect on your question that it becomes clear.
Carolyn on December 5, 2008 at 10:47 am.
Hmm.. grown up knitting. Does it count if I’m still intimidated by sweaters? I’ve been knitting for over 35 years… Actually, my first “grown up” project was completed when I was around 10-12. I knitted up a complete doll and a whole wardrobe of clothes from a magazine pattern. You’re inspiring me with that sweater though, its just beautiful.
Renee on December 5, 2008 at 4:43 pm.
Do I have to grow up??
For me it was when I realized that I wasn’t afraid to frog a mistake or tackle a new knitting skill. I’m gonna call it smart knitting instead of grown up knitting, sounds like more fun.
Laurie on December 5, 2008 at 10:52 pm.
Well…i was never much of a knit one, purl one gal. i tackled fisherman knit & argyle pretty much right away. see…i have to make a project-and-a-half outta everything. what’s changed is that instead of worsted, aran & bulky…i mostly knit with lace & fingering now. i’m still scared of cobweb lace though. i think i’ll consider myself a grown-up knitter once i make my first pair of socks. for now, it’s scarves, stoles & shawls. maybe a sweater…if i can send it to my mom for finishing, LOL! ooohh…better yet, since she’s in michigan, i’ll bring it to her & come visit you, sarah!!!
Liesl on December 8, 2008 at 2:32 pm.
I think socks made me feel like at least a “teenage” knitter, but I don’t think I’ll be “grown up” until I tackle the dreaded color knitting – trying something fair isle or intarsia is on my list for 2009!
p.s. maybe I won’t be a “real” knitter until I do a gauge swatch for a pattern?!