Knitting

pil

Having last knit for a Girl Scout project in elementary school, I'm giving a simple project a go and my 55 year old eyes are killing me! I feel kind of like Polly Pepper from The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew - a book my grandmother had at her house. (A nice sentimental remembrance.) Polly, as I remember, badly strained her eyes doing mending. My late mother in law was a talented knitter/weaver/sewer and we still have some of her roving(?) that she spun and probably dyed as well. I thought it would be nice to make something from one of her projects. I'm working on a VERY simple cowl scarf and have decided I have two left thumbs. I've dropped and added stitches and torn out and reworked a LOT, but haven't given up yet. I will not be following in the footsteps of my argyle sock knitting mother

11 years ago

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7 replies

Latest reply was from Lantana

Sara L.

Veteran

You may want to practice with some cheap acrylic yarn that is easy to see. Sometimes fluffy or uneven yarns are harder to see the stitches in. I'm sure with some practice you'll soon be knitting like a pro.

11 years ago

Diana

Veteran

Keep at it! It gets a lot easier with practice.

When I first learned to knit, I spent about six months doing it wrong (twisting all my knit stitches) and making some weird looking things but I loved it anyway.

PS - feel free to ask here or pm me if you have any questions. Always happy to help a fellow knitter! =)

11 years ago

Amy

(website)

Veteran

It takes practice, pil. I made all of those same mistakes over and over again when I was starting out, but then the mistakes were fewer and farther between and I figured out how to fix my mistakes. Time and patience Also, if knitting is bothering your eyes, make sure you're working in good light. Dimly lit rooms can put a lot of strain on your eyes. Working with lighter color yarns helps too. Good luck!

11 years ago

Marmee

Veteran

Regarding the eye strain, I finally gave up and bought some cheap reading glasses…Now I can see my fingernails clearly when I file, can read books with a smaller (or let's face it, normal) font, and can see what I'm doing more clearly when I knit!

11 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Another suggestion here: you might like one of the full spectrum lamps such as Ott Lite. Normally I can see well enough with my drug store reading glasses and normal lighting in my house, but when I was knitting with black yarn I really had a hard time distinguishing the stitches, and the Ott lamp really helped.

11 years ago

pil

Veteran

Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions!
SaraL, I tried practicing on some old yarn but got too antsy and dove right in. The yarn I'm working with is very uneven. Patience is not always a strong suit of mine.
Diana, you may be sorry for offering to help me! Oh, and I'm not supposed to twist stitches?
Amy, the light in our great room is terrible, which is probably a big reason for the eye strain.
Marmee, I already wear bifocals, but while knitting do find myself looking underneath them. Doesn't make much sense, does it?
JAileen, funny you mention that lamp. Guess what was sold in the whole house auction when my mother in law moved to assisted living? Yup.

11 years ago

Lantana

Veteran

Well, the good thing about your mistakes is that they are the "fancy" stitches you learn to do when you're an advanced knitter.
True. All those gorgeous lacy things you see are created from dropped, twisted, backwards and inside out stitches.

11 years ago

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