Hey--I Can Still Knit!

When I was 10 or 11 years old,  I joined a 4-H knitting club in my neighborhood.  There were only three other girls in the group, and we met once a week at Mrs. Payson's house across the street for an hour or two to learn how to turn yarn into something useful.  I enjoyed it and mastered the basics of knitting quickly, and at the county fair that fall I was elated when I got blue ribbons for my knitted scarf, pincushion, and headband!

Fast forward to 2012.  I've done very little knitting since my 4-H days, but I have this Blythe doll hobby now, and I've been seeing a lot of cuuuuute knitted doll hats that I would love to make...so when I saw this pattern at XOXO Blythe for a simple, basic hat, I decided to give it a try.  I went to Joann's and ventured past the fabric (my ususal stop) into the yarn section, where I bought some double-pointed needles and varigated yarn.  I got down to work, and much to my surprise, I still know how to knit!  Here's an in-progress shot--look at that, I'm using five needles at once!

This is exciting--it came out looking just like a real hat!  The variations of color in the yarn make the stripes happen without any effort on the part of the knitter.

Hey--it fits my doll just like a real hat too!  I was so happy with how quickly it came together that I made a second one (I only mention that because some of you will notice that the stripe placement is different in the hat above and the hat below!)  I feel empowered and emboldened by my success!  Who knows what I will knit next?

 I think Grace likes it even more than I do!  (And yes, I did make her cute little skirt and matching t-shirt!) The hat pattern includes a pom-pom on top, but I like it better like this.

In case you find yourself  interested in learning to knit, let me tell you that I've recently noticed a website called Craftsy which offers online video classes for all kinds of creative things, including knitting.  I am considering taking their class for basic crochet, because I tried to teach myself to crochet from a book last year, with dismal results. Writing this has caused me to make a decision:  I WILL take their class, and I will report back to you here with my findings.  Stay tuned!