Ah… life with a newborn. It’ll make you re-think your life. Ha!
Well, yes and no. As a new, older mom (one they call “Advanced Maternal Age” or what I jokingly referred to as “geriatric mother” 😛 ) I have found that my sewing time has been reduced dramatically* and of course I want to sew All.The.Things now.
*Yes, sewing can be done in little bits of time yet I’m [still] struggling with the 10 minute session thinking.
Amidst all the diaper changes, bottle preparation and loads of laundry, somehow my thoughts are wandering to long-ago attempted crafts and smaller needlecraft projects so I can get in a little bit of crafting while still feeling accomplished.
(Could also be that I’m feeling older and with a child to pass on the love of all things crafty I need to get busy learning it all.)
Bring it on.
I played around with embroidery when I was about five. In junior high I was a plastic canvas addict. In elementary school I painted and made sequined ornaments in various styrofoam shapes from kits. In high school I pursued making clothes for my wardrobe. In college I took up counted cross-stitch. (Remind me to finish that one of Victorian houses some day.)
Through these creative paths I hazily remember being taught knitting and crochet. I didn’t keep up the education, though, as sewing (and then majoring in business in college) took my attention away.
I’ve longed to know how to crochet so I can create pretty collars on mid-19th century bodices, and Regency reticules, and trims for all sorts of things! This is still on my “someday” list of stuff to learn and do….
But very recently I’ve found myself pulled towards knitting.
Again, it’s not a new craft to me. But the appeal of being able to work a project while sitting on the sofa minding my daughter while making fun things to wear is strong.
I became intrigued when Casey over at Elegant Musings started doing podcasts on her knitting and sewing projects. The first one was inspiring but when she appeared in a purple sweater in the second one I just HAD to have one of my own. Hello?! Purple!! And to get one myself I need to know how to knit.
So in the last week or so I joined Ravelry (JenRosbrugh) and purchased my first knitting book: I Taught Myself Knitting.
I’m not usually one to buy the “starter kits” for crafts… but remember I have a newborn.
I need simple. And easy.
My daughter was calm enough that morning to join me in JoAnn Fabrics to look at knitting supplies. The starter kit and two skeins of some cool variegated blue yarn followed me home.
Then I had several friends give me recommendations such as Elizabeth Zimmerman’s books and also the learning site KnittingHelp.com.
On top of this I’ve been searching for “knitting bags” to hold those future projects. You know… a quirky bag I can sew to hold my knitting. 😛
Then I remembered I had one already! This craft bag was my mother’s in the 1950s. Made from corduroy strips she gave it to me long ago to hold my own few skeins of yarn and craft work. I still want to make a new one for myself, but it’ll do splendidly until then.
Today my Amazon order of Knitting Without Tears arrived. Yay – new book!! I’ll take that into my learning phase along with the starter kit book & dvd as well as other tutorials online.
Time to get going!
P.S. Not to exclude or forget my first love of sewing and historical fashion, I also ordered the drool-worthy catalog book from this year’s exhibition Gothic to Goth: Romantic Era Fashion & Its Legacy at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.
I’ll start my sample knitting swatches right after I drown in the deliciousness that is in this book… 😀
Oh I miss those days! Having a baby finally taught me how to work on projects in short bursts, or early in the morning hours when everyone is still sleeping! I finished one of my first historical costumes when my daughter was an infant, she sat in her bouncy chair right next to my sewing machine. I’d like to think the sound soothed her. lol As for knitting, my sister gave me a coupon for a Craftsy class a few years back and I took the beginning knitting and it was awesome! I made little gifts for all my friends and still pick it up when I travel or have to wait for my daughter during a class, etc. I wish you all the best with your baby!
Thanks! And yes, I am indeed learning how to work on projects in those short bursts. 🙂
Check out VeryPink.com she is wonderful and had tutorials on techniques and patterns some free, all others reasonable. Great teacher as well!
Thank you!
Your baby is so cute and darling!
🙂 Thank you.
Hi! I, too, taught myself to knit, shortly before getting pregnant with my baby (baby clothing knits in a breeze and is sólo lovely 😀 ) I even dabbed at crochet – scallops and granny squares for a cradle blanket. I recommend Attic 24 to follow as her tutorials are absolutely brill and her colours are a feast for the eyes. Oh, and enjoy baby months… The moment they start walking your time reeeeally shrinks 🙂
Thanks for your recommendations! 🙂
As an also “Advanced Maternal Age” first-time mom, I found that almost all my creative hobbies stopped for a while. Writing fiction, in particular, still isn’t doable, nearly three years on, and my costuming remains in a nose-dive. Babies are exhausting!
That said, when my older son (I’m expecting our second now, due in a week or so) was about eight months old, I decided I needed to make him a baby quilt. I hadn’t touched quilting since I was a teenager. But it pulled me back in hard and I haven’t looked back. I think it helps that it’s a hobby that can be worked on in very quick timebursts as the child allows. After all, how long does an individual 5″ seam take to sew? 🙂 Knitting seems like it would have similar advantages in the able to be picked up and put down as needed category.
(And my son now insists on sleeping under quilts I’ve made for him, which is very gratifying.)
Hooray for quick hand work! And congrats on your new son. May you have an easy and celebratory time in the coming few weeks. 🙂
Check out The Yarn Harlot for a fun knitting blog. All of Stephanie’s books are good, but I recommend “Knitting Rules” as a good book for beginning knitters. And watch out for Ravelry; it’s a time-suck of yarny awesomeness.
Thanks! I’m still trying to figure out Ravelry but have found good things so far. 🙂
I picked up crochet when my first was little. I had learned a few years earlier, but with the newborn, I thought I can make sweaters and hats and whatever. I found I liked it better than knitting, as the work and hook may get dropped repeatedly as a crawling or toddling baby gets into other things. When I came back to the work I could pick up where ever the work was without fear of dropping a stitch that unravels down through perhaps many previously worked rows. The crochet work only unravels one stitch at a time and back along the row just worked. I found that easier to rework confidently.
Yay! Welcome to the knitting side. When you get the hang of it, I highly recommend sock knitting. I find it highly satisfying, it’s great for grabbing a few quick rows between things, and it great for travel knitting. Plus, Ravelry have tons of awesome, free sock patterns, even for babies. 🙂 If you want another knitting friend on Ravelry, you can find me under Rosiegypsy.
Awesome! 🙂
I recommend YouTube! Hands free and you can really see how it goes. Stitch a Day and others have great tutorials. I was a failed knitter in college but went back to it last year and made 23+ gifts for family… I’m on a break though because that was exhausting and a race down to Christmas, but scarves and hats are totally doable by newbies. 🙂
Thanks for the encouragement! 😀
Awesome! And there’s always the Weldon’s Practical Needlwork books if you want late-Victorian patterns. I haven’t managed to acquire the whole set, yet…but I LOVE looking through them at all the ideas for all sorts of needlework!
Oh cool! Thanks for the book recommendation. 🙂
Also, it would help if I spelled “Needlework” correctly in the book title. 😀