Dana's Edit
We Just Get It
The other day someone asked me what I love most about knitting and my immediate response was “everything.”
When she asked me to be more specific, I told her I needed to sit and really think about it—and that my answer would most likely become a column for MDK. And here we are!
Another Lento in Hedgehog Fibers Alpaca DK (with a bonus Jellybean)
In 2011, I took knitting lessons after wanting to learn for a long time but not knowing anyone who knit. I didn’t know if it would stick. I was just hoping I could learn how to knit at least one hat.
Fourteen years later, knitting has been a source of joy, comfort, and even a little pain (hello, tendonitis). But throughout it all it still feels like such a privilege to get to knit every single day because everyone doesn’t knit—and everyone doesn’t get IT.
And by IT, I mean—the joy of finding the perfect skein for a project you’ve wanted to make for a long time. The giddiness of learning a new technique. The pride of finishing a project, especially one that tested your skills and knitting prowess.
A Lento in Pineapple Yarn Cotton Merino DK (without a Jellybean)
IT also means the beauty of knitting friendships, trips to Rhinebeck or your local yarn shop for knit nights, or Zoom knitting calls with friends near and far. It’s the peace and calm that comes over me after a long day when I just want to knit a few rows to clear my head. It’s the beauty in making something and then sharing it with someone I love.
Lately, I feel like I’ve been truly immersing myself in my knitting to get through some stressful times. I was going through my stash, which is overwhelming but filled with amazing yarn, and I asked myself “why am I hoarding all the good stuff if I’m never going to use it? Why buy the indie dyed or silk blends or colors that called to me if they’re just going to live in my yarn storage drawers?”
I’ve knit Sophie Scarves just so I could feel how soft the yarn was or to see the color pooling.
I’ve already knit myself two Lentos in yarn I considered special because if it’s that special, it should be used and worn.
I’m eyeing some more gorgeous skeins in my stash to make vests and hats as we get into cooler temperatures. I was letting my want of trying to find the perfect pattern for a specific yarn get in the way of actually using the yarn! And I have to admit…when I knit with the good stuff, it makes the knitting feel even better. Like I’ve leveled up in knitting and am maximizing my joy.
Tosta Tee in Tahki Yarn Tandem
Again, I understand that not everyone gets it. It’s always described as a grandma’s hobby or a selfish thing women do for themselves (knitting is never selfish, more like self care). So I’ll just keep telling people that I love to knit because of so many things—and maybe I’ll convince them to join me in this amazing craft.
Live, Laugh, Log Cabin
Ann and Kay have cooked up a Knit Stars class all about log cabin knitting, a way of knitting that can fill a lifetime of endless fun. Enrollment is open now, and the classes launch in November. Come see what the fuss is about!
I get it
I get it everyday!!!
I so love seeing your name in my inbox, Dana! Thank you for another inspiring post!
Where did you get the novelty knitting needles? They are quite neat.
Another great column!
You sound like such a lovely person. My favourite things to knit are socks and I love using beads. At the moment I am learning the double knit reversible knitting which is easier than I thought it would be. I learnt to knit as a child but most of the techniques I learnt from books. Fair isle intarsia etc.
I totally get it! Knitting has always been a comfort to me. My go-to after an extremely stressful day at the office.
One day I was in an awful car accident that crushed most of the left side of my body, including my hand, wrist and all of the fingers and thumb. Many surgeries later I still don’t have the full use of my left hand and my left wrist doesn’t work like it used to. My knitting is now simple but I can knit again. For now, that makes me happy and I’m hoping one day to get back to the detailed lace patterns that I love.
This was a beautiful article and as much as I love to knit, I also love to read about it! Thank you for your lovely writing.
Brave lady, Alicia! You must have overcome a LOT.
I have been very unwell this year with acute meningitis, double pneumonia and a u.t.i. combined with septicaemia – over 8 weeks in hospital before I was discharged in the spring.
I love knitting and am looking to take it up again as it’s so therapeutic
From Penny
Great article to start the day! We bought our house because of what I saw as great built in yarn storage. Now I have huge quantities of very yummy yarn and no idea what to do with it. Not enough for a sweater, too much for a hat…I’ll confess. It’s caused me some stress. I’d love a class on stash management and how to stash dive. (PS, woe is me. SAFF is later this month).
Sandi is right! Stash busting is the answer. Patterns that are labeled “scrappy”. Projects using different skeins, not just a “sweater quantity.” Stripes. Multiple colors of stripes. Colorwork. Color blocking. You get the idea. I’ve really gotten into stash busting and marling as a way to use up all the wonderful yarn I have that is not sweater quantity.
Knitting is easier for me. I took a chrochet class but it just doesn’t grab me.
Marie Green has a great class on stash busting and a book on it as well! It really helped me organize and clean out my yarn.
Thank you for putting in words how most of us feel about knitting. Always love your articles.
Yyyeeesssssss!!!!!!
Loved your column about how we feel about our knitting! But please, what is a Lento with or without a jelly bean?
LOL yes, Jellybean is my dog (she was in the background)
Lento is a sweater pattern. Jellybean is Dana’s dynamic doggo.
This truly made my day
I totally agree. Maryland Sheep and Wool was one such experience for great yarn. Yarn crawls revitalize the spirit and make new friends as well as “buy more yarn” It’s also the time spent that warrants the good stuff! And sitting in a LYS and spending an afternoon with other “artists” who understand makes a brighter day.
I get it, and so appreciate your joyful knitting!
Dana, you’re the best. Love your article. Everyday when I sit down and focus on all things knitting, like searching for patterns, yarns, reading knitting blogs, watching tutorials and of course knitting, I think about how lucky I am that knitting is in my life and brings such pleasure. I truly thank God for bringing knitting to my life. Thank you.
My stash keeps growing and the best yarn sits waiting for their turn to become something beautiful and useful. My excuse, I never find the right project to knit. But, the truth is that I am in love with the yarn and would hate to make something that does not give it credit for the value and beauty that it deserves.
Your article is spot on with me. Thank you.
I feel the same way!!!
“… immersing myself in my knitting to get through some stressful times.” Absolutely. I’ve been knitting baby sweaters, blankets, caps and booties for my young friends. Tiny bits of wonder, full of hope.
Yes.
Just knit amidst the madness…
Absolutely feel the same. I learned to knit while living in Sweden and learned to read patterns only in Swedish. I immediately fell in love with it. All of it. I have since after relocation to PNW been knitting, in English, for years and am so enamored with it. I totally get all expressed by the author.
The stashiest stash builder of them all is spinning. I still struggle against feeling that my handspun is too precious to use easily. However, if I get it made up into anything, I would have room in the bins to spin more!
Now that I am older ,I tend to go weekly into my stash to see my lovely expensive beautiful yarn to use before I leave to the above…..Thank you for writing this…it is so true and now I ask myself….why did I wait. so I went thru the beautiful yarn and Raverly to put together a plan and wrote it all down. thank you for writing the above…
I to have a stash but my love is crochet, and my blankets are loved by all,I can’t stop making them, well let’s say my friends won’t let me stop,not that I would want to.
Dana, your article came along just as I was beginning to start using ‘the good stuff” myself! And I’m starting to become a “polygamous” knitter. It actually is propelling me through my stash faster, rather than overwhelming me. (Knitting to a deadline overwhelms me. ) This multi-project way there is always something I am in the mood for. (Hat? sweater? cashmere? big box acrylic? Noro). Thanks, Dana!
I always enjoy reading your articles. I too, have some special yarn that I now am encouraged to knit. Thank you!
I learned the lesson of not saving the “good stuff” after our house burn down in 2020. When the fire happened I was working on a sweater with some beautiful yarn that felt wonderful to knit but burned with the house. After the fire my thought was why did I wait so long to knit that yarn – why didn’t I knit it sooner? Now I knit the “good stuff” first!
Yes, everything is what I also like about this craft.
But now my stash needs to know the yarn shown in Tosta Tee?
thanx in advance!
Thank you Dana, for this valuable advice. I struggle with “saving the good stuff” in every area of my life. I needed to hear this. More dog photos please!
Dana you nailed it. Thank you for putting into words my experiences of knitting
Yes! Don’t let those beautiful yarns end up like the brand new unopened nightgowns found in my grandmother’s drawer when it was too late for her to wear them!
Same thing happened with my great-grandmother. Several brand new dresses were found in her closet when she passed. She always wore her “housedresses” and was saving her good dresses but that meant she never was able to enjoy them. My mother told me this when I was young and I try to remember it. Enjoying your special things makes every day special. This column is a good reminder and I am going to pull out some of my stash and use it on my next project!
This is such great advice…I think we all need a reminder from time to time to use the good stuff and truly enjoy the process of making, along with the finished project. Thank you, Dana (and Jellybean)!
I have some lovely yarn that I have been moving with me for the last 10 years!
This will be the year that I use it. Thank you!
Well said!
Dana, thank you. You have said what I feel so very well.
I also get it! My mother taught me to knit when I was 6. And I haven’t stopped yet (I’m now 70)
She died when I was 12… knitting is still one of my most treasured skills. I wonder how much yarn I have gone through!
Thanks, Dana!! There’s no day like the present and the gift we can give ourselves is to use the yarn we love today as a present!!
I’ve never heard knitting described as selfish! Who says that?
Always love your column, Dana. Have a wonderful day!
If you have a cheap how to do it video that would be nice. I would like to learn(im real old and slow).
I beat ya ! 70 years of knitting and still going strong. I now knit everyday for Project Linus making blankets for the kids in our local Hospitals, keeps my arthritic hands moving and brings me joy. My lovely English mum taught me to knit when I was seven and I taught my daughter at the same age. She is now a Ravelrey sock designer.!
I love to knit and knit everday. I knit baby blankets for Project Linus. They make others feel good and I’m doing something for others. A win, win!
Selfish??!! Wtheck.
I cut my own hair, do my own nails, save thousands of dollars doing my own facials and needling, wash my own car, bake my own bread, grow as many vegetables as I can, wore older clothes so my kids could have new clothes for school etc.
Nobody better ever tell me I’m selfish. Nobody.
I’m currently in the stage of trying to use my stash but not thinking I have enough of one thing to make a sweater. My cure was to purchase A Knitting Life 3 by Marianne Isager after Kay’s column, and just start the Boro sweater. My colors may not be hers but due to all the blues I’ve accumulated over the years, I’ve probably got enough for 2 or even 3 Boro sweaters, not to mention all the other patterns in the book. Just find some pattern inspiration and cast on.
IFYKYK!
Thank you for expressing things I felt but couldn’t name! Yes.
Amen! Working with yarn brings such joy, from the calming repetition of stitch after stitch, to the colors and fibers, the pride in wearing a beautiful handmade garment, to the welcoming community of knitters and crocheters. Knitting is more than a hobby to me.
It’s such a pleasure to follow your knitting adventures, Dana. Thanks for your columns and colorful sweaters!
Love seeing a column from you, Dana! I’m now inspired to do the same….use those precious skeins. Thank you!
Indeed! What are we waiting for? And even for “practice”, the results are so much nicer and give you a true sense of how lovely the actual project will be. I also use the “fancy Irish crystal” everyday to remind myself of my mom, who loved it (though only used it on a rate occasion).
*rare
Some more Cowl patterns?
I read and enjoy your posts, I used to knit in my 20s and took it back in my 60s as a beginner. Thank god to the internet expert knitters I’m now and intermediate knitter, have knitted several jumpers on round needles and loving it.
Beautiful article Dana …. very inspiring. Thank you! Love your colourful yarn and knitting projects. Can anyone tell me what brand the bumpy needles are?
I would love to try some.
I was intrigued by her needles also. I did a little digging online and I think they are Addi square needles. They come in fixed circs as well as an interchangeable set. A new tool to covet!
I have been knitting since I was 12 years old.
My mom sent me to the Y for summer camp.
So glad she did.
I have knit with anything that I can. Even sewing thread.
Having just read the above I can relate to all of it. My Mum used to knit and she taught me. As for yarn, well I went to a yarn show and I didn’t know where to start. So much colour and softness.
We lost our much loved wee Papillon 4 yrs ago. My grief was raw my heart ached I felt so lost without him.
I had brought some merino wool so I picked up my knitting and began to knit n knit n knit. I ended up knitting a king size quilt blanket. Looking back, that was my therapy. We have another wee Papillon that we adore to bits.
.
You hit the comment of “the want of trying to find the perfect pattern getting in the way of knitting” on the head for me. I have a stash in that exact limbo. I hope to take your advice and experience those yarns.
Yes‼️❤️❤️
Knitting is very relaxing and wonderful. When you finish a project it’s a joy to wear it or give it as gift.
Dana, where did you get those beautiful needles? They look like they’re sterling silver! When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I start digging through my stash just to “play.” Love your column!
Can you point me to the Lento pattern, please?
I get it.
Thank you for all the new ideas.
But as a beginner I need a step by step images of patterns to learn in following and enjoying your wonderful knitting pattern ideas!
Many thanks a head of time.
Could you tell me what stock was used in the lime green pattern at the start of the article? I love it?
Your article spoke to my heart. I also have ‘nice yarn’ in totes. I think it’s time to use it. ❤️ Happy knitting!
Love this! So glad to have people like Dana who get it.
That is the ‘joy’ of Yarn Festivals – EVERYONE there ‘gets it’.
You can discuss the relative merits of ‘Throwing’ vs ‘Picking’ with complete strangers. Someone will mention ‘reinforcing heels’ and someone else will say they ‘reinforce tops of toes because big toenails’ or ‘under the balls of the feet’ and everyone, even non-sock knitters, understands.
You mention ‘sleeve island’ and the merits of K2AAT , or i-cord edging that goes on & on & on & on & . . . but looks so good once, Finally, done. And even the ‘come along to ensure The Knitter of The House doesn’t blow the Mortgage/Rent budget for the next 6months’ companion, actually Has A Clue!
It is SUCH a refreshing change from the more usual – “Oh yes, my Mum/Gran used to knit.” Or “I used to knit once.” (But grew out of it when I found ‘better’/’more grown up’ things to do, implied!) What is better than producing unique garments for yourself and loved ones?
& as for those who say, “I can get that for (half a peanut) at (name local Cheap & totally exploitative store)” I suppose there is hope for such. I’ll keep praying as I knit.
Cos I KNOW I can’t get good woollens, with sleeves long enough for me, anywhere. Unless I knit them myself. Or gloves with long enough fingers. Or . . .
& as for the Mental Health benefits. . . Hmmm, have you tried knitting from both ends of two balls at the same time . . ?
I so get it! And the pleasure of reading your writing. And following Jellybean and Kiwi on instagram. I love seeing your gorgeous knits.
Thank you, Dana, well-said! Knitting is never selfish, you are using math, fine-motor-skills to keep arthritis at bay, using your brain to figure out color and fit. And it’s spiritual, silently praying for the welfare of whomever will receive the baby blanket, the hat or scarf, the teen at the food bank (those food banks that accept clothing and pet food) who is too embarrassed to admit that she’d REALLY love that purple blanket you donated.
How does including Jellybean make the yarn look even better?
Thank you for such a thoughtful post Dana! I tell people I enjoy it when they ask why I knit Much beyond that and I offer to teach them….
I love this! You’ve really captured the essence of what I love about crocheting. And I just started taking knitting classes and am so excited to learn that skill and make my first project – and infinity scarf – with a group of ladies who also understand the magic of making something out of just a ball or two of yarn and a boom or a couple of needles. Yay!
I get it my knitting connects me to my mum she taught me when I was young.I aways have 2 or 3 things on the go at a time
Love to watch crochet tutorials
Great article Dana! Luckily, I am a knitter who prefers to find interesting patterns first, then the yarn to go into the project as opposed to buying yarn without anything in mind. Yes, I have passed up on beautiful skeins but I have very little stashed as I found that not having enough for this project or too much for that project was simply wasteful and took up space I didn’t really have for storage.
All my current projects are for grandchildren anyway :^)
Perhaps it is a grandma’s hobby but like sewing, cooking, and embroidery I’m oh so grateful that my Nana and my Mom passed these skills to me. And modern science is proving what they and generations have experienced. ❤️