Here’s my photo of the latest arrival of Wollmeise Wool Mice in the shop. 🙂 Tricia from Earthly Hues sent us this amazing box of chocolates and when you open them up, there are two mice nestled into the layer on top. There must be a nut in there, but they’re too cute to eat. This company gets a lot of kudos for presentation. 
The whole wooden box of chocolates was tied up in a beautiful red ribbon with a gold wax seal on the front. That means that our postman wasn’t able to open it up, sneak some chocolate, and then deliver it to us later in the day. Not that he would do that. I’m sure not. (Now Brenda, the UPS gal just might. She loves chocolate and sometimes needs a handful of Loopy kisses to get her through the day…)
This gal is obviously not unwrapping Loopy kisses, or knitting, for that matter. Although maybe she will take it up now that she might be able to use her fingers again. (Holy cow.)
This month’s blog contest question is a two-parter. 1) Why do you knit? and 2) Do you think you’re a knitter-for-life or do you think that this is what you do “now” and you’ll move on to the next thing eventually? For me, I knit because I like having something to do that is relaxing. I knit because there are so many beautiful colors and fibers out there that I want to see done up. I knit because it’s something that Knitting Daughter and I can hang out and do together. I knit because I like hand-knit socks and scarves (and mitts and gloves and sweaters.) I knit because it can be very challenging, or very mindless, depending on what pattern I choose. And yes, I will be a knitter for life. I ran out of things that I wanted to cross-stitch long ago (and really, how many things like that do you need in your house?) and I caught up on my scrapbooks a few years ago (although I will still do that with current photos), but I can’t imagine running out of knitting inspirations, or the need for hand-knit items in my life. Plus, it will take me close to forever to use up half of the things in my stash. How about you? Why do you knit? And do you see yourself doing this for now, or forever? Leave your answer in the blog comments and we’ll draw the winners a week from today. (The prizes – Wollmeise. You’ll like it!)
Sheri wishingthatthefluorescentlightsinmyofficewouldstopbuzzinganddrivingmenuts
I began knitting for “real”in mid-eighties. I always had an “itch” but never knew anyone who knit, personally. I was working in a research lab in the mid-eighties and our still broke. (We needed distilled water for our experiments.) We had to suspend our experiments until we had an alternative water source or the still was repaired. It was easily 2 months where we’d go to work and literally do nothing. A colleague brought her knitting, and that was it….right down the rabbit hole. I knit for about 10 years, suspended it for beading, and began again when I fell in love with a beaded scarf. I started my knitting career by knitting a sweater, and didn’t knit ANY scarves until I started again around 2004. Now I love scarves and socks and hats and all kinds of things. I also understand now, that I love the process, the look of the stitches, the feel of the fiber, the click of the beads as I knit them into my pieces…..And it is way more fun now that I have access to great yarns like from the Loopy Ewe!
I knit because it calms the brain static. It keeps me from compulsively eating. It makes me happy to look at colors and feel texture. And I am a knitter for life.
I knit because I love yarn and I love making things with my hands. Knitting is a bonus hobby because you can do it while you do other things (like sit in meetings, or watch TV, or visit with friends). I have only been knitting for about 7 years, but I am definitely a knitter for life. I live in fear that something like carpal tunnel will slow me down!
I knit because I love the yarn, the colors, the process, the end product, the knitters in my life, the challenge, the yarn, the yarn, the yarn…. I will knit for the rest of my life because it would take more than a lifetime to knit up my stash. I did other crafts over the years, but knitting is the only one that is a passion.. Of course, spinning has become the second passion, but that’s yarn too.
I am absolutely a lifelong knitter, having started at age 10 and still going strong at age 51! I knit because I am selfish. I love the accolades, hugs, and smiles I receive when someone receives a knitted gift. I love the fact that my sons’ and hubbies knitted socks are the first ones in the wash before all others and the first ones back on their feet! Knitting keeps not only my hands occupied but also my mind, causing me to pause and *think* before opening mouth, something I’m not always prone to do! Knitting is therapy on so many levels!!
Oops, sorry that should be *hubby’s*–I only have ONE!!
1) Why do you knit?
Because it’s really a part of me. It relaxes me, makes me feel like I am being productive with my time and allows me to have MY thing in life. I have three little boys and a husband so everything around me is MALE and knitting makes me feel like a girl through and through!
2) Do you think you’re a knitter-for-life or do you think that this is what you do “now” and you’ll move on to the next thing eventually?
I am a knitter for life. I have tried just about every craft and knitting defines me. I am in the process of starting my own hand-dyed yarn company and this is it for me. Some nights I have a hard time sleeping because I lay in bed thinking of a pattern and how to work it properly. It’s consuming me!
I knit for therapy: it’s my stress reliever after work. I knit to fill my need to create something: scarves, hats, socks, mitts, blankets. I knit to comfort: the wife of my favorite songwriter lost a son 2 years ago, I knit the Angel Lace shawl (by Evelyn Clark) for her in memory of her son. I knit to keep friends and family members warm: lots of socks, some hats, a shawl. I knit to offer thanks: to my favorite songwriter for the happiness his songs bring me (and I have the pictures to prove it!). I knit for the sheer joy and sense of accomplishment of creating something out of nearly nothing. I knit to keep the tradition of hand-made needle arts given to me by my grandmothers moving forward. I knit because I can.
I knit because I finally found “my” craft! I’ve dabbled in different crafts over the years but never found one that I was really good at or that held my interest for very long. I’m proud to say that I’m a pretty good knitter and I love it! I will definitely be a knitter for life. My biggest regret – that I didn’t find knitting earlier in life. I would have loved to knit for my children when they were babies. My (far future) grandchildren, on the other hand, will be covered in knits from head to toe!
In response to, ” Why do you knit?” well.. I started knitting when I was around 5 years old. My aunt would take care of me after school and during school vacations. She was an amazing lady. Tetia taught me how to make slippers, pot holders, and scarfs. I think I knit because I feel a connection to my aunt and how she has given me such as wonderful gift. Knitted items when are such a treasure to the knitter and also the receiver. I also love the feeling of fiber and enjoy all of the delicious colors that are available to me. I have to stop myself at times from collecting patterns and yarn. I just keep purchasing it.
Do you think you’re a knitter-for-life or do you think that this is what you do “now” and you’ll move on to the next thing eventually?
I think I will be a knitter for life. I have way too much yarn and patterns that need to be attended to.
In stating that I will also be moving on to different methods of spinning. I have recently started drop spinning and have made a pair of thrummed mittens. Although these mittens are rather large and I would love to learn how to shrink them without ruining the fiber inside. I will be starting a spinning class in the month of March. I am sooo… excited. I have always wanted to learn how to spin on a wheel. Hopefully I will hone my spinning skills.
Well I could prattle on all day. I get passionate about this topic.
You mean there are people out there who don’t knit?!?!?!?! I have never known how to not knit. I learned that young. So let’s just say I have been knitting for well over 35 years. Yes, I have come and gone but there are always knitting projects on the needles even when quilting takes over. OR in the current case, spinning.
I knit because it keeps me from killing people. Doesn’t that count? If my hands are bust, my mind is able to do other things. If I am at a meeting and I am not knitting, people ask me if something is wrong. Knitting relaxes my mind so I can concentrate on other things. Spinning right now is more mediative for me in ways that knitting isn’t since I am focusing on the fiber. But I am often times thinking about how the new yarn will work best knitted up. So even while spinning I am often thinking about knitting.
I knit because it relaxes me and gives me a creative outlet. I know I’m a “lifer” because I enjoy it too much!!
Wow–insane comments, right? I can’t believe it!
I knit because it’s something I can do fairly inexpensively and it makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something. Whether it’s keeping my hands and mind busy, learning a new technique, or creating a gift for someone else (ok, or myself), I have a sense of doing something worthwhile with my time. I love the sense of purpose knitting gives me. My favorite thing about knitting is that I can do it anytime, anywhere. I can use time I’m waiting for my kids to get out of school, time at the doctor’s office, I can knit quietly during a baby’s nap or in the car while talking with my husband (who’s driving, of course). It’s the ultimate in multi-tasking and I love it. I started about 3 or 4 years ago, and I have to say I think I’m a knitter for life!
I’m a new knitter, well sort-of, I taught myself when I was about 8 but never had anyone to show me what was possible. Thanks to “Knitting for Dummies”, I started again about 2 mos ago and got confident in my skills. I knit now because I need something to keep my hands busy and let my brain rest a bit since I started my internship counseling. My brain and emotions are fried from long hours and there is nothing more inviting to me than something “pretty” and “soft” to touch and work with and actually have it become something useful. I’m also encouraged because my teenagers think it’s “cool”. I guess I’m a knitter for life, cuz I can’t imagine why I would want to stop. Just wish I’d had a knitter to show me what I could do when I was a kid.
I will knit forever because i love to share projects with those I love. I always try to enclose a note reminding that the item is like a wearable hug from me. I’ve sent knitted items to Special Olympics, daughter’s friends’ babies in Australia, and to all my family members. Whenever I have a project in hand, I find that my worries disappear. Going to Stitches Midwest last August really jump-started me to do challenging items in addition to the basics. I like to have a “challenge” project in process along with one of the easier projects. If all knitters are like me, we knit because “YES WE CAN!!!”
I knit because I love to watch the creation come to life and be loved by whomever it is meant for. I knit because I enjoy wearing hand knit socks. I knit because I love the challenge of learning new techniques. I knit because I love that I truly can take it anywhere.
I don’t remember the reason behind my taking that first beginning knitters class but I don’t care anymore. What I found in that class is so much more than anything I could have thought it would be…I am definitely a knitter for life!
I knit because I have control over at least this one thing in my life, usually chaotic because of the way I am, but with knitting, I can see what I’m doing, rejoice in the finished project, and for the money, its the least expensive form of long-term entertainment going!
After knitting off and on since the age of five (nearly six decades now!), a friend got me back into knitting by challenging me to learn to knit socks as an antidote to a major depression I was suffering from. As the first paragraph states, it game me control over one small part of my life when everything else seemed to be spinning out of control. And now, after 2-1/2 years of knitting those socks, now over 90 pair, I’m also knitting sweaters, hoodies, scarves and legwarmers and am back in control of my life again. I’ll still continue to do quilting and other sewing projects, but I think the knitting is here to stay.
I knit because I must. I will knit forever because I must.
I knit as a way of expressing myself. I knit because it allows me to be creative. I knit because I love the sense of possibilities, and the feeling of finding just the right combination of yarn, pattern and skills that results in a beautiful finished object that didn’t exist before. I knit because it allows me to challenge myself and try new things in a context where the consequences of failure are minimal to non-existent.
I started knitting 10 years ago, took a long hiatus after my son was born, and have returned to it with a passion I didn’t have the first time around. I think at this point I’m a knitter for life – I find myself contemplating the big, complex projects I’ll take on when my son is grown up and out of the house (he’s only 4 now!) and when I’m retired (which is also many years off), so I guess I’m in it for the long haul.
Why knit? Too remain sane! It is calming, centering and most of the time relaxing! And having finally come back to it, I am a knitter for life!
I have been knitting since I was a child. I did take a break for awhile when quilting but i soon needed to have some knitting or crocheting going to relax. I love the colors and feel of yarn. It just draws me in . I love to see the stitches evolve into something wearable. i find much satisfaction in making things to wear or give as gifts. I like to take it along in the car or when waiting somewhere. I am a knitter for life. There will always be something more challenging or a need to fill. I have ten grandchildrenk and four adult children to supply with knitted or crocheted items. What fun!!!!
I started knitting when I was pregnant 3 years ago now. Since I lived in Wyoming and it was FREEZING outside and I couldn’t participate in ANY winter sports I thought knitting sounded like a good way to pass the time. At the time, I had NO idea how obsessed I would become with craft. In so many ways knitting has helped me. My favorite part of starting a new project is getting all of the stuff together. Spending hours looking for the perfect yarn. Then spending more hours finding the best deal! I knit because I LOVE making things for people. In fact right now I am working on the first ever project in THREE years that is for ME. haha I am lucky to have friends and family that love handmade things.
I will knit until the day I die. In fact I look forward to my elder years of knitting when I retired and will be able to sit and knit for hours if I so please. No silly work to get in the way! If I could, I would be a career knitter.
I knit for fun, relaxation, accomplishment, creativity, warmth, brain challenging, dexterity maintenance, and productivity. I knit so I can have fine woolen hats, scarves, socks, sweaters, etc. without purchasing ready made things. I knit because I feel less guilty in front of a television if I’m also using the time to produce something. I knit because I love hand knit items. I knit because I live in a cold place and am EXTREMELY wimpy and often cold. I knit because it is not hi-tech, electronic, or wired, and I can do it without batteries, wi-fi, or computers, even when the electricity is off. I knit at my remote cabin in an “electronics free zone.”
I knit to relax, to create, to be… I love it!
Yes, I am definitely a knitter for life.
“stashmuffin”
Gosh I knit for so many reasons. I love making things. The process…watching beautiful yarn turn into something more beautiful. Gifting–I absolutely LOVE knitting items for people, especially for those “just because” or when I know a friend needs a pick-me-up. Knitting takes me to my happy/centered/calm place. When I’m particularly stressed, I pick up my needles and zone to a wonderful mind-clearing place. It is my creative outlet that I can do anywhere, anytime. I can be creative outside my craft room.
I am definately a knitter for life……Thank you my dear Grandma….I think of you whenever I pick up my needles!!
I knit because I love the creative process. (I’ve also started spinning for the same reason) I love creating something that no one else has. I’m definitely a knitter for life.
I started to knit because I thought it would be fun. I continue to knit because it is fun, it gives me something productive to do while watching television and keeps me learning new things. I love watching a ball of yarn turn into a garment. I love the feel of the yarns and the needles and I love collecting the beautiful yarns and fibers. I will continue to knit until the needles are pried out of my hands, hoping to have reached the bottom of my stash closet that same day.
I started to knot when I got really sick and needed to keep centered, while staying at home. I am an artist but could not do my art work due to beign sick and personal issues. I keep knitting becasue I love it, it calms me down, it lets me use my artistic abilities, love collecting yarns adn patterns. As I got better, fell in love with lace knitting and knitting my own handbags design. I consider myself a beginner but I keep pushing myself. e. I wish I coudl knit all the time and own a knitting shop, maybe one day.
I started knitting because I wanted something to do to get me away from the internet. Now I do it because it’s relaxing and I get to enjoy all the end results.
There are always new things I want to make, so it’s looking like I’ll be a knitter for life. When they stop making patterns I want to wear, then I may be in trouble, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. 🙂
I knit for inner peace. I knit in the evening when my 5 children are asleep and it gives me a sense of me. When the hectic day is over and it is quiet in the house, I love to sit down and do this thing that brings me such joy and sense of accomplishment.
I am a knitter for life, I started when my third child was small and haven’t stopped. I knit almost everyday, on the days I don’t I feel like something was off in my day! I like Sheri love handknit socks. I gift some to my sisters, mom, etc. But keep most for me as I fear others won’t “get” it and there is such love in each pair.
Why do I knit? I knit for a number of reason……..I love the feeling of being able to create something, a thing of beauty, a thing of comfort and warmth,from something as simple as a very long piece of string,(oh, I mean, yarn)
I knit to enjoy the relaxing and almost medative feeling I achieve from it.
I knit to enjoy the beautiful colors and fibers that are easily available these days.
I knit because I can, and so many other can not. I love the look on people faces when they realize that I have handmade something.
And lastly I knt because of the wonderful women in my life, who taught me how to. Even though they are gone now, there are memories and a deep conection I feel to my mother/grandmother, everytime I pick up their well used and lovenly handed down tools of the trade. And I know that it makes them both smile! 🙂
And yes I will knit for the rest of my life. Other crafts have come and gone along this journey of life, but there has always been knitting. Through the good and the bad!
I knit for lots of reasons. It’s a release, a way to relax. I was taught by my grandmother as a child and picked it up again as an adult. I’m mostly self taught and I like the challenge of trying to figure a pattern or stitch out. As a kid I always made my friends gifts and I get to do that again with knitting. I am definately a knitter for the rest of my life.
I knit to relax, to have something to do while I watch TV, and because I love the creative process but am too much of a perfectionist to paint or draw. I also love working with different materials and getting to know thier properties and seeing how little stiches can be manipulated to create works of art.
I’ve been knitting on and off since my aunt taught me 14 years ago when I was ten. Since I’ve taught myself the joy of wool over acrylic and how to knit continental it goes much faster and I enjoy it so much more. I am definatelly a knitter for life now.
2nd first: Knitter for life. I know this because i’ve loved doing handwork ever since i was a youngster (f’rinstance at 12 i was doing a giant Noah’s ark crewel). No-one else in my family did anything but clothes-sewing, and i was always giving my grandmother grief because she couldn’t recall How to knit from when she was forced to as a child and teach me! Finally taught myself from a book around first year college. In the past decade or so i’ve really accelerated my knitting projects over other loves (smocking, crossStitch embroidery, quilting, etc) because of the WONDERFUL yarns in the world now! (i’m surreptitiously attempting to corral All of them in my own house…hee hee).
First 2nd: I don’t really know Why i love knitting so much. It has to do with beautiful fibers and color, the satisfaction of making things, …i don’t know, it’s like breathing, can’t think how Not to!
I learned to knit for very functional reasons, in Wisconsin, our hands were cold 6 months of the year. I was raised in a family without a lot of money. Knitting was a way to provide warmth. I also knit because my mom knit. I loved her and adored her (still do)! I wanted to do what she did. When I had my own family I learned why she knit, besides that it provided the best product for the best price. I knit because it was something that lasted. The dishes, housework, laundry, cooking all could become undone hours after I finished them. Knitting was something I could finish and it remained an hour, a day and a month after it was completed. Knitting was the outward symbol of what I was doing with my life, creating, a family, forming character in our children and helping others. My knitting reminds me that all the little things I do are actually things that last, they just aren’t visible.
1. I knit to relax, to feel productive, to create, and to have fun. I really love that I can take a ball of string and two sticks and create a usable product. I love seeing the reaction on my friends and family’s faces when they get a handknit gift, because they actually appreciate them.
2. I’m a knitter for life. I’ve had a few other hobbies in my life, but nothing has stuck with me like knitting. I might cheat on knitting by doing some sewing or learning to spin, but I know that I’ll come back to knitting. It’s a constant in my life and helps me get through the hard times.
Great questions!
I learned to knit in self-defence because when I opened my studio, so many knitters begged for yarn to knit with. I was a weaver at the time. I ordered yarn and then had a wonderful mentor teach me to knit, and I love it! I like having something small enought to take where ever I go and I enjoy all the yarn too! I am probably a lifer as my knit stash is huge, but not near as huge as Lily Chinn’s stash. (Lily has at least a ton of yarn) I love to teach others to knit too! I am left handed so I learned to knit both continintal and “English”. A lot of what I knit finds it way to charity orgnizations thruogh the knit guild I belong to. But it has also been way cool baby gifts too.
At first I knit for a Brownie badge but I picked it up again because I find it so relaxing. My mother asked me to help make a baby set for one of my nephews and I agreed, not realising that it would become such an addiction! I worked on the hat and booties during my Christmas exams that year and never looked back. It was the least stressful exam season I’d ever had and knitting kept me sane all through my undergrad and grad school. Now I can’t imagine not having something on the needles for my subway rides/waiting rooms/tv nights/coffee shops/lunchbreak/whenever!
I knit because my mother taught me to when I was twelve years old. I have a knitted sweater she made my dad back in the sixties and it provokes such loving memories of her sitting at night with her needles clicking away.Gifting her large family with hand knitted items was important to her. When I knit I feel connected to her and I know she would be so pleased that I have warmed my dad’s feet with several pairs of socks and his hands with cashmere gloves. She would be proud I have taken care of him when she could not and equally proud that they are knitted items.I knit because I love to gift my family and friends with hand knitted items and I love it when they say”you knit that” I just smile and think of my mom.
Yes, I am a knitter for life!
I knit because it is a stress reliever for me. Picking it up again after originally learning from my grandmother, made me feel close to her again although she passed a number of years ago. She would be amazed now at the choices that are available for knitters from needles, to yarn, to gadgets. I also really like to see the expression on someone’s face when they discover a sweater, scarf, socks that I might have on I knit. I also really enjoy making handmade items for people as gifts. And now that I have learned to spin fiber…the sky is the limit!
I am definitely a knitter-for-life…what I move on to is a new pattern, yarn, what have you that tempts me to stop knitting what is currently on my needles but start something new. Every year I challenge myself to learn something new in knitting…new technique etc…so I am always expanding my horizons.
There once was a woman who knit
Loopy Ewe asked, “Why do you do it?”
Sometimes to relax and unwind
Other times to challenge my mind
And give loved ones a great hand made gift
I knit because it’s therapeutic. It’s an excellent exercise in relaxation while also being productive. I enjoy the process just as much as the end result. It also makes me happy!
I knit because I really get into creating something – you start with yarn and when you are done, there is an object – hopefully, something useful, pretty, pleasing, helpful. I am also a sucker for color – and the ways you can play with color in knitting is infinite! The people I have met and knit with are a bonus!
I expect to knit forever; maybe sometimes more, sometimes less, but always.
I knit because I enjoy the creative process. I taught myself since it was something I always wanted to learn.
I will be a knitter for life as I can’t imagine a point that I won’t enjoy it. Plus since I spin too you have to have a way to use up all that yarn!
I’ve always felt a desire to do some form of needlework, and knitting is my way of satisfying that desire. I like the planning of a project and watching it take shape as I work. As you mentioned, knitting is often – but not always! – relaxing. (I’ve ripped one days worth of knitting already this week – the not relaxing part.) But most of all, when I’ve completed a project, I like that I’ve made something unique that bears my individual stamp. It’s highly unlikely that anyone else has knit that item in the same yarn, same color and same size.
I’ve done sewing, heirloom embroidery, hand-smocking, quilting and knitting. Will I keep knitting? I think so!
I knit for many reasons: to relax, to make something beautiful and useful, to make wonderful gifts, beacuse I love all the yarn and color, most of all because I LOVE IT! I know I’ll be doing this for life. I also bead and quilt and cross-stitch. I try to add beads to all my crafting! Debbie
I knit because…..well……because I can. I can knit to relax, to keep my hands busy instead of snacking, to pass time, to make wonderful socks, scarves, fingerless gloves and wraps (I’m not a good garment knitter), to make gifts for others and myself. It’s part of me now….so much so that I scrapbook it! Knitting is something I’ll do for the rest of my life, whether constantly like crochet or in an on and off manner…like counted cross stitch. I can’t imagine NOT knitting. Kris
I knit as it relaxing, and I LOVE ALL the new fibers. I can not just sit in front of tv and and this way I accomplish sometime as the same time. I would say I’m a knitted for life, lately my other crafts have taken a backseat.
I knit because I love the feeling of peace it gives me. I can just relax and forget about the worries of the day. I love the textures and colors of yarn. I love looking at new patterns and wondering who to make them for. I used to make teddy bears, and I still do a few, but I find I get so tense sewing. I have been knitting for about 40 years now and can’t imagine not knitting. I’m even looking at getting a knit-purl tattoo. I joined my first sock club this year and am having fun with it, I started knitting socks just last year and am hooked.
I knit for relaxation and for all the great yarns. I have only been knitting for a little over a year but I know I will be a lifetime knitter.