Knitting: a Rediscovered Hobby

 A long, long time ago, my grandmother taught me the very most basic knitting steps. She taught me how to knit a stitch, how to cast on, and how to bind off. With those skills, I knitted several washcloths, a couple of scarfs, and maybe a winter headband or two. 

In the past couple of months, my part-time job has gone away (don't worry, it'll come back...it's a COVID shutdown thing....), so I have had a lot of extra downtime on my hands! With that downtime, I have rekindled a love for knitting!! The very last day I worked, I picked up a few "how-to" guidebooks from the library, stopped at the crafts store for some yarn, and attempted to knit a hat. 

.....

That hat failed. 

However, after a few attempts, I made a slightly crooked, uneven cap, which was a bit small for me but fits my little brother perfectly! 

The very first hat...a little crooked and a bit small on me, but still quite functional!

From then on, I went into a knitting frenzy!!! I became more familiar with the craft store's yarn aisles than I ever thought I would be, and then my husband's coworker donated a great deal of high-quality yarn that she had no use for, which was MUCH appreciated! 

Anyhoo, this post is to share my knitting projects (most of which were Christmas presents) with you and ask if any other fellow knitters out there have favorite patterns or ideas they would like to share! :) 

The second thing I knitted was this red hat, which was done in about 4 hours and was super easy! (Sorry about the bad photo quality...my phone is not the best for pictures!) 

After that, I attempted a pair of hand warmers and a couple more hats...

I really like this classic black beanie...

And THEN it was time to attempt something new...I had learned knitting in the round, mastered the knit and purl and knit/purl combination stitches, but then I attempted learning how to cable knit, on this scarf for my mother and hat for my mother-in-law: 

Those were both fun challenges! It turns out that cable knit, while it can be time consuming, is not quite as difficult as it looks! 

Last but not least, I shall leave you with the last hat I made, and a picture of my yarn basket under our Christmas tree. It was a cozy, peaceful hobby, and I am very glad that I picked up the needles and yarn again. Here's to a New Year filled with more knitting projects!! :) 

I think this was my favorite hat...I really liked the pattern.