The Knitting Frog

Recently I joined a knitting community "Ravelry". I was soooo excited.  They invite 800 to 1000 knitters/crocheters per day, so I waited, and checked back daily.  Everyday, sometimes twice a day just to see the number of invites slowly eek down until finally one day I got it.  Was it worth the wait?  Yes.  Even the wait was great.  It was like waiting for Christmas or a Birthday.  Now that I was in the "Loop" I went eagerly to the set up and the sign in, and typed and entered until my info was posted.  And I was asked how many years I had been knitting and crocheting.  Well I have been crocheting since I was in 5th grade.  At that time I was really begging for my Grandmother to teach me to knit but she kept putting it off.  After I promised her that I would sit still and pay attention (that was one of the prerequisites for learning anything with her) she pulled out a crochet hook and my hart dropped.  Well for me that was better than nothing.  She never did teach me to knit but years later.......

My husband I, and at the time our 3 children, moved to Ireland.  It was like I had moved home even though I had never lived there before.  I fell into the most wonder life that I could have ever imagined.  I would walk the streets of Cork and down to the markets that had the freshest fish that you could ever taste.  I developed a wonderful relationship with my fishmonger and soon he had me fixing great dishes that kept us in fine dining for the 5 years that we had the privilege of living there. 

 Every season would bring it own pleasures.  The spring would give life to a bleak country side with the tiny shoots of leaves.  Summer would reveal the emerald green that the land was so well known for, and the winter would bring the coal fires.  I would smell the fires and feel the mist of the weather.  I knew that people who were born here had all of these things and more burned into their memories.  I wanted something that I could take with me to have from this wonderful place and that is when it came to me.  Knitting.  I went to the local knitting store and said "I would like to learn to knit"  I had picked out a lovely cabled throw and needles.  The women looked at me and said there are only 2 stitches in knitting."  Just follow the instructions."  Well I thought that she was being.... well kind of non-informative, to say the least.  But off I went, and well she was right.  I never did finish the throw  I did however see a book by Debbie Bliss and my first work was a blue sweater for a new baby I was expecting.  Then I made a rabbit doll for my daughter and gave to her on her sixth birthday.   We named her Zoie.   Soon every time my husband would travel to England he would look up Debbie Bliss and go to her store and get more books (and get her to sign each one).  He would pick up all the correct yarn to match the patterns that I would select and bring them back to me.  We would also clean out Blarney Woolen Mills.  The fiber that I collected there was just fabulous. Since then I have had a lot of projects and fun with knitting.  When we moved back to the States I met a German women who knitted socks and held the yarn with her left hand.  She could knit faster that way and I learned to incorporate that style to improve my  speed and consistency.  The art of knitting  was the best thing I could have ever taken back from Ireland. Now every time I pick up wool I am transported back to a place that I will always have in my hart.  Knitting to me is transportation to a land that I will always love.