About Eric
Hi,
Thanks for stopping by. A bit about me.
I was born in 1960. I’ve always been the creative sort but also have a strong technology side. I work well with computers and build web sites as a sideline. That has taken the fore in my free time so I’m glad I found something as accessible as knitting for a creative outlet. Plus, knitting has a strong technical side, as you need to pay attention and plan and do things right, so it seems like a nicely balanced hobby.
In general, I’m computer self-trained and have been doing web design for about 12 years on the side. My main work is in technical support for the communications industry, but my ultimate calling is writing, counseling and lecturing on the topics of emotional healing and spiritual growth. I’m working on a book on that topic – probably several books eventually. I have another blog that focuses more on that work.
How did I get to knitting? A couple of years ago I stumbled upon the topic of kilts online and found it very interesting, particularly regarding the iconoclasm it involves. It takes balls to wear a kilt. Not that it really seems all that weird to me, and I’ve not encountered any adverse reactions from others.
Back in April of 2009 I finally got around to making a kilt. I had made an attempt earlier, aiming at conventional construction methods, but that was too complicated and not so much in my nature. So I painstakingly designed and built one by converting a pair of jeans and some tartan fabric into a terrific kilt. I stayed up late one Saturday night to finish it so I could wear it the next day at the Scottish Festival here in Las Vegas. I was done at 1:30 am. It was well received at the festival, and I went on to construct another one during the next month.
So that is how I came to knitting: I needed decent kilt hose. Kilt hose are not cheap, and the cool ones are expensive. Most of the affordable ones are rather boring. So I thought I would learn to knit them myself. It couldn’t be that hard. I had done crochet a little. So I bought too many socks knitting books and gravitated also to include other knitting, along the way discovering I have a strange passion for cable knitting. So my interest in knitting has expanded to include sweaters, and other “manly” stuff.
Another reason for my knitting fate is my need to train my mind to focus. Concentration is a primary and vital skill, and while I certainly have mental agility, I need more focus as well. So I was pleased to find the domain name knitforbrains.net was available as this really describes a good but if my budding journey into knitting.
I almost gave up on knitting a the start. I bought a kit “Teach Yourself to Knit” from Walmart that had 2 pairs of aluminum needles (I picked the one that didn’t have a pink or purple set in it. Got a red and blue set.) and proceeded to follow the instructions. At first I disliked the metal needles. They seemed too slippery. My stitches and even cast on were always too tight, and I had a hard time controlling the yarn during stitches. Apart from my lack of skill or proper instruction I later found my problem was the style I was trying to use.
GOD WANTED ME TO KNIT?
So, I almost gave up on knitting because of this. I put the kit back together in its clear plastic, snap together case with all the little parts and went back to Walmart. But God didn’t want me to return it. I put it on the counter and the red set of needles was missing. So I took this as a message and took it back home to try again. I found the needles in the bottom of a bag of yarn a week later, and a week after I had thrown out the receipt. Hmm.
Bamboo needles were a bit easier to work with, but the English and Continental styles of knitting were still very clumsy to me. Several times I wanted to throw the stuff across the room. I felt like I needed a third arm, or fingers with suckers on them, to manage everything. I even thought of running the yarn through some sort of armature to help manage it.
The Portuguese Arrive
Then I discovered the Portuguese style of knitting and it gave me just that by running the yarn around your neck or over a pin. It was quick to learn and easy to manage the yarn. What a relief. Since then I invented the knitting pendant and am enjoying knitting very much.
And now here I am with a stack of knitting books. I tend to be an innovator and keep coming up with new ideas, even before I know how to knit really well.
What will I make? I’m interested in cable knits and will aim for vests mostly with that. I have a complicated scarf pattern selected, and am aiming at socks, two at a time from the toe up, magic loop style. Another interest is kimono and other traditional Japanese clothing.
I hope you enjoy the blog and find a lot of satisfaction in knitting. Thanks for coming by.
Eric