Bringing it back to basics
After cancer treatment, Kath Garner develops the strength, motivation and enthusiasm to pick up her knitting needles again...
It’s been a while since I have been able to take on a bigger project due to my illness, which I've spoken about before, but after a long break, I’m finally there! The enthusiasm, the motivation and the ability to think, focus and create is back and what an amazing feeling it is! I'm so relieved!
STARTING SIMPLE
Aware that I didn’t want to push myself too hard for my first project, but ready to take on something a little more challenging, I settled on a blanket for a work colleague’s first baby. I remember being given handknitted blankets when mine were born and loving them, but also appreciating the time and effort that had gone into them. Rather than pick a fancy pattern, I went back to basics, finding a simple evenly striped blanket in four colours, but my mind was whirring – a feeling I hadn’t experienced for quite some time.
A FEW ALTERATIONS
After some thought I decided to alter the size of the stripes, making some larger than others and adding thin ones to provide a pop of colour, and rather than follow the prescribed colours I opted to choose my own. After much deliberation, I settled on blues and grey for the main stripes, highlighted with red and bright green to provide that overall ‘pop’ I wanted for the finished item, quite a challenge for a basic knitter still suffering from the aftereffects of chemotherapy brain fog.
GROWING CONFIDENCE
Each night I settled myself to do a few rows and as the blanket grew so did my confidence. It was a wonderful feeling and when I messed up, which I did on a number
of occasions, instead of panicking and leaving it for someone to sort out for me, I did it myself! I loved the finished effect and was delighted that the recipient seemed to like what I had made also.
A NEW CHALLENGE
Having gained so much confidence and thankful that my hands were now working properly again, I have now turned to a slightly more complicated project – a shawl to be used in a living history project. It is still a simple pattern: knit, purl, increase and decrease but the finished effect is of a jagged edge which looks fabulous and clever! The project was a kit bought at the Leeds ‘Spring into Wool ‘show over the Easter break and comes with a beautiful ball of variegated green yarn. My head still can’t work out how the different colours emerge into a pattern but I think that is going to remain one of life’s little mysteries for me! It is growing quite quickly and is a pattern of 8 rows which means I can keep track of where I am without getting confused.
STARTING SIMPLE
What is more exciting, is that after a year of doing very little and wondering if I would ever be able to knit properly again, I now have a number of projects lined up for the future. It’s maybe a bit hot at the moment for knitting but I am eagerly stashing away projects for the colder darker evenings when I can curl up on the sofa with my ball of yarn, pattern and needles and knit to my heart’s content. I feel truly grateful! Do you have a story to tell? Are you a charity knitter extraordinaire? Then we want to hear about it. Contact us using the details over on page 24.