Proximal Zone

I've been thinking of knitting baby hats in order to use up the yarn left over from various projects. I've been thinking about it for a while now. What had me thinking?

• I haven't really knit for at least 25 years. My Nana taught me when I was little, but I was never very good at the whole tension thing. So, I gave it up. After crocheting for so long I figured that I should try again. I now know that I can bury a world of errors in textured fabric, and anyway the baby won't care.
• Knit often uses less yarn so the smaller left overs would go further.
• Knit has more stretch than the crochet baby hats I've made. I think it is better suited for those delicate little heads.

I've been ruminating on it for a while. I figured I could manage to work a flat piece with ribbing followed by stockinette and then just sew it up. Seemed it would be simple enough to be doable.

Well, I've stopped thinking and started stitching. Why now? My professor indirectly challenging me to work within the Proximal Zone. i.e. the state of learning where you are just a bit uncomfortable, but with support/guidance your goal is attainable. I found the challenge an attractive one. The more I thought about it I realized that this pretty much describes the link between myself and knitting. So, I got going. What have I learned?

• Wooden knitting needles make a world of difference! They grab the acrylic just enough that I don't have to worry about them sliding out of the work.
• Surprise! I can actually tell the difference between knit and purl stitches. I guess hanging around with so many knitters has rubbed off. =-)
• Ditto when it comes to tinking. I have no idea if I put the stitches back on correctly or twisted them, but it looks decent. Woot!
• I now really appreciate just how much faster crochet is than knitting. I've always known this for fact, but now have the experience to back it up. For this reason I'll likely stick to These small hats and maybe an occassional dish cloth. Oh, and the stuffed bears my Nana used to make. I want to learn to make those.
• Width is hard to determine when your fabric is on the needle.
• Knitting has a nice rhythm to it.
• I can count to two over and over and over and over...
• Getting to the end of a row with the right stitch count is a rush.

"Foolproof Baby Hat" from The Knitter's Book of Yarn