Why I knit

Some people maintain the strange notion that knitting is "crafty" or "creative" or that it requires talent.  It's a skill.  Like cooking, cleaning, organizing, etc.  It's one of those things a person can learn, and then add skills to the repertoire over time.  Knitting asks only that you follow directions and look things up from time to time.

I suppose if I were a designer I might accept some approval for my creativity and imagination.  For the most part, I just dig up patterns I want to knit on ravelry, tinker with them if I need to, and go to work.  It's a grand hobby for me, because it's imminently useful, fun and slightly more right-brain-oriented than say scrubbing toilets or wiping noses.

I picked up knitting because I like wool soakers on my babies.  Wool soakers, though, don't come cheap, but worsted wool yarn does.  That was my whole motivation.  Once I figured out the basic stitches, I learned some shaping, and then I realized that I could knit Useful Things.  Sweaters.  Hats.  Mittens.  Socks.  Vests.  Little People Garments.  That's fun!

It's not necessarily less expensive than picking up the same garment at Walmart, but from time to time I can make something for less than I would pay in the store, and there's some satisfaction there.  Now that I've been knitting for a few years (3, I think), I can honestly say that I enjoy going shopping for yarn.  It's fun to imagine all the possibilities of projects (and finished objects) that any number of yarns in different fibers and weights will bring into being.  I love starting a project, with all of its marvelous possibilities spread out before my needles.  I love trying new things or testing out a slight adjustment.

To me, it's no different than cooking and the tinkering that goes on when I move from cookbook to stove.  I guess it's my kind of creativity, but I'm not artist--I'm a technician.