Loving your stash storage. ONE large tote. ME? Oh....I have two 3-drawer plastic drawers, 2 extra large stacking single plastic drawers and three extra large plastic folding storage bins that have the front swing out doors. And STILL have some yarn that is just sitting out. I too am knitting my stash down but I really love the idea of just one tote. Ok...maybe three totes or one of the 3 storage drawers...but no more. I have GOT to get on your plan!!!! I don't crochet but taught myself to knit via youtube January 2021 and haven't stopped since. It's a HUGE passion. I stopped wearing makeup many years ago because when it came down to it...I didn't like the way it didn't work like I felt it should. And I got tired of women being constantly told we are not enough as is. No going back there...but am a huge Kbeauty skincare addict.
I met my partner because he was knitting on a field trip. Later on, he ended up teaching me how to knit, tossing me into the deep end to start by asking me to knit & purl a stockinette rectangle, then make a small bag in the round to learn decreases. I kinda let knitting fall on the wayside for a few years while we finished college, but once we had graduated, I picked it back up as a comfort hobby and have been trying to challenge myself more with each project I do.
37:22 I have always been someone who wants to stick with my values and I was very much into the zero waste, no plastic and minimum harm to environment/people/animals. So I get your perspective of wanting to stick up with your values, but as I had a health crisis and am now dealing with a chronic illness I had to rethink and realise that I am not the person able to do everything, and while that is frustrating and painful to realise I learned that doing something is better than doing nothing. Doing a lot is better than doing a little. And being aware is also doing more than not knowing. So advocate for what you want, tell the big chain stores that you are missing some fair trade yarns in their store. Tell the fancy yarn store that you would like a more budget friendly yarn for some bigger products. Tell them that you order online but you would love to support them and maybe they will consider it in the future 💛 And if you can’t do anything right now, be proud that you want to make a difference ❤ that counts too!
I need you to know my wife and I spend every Sunday morning watching your new video, drinking coffee, and working on our project. Thanks for making a space that feels comfy and chill. And neurodivergent-friendly lol
So cool to hear you talk about discovering knitting in a modern way through Kutovakika because I had the same experience - followed here initially for her creative photography content and totally inspired then by her knitting. Also her personality is so genuine and approachable I just want to be her friend! haha
I very much like these types of videos. I wish I could sit with you in person and talk. I find that I learn so much from crafters when I in person craft with them. I learned to crochet and knit from my mom's mother. She was a Latvian who immigrated. after World War II. She was such an expert at crochet. I was too stubborn to learn single crochet and it wasn't until I was in college that I finally taught myself. The first blanket I made, I gave to her when she was sick with ALS. She liked it so much that she said I was her true granddaughter. We didn't always get along and I believe that this statement was a cultural compliment.
Heylo and much love from germany! I also love this kinda videos especially since im introverted and wont ever go out into crochet/ yarn clubs or w/e …i mean the idea is great but..i prefer this from the comfort of my home so thanks alot for spending that time with me/us
I just wanted to say hi! New subscriber from Copenhagen, Denmark - the very home of Petiteknit! I don't remember whether or not it was in this video you asked about the knitting/maker community in other countries, but this is the one I'm watching when I came up with an answer, so this is where you will get it lol (hello, ADHD brain). In Denmark, pretty much every other grandmother either knits, crochets, sews or does lace or all of the above. And a lot of them then teach it to their kids and grandkids. In school we are only taught basic sewing. I'm in my late 20s and pretty much 50% of my friends has a maker hobby of some kind, and it has been on the rise for quite a few years in Denmark as well. We have feminist knitting cafes, queer creative meetups etc on the regular. Oh, and I don't even knit or crochet. I just really love listening to you speaking and rambling on about whatever. I sew, I make dresses, but I don't have the patience for yarn work (again, the kind of ADHD that I have stops me here). So when you asked about everyone's level of knitting, I'd just like to raise my hand as an entry level knitter. My origin story is that I have no grandmother to teach me anything, so I teach myself and get help from my friends. I decided to learn to sew dresses for myself, because there are pretty much no affordable and even slightly sustainable options for plussize people in Scandinavia. So now I make clothes from thrifted beedsheets! Love from Copenhagen and a new subscriber (and their black rescue cat who is uncannily like your cats and whom I love very much). Sorry for the long comment
Personally I do really love these videos where you just talk about whatever comes into your mind! I think my mom taught me how to knit/crochet when I was very small, but I rediscovered crochet at 11 after I found a pattern book for amigurumi in the bookshop. Taught myself with that book, then went online and discovered the world of crafting blogs! So many bookmarks I would check in on every so often. That's also how I found Ravelry, and I ended up relearning how to knit as well.
I love listening to rambly videos like this! For half I was cleaning my kitchen and the other half I was mending a shirt (I’ve gotten really into visible mending)
Hi! I normally don't comment on videos but, after listening to this, I feel like I have to! In the last video, I did indeed wish that you didn't cut all your different ramblings because I really enjoyed the bits I could hear. I think we have a very similar storytelling and communication style, so I very very much enjoyed this video! Thank you for keeping me company while I casted on a new project (I just started my 3rd sweater, the Eun Sweater by NovemberKnits, although I've never done short rows?? I hope they're not too difficult). Anyways, I was fascinated by your "Knitting origin story"!! I started crocheting to make a shrek bucket hat for a friend, started understanding fiber arts and crochet, decided that I wanted to make garments but didn't like the look of the crochet ones so I'm slowly teaching myself how to knit and I love it. I also love and recommend being part of a small IRL community! Here in Belgium there are plenty of people who do crafts and fiber arts and there are some initiatives and groups of strangers who meet and crochet/knit and it's so fun! I'm sure there are many knitters around you and, if there isn't a group already, you could probably make one :) and I definitely prefer this kind of video to no video, but take a bream if you need one!
Thanks for talking to me while I cast on and knit the toe of my sock. Your chatty videos perfectly capture that feeling of sitting with a friend and being a good listener while they catch you up on everything that's been going on in their life/head.
My knitting origin story, My paternal grandmother had a heart attack when I was 4 and she came to live with us. She looked after me alot and taught me to knit. I would run down stairs when ever I needed her to pickup a stitch that I dropped etc etc. I set up knitting groups in primary and high school and basically just knit blanket squares! In 2020, big lockdown in NZ. Moved back in with my parents, got bored, found my needles, bought some yarn online and the rest is history! I now teach knitting and run in-person knit-alongs in Auckland 🎉. I'm a software engineer by day and knitting keeps me sane 😂
I picked up crochet when I was around 15 because I found one of my grandma's project bags tucked away in an upstairs closet. She passed when I was 5, and there were unfinished bright red granny squares inside. I don't know what she was making, sadly, or else I would have attempted to finish it. Instead, it sparked me wanting to try it myself, so I used her tools and used youtube to learn. Now I've been crocheting for nearly 14 years and knitting for 3. I'd like to think if she were still around, we would have crafted together 😊
This is an old video so maybe you won’t see this anymore, but I enjoyed it. I have a very labor intense but brain dead kind of job and it was nice to be distracted from it. My origin story is so weird: when I lived in Japan, I taught myself how to crochet with video tutorials because my typical hobbies weren’t possible in my new place. But for whatever reason I decided I was done with it after 2 projects. But then about 10 years later, I was reading the novel It’s Boba Time for Pearl Li and it made me curious about crochet again so I tried it and loved it! Looking forward to my first crochet garment in 2025 because you’ve made garments seem approachable. As for yarn ethics, my two cents is don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Make the best choices when possible but don’t sweat it when it’s not possible (or desirable). It’s impossible to be a 100% perfect ethical consumer so don’t waste time trying to be perfect. Settle for better.
Hey pal, I really like this video format. It'd like hanging and knitting with a friend without the pressure of having to be social. 😂 In January I said I was going to knit my first sweater, and since then I've knit two, and am about to start the second sleeve on a third! My first was "its not a sweatshirt" by knitting for olive and I love it. My second and third sweaters are a Felix Pullover and a Felix Cardigan (Tayler Earl made me do it!). I think the Michael's yarn you are talking about is the Luxe Merino? That is what I made my It's Not A Sweatshirt sweater out of. I didn't learn about the environmental impact of superwash until after I bought it... But I think if you keep it limited to once in a while instead of every project, you're good. It's really important that you're even thinking about it. ♥️ All that said, the Loops and Threads Luxe Merino is very slippery and I find it very difficult to knot/keep knotted. So especially for a Granny blanket start with one ball and see how it works up for you. Once I finish this Felix cardigan, I'm going to start Gib by Andrea Mowry. The pattern is a bit of a leap in difficulty for me, but I did my gauge swatch and am feeling hopeful. I kinda like scratchy wooly yarn, which is lucky for me because it's more economical. There is an inexpensive yarn brand called Briggs and Little. It's made by the oldest yarn mill in Canada. It's in New Brunswick, and I'm in Nova Scotia so it's very close. Keep being you, keep doing what you're doing, and give yourself some credit for caring about human rights and the environment. Every bit adds up. ♥
My grandma taught me how to do the chains when I was 2 years old. When I was in my 20s I turned to TH-cam and learned to crochet for real. Now I can make so many things and I always work on something when I watch your videos.
I learned to knit when I was 6 or 7 with my mother. I picked it up again at 14 in home ec, then again at 22 to make socks. Then I started to crochet in January 2024 after watching a complicatedknots videos and finally UNDERSTANDING crochet. I haven't put it down since. I have a temperature blanket in progress and I made 3 self-drafted cardigans as well as a few Erina Lee's amigurumis. I've picked up (again) knitting 2 days ago after watching your video about everything you've ever knitted and I was INSPIRED!! Thanks to you, I am now knitting my first sweater ever! I've started the Flax tincanknits sweater. Keep up the good work! I love your style and energy! Disclaimer: I'm a language arts teacher in my first language and I MUST tell you that English is not my first language and to please excuse any grammatical/orthographical/syntax mistake.
Your English is flawless. Your story is heartwarming and I am so thankful you shared it with me! I am so excited about your first sweater and I hope you’ll drop another comment to let me know how it turns out. Good luck ☺️
I loved this video!! Please continue to share your life and your thoughts. You are very mature with your finances. My husband and I married at 19 and 20. We had all 3 of our children by the time I was 28. Many frugal years, but we never regretted anything. We have been married 52 years and are retired. Life is good!!!
Your two cats remind me so much of my own! I have black two cats, rescued from a friend's sheep farm as kittens. Diesel is the smaller all over the place agile and talkative cat and Dodge is the bigger cuddler, slower and not as active. As you mentioned, I also became very overwhelmed by my hobbies and work. Last Friday, I had a compressed work day and I did all my cleaning and chores and shopping so I could spend Saturday and Sunday just relaxing... reading, knitting and enjoying my hobbies while watching TH-cam. I had copious amounts of tea and cuddled my dog and cats and decided it was going to be guilt free. I am now trying to focus on one or two WIPs a month and a new cast on from Stash. I am in a no-buy until September 2024. I have so many sweaters planned with what is already in my stash! I have tried to plan my knitting or de-stash and I have realized that I don't want to plan... My hobbies are my down time, relax time... I need to stop stressing about how to de-stash and what to knit. I felt I was spending more time planning than knitting and then stressing out about the planning or the amount I had not knit or knit! There is plenty of planning and stress at the office. I don't need it in my hobby life. Enough... I spent a wonderful weekend just being. I started knitting when I was around 19... I got my first big city job and moved from the country to the city to be able to walk to work as I did not have a car. I was petrified of city life. I did not like it . The main floor of my office building was a mall and there was a knitting shop. I went in there and just walked around. I had been wanting to learn to knit. The owner set me up with a learn to knit book (1989!! no internet), needles, wool and invited me to come and seek her help anytime. I knit a Vogue Knitting dress! It turned out horrible! haha... It looked like a maternity dress because the back had a tighter gauge and it got looser as I got more comfortable with knitting. Therefore the front was loose!! I need to get to work. It was wonderful spending my Monday morning with you! 🐈⬛
My Grandmother used to knit very much, in the end she had barely vision, but continued knitting sweaters in all sizes. Sadly I didn't learn knitting from her, because she passed away before I got interested in it. But I inherited some of her needles and crochet hooks. Which motivated me to learn how to use them. I'm more into crochet, which I really got started in over a year ago. But I tried to learn it since middle/high school (I've been at a Sommer camp every year for 10 years and almost every year I entered the crochet workshop and learned it kind of, but forgot almost immediately 😂). I want to learn knitting this year. We have a very cute yarn store in our town, and they don't only sell wool but also have courses for everyone and hours, where they help you if you have a problem with your knitting project.
This sort of conversational tone is exactly my style - I have ADHD and also most of my friends have historically also been air signs so conversations go EVERYWHERE. It feels comfy and familiar and I loved the snippets you put at the end of the last video! (:
One of my favourite yarns for blankets is DROPS Karisma. It’s 100% superwash wool but it’s good, it doesn’t feel like plastic. And it’s DK weight. It’s what I call “my acrylic.” My skin does not tolerate synthetic fibres.
I really like your storytelling and this kind of videos, thank you! As far as my knitting history goes I come from a post-communist country, where all kind of clothing available in stores was sort of drab and poor quality anyway. So for my grandmothers, even my mum and aunts if you wanted something special fashion wise you'd have to make it or ask someone who could make it. (And everyone DID know someone, in my family there was an aunt and a family friend). I was taught to knit and crochet in school (we had arts and crafts class so it was covered as part of it). I liked it because while I started off really crappy this was the one thing that allowed me to see the moment it clicked. I had a super messy square of nothing that suddenly turned into neat stitches. I could see the turning point in my work. It was such a great feeling. But then I abandoned it for a long while, until I had a sudden impulse longing for an Aran sweater, so I bought a random magazine with exactly the right kind of sweater on the cover. I went to a yarn store, magazine in hand, picked a skein that I liked, boldly approached the lady behind the counter and asked how much of this particular yarn would be OK for a sweater my size. This was my piece of beginner's luck, because I picked exactly right weight yarn, a fairly decent wool-acrylic blend, smooth and easy to work with, a perfect beginner yarn and a sweater that had oversize built into it so no matter how far I strayed it would still have character. The lady in the store did the calculations for me and wished me luck. My crafty aunt was at the ready whenever I needed it. I didn't care about such fancy stuff as gauge, I just wanted to start so I did. This turned out so good that it was stolen later somewhere in Germany. I decided to take it as a compliment. And then it somehow stayed with me through thick and thin, my kind of creative effort.
Your videos are so relaxing to me. I am really enjoying working my way through them. I just bought a set of interchangeable needles to start my first crochet wearable. Your videos are what gave me the push to try out knitting. Until now I have been sticking to crochet
You're fun to "hang out with" while working on my crochet beanie. I learned to crochet and knit from my grandma around 6-7 years old, and also had some classes in 2nd grade part of the "crafts" class in primary school. For some reason knitting always seemed too complicated, needing to remember what stitches you did last row to be able to create designs, while i love crochet for the diversity of "looks" you can create just by picking the stitch in another spot. I only played with yarn while hanging out with granma, only made a few small items (like a crochet bikini top i made at 14 that came out great but I've never worn), until two years ago when (at age 36) i picked it up again to make my hubby a hat as a Christmas present. It wasn't planned, i just saw a yarn i loved in store and had to try. Since then I've been slowly creating new things, this year i did sweaters and hats and cardigans doll size for my moms BJD- ball jointed doll, (it's a cool way to get the gratification of finishing projects in somewhat short timeframes, around 20h) and a set of hat and boots for my friends baby. It's so satisfying to look at a finished object and know you made that from just thread. Sending a virtual hug from Romania, until we "meet" again.
i havent had time to finish watching but wanted to comment - thank you for uploading! i'm glad you're still enjoying this channel enough to just wanna hang out with us for a bit on a weekend. i wanted to say like as soon as i started the video that i looooove those quilted pieces behind you, the wall looks so stunning now. beige CAN be sad, but browns and beiges can be so relaxing too and i think you manage the balance beautifully. also in terms of being mindful of your consumption and your interest in no/low buys etc, if you're in the market for more stuff to watch on youtube, i would recommend Leena Norms. she's doing a 'ready to wear clothing no buy' thing, so is making (sewing or knitting) all of her clothes - and even though i dont have the time to be able to do that myself, its fun seeing what shes making and where shes getting her inspiration. anyway i hope you have a lovely evening. take care!
Hey girl just so you know when you’re talking about the 3 TH-camrs who inspired you, YOU are that for me! I absolutely love your videos. You are beautiful inside and out, truly!❤
Thanks for keeping me company while knitting. 😊 I like knit & chat videos. I was a crocheter first and started knitting 6 years ago because I loved wearing knitted socks so much and wanted to make my own. Have a lovely week. ~ Kat
I LOVE THIS VIDEO!!! lol I need this right now, and yes I do talk back to you in my head and sometimes out loud. But truly thank your channel is my safe space.
my husband and i do a individual allowance too! it has helped us feel less guilty about spending money on our interests if we each have a set amount to do whatever we want with instead of taking it from the lump sum. if I want a sweater quantity of hand dyed yarn i just save for two months and then its a nice reward with no guilt. 🥰 and I shaved my head and stopped wearing makeup around the same time too! i've grown my hair out now but still don't wear makeup and feel very similarly to your experience 💗 it's great to see myself represented in the media i'm consuming!!
As someone who also really struggles with reconciling their values with their crafting, I really appreciated what you had to say about the tempting Loops and Threads yarn! I also try to source as much of my yarn as possible from local sources and I am trying to the best of my ability to avoid acrylics due to the micro plastic issue… That being said! I can’t afford to fulfill my values all the time either. And I really really like making things for little kids who usually don’t hand wash 😂. So I have ended up with an acrylic stash for when the need comes. As far as your blanket, while I wouldn’t usually buy a ton of superwash, it is a great use case. I would imagine a cheaper wool that is comparably in your price range wouldn’t make for a particularly cozy blanket… I’ve tried haha! Thank you for being so conscious in your crafting. It feels good to know that there are others out here who feel the same! ❤
I don't know if you know them already but Smart Glamour in NY is worth looking at. I don't know if they do swimsuits but you might need other types of clothing down the line too ;)
So glad I found your channel! Your videos have been awesome background noise while I work on a sweater this week. I had a similar knitting "journey" as you: I learned to knit and purl in a school club in high school and only made flat rectangles for almost a decade. Then in 2011, I discovered all the free patterns and TH-cam tutorials and bought my first set of circular needles (and learned about different fiber types). But unlike you, after I learned to crochet from TH-cam the next year, I became way more of a crocheter than a knitter (these days I probably knit one project for every 10 I crochet)
Perfectly timed video for me as I was just yesterday feeling a knitting slump coming on. Gave me a boost to just sit down and relax with my project😄🧶 Love these kinds of chit chat type videos, and you're very pleasant to listen to, haha! For my origin story: I always wanted to learn how to knit but didn't actually try it out until maybe 5 years ago. I have this problem which I know a lot of other people relate to, where if I'm not good at something on my first try then I'm immediately over it. I don't know why but I've just never had that problem with knitting. Sat down with a couple youtube videos, spent some time undoing and redoing the same swatch 'til I had it down, then taught my mom how to do it too (through many grumblings of "I'm too old for this!"), and have been slowly but surely cementing it as my main hobby ever since😁 Though I have yet to graduate to sweaters because they terrify me for no reason lol.
It was nice to sit and knit and listen to you ramble. 😊 My mom tried to teach me to knit and crochet when I was in grade school, and for whatever reason, it wasn't my thing. I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and it was all acrylic and unattractive designs, and that's what I thought of when I thought of yarn arts. When I was in my 30s, my mom started knitting again and teaching a couple people how to knit, and the yarn was incredible and the patterns were cute, and I had her teach me again. I taught myself how to crochet a few months later. I designed patterns for several years until I had a mental health crisis and quit. It's been a few years, but I've picked up the hooks and needles again. I prefer knitting, but I do go on a crochet tangent now and then.
You will be a person who finishes a room (after lots of time and effort) and doesn’t like it. We’re all that person. Retrying is part of the creative process! Tweaking and editing and taking the time to sit with the half finished version is the best way to love the final version. You’ll love it when it’s done. It’s just never done when we think it is 😂 There’s only so much that theory and forethought can do. The best parts will evolve outside of your original intention; it takes time to find out what will evolve ❤
My grandma taught me the knit stitch when I was 10. I only knitted for about 6 months and made a lot of bookmarks. I picked up crochet in 2022, and re-taught myself knitting last year and still remembered some of it from my grandma :) I prefer the look of knit for garments, but will use crochet for house items
I never comment on videos but I recently found your channel and I LOVE your content. I learned how to crochet when I was 7 from a friends german grandmother, she was so sweet. I've been crocheting for about 11 years now. I started trying to learn how to knit 2 years ago and I've tried again but I haven't found a spark for knitting yet. If anyone has any tips, I would appreciate anything I can get.
This was great to listen to as I start this sweater. ❤ Regarding your blanket situation - as an alternative if you don’t want the loops and thread yarn, you might want to look into other knitters destashing their yarns. I can totally imagine a few people on knitting FB groups with sweater-worthy quantities of wool selling those off. Add a few of those up and you’d have enough. (Dye lot be damned - granny squares are forgiving there) It might be a bit of a scavenger hunt to find yarns you know and trust to be soft enough, but if the blanket is going to be a forever feature of your home, it might be worth the journey!
I both knit and crochet, but no one in my life.Does except one friend who does not live close enough to do this with on a regular basis?So I've been doing listening to you while I.Crochet or knit. You mentioned wanting to make a granny square afghan so let me recommend a couple videos for you to watch before you start. The first one is A no sew Granny square, where you learn How to weave in your ends as you go. Then there are 2 types of videos for joining your squares.As you go one is simply joined as you go.The other is continuous join.As you go either one will make your blanket much easier to put together. I used to hate making Granny squares, but after learning these two techniques they are now one of my favorite things to do.
I absolutely love your videos, I find myself connected to them in some ways with my current living situation; about to move far from home after I graduate (for my reason its to be with my LDR boyfriend of 4 years) and as I've been looking for places I've also been thinking about how I want to style it and your style is so beautiful. also your content is so comforting! I started crocheting in summer of 2023 to help myself focus and stop dwelling on the mental strains of school and social media consumption, but I also come from a family of knitters so I picked up on it too from my mom over the winter and have been knitting non-stop! I want to eventually learn their version of knitting, not sure how common it is in Mexico (where my family is from) but they knit clockwise (eastern style I think?) but their knit stitches are interesting! never seen anyone do it like my grandma and mom
I first learnt to knit from my grandma when I was a kid - which personally feels like such a common story among people I know who do fibrecraft, and I love it - but I was never very good. Instead I was always a sewing person, and still am, but over the past few years I've been trying crochet instead and found it much easier to grasp. I do want to try knitting though becuase my friend who knits creates such beautiful stuff and she really inspires me!
I agree with everyone else, this was a perfect chill background video for working on a project, excuse being parasocial but it kinda felt like knitting with a friend!
I'm only now watching this, because I didn't have the right project and general surroundings to really do before.. I'm currently working on a dragonfly patterned shawl (tutorial from YT), which I have to make two of. One in a gorgeous red to bright orange almost yellow colour, which I make for myself and to try the pattern before making the second one in a beautiful dark to light blue gradient for a good friend of mine. My crochet/knitting/sowing history is quite simple: I learned most of it in my first four years of school. One of my first crochet items that still exist somewhere in my home, is a cactus with a blue and a purple crochet flower, mounted on an empty tin, which was wrapped in a mesh that had all the different types stitches that we learned sown into it. Knitting I'm not quite sure when I learned, I just remember always finding the needles difficult to navigate and my yarn slipping off, so I never got into that. The basics of working with a sowing machine I was taught somewhere around when I was 12-13 years old. I even got a sowing machine as a christmas gift at some point, but it sadly broke rather soon.. In the meantime I've forgotten enough to not completely trust myself with a sowing machine. A bit later (age 13-14) we were back to crochet in school and had the choice between learning how to make a beanie or a basket. Most, including me, chose the basket. I managed to make two or three in the time the others finished one, and it stuck with me. So for the next few years I'd make baskets on occasion as a way of wrapping presents. Only last October did I start to expand my crochet field, since I had a nephew on the way. And so far, I think I expanded quite well. Making things with and without patterns.
I love these types of videos! I don't have many local fiber friends either, so this felt like hanging out with a bud and working on projects together. Love your videos so much!
I really enjoy these sorts of videos! I was sitting down to finish a project this morning and was so happy to see this video that I could just listen to while I kept plugging away at the border!
Yes! I love it. I love these simple "tricks" that just reduce unnecessary conflict. For us, it is: fun money, big blankets, two bathrooms, and two cats lol. Anything you do that you think helps things go a little bit more smoothly?
I really enjoy your podcast episodes because you seem to be so "opinionated" and your thoughts lean heavily on the philosophical view of life. I find that really refreshing :) When I was a teen, I was sad and angry about being disregarded in my opinions and the truths that I saw. Today, I might understand why it was that way and I am very glad that I do not feel the need to constantly be fighting for my right to he heard anymore. I still don't feel heard much and today, I believe that there might be a bigger aspect to it than age. Everybody wants to be seen, wants to be heard, wants to be regarded as valueable in what they bring to the table. And everybody feels that they have to little visibility in that sense. That much said, I find it really interesting how people age, how they develope. What a common theme of growth throughout the parts of people's life seems to be. Looking back on my own life, I really want to take care to offer anybody older, younger or the same age as me a sense of visibility. And yet ... having fought so many fights, having thought so many thoughts, having experienced so many things, I sometimes feel tired about all of it. For example when I was pregnant with my first child at 19 years old I was flashed about so many experiences and thought that no one talks about these things, especially hard things. I was really vocal about it. Back then we had online communities and blogs. Now, there is Instagram and Facebook groups and TH-cam videos, and all those young mothers say exactly the same thing ("why does no one talk about these things? Nobody told me!"). Well, I sure have talked about it and I am sure all the women before me have, too. But when they did, the whole thing did not apply to the then 10 year olds, so they believe they really experience something fresh, they bring up something absolutely hidden to talk about. They do not, the knowledge has been out there and the bitterness of not being seen and heard creeps up to me. So I think it might all boil down to being seen and heard, no matter the age. Growing older, I think it really helps me to stay open to really hearing and seeing and acknowledging peoples' experiences when I keep the mindset of "everybody has right to their own story to unfold how it may". In that sense, I try to let go of the repetition of life experiences aspect of it all and really try to cultivate awe and respect for the personal path of everybody, be they young or old. I try to listen, try to really see their experiences, listen to their words as something that they for themselves really experience only once. When thinking about younger people, I really admire their drive, their energy, ther boldness, their 100% approach to life. When I was young, I absolutely knew what was going on. Since then, I really started to question everything and anything, so being absolutely sure about something, making decisions etc. gets harder. It makes me stall, wait, see and watch more than I used to. Which can be good and bad. About older people, I admire their sense of calm, they acceptance of what is. That many of them let go of black and white thinking. That they are not so concerned about what people thing of them. That they can offer at least the tale of how it was for them.
i saw the living roomtour before you took it down and I made the twine scratching pads you had for the cats for my bunnies and they LOVE it. they sit there and dig at it like there's gold underneath. so thank you for saving my shag carpet with that idea, and also for being my background entertainment while I craft. sending all my good vibes to you :)
When I was like 8 years old I learned to knit & crochet from a family friend, but I didn’t understand how to do certain stitches or what they were called, I just basically made up my own. Because of that, everything I made (scarves) just came out all wonky and wrong. I still loved it, but it was more just fun and because I didn’t properly learn it I didn’t stitch to it. When I was 10-11 I dropped with knit and crochet and didn’t pick it back up until I was 18. When I turned 18, I randomly decided I wanted to make an entire blanket😅🤦♀️ I didn’t know what I was doing, I was too stubborn to watch a video, so I just tried to do what I learned as a child… well, that didn’t work, I got bored and my blanket kept getting all wonky so I gave up. I got rid of my yarn and needles (not much.) Then I got pregnant at 20, my nesting instincts kicked in full force and when I had everything ready by 30 weeks, I knew I needed to do SOMETHING to prepare for my baby without over preparing and buying a bunch of stuff… so I decided to crochet her a bonnet. I bought the yarn, I bought the hooks, and I followed a tutorial. To my surprise, it came out perfect. I didn’t struggle with the magic ring, I didn’t struggle with tension, I didn’t struggle with any of the stitches once I saw how to do it. I made the bonnet in an hour and a half, so I made another one that night. Next day, I got more yarn, and I made another bonnet. This sparked my joy for crochet. I made her a bunny, and then I started to make a patchwork cardigan for myself. Went into labor and had my baby, and i barely had any time to feed myself let alone crochet, so I stopped. After my baby was about 3-4 months old, I decided I needed to prioritize myself a bit and I picked back up crochet because it helped manage my emotions and postpartum anxiety. I haven’t stopped since. I’ve been crocheting consistently for 2 years now & it’s great! I’ve designed my own patterns, I started an Etsy shop about 6 months ago, and I’m doing my first market next month! I can make pretty much anything that someone asks me to make. I never thought at 8 years old that I would go from making horrible and incomplete scarves, to making stuffed animals, decor, acessories, clothing, blankets, & anything else that I want to. I’m so proud of how far I’ve come, and I’m so grateful for my daughter for sparking my joy of fiber arts.
Here's my brief knitting origin story: I'm from Finland so I learned to knit in school. And I hated it! I thought the yarns we had to work with were ugly colours and I wasn't inspired by the projects at all. Fast forward to my early 20s at which point I hadn't knit in years, I got really into vintage fashion. As a full time student I had very little money to spend on beautiful clothes so I got the idea that I could knit something for myself. I bought a 1940s knitting magazine and tried to make a cardigan from it. I remember how to knit and purl and got the hang of reading the pattern pretty quickly but the cardigan still turned out a total mess lol. But I learned a lot from that initial garment experience and it gave me the spark that I had the freedom to make things that I actually want to make.
I’m here for this content. I love watching videos but I also love to just have a podcast style video where I don’t have to actively participate with my eyeballs. Plus you have a nice soothing voice lmao.
My craft origin story: I am Australian but my dad was English, and when I was about 7 or 8, my grandma came out from England to visit. This was the 70s (I am old) so international travel was a huge thing and she stayed with us for about 6 months. In that time she taught me to knit and to crochet. In my teens and 20s and 30s I would knit on and off, not really ever getting beyond basic, bottom up vests and cardigans, a few small pieces when my daughter was born, that kind of thing. I was competent but I never really worked on improving my skill beyond the basics. Same with crochet - I never really got past making granny square blankets that were just one giant square. I don’t even know what really kicked it off but early last year or late the year before I decided I wanted to get back into knitting and crochet and I started buying yarn (uh oh) and watching knitting/crochet TH-cam and now I am just obsessed. I still feel like I haven’t ventured much beyond the skills I already had - I’ve never done a top down jumper, for example - but I am getting to the point where I’m feeling more adventurous. I really like watching the TH-cam knitting community as there is a large range of ages and I feel like I learn something from the super skilled older ones and the super adventurous (and also super skilled) younger ones.
Thank you, this was a very fun video! :) I learned to knit when I was six, my mom taught me and my sister. My first knitted piece was a thin strip of a scarf made of a multicolor yarn. In Finland, at least when I was young, we also learned to crochet at second grade and then knit at third grade. I think it was mandatory for everyone to learn to crochet a round piece (like a hat) and knit a tube with DPNs (like mittens or socks).
This is my second video of yours that I'm watching and wow! Love! I just started knitting this year and was also inspired by Kutovakika's knits on her channel. I knew the moment I saw the Arctic Light sweater I had to learn how to knit so I could have it! I'm still very new, but I have been devouring all knitting related videos. Love this type of video, it gives me the sense of knitting with a friend. I just got my yarn for my first sweater and I'm so inspired by content like yours!
I was having a really difficult day and I wanted to knit away the feelings. I saw that you had posted! It was just what I needed to get through. I've been watching your videos (actually going through the entire list of videos from your channel lol) while I knit or even as I work. You're the best relaxing company for a girl who does not have any friends who knit. And I also found my knitting spark while watching Kutovakika!! ❤
I think my grandmother and aunt tried to teach me to knit aged 6-7 but it didn’t stick. On some kind of creative impulse i I decided to learn to knit around age 12-13 and learned from knitting tutorials on youtube, and I’ve been slowly increasing the complexity of projects since then :) I love learning new techniques I’m finishing up the scarf I’m making for my dad while watching this, we’re onto tassles now!
Watching/listening to this while I sew in the gazillion ends on a pair of socks I “finished” knitting a year ago 😱. It’s helping me relieve the tedium of this hated task .
I loved this ❤ haven't even made it to the end of this video, but I just had to mention how excited I get when someone mentions a Finnish creator/designer/etc! And you mentioned both Kutovakika AND Molla Mills! ❤ It may seem silly to be this hyped up about it but our nation is quite small so it feels great that there are Finnish crafters who are making it "in the big world" 😅
That makes me so happy! In the United States, we have a lot of state pride. I am from Minnesota and we get sad because we are never mentioned in American media. It's always New York or California. Anytime someone from Minnesota is mentioned in tv shows, the news, movies, we all get so excited! (for reference Minnesota is about the same population as Finland and is comprised mostly of people with Scandinavian heritage). I grew up going to Scandinavian festivals in small town Minnesota. There are always lots of Norwegian, Finnish, and Swedish cultural celebrations. Knitting/crochet arent all that popular in the United States, so when I started getting into the crafts, naturally I started by looking into Scandinavian creators first
Hi, love your channel, so nice to hang out with you while I work on my projects. I started knitting so randomly. I was telling a friend about how I finally learned to do kip ups after the hundredth TH-cam video on them showed me things in a slightly different way that made it click, and she said she learned to knit through TH-cam and I told her "oh yeah, that's next on my list." Which was a TOTAL lie, I had no interest in knitting, had never even considered it, no idea what possessed me to say that. But a couple weeks later I was bored and suddenly decided well, I told my friend I was going to learn to knit, maybe I should give that a try. 15 years later it's my biggest and most enduring hobby.
I totally relate on the foot falling asleep thing, but someone told me one time to stomp that foot on the ground and it totally works! It feels really weird for a second but it fixes it super fast! And I prefer it to the weird feeling I have for several minutes haha
I hate sewing as well. I learned when I was younger also. I can crochet and knit and love it, but when it comes to sewing, forget it. I don't mind sewing on buttons or hand-sewing small projects. I hate the sewing machine. We do not mix 😒 I started crocheting first. I was taught by my grandmother when I was 9 which is 41 years ago. She also taught me to knit, but like you, I was only able to do pearl and knit stitches. Crocheting, I was only able to make blankets until I was pregnant with my second child. I forced myself to sit down with a book and learn to actually make things. This was way before TH-cam and there weren't many patterns online. I have been crocheting baby garments since then. By the time I had my third son. I found Etsy and started selling my crochet projects I was making. I did that for 12 years. It got so saturated that I had to quit. I was getting into knitting more then and learned to actually follow patterns and make things. Now I am hooked on Tunisian Crochet. It is like a mix of knitting and crochet, which is right up my alley. That is my ramble lol If you want to try Tunisian Crochet go to TLyarncrafts on TH-cam. She is the best teacher.
I can relate with your internal struggle about the store yarn and my solution is to go for it because I plan to keep all the pieces I knit ❤❤❤ Also, I love how loving your cat is, I have 2 cats which give me little attention so I am jealous
I just love to listen to you talk, even if it goes nowhere 😂 I love the fact that you are just you! In your last video when you were unraveling the yarn, omg i laughed so much! You were laying on the floor, being fed up with it, so reliable lol Never saw that during a project before, but it’s exactly what i would do 🤣🤣🤣 So keep up being you ❤ Greetings from Belgium 😊
I really like this style of video! The main reason I got into crocheting was I was spending to much time on my phone and my friend encouraged me to pick up crochet :) I’ve been doing it for a little over a year now and plan on making a blanket soon as well😊
So my knitting origin story is that one of my friends happened to be getting into crochet at the time, and I decided I wanted a new hobby too, but I didn't want to steal hers exactly, and I remembered when I was a kid in Joann's with my grandparents (they made jewelry) I always thought the knitting needles were pretty, so that day I just decided "yep, I'm going to learn to knit". It was in the middle of my day at work, so I just went to Walmart after I got off, bought a set of needles and a skein of yarn and went home and started youtubing how to do it. Started my first scarf that day and haven't stopped since! Kinda funny that there really wasn't anything super specific, just one day I decided I wanted to learn to knit and here I am lol
Sewing is my main hobby so I love it, but I totally see where you are coming from and if it's stressing you out it's not worth it. Don't feel bad buying things you "could" make, that's something that took me a long time to learn but it's fine. There are certain things I just have zero interest in sewing, like tank tops, just no, don't make me. I came to knitting in much the same way you did. Knowing the basics since I was a teenager but never expanding my skills beyond stitch consistency. In 2021 I caught covid and I had no energy for anything more than moving my fingers so I knit a sweater in a little over a week on a whim and now I can't stop.
A second comment regarding values, because it's easier than to add this onto the other one. I always think of values and ideals as the optimum. Of course, in a perfect world we wouldn't have wars and starvation and difficulties affording things and all of that. (I know I'm probably exaggerating a bit in my choice of words..) But the reality is by no means perfect, all of those struggles are very real. I am by absolutely no means rich or even wealthy. Heck, I haven't even figured out what I want to do with my life. But, in the small things, I will do what I can and my own joy is something very important to me. So in my own yarn endeavors I choose a path that is within my budget, but also worth what I make with it. As an example: The small octopi and flowers I make, are like doodles. I won't use expensive yarn on those, why would I? It's just a doodle, but they still bring me joy nonetheless. However when I make something bigger or more proper then I am a lot more concious of the yarn I use. Sure, sometimes I just find a big ball of fluffy plastic yarn (to put it that way) that inspires me to create my own pattern for a moon pillow, which ends up turning out great. Other times I'll make something that is intended to be worn. Of course I'll pick a natural material over plastic for that, especially for a summery shirt or a baby blanket. • • • The world can be a pretty messed up place (or in my view more accurately: some humans are quite messed up), and I only have so much I can do. And I know it might be selfish and egocentric to say, but I refuse to live my life in misery thinking about others wrongdoings or trying to somehow fix their mistakes. So, in my opinion, the best question(s) regarding yarn-value dilemmas would be: Do my values actively restrict the joy of my craft? Or does their fulfillment add an additional joy and perhaps pride to my craft? I am aware that this can be a heavy topic and I am open for other opinions and discussions. Just be aware that I try to take things light hearted and don't intend on invalidating anyone, even if my wordchoice isn't the best in that very moment..
Crazy enough, I did buy that Loops and Threads yarn that you were talking about, although I have yet to try it because there are too many projects and not enough hours! I bought it because Hobby Lobby had a similar yarn that I LOVED that they discontinued and I was looking for an alternative. Not that this helps you with your conundrum, but I thought it was funny, because I DID buy the yarn.
This is exactly the kind of video I needed while I knit and fend off my cat at the same time 😅
Loving your stash storage. ONE large tote. ME? Oh....I have two 3-drawer plastic drawers, 2 extra large stacking single plastic drawers and three extra large plastic folding storage bins that have the front swing out doors. And STILL have some yarn that is just sitting out. I too am knitting my stash down but I really love the idea of just one tote. Ok...maybe three totes or one of the 3 storage drawers...but no more. I have GOT to get on your plan!!!! I don't crochet but taught myself to knit via youtube January 2021 and haven't stopped since. It's a HUGE passion. I stopped wearing makeup many years ago because when it came down to it...I didn't like the way it didn't work like I felt it should. And I got tired of women being constantly told we are not enough as is. No going back there...but am a huge Kbeauty skincare addict.
Love this 🥰
This style of video where someone's just chatting and sharing are my favorites for putting on in the background and finishing chores or projects to
I met my partner because he was knitting on a field trip. Later on, he ended up teaching me how to knit, tossing me into the deep end to start by asking me to knit & purl a stockinette rectangle, then make a small bag in the round to learn decreases. I kinda let knitting fall on the wayside for a few years while we finished college, but once we had graduated, I picked it back up as a comfort hobby and have been trying to challenge myself more with each project I do.
That is so incredibly sweet 🥰🧶
“Because I always wanted an alpaca something” that is funny 😂
37:22 I have always been someone who wants to stick with my values and I was very much into the zero waste, no plastic and minimum harm to environment/people/animals. So I get your perspective of wanting to stick up with your values, but as I had a health crisis and am now dealing with a chronic illness I had to rethink and realise that I am not the person able to do everything, and while that is frustrating and painful to realise I learned that doing something is better than doing nothing. Doing a lot is better than doing a little. And being aware is also doing more than not knowing.
So advocate for what you want, tell the big chain stores that you are missing some fair trade yarns in their store. Tell the fancy yarn store that you would like a more budget friendly yarn for some bigger products. Tell them that you order online but you would love to support them and maybe they will consider it in the future 💛
And if you can’t do anything right now, be proud that you want to make a difference ❤ that counts too!
Hi back! ❤
I need you to know my wife and I spend every Sunday morning watching your new video, drinking coffee, and working on our project.
Thanks for making a space that feels comfy and chill. And neurodivergent-friendly lol
You’re gonna make me cry over here 🥹
So cool to hear you talk about discovering knitting in a modern way through Kutovakika because I had the same experience - followed here initially for her creative photography content and totally inspired then by her knitting. Also her personality is so genuine and approachable I just want to be her friend! haha
I very much like these types of videos. I wish I could sit with you in person and talk. I find that I learn so much from crafters when I in person craft with them. I learned to crochet and knit from my mom's mother. She was a Latvian who immigrated. after World War II. She was such an expert at crochet. I was too stubborn to learn single crochet and it wasn't until I was in college that I finally taught myself. The first blanket I made, I gave to her when she was sick with ALS. She liked it so much that she said I was her true granddaughter. We didn't always get along and I believe that this statement was a cultural compliment.
Heylo and much love from germany! I also love this kinda videos especially since im introverted and wont ever go out into crochet/ yarn clubs or w/e …i mean the idea is great but..i prefer this from the comfort of my home so thanks alot for spending that time with me/us
I loved this so much. Please do more ! I sat and crocheted along while listening 😊
Ps I have 3 cats ❤️ one is black too, Riosin who is almost 15.
I just wanted to say hi! New subscriber from Copenhagen, Denmark - the very home of Petiteknit!
I don't remember whether or not it was in this video you asked about the knitting/maker community in other countries, but this is the one I'm watching when I came up with an answer, so this is where you will get it lol (hello, ADHD brain).
In Denmark, pretty much every other grandmother either knits, crochets, sews or does lace or all of the above. And a lot of them then teach it to their kids and grandkids. In school we are only taught basic sewing.
I'm in my late 20s and pretty much 50% of my friends has a maker hobby of some kind, and it has been on the rise for quite a few years in Denmark as well. We have feminist knitting cafes, queer creative meetups etc on the regular.
Oh, and I don't even knit or crochet. I just really love listening to you speaking and rambling on about whatever. I sew, I make dresses, but I don't have the patience for yarn work (again, the kind of ADHD that I have stops me here). So when you asked about everyone's level of knitting, I'd just like to raise my hand as an entry level knitter.
My origin story is that I have no grandmother to teach me anything, so I teach myself and get help from my friends. I decided to learn to sew dresses for myself, because there are pretty much no affordable and even slightly sustainable options for plussize people in Scandinavia. So now I make clothes from thrifted beedsheets!
Love from Copenhagen and a new subscriber (and their black rescue cat who is uncannily like your cats and whom I love very much). Sorry for the long comment
Personally I do really love these videos where you just talk about whatever comes into your mind!
I think my mom taught me how to knit/crochet when I was very small, but I rediscovered crochet at 11 after I found a pattern book for amigurumi in the bookshop. Taught myself with that book, then went online and discovered the world of crafting blogs! So many bookmarks I would check in on every so often. That's also how I found Ravelry, and I ended up relearning how to knit as well.
I love listening to rambly videos like this! For half I was cleaning my kitchen and the other half I was mending a shirt (I’ve gotten really into visible mending)
Visible mending is the highlight of my Pinterest inspo 😂
Best video ever! Thank you for being true to yourself and share with us! All the best 😘
I believe in you, you can make a blanket! I would love to see the process of you making it :)
Hi! I normally don't comment on videos but, after listening to this, I feel like I have to! In the last video, I did indeed wish that you didn't cut all your different ramblings because I really enjoyed the bits I could hear. I think we have a very similar storytelling and communication style, so I very very much enjoyed this video! Thank you for keeping me company while I casted on a new project (I just started my 3rd sweater, the Eun Sweater by NovemberKnits, although I've never done short rows?? I hope they're not too difficult). Anyways, I was fascinated by your "Knitting origin story"!! I started crocheting to make a shrek bucket hat for a friend, started understanding fiber arts and crochet, decided that I wanted to make garments but didn't like the look of the crochet ones so I'm slowly teaching myself how to knit and I love it. I also love and recommend being part of a small IRL community! Here in Belgium there are plenty of people who do crafts and fiber arts and there are some initiatives and groups of strangers who meet and crochet/knit and it's so fun! I'm sure there are many knitters around you and, if there isn't a group already, you could probably make one :) and I definitely prefer this kind of video to no video, but take a bream if you need one!
🥰
Thanks for talking to me while I cast on and knit the toe of my sock. Your chatty videos perfectly capture that feeling of sitting with a friend and being a good listener while they catch you up on everything that's been going on in their life/head.
My knitting origin story,
My paternal grandmother had a heart attack when I was 4 and she came to live with us. She looked after me alot and taught me to knit. I would run down stairs when ever I needed her to pickup a stitch that I dropped etc etc.
I set up knitting groups in primary and high school and basically just knit blanket squares!
In 2020, big lockdown in NZ. Moved back in with my parents, got bored, found my needles, bought some yarn online and the rest is history!
I now teach knitting and run in-person knit-alongs in Auckland 🎉.
I'm a software engineer by day and knitting keeps me sane 😂
That’s amazing!!!
I picked up crochet when I was around 15 because I found one of my grandma's project bags tucked away in an upstairs closet. She passed when I was 5, and there were unfinished bright red granny squares inside. I don't know what she was making, sadly, or else I would have attempted to finish it. Instead, it sparked me wanting to try it myself, so I used her tools and used youtube to learn. Now I've been crocheting for nearly 14 years and knitting for 3. I'd like to think if she were still around, we would have crafted together 😊
This is an old video so maybe you won’t see this anymore, but I enjoyed it. I have a very labor intense but brain dead kind of job and it was nice to be distracted from it. My origin story is so weird: when I lived in Japan, I taught myself how to crochet with video tutorials because my typical hobbies weren’t possible in my new place. But for whatever reason I decided I was done with it after 2 projects. But then about 10 years later, I was reading the novel It’s Boba Time for Pearl Li and it made me curious about crochet again so I tried it and loved it! Looking forward to my first crochet garment in 2025 because you’ve made garments seem approachable. As for yarn ethics, my two cents is don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Make the best choices when possible but don’t sweat it when it’s not possible (or desirable). It’s impossible to be a 100% perfect ethical consumer so don’t waste time trying to be perfect. Settle for better.
I completely agree about the yarn ethics, good enough is the best you can do! Love your crochet origin story
Hey pal, I really like this video format. It'd like hanging and knitting with a friend without the pressure of having to be social. 😂
In January I said I was going to knit my first sweater, and since then I've knit two, and am about to start the second sleeve on a third! My first was "its not a sweatshirt" by knitting for olive and I love it. My second and third sweaters are a Felix Pullover and a Felix Cardigan (Tayler Earl made me do it!).
I think the Michael's yarn you are talking about is the Luxe Merino? That is what I made my It's Not A Sweatshirt sweater out of. I didn't learn about the environmental impact of superwash until after I bought it... But I think if you keep it limited to once in a while instead of every project, you're good. It's really important that you're even thinking about it. ♥️
All that said, the Loops and Threads Luxe Merino is very slippery and I find it very difficult to knot/keep knotted. So especially for a Granny blanket start with one ball and see how it works up for you.
Once I finish this Felix cardigan, I'm going to start Gib by Andrea Mowry. The pattern is a bit of a leap in difficulty for me, but I did my gauge swatch and am feeling hopeful.
I kinda like scratchy wooly yarn, which is lucky for me because it's more economical. There is an inexpensive yarn brand called Briggs and Little. It's made by the oldest yarn mill in Canada. It's in New Brunswick, and I'm in Nova Scotia so it's very close.
Keep being you, keep doing what you're doing, and give yourself some credit for caring about human rights and the environment. Every bit adds up. ♥
My grandma taught me how to do the chains when I was 2 years old. When I was in my 20s I turned to TH-cam and learned to crochet for real. Now I can make so many things and I always work on something when I watch your videos.
I learned to knit when I was 6 or 7 with my mother. I picked it up again at 14 in home ec, then again at 22 to make socks. Then I started to crochet in January 2024 after watching a complicatedknots videos and finally UNDERSTANDING crochet. I haven't put it down since. I have a temperature blanket in progress and I made 3 self-drafted cardigans as well as a few Erina Lee's amigurumis.
I've picked up (again) knitting 2 days ago after watching your video about everything you've ever knitted and I was INSPIRED!! Thanks to you, I am now knitting my first sweater ever! I've started the Flax tincanknits sweater.
Keep up the good work! I love your style and energy!
Disclaimer: I'm a language arts teacher in my first language and I MUST tell you that English is not my first language and to please excuse any grammatical/orthographical/syntax mistake.
Your English is flawless. Your story is heartwarming and I am so thankful you shared it with me! I am so excited about your first sweater and I hope you’ll drop another comment to let me know how it turns out. Good luck ☺️
I loved this video!! Please continue to share your life and your thoughts. You are very mature with your finances. My husband and I married at 19 and 20. We had all 3 of our children by the time I was 28. Many frugal years, but we never regretted anything. We have been married 52 years and are retired. Life is good!!!
Your two cats remind me so much of my own! I have black two cats, rescued from a friend's sheep farm as kittens. Diesel is the smaller all over the place agile and talkative cat and Dodge is the bigger cuddler, slower and not as active.
As you mentioned, I also became very overwhelmed by my hobbies and work. Last Friday, I had a compressed work day and I did all my cleaning and chores and shopping so I could spend Saturday and Sunday just relaxing... reading, knitting and enjoying my hobbies while watching TH-cam. I had copious amounts of tea and cuddled my dog and cats and decided it was going to be guilt free.
I am now trying to focus on one or two WIPs a month and a new cast on from Stash. I am in a no-buy until September 2024. I have so many sweaters planned with what is already in my stash! I have tried to plan my knitting or de-stash and I have realized that I don't want to plan... My hobbies are my down time, relax time... I need to stop stressing about how to de-stash and what to knit. I felt I was spending more time planning than knitting and then stressing out about the planning or the amount I had not knit or knit! There is plenty of planning and stress at the office. I don't need it in my hobby life. Enough... I spent a wonderful weekend just being.
I started knitting when I was around 19... I got my first big city job and moved from the country to the city to be able to walk to work as I did not have a car. I was petrified of city life. I did not like it . The main floor of my office building was a mall and there was a knitting shop. I went in there and just walked around. I had been wanting to learn to knit. The owner set me up with a learn to knit book (1989!! no internet), needles, wool and invited me to come and seek her help anytime. I knit a Vogue Knitting dress! It turned out horrible! haha... It looked like a maternity dress because the back had a tighter gauge and it got looser as I got more comfortable with knitting. Therefore the front was loose!!
I need to get to work. It was wonderful spending my Monday morning with you! 🐈⬛
My Grandmother used to knit very much, in the end she had barely vision, but continued knitting sweaters in all sizes. Sadly I didn't learn knitting from her, because she passed away before I got interested in it. But I inherited some of her needles and crochet hooks. Which motivated me to learn how to use them. I'm more into crochet, which I really got started in over a year ago. But I tried to learn it since middle/high school (I've been at a Sommer camp every year for 10 years and almost every year I entered the crochet workshop and learned it kind of, but forgot almost immediately 😂). I want to learn knitting this year. We have a very cute yarn store in our town, and they don't only sell wool but also have courses for everyone and hours, where they help you if you have a problem with your knitting project.
This i exactly the kind of video I watch while knitting and crocheting :D
this is perfect for before bed frogging an old crochet shawl
This sort of conversational tone is exactly my style - I have ADHD and also most of my friends have historically also been air signs so conversations go EVERYWHERE. It feels comfy and familiar and I loved the snippets you put at the end of the last video! (:
One of my favourite yarns for blankets is DROPS Karisma. It’s 100% superwash wool but it’s good, it doesn’t feel like plastic. And it’s DK weight. It’s what I call “my acrylic.” My skin does not tolerate synthetic fibres.
My beautiful Grandma Chris taught me.🤍 😊I'm so blessed.
This is rapidly becoming my comfort channel! ❤❤❤
I really like your storytelling and this kind of videos, thank you! As far as my knitting history goes I come from a post-communist country, where all kind of clothing available in stores was sort of drab and poor quality anyway. So for my grandmothers, even my mum and aunts if you wanted something special fashion wise you'd have to make it or ask someone who could make it. (And everyone DID know someone, in my family there was an aunt and a family friend). I was taught to knit and crochet in school (we had arts and crafts class so it was covered as part of it). I liked it because while I started off really crappy this was the one thing that allowed me to see the moment it clicked. I had a super messy square of nothing that suddenly turned into neat stitches. I could see the turning point in my work. It was such a great feeling. But then I abandoned it for a long while, until I had a sudden impulse longing for an Aran sweater, so I bought a random magazine with exactly the right kind of sweater on the cover. I went to a yarn store, magazine in hand, picked a skein that I liked, boldly approached the lady behind the counter and asked how much of this particular yarn would be OK for a sweater my size. This was my piece of beginner's luck, because I picked exactly right weight yarn, a fairly decent wool-acrylic blend, smooth and easy to work with, a perfect beginner yarn and a sweater that had oversize built into it so no matter how far I strayed it would still have character. The lady in the store did the calculations for me and wished me luck. My crafty aunt was at the ready whenever I needed it. I didn't care about such fancy stuff as gauge, I just wanted to start so I did. This turned out so good that it was stolen later somewhere in Germany. I decided to take it as a compliment. And then it somehow stayed with me through thick and thin, my kind of creative effort.
Your story is awesome and beautiful!
Your videos are so relaxing to me. I am really enjoying working my way through them. I just bought a set of interchangeable needles to start my first crochet wearable. Your videos are what gave me the push to try out knitting. Until now I have been sticking to crochet
You're fun to "hang out with" while working on my crochet beanie.
I learned to crochet and knit from my grandma around 6-7 years old, and also had some classes in 2nd grade part of the "crafts" class in primary school.
For some reason knitting always seemed too complicated, needing to remember what stitches you did last row to be able to create designs, while i love crochet for the diversity of "looks" you can create just by picking the stitch in another spot. I only played with yarn while hanging out with granma, only made a few small items (like a crochet bikini top i made at 14 that came out great but I've never worn), until two years ago when (at age 36) i picked it up again to make my hubby a hat as a Christmas present. It wasn't planned, i just saw a yarn i loved in store and had to try. Since then I've been slowly creating new things, this year i did sweaters and hats and cardigans doll size for my moms BJD- ball jointed doll, (it's a cool way to get the gratification of finishing projects in somewhat short timeframes, around 20h) and a set of hat and boots for my friends baby. It's so satisfying to look at a finished object and know you made that from just thread.
Sending a virtual hug from Romania, until we "meet" again.
i havent had time to finish watching but wanted to comment - thank you for uploading! i'm glad you're still enjoying this channel enough to just wanna hang out with us for a bit on a weekend. i wanted to say like as soon as i started the video that i looooove those quilted pieces behind you, the wall looks so stunning now. beige CAN be sad, but browns and beiges can be so relaxing too and i think you manage the balance beautifully. also in terms of being mindful of your consumption and your interest in no/low buys etc, if you're in the market for more stuff to watch on youtube, i would recommend Leena Norms. she's doing a 'ready to wear clothing no buy' thing, so is making (sewing or knitting) all of her clothes - and even though i dont have the time to be able to do that myself, its fun seeing what shes making and where shes getting her inspiration. anyway i hope you have a lovely evening. take care!
Ouuuu, thank you for the recommendation!!! I’ll check her out :)
Hey girl just so you know when you’re talking about the 3 TH-camrs who inspired you, YOU are that for me! I absolutely love your videos.
You are beautiful inside and out, truly!❤
That’s so kind 🥰 OMG thank you!
Thanks for keeping me company while knitting. 😊 I like knit & chat videos.
I was a crocheter first and started knitting 6 years ago because I loved wearing knitted socks so much and wanted to make my own.
Have a lovely week. ~ Kat
I LOVE THIS VIDEO!!! lol I need this right now, and yes I do talk back to you in my head and sometimes out loud. But truly thank your channel is my safe space.
I find comfort in knowing I’m not the only one who talks back to knit and chats 😂 you’re awesome!
my husband and i do a individual allowance too! it has helped us feel less guilty about spending money on our interests if we each have a set amount to do whatever we want with instead of taking it from the lump sum. if I want a sweater quantity of hand dyed yarn i just save for two months and then its a nice reward with no guilt. 🥰 and I shaved my head and stopped wearing makeup around the same time too! i've grown my hair out now but still don't wear makeup and feel very similarly to your experience 💗 it's great to see myself represented in the media i'm consuming!!
This is amazing! I love how I’m getting to find more of my people ☺️
As someone who also really struggles with reconciling their values with their crafting, I really appreciated what you had to say about the tempting Loops and Threads yarn! I also try to source as much of my yarn as possible from local sources and I am trying to the best of my ability to avoid acrylics due to the micro plastic issue… That being said! I can’t afford to fulfill my values all the time either. And I really really like making things for little kids who usually don’t hand wash 😂. So I have ended up with an acrylic stash for when the need comes. As far as your blanket, while I wouldn’t usually buy a ton of superwash, it is a great use case. I would imagine a cheaper wool that is comparably in your price range wouldn’t make for a particularly cozy blanket… I’ve tried haha! Thank you for being so conscious in your crafting. It feels good to know that there are others out here who feel the same! ❤
Yay! Company whilst I crochet!
I don't know if you know them already but Smart Glamour in NY is worth looking at. I don't know if they do swimsuits but you might need other types of clothing down the line too ;)
So glad I found your channel! Your videos have been awesome background noise while I work on a sweater this week.
I had a similar knitting "journey" as you: I learned to knit and purl in a school club in high school and only made flat rectangles for almost a decade. Then in 2011, I discovered all the free patterns and TH-cam tutorials and bought my first set of circular needles (and learned about different fiber types). But unlike you, after I learned to crochet from TH-cam the next year, I became way more of a crocheter than a knitter (these days I probably knit one project for every 10 I crochet)
I love videos like this!!! I can’t wait for more!
Perfectly timed video for me as I was just yesterday feeling a knitting slump coming on. Gave me a boost to just sit down and relax with my project😄🧶 Love these kinds of chit chat type videos, and you're very pleasant to listen to, haha!
For my origin story: I always wanted to learn how to knit but didn't actually try it out until maybe 5 years ago. I have this problem which I know a lot of other people relate to, where if I'm not good at something on my first try then I'm immediately over it. I don't know why but I've just never had that problem with knitting. Sat down with a couple youtube videos, spent some time undoing and redoing the same swatch 'til I had it down, then taught my mom how to do it too (through many grumblings of "I'm too old for this!"), and have been slowly but surely cementing it as my main hobby ever since😁 Though I have yet to graduate to sweaters because they terrify me for no reason lol.
Love your story and sweaters are intimidating as hell!
It was nice to sit and knit and listen to you ramble. 😊 My mom tried to teach me to knit and crochet when I was in grade school, and for whatever reason, it wasn't my thing. I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and it was all acrylic and unattractive designs, and that's what I thought of when I thought of yarn arts. When I was in my 30s, my mom started knitting again and teaching a couple people how to knit, and the yarn was incredible and the patterns were cute, and I had her teach me again. I taught myself how to crochet a few months later. I designed patterns for several years until I had a mental health crisis and quit. It's been a few years, but I've picked up the hooks and needles again. I prefer knitting, but I do go on a crochet tangent now and then.
I learned to knit from my aunt, and later I taught my niece to knit. Yay tradition!
You will be a person who finishes a room (after lots of time and effort) and doesn’t like it. We’re all that person. Retrying is part of the creative process! Tweaking and editing and taking the time to sit with the half finished version is the best way to love the final version. You’ll love it when it’s done. It’s just never done when we think it is 😂
There’s only so much that theory and forethought can do. The best parts will evolve outside of your original intention; it takes time to find out what will evolve ❤
My grandma taught me the knit stitch when I was 10. I only knitted for about 6 months and made a lot of bookmarks. I picked up crochet in 2022, and re-taught myself knitting last year and still remembered some of it from my grandma :)
I prefer the look of knit for garments, but will use crochet for house items
That’s so sweet! 🥹
I never comment on videos but I recently found your channel and I LOVE your content. I learned how to crochet when I was 7 from a friends german grandmother, she was so sweet. I've been crocheting for about 11 years now. I started trying to learn how to knit 2 years ago and I've tried again but I haven't found a spark for knitting yet. If anyone has any tips, I would appreciate anything I can get.
This was great to listen to as I start this sweater. ❤ Regarding your blanket situation - as an alternative if you don’t want the loops and thread yarn, you might want to look into other knitters destashing their yarns. I can totally imagine a few people on knitting FB groups with sweater-worthy quantities of wool selling those off. Add a few of those up and you’d have enough. (Dye lot be damned - granny squares are forgiving there) It might be a bit of a scavenger hunt to find yarns you know and trust to be soft enough, but if the blanket is going to be a forever feature of your home, it might be worth the journey!
love having things in the background, thank you so much for posting this so i don’t feel alone while i crochet 💜
I both knit and crochet, but no one in my life.Does except one friend who does not live close enough to do this with on a regular basis?So I've been doing listening to you while I.Crochet or knit. You mentioned wanting to make a granny square afghan so let me recommend a couple videos for you to watch before you start. The first one is A no sew Granny square, where you learn How to weave in your ends as you go. Then there are 2 types of videos for joining your squares.As you go one is simply joined as you go.The other is continuous join.As you go either one will make your blanket much easier to put together. I used to hate making Granny squares, but after learning these two techniques they are now one of my favorite things to do.
Thank you 🥰
I absolutely love your videos, I find myself connected to them in some ways with my current living situation; about to move far from home after I graduate (for my reason its to be with my LDR boyfriend of 4 years) and as I've been looking for places I've also been thinking about how I want to style it and your style is so beautiful. also your content is so comforting! I started crocheting in summer of 2023 to help myself focus and stop dwelling on the mental strains of school and social media consumption, but I also come from a family of knitters so I picked up on it too from my mom over the winter and have been knitting non-stop! I want to eventually learn their version of knitting, not sure how common it is in Mexico (where my family is from) but they knit clockwise (eastern style I think?) but their knit stitches are interesting! never seen anyone do it like my grandma and mom
i enjoy watching you, becauce you look like a friend, who doesn't feel the need to change their apperance for a meeting
I first learnt to knit from my grandma when I was a kid - which personally feels like such a common story among people I know who do fibrecraft, and I love it - but I was never very good. Instead I was always a sewing person, and still am, but over the past few years I've been trying crochet instead and found it much easier to grasp. I do want to try knitting though becuase my friend who knits creates such beautiful stuff and she really inspires me!
93 play street is super high quality and high waisted !! Little pricey but so worth it
Thank you!!! I’ll check them out
I agree with everyone else, this was a perfect chill background video for working on a project, excuse being parasocial but it kinda felt like knitting with a friend!
Love that, if your hate watching where's the joy in your life? !!!
Videos like these feel like body doubling for me…makes me more productive
I'm only now watching this, because I didn't have the right project and general surroundings to really do before.. I'm currently working on a dragonfly patterned shawl (tutorial from YT), which I have to make two of. One in a gorgeous red to bright orange almost yellow colour, which I make for myself and to try the pattern before making the second one in a beautiful dark to light blue gradient for a good friend of mine.
My crochet/knitting/sowing history is quite simple:
I learned most of it in my first four years of school. One of my first crochet items that still exist somewhere in my home, is a cactus with a blue and a purple crochet flower, mounted on an empty tin, which was wrapped in a mesh that had all the different types stitches that we learned sown into it.
Knitting I'm not quite sure when I learned, I just remember always finding the needles difficult to navigate and my yarn slipping off, so I never got into that.
The basics of working with a sowing machine I was taught somewhere around when I was 12-13 years old. I even got a sowing machine as a christmas gift at some point, but it sadly broke rather soon.. In the meantime I've forgotten enough to not completely trust myself with a sowing machine.
A bit later (age 13-14) we were back to crochet in school and had the choice between learning how to make a beanie or a basket. Most, including me, chose the basket. I managed to make two or three in the time the others finished one, and it stuck with me. So for the next few years I'd make baskets on occasion as a way of wrapping presents.
Only last October did I start to expand my crochet field, since I had a nephew on the way. And so far, I think I expanded quite well. Making things with and without patterns.
I love these types of videos! I don't have many local fiber friends either, so this felt like hanging out with a bud and working on projects together. Love your videos so much!
I really enjoy these sorts of videos! I was sitting down to finish a project this morning and was so happy to see this video that I could just listen to while I kept plugging away at the border!
It was so fun to watch while weaving in ends! Even made them bearable lol
My husband and I call our allowance “fun money” too! It’s a great system to not get crazy about what the other person is buying
Yes! I love it. I love these simple "tricks" that just reduce unnecessary conflict. For us, it is: fun money, big blankets, two bathrooms, and two cats lol. Anything you do that you think helps things go a little bit more smoothly?
I really enjoy your podcast episodes because you seem to be so "opinionated" and your thoughts lean heavily on the philosophical view of life. I find that really refreshing :) When I was a teen, I was sad and angry about being disregarded in my opinions and the truths that I saw. Today, I might understand why it was that way and I am very glad that I do not feel the need to constantly be fighting for my right to he heard anymore. I still don't feel heard much and today, I believe that there might be a bigger aspect to it than age. Everybody wants to be seen, wants to be heard, wants to be regarded as valueable in what they bring to the table. And everybody feels that they have to little visibility in that sense.
That much said, I find it really interesting how people age, how they develope. What a common theme of growth throughout the parts of people's life seems to be. Looking back on my own life, I really want to take care to offer anybody older, younger or the same age as me a sense of visibility. And yet ... having fought so many fights, having thought so many thoughts, having experienced so many things, I sometimes feel tired about all of it. For example when I was pregnant with my first child at 19 years old I was flashed about so many experiences and thought that no one talks about these things, especially hard things. I was really vocal about it. Back then we had online communities and blogs. Now, there is Instagram and Facebook groups and TH-cam videos, and all those young mothers say exactly the same thing ("why does no one talk about these things? Nobody told me!"). Well, I sure have talked about it and I am sure all the women before me have, too. But when they did, the whole thing did not apply to the then 10 year olds, so they believe they really experience something fresh, they bring up something absolutely hidden to talk about. They do not, the knowledge has been out there and the bitterness of not being seen and heard creeps up to me. So I think it might all boil down to being seen and heard, no matter the age.
Growing older, I think it really helps me to stay open to really hearing and seeing and acknowledging peoples' experiences when I keep the mindset of "everybody has right to their own story to unfold how it may". In that sense, I try to let go of the repetition of life experiences aspect of it all and really try to cultivate awe and respect for the personal path of everybody, be they young or old. I try to listen, try to really see their experiences, listen to their words as something that they for themselves really experience only once.
When thinking about younger people, I really admire their drive, their energy, ther boldness, their 100% approach to life. When I was young, I absolutely knew what was going on. Since then, I really started to question everything and anything, so being absolutely sure about something, making decisions etc. gets harder. It makes me stall, wait, see and watch more than I used to. Which can be good and bad. About older people, I admire their sense of calm, they acceptance of what is. That many of them let go of black and white thinking. That they are not so concerned about what people thing of them. That they can offer at least the tale of how it was for them.
Wow! That’s was awesome to read. I love the very relatable position of sometimes being sick of it but also wanting to make sure people feel seen.
i saw the living roomtour before you took it down and I made the twine scratching pads you had for the cats for my bunnies and they LOVE it. they sit there and dig at it like there's gold underneath. so thank you for saving my shag carpet with that idea, and also for being my background entertainment while I craft. sending all my good vibes to you :)
When I was like 8 years old I learned to knit & crochet from a family friend, but I didn’t understand how to do certain stitches or what they were called, I just basically made up my own. Because of that, everything I made (scarves) just came out all wonky and wrong. I still loved it, but it was more just fun and because I didn’t properly learn it I didn’t stitch to it. When I was 10-11 I dropped with knit and crochet and didn’t pick it back up until I was 18. When I turned 18, I randomly decided I wanted to make an entire blanket😅🤦♀️ I didn’t know what I was doing, I was too stubborn to watch a video, so I just tried to do what I learned as a child… well, that didn’t work, I got bored and my blanket kept getting all wonky so I gave up. I got rid of my yarn and needles (not much.) Then I got pregnant at 20, my nesting instincts kicked in full force and when I had everything ready by 30 weeks, I knew I needed to do SOMETHING to prepare for my baby without over preparing and buying a bunch of stuff… so I decided to crochet her a bonnet. I bought the yarn, I bought the hooks, and I followed a tutorial. To my surprise, it came out perfect. I didn’t struggle with the magic ring, I didn’t struggle with tension, I didn’t struggle with any of the stitches once I saw how to do it. I made the bonnet in an hour and a half, so I made another one that night. Next day, I got more yarn, and I made another bonnet. This sparked my joy for crochet. I made her a bunny, and then I started to make a patchwork cardigan for myself. Went into labor and had my baby, and i barely had any time to feed myself let alone crochet, so I stopped. After my baby was about 3-4 months old, I decided I needed to prioritize myself a bit and I picked back up crochet because it helped manage my emotions and postpartum anxiety. I haven’t stopped since. I’ve been crocheting consistently for 2 years now & it’s great! I’ve designed my own patterns, I started an Etsy shop about 6 months ago, and I’m doing my first market next month! I can make pretty much anything that someone asks me to make. I never thought at 8 years old that I would go from making horrible and incomplete scarves, to making stuffed animals, decor, acessories, clothing, blankets, & anything else that I want to. I’m so proud of how far I’ve come, and I’m so grateful for my daughter for sparking my joy of fiber arts.
your videos are my favourite thing to watch during my evening hour of knitting
i'm also the same with sewing. i'm a process knitter, but i sew purely for the end result.
Thank you 🥰🥰🥰
Here's my brief knitting origin story: I'm from Finland so I learned to knit in school. And I hated it! I thought the yarns we had to work with were ugly colours and I wasn't inspired by the projects at all.
Fast forward to my early 20s at which point I hadn't knit in years, I got really into vintage fashion. As a full time student I had very little money to spend on beautiful clothes so I got the idea that I could knit something for myself. I bought a 1940s knitting magazine and tried to make a cardigan from it. I remember how to knit and purl and got the hang of reading the pattern pretty quickly but the cardigan still turned out a total mess lol. But I learned a lot from that initial garment experience and it gave me the spark that I had the freedom to make things that I actually want to make.
That’s such an amazing origin story!
I love these videos. You’ve quickly become one of my favorite knitting TH-camrs
I’m here for this content. I love watching videos but I also love to just have a podcast style video where I don’t have to actively participate with my eyeballs. Plus you have a nice soothing voice lmao.
My craft origin story: I am Australian but my dad was English, and when I was about 7 or 8, my grandma came out from England to visit. This was the 70s (I am old) so international travel was a huge thing and she stayed with us for about 6 months. In that time she taught me to knit and to crochet. In my teens and 20s and 30s I would knit on and off, not really ever getting beyond basic, bottom up vests and cardigans, a few small pieces when my daughter was born, that kind of thing. I was competent but I never really worked on improving my skill beyond the basics. Same with crochet - I never really got past making granny square blankets that were just one giant square.
I don’t even know what really kicked it off but early last year or late the year before I decided I wanted to get back into knitting and crochet and I started buying yarn (uh oh) and watching knitting/crochet TH-cam and now I am just obsessed. I still feel like I haven’t ventured much beyond the skills I already had - I’ve never done a top down jumper, for example - but I am getting to the point where I’m feeling more adventurous.
I really like watching the TH-cam knitting community as there is a large range of ages and I feel like I learn something from the super skilled older ones and the super adventurous (and also super skilled) younger ones.
This made my heart smile 😊
I love these type of videos!!!
Thank you, this was a very fun video! :)
I learned to knit when I was six, my mom taught me and my sister. My first knitted piece was a thin strip of a scarf made of a multicolor yarn. In Finland, at least when I was young, we also learned to crochet at second grade and then knit at third grade. I think it was mandatory for everyone to learn to crochet a round piece (like a hat) and knit a tube with DPNs (like mittens or socks).
love this concept
This is my second video of yours that I'm watching and wow! Love! I just started knitting this year and was also inspired by Kutovakika's knits on her channel. I knew the moment I saw the Arctic Light sweater I had to learn how to knit so I could have it! I'm still very new, but I have been devouring all knitting related videos. Love this type of video, it gives me the sense of knitting with a friend. I just got my yarn for my first sweater and I'm so inspired by content like yours!
Oh that’s so exciting! Sending good vibes for your first sweater :)
I love the stream of consciousness vibe of this, I was crocheting my first blanket while listening!!
Oh my gosh, congrats!!!!
I was having a really difficult day and I wanted to knit away the feelings. I saw that you had posted! It was just what I needed to get through. I've been watching your videos (actually going through the entire list of videos from your channel lol) while I knit or even as I work. You're the best relaxing company for a girl who does not have any friends who knit. And I also found my knitting spark while watching Kutovakika!! ❤
That’s amazing 🥰
I think my grandmother and aunt tried to teach me to knit aged 6-7 but it didn’t stick. On some kind of creative impulse i I decided to learn to knit around age 12-13 and learned from knitting tutorials on youtube, and I’ve been slowly increasing the complexity of projects since then :) I love learning new techniques
I’m finishing up the scarf I’m making for my dad while watching this, we’re onto tassles now!
Try the yarn! Yes, you are overthinking it! 😊
I love these knit and chats ❤ I share a lot of your thoughts about choosing yarn but where I live I can't get them either
Watching/listening to this while I sew in the gazillion ends on a pair of socks I “finished” knitting a year ago 😱. It’s helping me relieve the tedium of this hated task .
I loved this ❤ haven't even made it to the end of this video, but I just had to mention how excited I get when someone mentions a Finnish creator/designer/etc! And you mentioned both Kutovakika AND Molla Mills! ❤ It may seem silly to be this hyped up about it but our nation is quite small so it feels great that there are Finnish crafters who are making it "in the big world" 😅
That makes me so happy! In the United States, we have a lot of state pride. I am from Minnesota and we get sad because we are never mentioned in American media. It's always New York or California. Anytime someone from Minnesota is mentioned in tv shows, the news, movies, we all get so excited! (for reference Minnesota is about the same population as Finland and is comprised mostly of people with Scandinavian heritage). I grew up going to Scandinavian festivals in small town Minnesota. There are always lots of Norwegian, Finnish, and Swedish cultural celebrations. Knitting/crochet arent all that popular in the United States, so when I started getting into the crafts, naturally I started by looking into Scandinavian creators first
Hi, love your channel, so nice to hang out with you while I work on my projects. I started knitting so randomly. I was telling a friend about how I finally learned to do kip ups after the hundredth TH-cam video on them showed me things in a slightly different way that made it click, and she said she learned to knit through TH-cam and I told her "oh yeah, that's next on my list." Which was a TOTAL lie, I had no interest in knitting, had never even considered it, no idea what possessed me to say that. But a couple weeks later I was bored and suddenly decided well, I told my friend I was going to learn to knit, maybe I should give that a try. 15 years later it's my biggest and most enduring hobby.
That’s such an awesome and adorable knitting origin story! Shout out to that friend
Me! I need to listen to something while I knit on my scrappy blanket 😅
I totally relate on the foot falling asleep thing, but someone told me one time to stomp that foot on the ground and it totally works! It feels really weird for a second but it fixes it super fast! And I prefer it to the weird feeling I have for several minutes haha
I hate sewing as well. I learned when I was younger also. I can crochet and knit and love it, but when it comes to sewing, forget it. I don't mind sewing on buttons or hand-sewing small projects. I hate the sewing machine. We do not mix 😒 I started crocheting first. I was taught by my grandmother when I was 9 which is 41 years ago. She also taught me to knit, but like you, I was only able to do pearl and knit stitches. Crocheting, I was only able to make blankets until I was pregnant with my second child. I forced myself to sit down with a book and learn to actually make things. This was way before TH-cam and there weren't many patterns online. I have been crocheting baby garments since then. By the time I had my third son. I found Etsy and started selling my crochet projects I was making. I did that for 12 years. It got so saturated that I had to quit. I was getting into knitting more then and learned to actually follow patterns and make things. Now I am hooked on Tunisian Crochet. It is like a mix of knitting and crochet, which is right up my alley. That is my ramble lol If you want to try Tunisian Crochet go to TLyarncrafts on TH-cam. She is the best teacher.
I can relate with your internal struggle about the store yarn and my solution is to go for it because I plan to keep all the pieces I knit ❤❤❤
Also, I love how loving your cat is, I have 2 cats which give me little attention so I am jealous
I just love to listen to you talk, even if it goes nowhere 😂 I love the fact that you are just you! In your last video when you were unraveling the yarn, omg i laughed so much! You were laying on the floor, being fed up with it, so reliable lol Never saw that during a project before, but it’s exactly what i would do 🤣🤣🤣 So keep up being you ❤ Greetings from Belgium 😊
Watched this while casting on my 546th rananculus 😂
Oh my gosh! A round of applause for a seasoned rananculus knitter!!!
I really like this style of video! The main reason I got into crocheting was I was spending to much time on my phone and my friend encouraged me to pick up crochet :) I’ve been doing it for a little over a year now and plan on making a blanket soon as well😊
Thants amazing! Thank you for sharing 🥰
So my knitting origin story is that one of my friends happened to be getting into crochet at the time, and I decided I wanted a new hobby too, but I didn't want to steal hers exactly, and I remembered when I was a kid in Joann's with my grandparents (they made jewelry) I always thought the knitting needles were pretty, so that day I just decided "yep, I'm going to learn to knit". It was in the middle of my day at work, so I just went to Walmart after I got off, bought a set of needles and a skein of yarn and went home and started youtubing how to do it. Started my first scarf that day and haven't stopped since! Kinda funny that there really wasn't anything super specific, just one day I decided I wanted to learn to knit and here I am lol
I cannot follow a plot line when crocheting so this video is PERFECT!! And I love your videos ❤️
Sewing is my main hobby so I love it, but I totally see where you are coming from and if it's stressing you out it's not worth it. Don't feel bad buying things you "could" make, that's something that took me a long time to learn but it's fine. There are certain things I just have zero interest in sewing, like tank tops, just no, don't make me.
I came to knitting in much the same way you did. Knowing the basics since I was a teenager but never expanding my skills beyond stitch consistency. In 2021 I caught covid and I had no energy for anything more than moving my fingers so I knit a sweater in a little over a week on a whim and now I can't stop.
A second comment regarding values, because it's easier than to add this onto the other one.
I always think of values and ideals as the optimum. Of course, in a perfect world we wouldn't have wars and starvation and difficulties affording things and all of that. (I know I'm probably exaggerating a bit in my choice of words..) But the reality is by no means perfect, all of those struggles are very real.
I am by absolutely no means rich or even wealthy. Heck, I haven't even figured out what I want to do with my life. But, in the small things, I will do what I can and my own joy is something very important to me. So in my own yarn endeavors I choose a path that is within my budget, but also worth what I make with it.
As an example: The small octopi and flowers I make, are like doodles. I won't use expensive yarn on those, why would I? It's just a doodle, but they still bring me joy nonetheless. However when I make something bigger or more proper then I am a lot more concious of the yarn I use. Sure, sometimes I just find a big ball of fluffy plastic yarn (to put it that way) that inspires me to create my own pattern for a moon pillow, which ends up turning out great. Other times I'll make something that is intended to be worn. Of course I'll pick a natural material over plastic for that, especially for a summery shirt or a baby blanket.
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The world can be a pretty messed up place (or in my view more accurately: some humans are quite messed up), and I only have so much I can do. And I know it might be selfish and egocentric to say, but I refuse to live my life in misery thinking about others wrongdoings or trying to somehow fix their mistakes.
So, in my opinion, the best question(s) regarding yarn-value dilemmas would be:
Do my values actively restrict the joy of my craft? Or does their fulfillment add an additional joy and perhaps pride to my craft?
I am aware that this can be a heavy topic and I am open for other opinions and discussions. Just be aware that I try to take things light hearted and don't intend on invalidating anyone, even if my wordchoice isn't the best in that very moment..
Crazy enough, I did buy that Loops and Threads yarn that you were talking about, although I have yet to try it because there are too many projects and not enough hours! I bought it because Hobby Lobby had a similar yarn that I LOVED that they discontinued and I was looking for an alternative. Not that this helps you with your conundrum, but I thought it was funny, because I DID buy the yarn.