Relearning to Knit……

The Deep network put out a request for playmates to knit 5” squares to put together and form a “DEEP Hug” blanket…..for some reason I thought it might be an opportunity to relearn how to knit.🙄

Many moons ago, when the girls were little I used to knit all the time. Knit them toys, knit them jumpers with “Left, Right, Front and Back” when they were learning to dress themselves….all manner of things and nothing was beyond me. I could knit, talk, watch telly…nothing distracted these automatic fingers weaving the wool deftly between needles, creations growing and appearing in days…….so surely I would remember how to knit 🤔…bit like riding a bike…🤪…..nope…🙄

I had some wool, as I use that when I’m talking to children about dementia. I ask a group of 5 to come and help me, put them in a circle, with their hands outstretched and wind the wool in a tangle round and round all their tiny hands. This I call a brain! I tell them that their brain is working really well. I then get a pair of scissors and start cutting strands, telling them that bits of my brain are broken and don’t work as well……crikey gone totally off piste now 😂🙄

Anyway, so I had wool but needed knitting needles. Obviously can’t just pop to the shops at the mo😔. I’ve grown to love my village Facebook page. It’s been a lovely way to meet and help locals during this new world where in….so I put a plea out on there..

“Does anyone have any spare knitting needles I can borrow. Not sure what size I need but for double knitting”

I explained what I was attempting to make and within minutes offers of help started to come through…❤️….the first person, whose name I didn’t recognise, offered to leave some on my doorstep. When I asked if she needed my address, she answered no, she knew where I lived 😳……so a few hours later I noticed someone coming up my path, leaving a bag on my doorstep. I also noticed it was a woman who often shouted “hello Wendy” to me on my trundles….still don’t know who she is but she was soooo kind and left me, not only the needles but a huge bag of wool as well! How kind was that….I thanked her from my doorstep and she left saying she wanted to see the results on our facebook page…🤪…so now I have no excuse 🙄

I looked at the wool, looked at the needles and didn’t have a clue where to start, so that’s when You Tube came into action….first showing me how to cast on….playing it over and over for each stitch until I’d got the right number (playmate Dory had told me how many I needed)….then I watched another You Tube for how to knit the square, over and over and over and over 😂. I kept having to stop it as it was going too fast for me!!

You tube told me to find a pattern with letters of the alphabet on ….. not my brightest idea to try and knit each individual letter of “Minds and Voices” onto individual squares🙄……but that’s what I’d decided so that’s what I had to do….

I printed off some graph paper, as You tube told me…and set out marking out where the stitches should go…..crikey, I don’t remember knitting being this complicated 😳….doing one sheet at a time for each letter……WHY oh WHY did I have to start with the letter ‘M’….why didn’t I think to start off slowly and do “I”….😂

Then came the knitting. Soon realised I didn’t have a scooby doo how many rows I’d done…pull it out and start again, only this time with pen and paper at my side🙄

And so it continued…..hopefully the ‘M’ is the hardest letter as I had to stop, pull out and start that one again several times….but I got there!!!! Well sort of….not brilliant but ok.

Me thinks we might have to be in lockdown quite some time for me to finish this but it’s keeping me happy and occupied and thinking while I’m on with it….I’ve found that when I start a square I have to carry on and finish it, no matter how many hours it takes me as I can’t just pick it up the next day and continue….only did that once before realising and having to start all over again! …..just completed ‘I’…..so only umpteen squares to go…I could be here quite some time……who’s idea was this anyway..?😂

In case anyone is interested ….today my book is on special offer for the kindle version for 99p! Bargain!