A heartfelt thank you for your encouranging words. They do make me feel like this return to knitting is journey of the soul that I'm not taking alone, but with all of you - my friends, thanks to the Internet!
Picking up my knitting needles and casting on after eleven years was strange. My hands felt very awkward holding those two pointy objects, and my movements were terribly ungraceful: I made stitches like someone trying to penetrate the hard winter soil with a spade. I'd completely forgotten how to knit, and realized I needed to learn all over again. Also, I saw that couldn't do it by myself.
But my grandmother who'd taught me as a child isn't around any more, my mother lives far away, and there are no bookstores or libraries nearby. To make matters worse, the pattern I'd bought from the Internet was in English: so not only did I have to learn how to knit all over again, but I had to do it in English! In lieu of my nonna and mamma, I found a wonderful virtual American granny, who showed me over and over, in my own time, every step and stitch in soothing English.
There are a lot of opinions circulating about what a time-sink the virtual world of the Internet can be (all voiced over the Internet!). I tend to see things differently: the Internet is such a great and useful tool & resource, especially for people like me who live in the middle of nowhere. Sure, it's a tool that, like everything in life, needs to be used well and wisely, with moderation, and not abused - a crucially important example we must set for the younger generations. But the Internet, at its best, is a wonderful place, where we can connect with people we'd never encounter otherwise.
Thanks to the Internet, I found The KnitWitch, who's uploaded about 50 excellent tutorials on YouTube, and who for several days became my virtual granny, re-teaching me how to knit. In English, over the Internet.
