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For the Love of Sweaters
By Lisa J. Ellis
My true love is knitting sweaters, and my hope is that my story will inspire you to knit a sweater.
I learned how to knit at a very young age from my mother, who was an avid knitter and crocheter. I wasn't taught how to read a knitting pattern, so I would just knit to knit. By the time I had my first child, I had knit four so-called "free form" sweaters (meaning no pattern) and a couple of ever-growing garter stitch blankets.
I took a six-month maternity leave and thank goodness for that, because the knitting bug hit me upside the head like you wouldn't believe after my baby girl was born. I had this maternal urge, this desire to knit baby sweaters. This time, however, I decided to try to knit from a pattern.
I actually didn't know how to follow a pattern and I had also forgotten many of the basics, so I signed up for a beginning knitting class to get back on track. It was the best money I had ever spent. I learned a better cast on method, how to read basic patterns, and how to finesse my decreases, increases and seaming.
That was all it took—a little guidance from a knitting instructor—and I was off and running. I must have made 20 baby sweaters for the many baby showers to follow. My two baby girls are now tweens, and I still occasionally make baby sweaters for my nieces and nephews, but now I also knit sweaters for myself.
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Every winter, just after Christmas, is when I get that urge to knit myself a sweater. The urge actually begins in early September as the kids are going back to school and the weather begins to change, but I am beginning my knitted gifts for the holidays and there is no time to be selfish. I'll knit fun purses, hats, and felted slippers for family and friends and a festive holiday shell for myself. Once Christmas has passed, though, I head to the nearest yarn store and treat myself to enough yarn to make a sweater for myself.
So, my true love is knitting sweaters. Sweaters are a timeless fashion. My grandmother was a knitter. She knit a sweater for my aunt when my aunt was 16 years old. My grandmother has since passed, and my aunt has passed this sweater on to me. The sweater is now 50 years old and looks just as good today as the day it was knit. This sweater connects me to three generations of knitters—now, how cool is that?
My hope is to inspire you to knit a sweater. If you already are knitting sweaters, then may this 50-year-old sweater remind you that the love, time and expense put into your hand-knit sweaters may be treasured well beyond your years.
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Lisa in the sweater that her grandmother
knitted 50 years ago for her aunt. |
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Watch for Wardrobe Favorites, Lisa's next sweater collection, in January. |
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Lisa J. Ellis is the designer behind Fun Time Sweaters (Leisure Arts #4450) and the upcoming Wardrobe Favorites book, scheduled for publication in January. Her sweaters can also be found in Knit Along with Debbie Macomber: Debbie's Favorites (Leisure Arts #4692). Like many knitters, Lisa originally learned the skill from her mother. While a student in college, Lisa encountered a European method for knitting fit-as-you-go garments without the use of written instructions. It was an experience that helped her grow as a designer, and it continues to inspire her work. These days, Lisa is an avid gardener, cook, and mother of two girls. She is also a knitting instructor who teaches in several yarn shops in the Greater Seattle/Tacoma area.
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