In my newly acquired copy of Rowan 36, I read about the designer Marion Foale who, after retiring from the fashion scene to bring up her family, taught herself to knit and made such a good job of it that she came back as a knitwear designer. This article made me remember when I cast on for the first time...
My Mum could knit but she didn't have the time to teach me. I didn't have a Grandmother at hand either who would sit patiently and show me how to do it...
So it is much later, when I was about 15 or 16 that I finally learned the art of knitting with my best friend. She had an increasingly large family which meant lots of babies to knit for. She was self-taught and enrolled me for the "good cause". She showed me the ropes and we spent many Saturday afternoons making booties, tiny cardigans , dresses and hats. We even moved on to crochet! Unlike Marion Foale, I didn't keep my first knitted item to frame for posterity. What a shame, I can't even remember what it was... Do you remember your first FO and did you keep it ???
I can't remember the very first one, but one of the firsts must have been mittens I had to make in school at the age of 8 or 9. For those mittens I used two colors (the other one was pink and the other I think it was grey) and there was some very simple colorwork... the pattern was close to the pattern in the sweater Miss B is wearing in my profile picture. The mittens got finished because they were a school project. And I don't have them any more, they were used up.
Posted by: Lene | January 19, 2006 at 08:48 AM
What a lovely post. It is so nice to remember the past of our own, to think about it and the person we once have been. So many pictures I often forget.
At school I hated knitting and sewing and all this stuff, I was really bad in it. But years later, I must have been 13,14 years, I have tried it again, and the only thing I remember is, that I had forgotten to purl on the wrong side and so wondered, that the piece didn´t looked like the usual knitted pieces. No idea anymore what I intended to knit, but I finished knitting again for some years.
Thank you so much for this post, now I will carry sweet memories of the young girl I once was around in my head while doing the housework.
Have a beautiful day,
Suzi
Posted by: Suzi | January 19, 2006 at 11:34 AM
I can't remember my very first knitted item, probably a garter stitch scarf for a doll, but we did knitting at school and I remember that, a horrible bright green square, mine had lots of dropped stitches and took ages to knit. My first garment was at 14 and was a waistcoat in an aran yarn, with a lace panel (well, yarnovers). I was the first in the family to use a pattern!
Dawn
Posted by: dawn | January 19, 2006 at 02:18 PM
My first item was a hideous sampler stitch scarf - it was not a color that looked right on me, so I ended up giving it to my sister. I should raid her closet to try to find it again. I doubt she ever wore it. It was bad! I like th idea of framing it though - seeing how far I have come!
Great post idea, F!
Posted by: Lolly | January 19, 2006 at 07:33 PM
My first knitted FO was a pink acrylic sweater that I still have. I wore it when I was studying in London, and I still have it.
Posted by: erin | January 19, 2006 at 10:03 PM
If you don't count the needles and scrap of yarn that I learned on, my first item was a Lopi sweater. Yes, I started a mobius a few times, but after a few trips to the frog pond I figured it out. I learned to knit in college, 20+ years later I still wear that sweater.
Posted by: Kat | January 19, 2006 at 11:04 PM
I love this post. I don't remember my first item that I knit. However, I do remember learning to knit and getting all frustrated and throwing the whole thing across the room. I think that I was too young...maybe 6 or 7 years old or so.
Posted by: Diane | January 20, 2006 at 01:40 AM
My was an orange acrylic yarn lovingly knitted into a garter stitch scarf that had a few additional stitches down one side due to not getting the hang of having my yarn on the right side. I ran out of yarn before it was long enough and added some dark grey acrylic for contrast ;)
I can remember having an attractive hole on one side too, obviously my first attempt at lace knitting. Have I kept it.....er no!
Posted by: Tracy | January 20, 2006 at 09:58 AM
A yellow garter stitch scarf for Mr Bunny. I was 6 and we lived in Aden at the time. A vivid memory.
Posted by: Brigid | January 20, 2006 at 09:59 AM
Absolutely! A vest, with seed stitch borders. Dark brown. I kept it for the longest time, until things I began knitting for my children replaced it in sentiment.
Posted by: Kim | January 20, 2006 at 12:41 PM
I love this pictures and the posts are always so nice.
My first knitting was a little gnome with a red cap. I was very young maybe 6 or 7 years old
Posted by: mumintroll | January 20, 2006 at 02:43 PM
Yes, and I still own it. Haven't worn it for years, but it's languishing somewhere at the bottom of my wardrobe at home, at my parents' place.
It was a crazy-looking hat made from all sorts of scraps of left-over yarn that didn't have the same gauge - not even remotely. A good friend of mine and I decided together that it would be incredibly 'cool' if we had matching crazy hats for the skiing holiday we were going on and, without a pattern, but with a little help from my aunt, actually managed to knit a kind of father xmas hat (a long triangle with a pompom at the tip).
The whole thing was something like 40-50cm long and looked ridiculous. We still wore it for the entire skiing trip though!
I'm feeling quite nostalgic over it now. Should dig it up, maybe wear it again... although my husband may decide to lock me up if he sees me wearing it. ;-)
Posted by: Iris | January 20, 2006 at 02:55 PM
no... i did not keep my first FO. should have, though. but i still have the yarn of that sweater, which i may one day make a small version of it.
Posted by: blossom | January 20, 2006 at 04:08 PM
Je pense que mon 1ier FO a du voir le jour vers mes 6 ans. Un pull tube rouge pétard pour ma Barbie. Mais où est-il maintenant ??? Et mes Barbies ????
Posted by: Dorothée | January 20, 2006 at 04:14 PM
I clearly remember my first FO. It was a mohair hip length cardigan from a Womans Weekly pattern and it had a brightly coloured fair isle yoke. I seem to remember my Mum helping me a lot with the yoke. I wore it alot and regret now throwing it away when it went out of fashion or got ratty - I don't remember now which happened first!
Posted by: Carol | January 21, 2006 at 03:11 PM
My first FO was a baby blanket for my youngest daughter. And she still has it!
Posted by: Donna | January 21, 2006 at 10:33 PM
My first FO was a garter-stitch stole from Suss Cousins' "Hollywood Knits." It was pretty much a disaster - I added and subtracted stitches without knowing it while knitting, and so the thing was completely uneven. I can't even remember what I did with it! But hey, that's how you learn. Cool post, Francoise.
Posted by: Elizabeth | January 22, 2006 at 04:21 PM
Believe it or not, it was a pink scarf, and my FATHER wore it proudly! No, I don't have it, and it was not with his things when he passed, so at some point it must have been discarded.
Posted by: TrevorKane | January 23, 2006 at 12:28 AM
My first knitted item was a monster garter stitch scarf when I was about 6 or 7 years old. It was pretty much all the colours of the rainbow and the width varied widely up the length of the scarf because I couldn't keep my stitch count the same (I don't think I realised that this was necessary!). I gave it to a good friend of my mum's - a man - who wore it until it fell apart. Bless the man!
Posted by: Noo | January 24, 2006 at 10:05 AM
Mon premier FO ? C'était un bonnet, à faire en classe à 8 ans. Rouge-orange bien vif (années 70). A 7 ans, c'était la trousse pour appareil photo en crochet et en jaune canari ! Je l'ai gardée longtemps ...
Posted by: Nathalie | January 24, 2006 at 03:14 PM