Sometime in the late 1990’s, I saw a sheepdog demonstration at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games I had an epiphany – the skies opened, a beam of light hit me, and I heard the sounds of horns (or maybe it was bagpipes) and I saw the life I wanted. I realized that if I wanted a sheepdog, I would need sheep. If I had sheep, I would need to do something with the fleece. To do something with the fleece, I would need to learn to spin. If I was spinning yarn, I would need to learn to knit.
Dad and Aunt Elizabeth, 1947
I learned the basic stitches from a terrific little book by Vicki Square called The Knitter’s Companion. I had a pattern book called Homespun, Handknit and the advice and patient correction of my Aunt Elizabeth. “Try relaxing your hands a bit.”
Soon after completing a garter stitch scarf that turned out to be in the shape of a polygon , I moved to Norway and was looking for a way to share what I was doing with with friends and family in North Carolina. I stumbled on a few knitting blogs:
- Carolyn Zick’s Dangerous Chunky – which is sadly no more, but you can follow her on Instagram
- Becky Delgado‘s Fluffa! at SkinnyRabbit.com
- Modeknit by Annie Modesitt
- Amy Singer‘s blog, which is now Knittyblog.com. Amy is the creator of Knitty.com and is active on Instagram personally and has another account for Knitty.
- Shetha Nolke‘s blog – you can also find Shetha on Instagram
- Ellen Margulies who is a contributor to the fiber arts blog at the Times Union and is on Instagram
- and Wendy J. Johnson’s WendyKnits – if you need a floofy kitty fix, follow her and Loki the Wonder Cat
- Lisa Shobhana Mason who is also on Instagram
- Kate Wisson‘s blog. Kate taught me to spin by email but I’ve lost touch over the years.
- And several more that I’m forgetting at the moment!
So I started one too and called it Bagatell. I added it to the Knitting Blogs webring, which at the time was only about a dozen or so blogs.
That early group of knitting bloggers are featured heavily in the wildly popular book Stitch n Bitch – the Knitter’s Handbook by Debbie Stoller and in the first issue of Knitty.com – that’s Kate Wisson on the cover! We even had a miniature launch party on Wendy’s little chat feature on her blog. Ah, nostalgia.
Based on a post on Bagatell, Amy asked me to write a feature on Knitty called Techniques with Theresa.
The articles have been referenced in some cool places, like:
- the wikipedia page on Grafting (Kitchener Stitch)
- in the reference section for the Master Knitting program of TKGA
- in the back of various knitting pattern books – which makes me squeal with delight every time I see a new one.
My knitting seems to have slowed down since returning to North Carolina. The weather (and my internal temperature regulation) are very different, but you can find me on Ravelry (raveler #157!) and learn more about patterns I’ve designed on the Patterns page.