The Recovery

Here is the second installation of that little miniseries about Free Form Knitting.

Wednesday, 2:30 pm

I return from class today reminded that I have a project to finish. Finally I make the right decision. I pop Margaret Hubert back in the DVD player to search for a little instruction. It isn’t long before my answer appears. I should have tried using the basic square pattern that Margaret recommends. It includes instructions on how to use your varied yarns and involves several types of stitches. I cast on, switch out Margaret’s DVD for a comedy, and knit away.

Wednesday, 8:00 pm

My first square is finished, and I couldn’t be more proud. This looks like free form. Did I cheat by following a pattern? No. It was the perfect way to get an understanding of free form. It is important to use a variety of yarns and stitches but to a purpose: creativity, maybe even art. I don’t want to be an elitist about knitting, but the more I knit, the more I think of it as becoming more art than craft. Free form and its opportunities for creativity solidified those feelings for me. Picking up a certain yarn and using it in a certain stitches can be an expression, and I can’t wait to stray from the pattern so I can feel this freedom.

Friday, 12:00 pm

My first truly creative opportunity arrives when I begin to knit the top flap. I have made a second square by now. All I need to finish this baby up is the flap, but I don’t want it to be a rectangle, which I don’t have a particular pattern for. I grab a yarn, cast on as many stitches as the width of my squares and knit across. I continue in strip pattern for awhile, just grabbing whichever yarn I wanted to work with next whenever I wanted a change. Somewhere near the top I pop in a stitch provided in Margaret Hubert’s pattern book, which accompanies the DVD (I would strongly recommend purchasing a collection of stitches as you will have to use a large variety of stitches in free form). Finally things were getting fun.

Friday, 7:00 pm

My second purse is complete, and it’s gorgeous! Even my boyfriend is impressed. I stitched the lining in so patiently and evenly. I even added a button! The only thing it’s missing is a handle, and I’m not sure if it’s sturdy enough for me to add one now.