There was something about knitting that always appealed to me as a child.  I was enchanted by women who were in the midst of knitting something, and would watch them as they wielded their handiwork on a skein of yarn.   By the time I was eight years old, I was dead set on learning the art of knitting, and since my mother did not know how to knit, I ended up going to the library and borrowing a book on knitting.  I then asked my mom to take me to the local hobby shop, where I purchased three skeins of acrylic yarn: one pale yellow, one ivory, and one navy blue.

I remember studying the illustrations which accompanied the instructions for casting on stitches, knitting, and purling, and I caught on quickly.  And since I was reading a book with right-handed instructions, I learned to knit right-handed even though I am left-hand dominant with crocheting, writing, drawing, painting and eating.  To this day, I knit right-handed.

When I was in my teens and 20’s, I knitted scarves, afghans and a sweater which I proudly wore until the oppressively hot 100% acrylic yarn made wearing it next to impossible.  I didn’t pick up knitting needles again until February of this year.  For whatever reason, I suddenly missed the meditative, repetitive motion of knitting, and decided to tackle a project.  I purchased yarn and circular knitting needles, downloaded a knitting pattern for a cardigan sweater, and started knitting.

I had my heart set on a long sweater duster, so I extended the lower body pattern to accommodate the longer length.  I used the exact brand and weight of yarn which was used in the pattern, but because the extra length was so heavy, the panel stretched out so much that it looked warped.  My hopes dashed for a long sweater coat, I stared at the panel, trying to figure out how I was going to salvage it.  Was I going to use it as a throw blanket?  No, it was slightly too small for that.  I draped the panel over my shoulders and toyed with the idea of a poncho, when I came up with an idea.  What if I fashioned the corners into sleeves?  I began pinning and measuring, and once I figured out a design, I sewed up the panel, creating sort of a kimono sleeve coat.

What do you guys think?