Knit a Year…I’m Doing It

What is Knit a Year? I stumbled across the Knit a Year project while Tweeting about ArtYarn, a British art knitting site that I love.

The Knit a Year project is simply this:

Two rows…at least ten stitches a row…use 4mm needles (u.s. size 6)…a different yarn each day…leave the tail, so that at the end of the year, you have 365 tails or days.

The Web site for Knit a Year is here.

Wanna join in?

It’s easy as pie. Just email Beth Barlow. (Check out the bottom of the page.)

Why am I excited about Knit a Year? I guess it’s because I love fiber and yarn and knitting. I have a disturbingly large stash and lots of unique yarns. Knit a Year will be the ideal adventure for using those yarns.

And so I begin…

March 18, 2010…Day One of 365:

Find the needles – size 6 us. Got ‘em. Find the yarn. I dive into my skeins of stash. What to choose? Ahhhh.

The anchor for the project will be a skein of camel hair yarn. Not just any camel hair, but a skein hand carried from Mongolia to New Hampshire by my friend Sy Montgomery, who at the time was writing a book about the endangered Snow Leopard called Saving the Ghost of the Mountain. When I think that this skein was born in Mongolia, spun there, and traveled so far to be knit in New Hampshire, I get excited. Can I feel the hands, the touch of the spinner as I knit each stitch?

The camel hair is a rich caramel color and filled with life—springy, funky, gnarly…wonderful.

I cast on 18 stitches…for my 18 years with Bill.

I knit and knit and knit. Maybe four rows? I don’t count. I snip the yarn to make a lovely tail.

Day One is complete.

I wonder what yarn I’ll choose tonight.