My first knitting project

These days I might seem like an Olympic-standard knitter (for example, consider these stockings, or this hot water bottle cover) but this scarf is the first thing I knitted on my own. YES THAT'S RIGHT, ALL ON MY OWN. Using my very own hands and fingers and brain powers. OK, my grandmother did the casting on and off. But the rest of it was my handiwork. Apart from when stitches multiplied on the needles without my bidding, and Gran had to take over. So about 80% solo. The neon, 1990s colour scheme was all my own design.

After weeks (months, even?) of accidental slipped stitches I presented it to my mother. If she'd said 'wow, this is really good, now let's store it away so it doesn't get damaged [and no other humans need to look at it]' I would have moved onto other childhood pursuits. Like painting or rollerblading or dancing to Spice Girls videos in front of The Chart Show. But she wore it to collect me for primary school, and the pride my seven-year-old self felt encouraged me to keep knitting. Parents, be warned: if you don't want to encourage your child to pursue a time-consuming and potentially costly hobby, don't praise them.