On my birthday…
I’d like to share with you one of my greatest accomplishments. No, this isn’t about my kids, or about my husband, or about my job…but my hobby.
I’ve been knitting for a bit over ten years. My mom gave me some needles and some icky acrylic (not that all acrylic is icky) yarn, and I knit a rectangle. I wasn’t so impressed with it, but I moved on to some scarves for me and the hubby, then one for the mother-in-law. (Let’s not even ask if she ever wore it.) I’ve knit: blankets for my two older girls, a baby sweater, numerous hats, pair of socks, a few bunnies, and a bunch of other stuff. I’ve helped people knit things I would never ever knit.
But my pride and joy is the Jerusalem Knit N’ Nosh. I started this group about 3 1/2 years ago…right after Passover. I had been attending a different knitting group the previous summer, and it had ended due to a variety of reasons.
I posted a message to Janglo, and I think two people turned up. They have become two of my most reliable members! (One even helped to found a breakaway group…which, of course, has my blessing.) The numbers have ebbed and flowed, and we have changed locations a few times. We started out at a special cafe, then to a hotel lobby, then to another cafe, and now I think we are really home at Cafe Joe on the corner of Keren Hayesod in Jerusalem. We have an awesome manager, Erez, who says he wants to learn to knit….and maybe getting a few gifts from us knitters this Hanukkah. (shh don’t tell…) Our group is up to about 7 regulars, and another 2-5 that rotate through. We meet bi-monthly (twice a month, not once every two months) and just knit, chat etc.
This group is very special to me because we are a varied group—ages, skills, experiences. The only thing missing for me is that it is a very English speaking group. Since our size is actually very good, I’m leery of trying to grow the group, and I don’t know how it would be for non-English speakers. Not all our members are comfortable in Hebrew, and I wouldn’t want to make it awkward.
This group has helped me through knitting traumas (ripping out a large portion of a sweater), personal traumas and has also been there for the simchas of a new baby (with gifts….) and moving apartments.
I’m very glad that I created this group, and I hope we can just grow in size and strength.
