Food for Thought

I was feeling a little philosophical at work today and started thinking about how I knit. Specifically, how I knit loosely and have trouble getting the right gauge. I always have to go down a needle size or two. Worsted weight? 7's. Socks? Size 0, and sometimes that seems a little too loose. What does this have to do with anything? Well, let me start with telling you how I learned to knit.

*** queue flashback sequence ***

I decided rather suddenly about 3 years ago that I wanted to learn how to knit. This was without even knowing that knitting was becoming "the" thing to do. With no one to show me how, I chose Melanie Falick's fantastic Kids Knitting book as my teacher, figuring anything geared towards kids could not be too intimidating. I went out and purchased yarn and needles that I liked at Hobby Lobby (both chosen by color - cream yarn, silver needles). When I received the book from Amazon, I sat right down and tried to learn. This is the first thing I ever knitted:





Fantastic, you say. What does this have to do with anything? Well, the yarn and needles I had chosen where Lion Brand Chunky and size 8 needles. The recommended needle size on that particular yarn is 10.

Do you think learning with needles too small for the yarn many have had some impact on why I knit loosely now?

Not that it matters... just something to think about.