Knitworthy

This started out as a post about the moment when I knew my fiance was knitworthy, but the more I thought about it, the more it grew. It isn't just that he's knitworthy, its that his being knitworthy highlights so many of the reasons I love him. 

The first thing I ever knit for my fiance was a hat. It was a terrible hat. We were on a trip, it was colder than expected, and he didn't have a hat. The only spare yarn I had was crummy, and the only needles I had with me were the wrong size for the yarn. (Why did I have crummy yarn without needles the right size to use it if I wanted to? There are some questions better left unasked.) But I whipped out a crummy hat in an hour or so, and it kept him warm(er) for that trip. Given the total lack of time, energy and love committed to that hat, I wouldn't have been upset at all if he got rid of it upon return to his hats of superior usefulness at home. But he didn't. A few years later, when we were cleaning out our stuff in preparation to move, he still had the hat! He had kept it just because I made it for him. I convinced him to pass it along in the donation box- but I knew in that moment that he was a keeper, and knitworthy to boot. 

The next thing I made him was a pair of "gloves", his "Teradactyl" gloves. He helped pick out the pattern, and it was the first thing I ever made with my own handspun yarn. Not only does he still wear them all the time, but he proudly shows them off to everyone.

A few months ago, a spinning wheel practically fell into my lap. When I told my fiance I was bringing it home, I expected a response about where the hell would it go? and why do I need more stuff for knitting/spinning? and why was I spending money on this? but all I got was "Awesome!" Which is way more supportive than I would probably have been- so, lesson learned better half! During the following weeks of repairs and finishing to get the wheel back into prime condition, he was very curious- to the point that I think I might get him spinning someday. Now, I'm sure part of that is because he's an engineer, and wanting to know how things work is in his blood... 

And then, the socks. The socks that got me thinking about how lucky I am to have such a knitworthy partner. I already posted about how he allowed himself to be dragged into being my excuse to buy yarn in France, so I could make him socks (I've been trying to convince him that I should make him socks for awhile now) and every time I tried them on his feet he got a more eager look on his face. I'm a little worried that I'm ruining him for storebought socks and will have my hands full knitting him socks for the rest of my life, but mostly I can't wait to see the look on his face when they're finished and he can wear them for real. And that started me thinking about how he doesn't just pretend to be interested in what I'm working on, or in going to mills and petting sheep and spotting knitterly things while travelling- he really is interested, because he's interested in me. 

Then I thought about how thrilled he was when I got my first pattern accepted by Knit Picks, and when they featured it in the Knit Picks catalogue, and what a tolerant glove and hat model he's been, and how supportive he's been of my endeavors with Knitolution and I realized- I am truly blessed to have such wonderful, curious, intelligent, interested, supportive partner. That's how I knew he was knitworthy.