I mentioned a little while back that I was working on a scarf, my first knitting project. I used my amazing new circular needles, which I’m rabidly in love with. I’ve never been a big DIY person for some reason, more because of my laziness and high expectations than because of any fear of making things with my hands (on the contrary, making things is actually one of my favorite things to do). At first, I wanted a big, fat mustard yellow scarf to wear in the cold and generally dwarf my body (admittedly, not a difficult feat, as I’m already dwarfed by most tween children), but I decided to make it mostly grey instead and favor the sort of patchy yarn combinations that Rodarte has perfected in the last few years. I’ve got a much bigger and more daunting project in the works now, especially this scarf is my first knitting experience.

I like knitting and crocheting more than my other half-assed DIY projects (in fact, I don’t really consider knitting “DIY”, it’s more just a craft), because, for some reason, the amount of time and effort you put into it makes it more rewarding. My newly made scarf is a lovingly whipped up piece of clothing, as opposed to a stapled/pinned/shredded “trend” piece that will either fall apart in about 10 minutes, or I’ll get sick of, since I didn’t care enough about the piece to spend any money on it in the first place. I’m definitely not discrediting DIY in any way, I think it’s really great when people take fashion into their own hands and put together something really great that they want to wear. But for me, DIY is almost more about the process, and about learning a new skill or working on an old one, than about making something I want.

One of the best examples of someone who takes DIY to a level beyond “oh shredded t-shirts are so cool, I’ll make myself one” is Luxirare. She really takes a lot of care and effort in her handmade pieces, and it’s pretty clear that she isn’t just throwing pieces together for the sake of being on-trend. Similarly, with my knitting projects I want to make things that will last, that I want to make for personal, almost emotional reasons (yes, I realize how silly I am, getting emotionally invested in clothing). That beaming, chest-swelling feeling I get when I make something I am really proud of is intoxicating in a way that doing quick, trend-based DIY’s just isn’t.

Quick DIY’s are fun, and it feels good to make something that you like without slaving over details and skilled work, but for me, more carefully thought-out and time-consuming projects are more sustainable long-term. And since I’m pretty horrendous at sewing, for now I’ll stick to knitting, and think about the best way to approach my ultimate goal of learning how to sew.

Soundtrack of the day: Love Cry by Four Tet
Wearing: hand knit scarf, Rodarte for Target lace cardigan, dad’s jeans, Givenchy lace ankle boots

xx,
Lauren