UFO's

Here's what I'm working on at the moment:

• multidirectional diagonal scarf for a Christmas present. Noro Kuyeron. Free pattern by Karen Baumer here

• another Christmas present scarf, also in Noro Kureyon, from Claire Crompton's The Knitter's Bible: Knitted Accessories: the mighty mitred squares scarf. First square completed and frogged.

• a ribbed scarf for me. Noro Silk Garden. I'm following Jared's instructions (here) but with different colors.

• healing shawl for my mom, who is never warm. Lion Brand Homespun. Free pattern here

• dishcloths, various patterns, when I need a change from one of the above. So far I've used Grandmother's favorite and Chinese waves (PDF file here). Next up, a ballband pattern.

I have a number of sock yarns but I have yet to delve into socks... that's my next project. I want to make a pair (or two) of handwarmers, too. And I have yarn and pattern for a poncho. I know, I know. Ponchos are probably hopelessly out of style now, but I like them, I want to make one, and I march to my own fashion drummer, no matter how out of step I may be with trends.

And of course I have a bit of a stash with yarns for undetermined projects.

That's it for the moment. Stay tuned

Knit spit beginnings...

I decided to dedicate a blog to my knitting and my struggles and successes with it. I'm a novice knitter but getting borderline obsessive about it, so a blog is in order, right?

my knitting history

I started with embroidery and crochet when I was pretty young -- 6 or 7 -- my grandmother got me going and I took off from there. I progressed on to photography, quilting, leaded and copper foil stained glass, cross stitch, among others. Sometime in my early 30's I decided it would be cool to learn to knit so I made several baby blankets. I was surprised at how well they turned out and was enthralled with the idea of knitting but intimidated enough that I never progressed past anything flat, and I eventually let the whole thing drop. Besides, it was hard for me to handle the needles. No matter how many books I looked at or knitters I talked with, the process just wasn't comfortable for me.

Now, some 20 or so years later, I'm walking through a craft store right by the yarn section -- and wow, what yarns! When did all this happen? The textures, the colors, the feel... the colors!! I was drawn in again and picked up my old knitting needles (and some new ones), hauled out what few references I had, and started knitting again.

However, although I was drawn to the idea of knitting, it still wasn't working for me the way I thought it should. I saw it as a smooth process, something that would be almost meditative in its motion and patterns, and yet I was struggling to hold the yarn over my fingers, maintain tension, and get an even gauge.

Then something made me look up a knitting video on the internet. Continental knitting. It only took a minute into the video for me to realize that this was my problem -- I'd been trying to throw the yarn and apparently, for whatever reason, that just doesn't work well for me. It took me less than 5 minutes of continental knitting to get the hang of it. This is what I wanted knitting to be! No more dropping the needle to move the yarn over the point -- I could do everything in one smooth motion! It was smooth, it was meditative, it was no longer a struggle, and I was hooked for good!

I'm still a beginner, by my count, but I'm having a blast with it, trying not to get obsessive about knitting, and learning new things with every project I try.

And that's what it's all about anyway -- the journey. Happy trails, everyone!