Here we go...

Well, I'm not sure what is possessing me to do this but here goes...I have a blog!!! Yikes! I am bookmarking new blogs to read everyday but the only one I actually manage to check and read every day is Yarn Harlot (she the Goddess of Knitting blogs, funny women, amazing knitters).

I have only been knitting since February of 2005 (14 months and counting) but have already moved into the Obsessive Knitter status. As Stephanie says, I am a Knitter with a capital K. It makes a difference. Most days I feel like I can't knit fast enough... I have so many projects on needles and ten times more in my head. I can't imagine what it is like to have been knitting all of my life. I am so jealous of those lucky ones. My mom was a good knitter. She is still alive but no longer knits because of hand issues (carpal tunnel and a degenerative bone disease). I tried to have her teach me how to knit when I was in high school but she is not a patient teacher and on our best days we have a sort of guarded truce. I used to say that she was a great knitter and in her own way was. I just never realized what else was out there...socks, fair isle, intarsia, steeks, etc... She was a very good knitter just not a very adventerous. I think she was worried about some things being too difficult. Me, bring it on....

I am a process knitter. I care more about the 'doing' of the knitting than the what. I give away most of the FOs. I also LOVE the math of knitting. With some measurements and some imagination you can make anything. I have already made 8 sweaters but only used someone elses pattern for the first two. After that I purchased a book on basic pattern shapes and designed my own. Granted, we are talking about a simple basic shape, the drop shoulder but that's okay, I made all 8 before December. So, I had been knitting less than 10 months.

I started with a baby blanket that I would be mortified to see now ( the errors are many and very visible). From there it was scarves, a few hats, the aformentioned sweaters, a couple of ponchos, a capelett, a few felted bags, and finally socks.

I have been challenging myself with different projects up until the socks...I am hooked!! My goal for the 2006 Knitting Olympics was to complete my first sock (singular). After dropping $18.75 on one 100 gram skein of sock yarn at LYS I was terrified that I would botch it and "waste" said money. So, I got out some worsted weight Patton's wool that I had dyed with the kool-aid method and proceeded to learn the basic formula for socks. I grossly underestimated the length of my foot and was in too big a hurry to bother actually measuring it or trying the sock on. I mean after all, it is MY foot. I should be able to eye-ball how long my sock should be....or not. The mate to that first sock is a bit longer. They are however, amazingly forgiving and very comfortable. In fact, I am wearing them as I type this! Anyway, I then made socks for my 2 year old with the same yarn. It was so much harder (his feet are so small) and then so much easier (his feet are so small). I went from dpn (wrestling with a porcupine) to two circs (wrestling with two twining ivys) to one long circ and I was hooked! I never thought I would knit on anything smaller than a size 8US but am now the exstatic owner of 2 pairs of long Turbos in size 1US and wouldn't want to make socks on anything bigger! I did try the same size needles purchased at the craft store but found that the join between the cable and needle cought my yarn on EVERY round. The Addi Turbos really do live up to all of the hype and I will never buy another brand...they are that good!

Suffice it to say this is more than I thought I would post first time out and at least as disjointed as I feared. But it feels good to be able to start expressing what I am knitting, thinking about knitting, dying,.