Got Yarn?

My first Christmas present arrived in the mail a few days ago and I've been delightfully busy ever since. I had asked for a ball winder and my wonderful mother sent it along with a cute note saying "Hope you enjoy it - whatever it is!" I have the best mom!

Armed with my new ball winder, I spent yesterday searching my house for my entire yarn stash. I'm actually still finding yarn today! Then I began the process of winding balls... oh, so much fun! I know, I know... I'm kind of a dork, but - hey! - I love my yarn stash! Having my hands on all this yarn is certainly inspiring... I'm sure I'll be back to knitting soon!

I hope something has your creative juices flowing, too!

K

Knitting Escapades - Part 2

Okay - I'm hooked on knitting (funny pun there if you think about it!)...  =)

Since my last post, I've finished the fingerless mitts I had started and also a hat.  I'm well on my way to finishing a second hat that has knit up fabulously. It's amazing how checking your gauge improves the outcome of your knitting!

So for all of you wanna-be-knitters out there:  If I can do it, so can you!  It's really just a matter of patience and practice.  Check out Knitting Help dot com.. they have great, short videos that show you all the techniques up close.

Here are some pics of my progress:

One of the finished fingerless mitts:

Hat with cable and lace pattern - I checked my gauge very carefully for this hat and it's knitting up to the perfect size for little old me! 

Happy knitting!

Knitting Escapades - Part 1

I've been crocheting my entire life and have made many things with my crochet hook, but knitting has always eluded my skills.  I've made the decision to change that and here we go on my first official knitting project that I intend to finish, no matter what!

The pattern I'm using is for a set of fingerless mitts, which I downloaded for free from Ravelry.  I also purchased a set of bamboo knitting needles, which were recommended by the store clerk at Bobbin's Nest to be easier to use than metal needles for beginners.  A fresh skein of yarn and I'm on my way.

Here is a pic of the cast on stitches - it took me five tries to get the stitches cast on evenly with the first couple of knit rows completed.  I kept dropping stitches or making them too tight - it was frustrating, but I was determined to do it again and again until it seemed just right.

But persevere I did and eventually, I did get the hang of it.  Watching the free videos on Knitting Help dot com really helped.  In fact, I've been trying both English and Continental knitting methods and I've decided the English method works best for my hands.  Here's the next pic and in this one you can actually see the pattern emerging:

And one final pic from yesterday to show the end of my day one efforts.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic of the delight on my face:

Stay tuned....