Yarns!

I'm pretty new to knitting, but I really enjoy it and hope to get better at it. I started learning it over last summer, when I was living at Tracy Circle. Leading up to the wedding, we got the idea that we should have "marriage challenges." Tasks that we had to complete in order to prove our husband-y and wife-iness. I think Paul was going to have to change the oil in the car or something.

Anyways, it turned out to be a great excuse to force myself to learn knitting. I decided I would knit Paul a scarf. Since Paul doesn't really wear scarves, I ended up inheriting it for my own.



For anybody who is just starting out with knitting, I would absolutely recommend making a scarf first. It's a really great way to get a feel for the stitches, and get into the rhythm of it. This scarf is done with a size 10.5 needle, doing the knit stitch throughout. I didn't even attempt any fancy stuff like purling until after I finished this guy. I didn't really mind the repetitiousness of just doing one thing for so long. It was kind of meditative, just clearing your mind and cranking out rows. Zen Knitting!

The current project I'm working on is a present for Paul's cousin Amy who is having a baby in July. I'm doing this hat and bootie pattern I found. It was a good one for beginners, because it does everything on two straight needles, rather than on a circular needle thing (which quite frankly, seems crazy hard). I actually finished the hat already, about a month ago. Behold!


I thought this yarn was pretty good for a unisex shower gift, it has a nice touch of lavender color in it. Amy and her husband are letting the gender be a suprise, which is something I don't think I could do. If you've ever tried to keep what you got me for christmas a secret, you'd know that I'm insufferable.

I'm pretty proud of how this one came out. It was a good project to learn how to do a few new stitches (ribbing and stockinette), and how to make things get wider and narrower. I've sort of stalled on the gift making productivity front now though. I blame the booties. I've restarted them like, at least 3 times, and they always come out wonky and weird, with random gaping holes in them. They're small, so I only ever spend about an hour on them before I reach the half-way point, find the pattern instructions incomprehensible, attempt to muddel through, and end up with something that looks vaguely like a spider web before giving up.

Oh well. I'm going to try again soon. But I can't help but feel like doing something fun and easy would be a good break from this tricky project. When I wen up to visit my cousin Megan in New Hampshire, she gave me a bunch of knitting supplies she didn't want anymore. She had forsaken knitting, and told me that crocheting was way faster and easier. Included in the supplies was this really pretty, super-soft skein of yarn.

I was thinking of doing something like this. It doesn't look like it would take me super long, and It would let me enjoy knitting again. Damn you bottie pattern, I'll crack your cipher yet!


PS: Hooray First Blog Post!