Other side

  

Missing pictures of felted bag

  

The DEEP End

My knitting story continues...

After completing the poncho, I attempted a couple more projects. I knit an open weave t-shirt which is scheduled to be frogged (didn't quite come out the way I had planned). My next lesson was learning about gauge. I knit the Funky Funnel Neck Fun sweater from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Simple Knits, using Lion Brand Homespun in the color Prairie. Whoops, knit the whole thing using the wrong size needles (so THAT is what a swatch is for!).

I decided it was time for some formal instruction. I checked out the class list for one of my LYS. In the list was a mitered square felted purse (with the description "the next thing after a scarf"). Perfect I thought! So, I ran down, signed up, purchased the wonderful Manos del Uruguay yarn and eagerly anticipated the first class. Fortunately, it turned out to be a semi-private class. They started with a long-tail cast on. All I had ever known was the simple cast-on. So, imagine someone who has never done a long tail cast-on, casting on 97 stitches. You KNOW I didn't get the length of the tail right. My instructor (who sadly has moved on, hopefully not due to her experience with me!)rescued me and cast on my stitches. I won't bore you with all the gruesome details, but at the end of many weeks, and with much hand holding, I accomplished mitered squares, kitchener stitch, i-cord bind-off, and felting! Here is the awesome (even if I do say so myself!) finished project:

Sandy, the incredible knitting companion

Don't you just love animals? Their unconditional love is such a blessing! This is my knitting buddy Sandy. She is our pound pup and is about 10 years old. We think she is a mixture of tibetan and wheaten terrier. She loves to watch TV, and can spot another dog on the TV by sight, and whines and wants to join it.

The first time I noticed this I was watching TV and stopped on the Kennel Club dog show. The dogs on the screen were being run in a circle, Sandy started barking and running around the corner into our closet, looking for where they were going!

I suspect that Sandy and her antics may find their way into this blog from time to time, hopefully bringing joy to your life, as she does to ours.

How did I get here?

Less than a year ago, inspired by the talent and enthusiasm of my daughter http://knittingpencils.blogspot.com/ I decided to try knitting again. I had vague recollections of having knit a scarf and possibly a hat in my early childhood, but since then I had been exploring other avenues for my creativity. I was amazed at how quickly the basic stitches came back to me, and delighted by the peace the act of knitting brought me. I started with the requisite scarf, but in some of the new novelty yarns. With the large needles, and open pattern I was done in no time, ready to move on. My next project was Jen's poncho, from Sally Melville's The Knitting Experience Book 1. This is a perfect early project using basic garter stitch and consists of two rectangles. Unfortunately, due to my beginner nature I was determined to use the yarn suggested, and the only color they had in the quantity I needed was a dull brown. To this day I am still contemplating dying it, or donating it, since it is not a color I am likely to wear. I will share more about my journey in the next post... stay tuned to hear about my jump into the deep end!