Downward facing shut your pie-hole

When I first started knitting a couple of years ago, I had absolutely no idea what was going on at all. Someone taught me to cast on, and I learned the absolute basic stitches from a copy of Stitch ‘N Bitch. The idea of different size needles didn’t mean much to me, and I had no concept whatsoever of yarn weight. Or yardage. Or what anything besides a knit or a purl were.

And then I met Knitty. And more specifically, I met Clapotis, probably the most popular knitting pattern online. (It’s worth noting that I had to teach myself all the stitches in this pattern, and I thought it was the hardest thing ever. Now I think it’s one of the most relaxing yet elegant patterns to knit.)

After that, I discovered lace knitting. Which didn’t go too terrifically well at first. I’ve got a beautiful lace stole that’s about 80% finished, at which point I found out I’d been reading the pattern wrong (backwards) the entire time. Oops. Now I can’t decide whether to frog it, or to just finish it the way it is…but now I have to consciously try to read it backwards, and that’s just painful.

Now I’m super picky about my needles. I hate bamboo needles because most of the yarns I like “stick” to the needles (plus, most of the yarn I like is hand-painted/dyed, and it stains the needles). Acrylic needles feel funny, but I adore adore adore the Addi Turbo Lace circulars. And circulars are my favorite. They make my wrists less tired, and they’re suitable for all projects.

And I’m super picky about my yarns. The first bits of yarn I ever bought were from Hobby Lobby. Unless I need some solid worsted-weight yarn specifically for warmth, never again. I’ve found the perfect local yarn store, The Woolie Ewe, run by absolutely fabulous people. Not only do they wind skeins for free, but they’re super-knowledgeable. You can tell them what kind of yarn you’re looking for, and they’ll zip all over the store pointing out those kinds. (But wow, yarn can get expensive!)

So far I haven’t wanted to design anything myself. I’m much more content just to knit on others’ hard work. I’m addicted to shawls and stoles, even though I probably will never really wear any of them. I mostly like experiencing new patterns and knitting with beautiful yarn. I’m thinking about setting something up where if someone will buy the yarn, I’ll make the item. Though I’m admittedly a little narrow in what I can and am willing to do (no cables, no crocheting, no socks, no sweaters, no hats), surely there’s a market for that?