Introducing... Yet Another Knitting Blogger!

Hi! My name is sammy. I'm 27 and live in Arkansas with my lovely husband and our two kitties, Boodie and Dog. I started knitting in November of 2006. I went to Hancock Fabrics to buy some fleece on sale - I don't really sew but I had this crazy notion that I could somehow fashion a hat with earflaps - and while I did come out with some fleece (pink with penguins - still untouched), I also had a Vogue Knitting basics book, a ball of yarn and a pair of knitting needles for kids (one red needle, one blue). When I was in grade two my grandma taught me how to knit, but when I brought a sample of knitting to school some of the grade three girls thought it would be funny to cut it up with scissors and I was turned off the craft. Twenty years later I'm not only knitting again but I'm actually making stuff! I have quite a few projects on the go right now, so I thought I'd start a blog so I can actually keep track of them.

Mostly I knit with acrylic - I'm on a bit of a budget, though I like to go to my LYS and stare in wonder at the big hanks of Manos Del Uruguay and dream about the day I can spend scads of cash on really nice yarn - and I favour circular needles over straights because I like knitting big things, like blankets.

Currently on the needles: a garter-stitch lap blanket (the second of a pair I'm making for a friend); the first in a pair of leg warmers, and a swatch for a cardigan I hope to make (the oversized long cardigan from the spring/summer 2005 edition of "knit.1" magazine. I also have a new set of DPNs, some lightweight yarn and a booklet on sock knitting, but I'm a bit intimidated by that turning-the-heel thing. I also didn't know how to do long-tail cast-on until last night, but my husband - who picked it up right away - taught me and that's one less roadblock to the world of socks :) (It really is a nice stretchy cast-on!)

I love to knit because it's relaxing and I can take it anywhere, and once I managed to figure out how to watch shows/movies and knit at the same time, I felt a whole lot better about those hours in front of the TV ;) I knit on my breaks at work and during long car trips (just yesterday I finished a hat because of road-tripping - when we started out I had less than an inch on the needles, and I had it finished hours before we got home!). It makes waiting at the doctor's office a lot less of a hassle. In fact waiting anywhere isn't a problem at all anymore now that I can knit. Knitting helps me feel productive and it's also wonderful to learn new things and realise... I really CAN do it. I look forward to improving my skills and making more complicated items, but I'm also happy to make afghans and blankets and know that I'm being useful.

That's about it for now, I guess... more later!