A stitch in time
5:04 p.m. - 2002-09-17


I just love this new layout, made for me by the talented agentmerp. In the picture I am wearing my Voltron Tshirt, also given to me by agentmerp, who is my daughter. I like the way my knitting looks vaguely menacing.

I have been knitting since about the age of six. My grandmother used to come to visit every summer, and during her stay she would teach me the needlearts. The first thing I made was a mint green dolly blanket, which I still have. I remember that it was not hard, but I did not know how to cast off, and by the time I wanted to, my grandmother had gone home. I asked a cousin or aunt how to do it and that is how the blanket came to be finished. Now I always have a project of some sort going. At the moment I am making the High Mesa Cardigan out of cornmeal colored acrylic. Back when I was a kid, wool yarn was very inexpensive and you could get a 4 oz skein for about 88 cents. Now it is a major investment to make a wool sweater, and fashion yarns are even more costly. To the observer it looks like knitting must be a rich persons hobby, but in reality, if you are not a knitting snob, there are a wide variety of other yarns. I enjoy both the Coats and Clark yarns and Lion Brand yarns, which are available around here. Sometimes you run across a knitter who "only works with natural fibers, can't stand that cheap harsh acrylic, and anyone who can is a lesser mortal" but I just laugh as I toss my sweater in the washing machine. I love Red Heart yarns, and the colors are terrific.

I like designing sweaters and playing with colors. Right now I am interested in lace panels in cardigan fronts, so I have plans to make some for myself. My favorite project so far was a fair isle cardigan in periwinkle blue (almost but not quite a lilac) with the pattern in soft yellow. It had dropped shoulders which looked awful on me, so I gave it to my sister on whom it looks wonderful. She must have different shoulders.

The nice thing about knitting is that there is always more to learn about it, so it stays interesting and challenging. And you always have a handy weapon.