Knitting Night

Wednesday's are knitting nights so I don't have a ton of time to post. I have so many knitting projects going right now that they're taking up most of my free time. I have a couple projects that I'm working on for Christmas or right after so I've been a bit rushed. But I'm not complaining. I've been a knitting fool recently and loving it.

And I'm incredibly excited to announce that I have a new niece or nephew coming. Congrats guys! So I'll have a baby project to work on as well. But that's not until June. I'm thinking a hat and booties might be out at that time of year. Baby swimwear anyone? :-)

But I figured I'd share my winter weather gear since the below zero temps today made sure I brought it out. About a year and a half ago I ended up out at this amazing yarn store and picked up some gorgeous blue merino wool. It was the nicest wool I had bought for myself at the time. I decided to celebrate by knitting myself mittens. My first pair of mittens to be exact. They came out...strange. Kind of wonky and odd, but they are warm and soft and I still wear them. I took the leftover yarn and knit myself a hat. It's a bit big but I love it. And when I still had most of a ball leftover I knit a lacy little scarf. The pattern doesn't come out perfectly in the picture but it's a great (and easy) pattern. That's the great part about knitting. Even if the pattern seems hard, most of the time with a little patience, you can learn anything.

I'm a Hooker!

I got your attention with that! But it's not what you're thinking. Two weeks ago at knitting one of the women showed me how to crochet. And I'm loving it. I've been knitting for two year now, thanks to my sister. I've made scarves and hats through knitting. But I have to admit that crocheting is faster. It's also simpler. I can redo work more easily. 

Knitting requires two needles but it's actually a pretty simple movement. Once you learn to knit and purl you can make pretty much anything. Crocheting only uses one hook (so it often gets the term hooking) but seems to require more movement. Each stitch needs to be done at least twice. But having only the one hook, work seems to go quicker. I noticed that our lone crocheter in the group could turn out a new item each week while us knitters plodded along on products for weeks. I decided it was well worth trying. I had been knitting a scarf but I think I might instead crochet myself some mittens. And these actually might be done before winter. 

I started with the book Stitch and Bitch which my sister lent me when I was just starting to knit. Now I might have to pick up a copy of The Happy Hooker, the authors take on crochet. I'm sure I'll jump back in forth between the two disciplines depending on what each project needs. But I'm thrilled that I now know both. I might actually prove to be a crafter one of these days. 

Knitting Night

My little sister taught me to knit about two years ago. She patiently explained the stitches to me and then helped me along as I screwed up. She and I have been knitting together weekly since that time. I've only done a couple of projects. I tend to knit very slow and don't do a lot of knitting at home. Over the last couple months we've added a number of new people to the group. We meet at a different coffee house either Monday or Tuesday and talk and knit. I am always amazed at the number of people who stop by to say how they used to knit, or how they've always wanted to learn. We believe in the "more the merrier" so everyone is pretty much invited. 

Of the nine people that are currently on my list, only four or five can make it each week. It's always a different mix of people. The one constant for most of the group has been my project. I have been working on a rather long scarf for the last 8 months. (did I mention I'm a slow knitter?). Tonight I finally finished the project. I just have to brag. I started on a hat this evening and have a great start on it. I even remembered how to join. But for my little sister, who I know reads this, my scarf is above. I'm sorry you won't see it. I'm giving it to my friend tomorrow morning. And I'm so excited.