Sunday, May 17, 2009

Project completed!

Here's a picture of my first completed shrug (flash and all.) It's a bit heavier than I thought it would be, but it's done. My stitches are regular - the stockinette stitch is easy - simply knit one row and purl the rest. The first part of the week is supposed to be somewhat chilly, so maybe I'll wear it to work.

I began my next project, another shrug, on May 12th. Here's a link to the pattern site www.canandianliving.com and a picture showing my progress to date:

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Re-igniting an old interest

I'd been to one of my favorite websites, the Pioneer Library System, and downloaded the audiobook, The Friday Night Knitting Club. It was a very engaging book, so much so that I found myself picking my knitting needles back up and starting a project.

Then, being me, I simply had to roam the world wide web to see what had transpired in knitting during the intervening years. Whoa!!! What a plethora of patterns are available, some for free, some not. And the types of yarn that are now available to order simply by clicking a few keys. (I grew up using Red Heart knitting worsted that I bought at the Wolcott Bargain Center.) This is a whole new world of wool with access to yarns I had not been aware of. And the materials they now use to make knitting needles - it boggles the brain. I saw lovely handcrafted rosewood needles and some that seemed to be made of glass. And the websites that are devoted to knitting - a Google search pulls up 20,900,000 that are currently indexed and available.

I've located an excellent site, Ravelry - A knit and crochet community. It not only has searchable patterns, but it functions as a living community with forums, groups and a place to share the project that you're currently working on. I'm a neophyte there, but I did see that what I blog about here can appear there. So, I'm once again inspired to blog.