Addictions and their many forms

I have often read about people who are addicted to sock knitting.
Some are hooked on crocheting blankets. (See what I did there; hooked, crochet... why are you covering your eyes?)

I think I might have an addiction. Well, one besides collecting yarn and making scarves. I do so love the ease and adventure of scarves.

Now, I think I might be a bit caught up on lace shawls.

I have several books on the subject. My queue is heavy with them and my yarn collection has an obvious leaning toward lace weight and such.

In fact, while I am currently working on one shawl, waiting for blocking wires for another shawl, I have already started sorting out shawl patterns for some stashed yarn.
Currently, I am leaning toward the North Roë Shawl or the Aeolian Shawl (both are listed in Ravelry).

We shall see if this last through the part on my current project where I have over two hundred stitches and more for each row. (The next to the last row is 323 stitches across).

Starting over, at least on some things

A mere five days ago, I took some beautiful Malabrigo Sock yarn and settled down with a pattern for it.

I had completed the cast on and the 9 setup rows, as well as 4 repeats of Chart 1 of 4 (I do not count the setup row chart, I don't think it needs a chart number).

Then I dropped a stitch. A stitch that was actually part of a decrease and may have taken out another stitch with it.

I did try to pick it up, but it was no good. The stitches got away from me and I had to start over.
So I did what any sane woman would do.

I reset the project start date in Ravelry, bullied through to the first of fourteen repeats of the main pattern chart and then walked away from it.

Tomorrow it will look smaller but not terrible much different from before the accident. I am glad I was only so many repeats in. Had I been farther along, some nearby bystander might have been injured.

Dusting off and restarting

Well, hasn't this been another long silence.
Here it is only hours away from August.

The good news: I have started knitting again and have even finished a couple of items!

The promising news: I have become away of a lack of photographs or decent upkeep on the tracking of my yarn stash on Ravelry, and there for in life, and I have a desire to correct this.

The it-could-go-either-way news: I finally ordered my first ever set of blocking mats and blocking wires (and the Knitted Lace of Estonia book, but that was because I was only $5 away from free shipping and it was on sale). So far only the book and the blocks have arrived. The eventual blocking of my first full size lace shawl is still a future thing.

The not-exactly-bad news: I have no idea where I am going to start from to pick back up on the blogging, or really the writing in general. Currently I am undergoing 'blank white page' syndrome. Hey, at least I got this post out, right?

So now I will write up a few teaser points.

1) I am on the third part of a matching three piece set. That is a hat, a scarf and gloves (the gloves are the part I am working on casting on currently).

2) I got some new yarn. Always a bonus!

3) The writing up of patterns is going to happen. Some free, some not. Interested?

4) I will be studying up on and doing some beading work soon. Technically, the project is very much past due, but the technical skills have not been actually acquired yet.

Ok, so that was more than a few points. Not bad for someone working on getting back in the knitting-and-blogging saddle, eh?

A quick free gift pattern!

Having taken a long vacation from the blog, I now return with the gift of a free gift knitting pattern!



Behold! The Scrap Yarn Bags!

First step, find scrap yarn. You don't want a large ball, but you want more than a yard of it.

Next, figure out what needle size is recommended for the yarn. If you can't find this information, don't sweat it, just grab a size US6.

Next, cast on.

You can cast on as few stitches as you want.
On average, I am not casting on more than 20 stitches for a dk weight yarn and no more than 15 stitches for worsted weight.

Knit 1 row.

-Now, if you want to do a drawstring closure, a bit of math is needed. You are going
-to want 4 holes. So divide your number of stitches by four. If you end up with a
-left over stitch, save it for the end of the row. If you have two left over
-stitches, add a "k1" to the beginning of the row. Your final number, minus 1 stitch -becomes X.

*kX, k2tog, yo*; Repeat four times and knit any remaining stitches.

-For example, on my 15 stitch bags the yarn over row was: *k1, k2tog, yo; repeated 4
-times, knit last 3 stitches.

From here on we will stockinette until we are nearly out of yarn!
-If you would like, you can change between two different yarns every two rows.
-So you will knit two rows of yarn A, then switch to yarn B and knit two rows, then repeat.

Once you are nearing the end, you will repeat the yarn over row.
Knit one more row.
Now cast off!

The easy part is complete and you should have a rectangle.

Fold the rectangle in half so the yarn overs meet up and the purl side is facing out.
Now you have a choice, you can whip out a needle and thread and sew up the sides, or practice some crochet and seam the sides with a chain using any remaining yarn you have or maybe even some other yarn of a complimentary color.

The last part is finding a ribbon or taking other scrap yarn to make an i-cord for the drawstring.

These can be whipped up very quickly and make great use of left over yarn. Each one will make a different size. Sometimes you will think the bag is at risk of getting too big, so you just move to the last steps, cut off the remainder and save it for another bag. (Note that I made three in the picture and they are all the same yarn, but different sizes.)

What do you do with the finished bags? Why make gifts of them!

* Put gift cards in them and hand them out.

* Put some change or small amount of money and give them away.

* Fill them with potpourri or some cotton balls that have been dipped in scent or sprayed with perfume, then stick them in a personals drawer, or in the boxes in storage or give them to friends who need to freshen up closets, drawers or storage.

* Write wishes or dreams or what-have-you on to some paper, put the paper in the bag and set it free.

There are lots of things little bags can be used for, but remember these are little HAND MADE bags, so are great for gift ideas.

Enjoy!

Blocking Leads to Brain Explosions

Early last month I cast on for the Isobel scarf, using Debbie Bliss Pure Silk. I finished the project just before the end of the month.

Prior to finishing I had searched the threads in Ravelry for anything about blocking silk and was thrilled to read post after post of how durable silk is and how you can block it to within an inch of the yarn's life with no worries. I read that soaking silk is fine if it is not a bold color as the only problem that comes from soaking is the dye bleeding, so vibrant colors should be carefully dampened rather than set in water for hours.

Today I planned to get the blocking started.
To be thorough I started searching the threads again. Funny, this time I find thread after thread saying silk becomes fragile when wet and that blocking should be done with light steam and carefully.


Some people say silk should not be soaked and instead just immersed in water long enough to be wet, others say that silk needs to soak for hours because it is dense and won't get wet all through without giving lots of time.



There seemed to be a bit of question regarding the weight of the yarn, but in general today's searches only brought up warnings while the previous search was all confidence.

In the end I soaked the silk for about an hour. Then I blocked it rather strongly. It took almost 2 hours and 200 paper clips to get the scarf fully blocked. By the time I was done blocking it out the silk was mostly dry, so I gave it a light spray of water once it was all stretched out.



The results are quite pretty. The scarf has a hint of curling at the edges, so I probably could have blocked it with a bit more force. I am very please with the results and I have half a skein of the silk left over. I am already looking for a suitable project for 23 grams of silk.


This post alone took a couple of days, mostly due to other issues like the need for clean clothes, charged batteries, sleep and work. At least I can count off another one of the Twelve Projects for 2009 Project Queue.

Breaking news, literally.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled post to bring you the following story:

It was late when M. entered her room, roughly around 1 A.M.. She had just eaten dinner and had a plan for how the remainder of her evening was about to go. She was only half right.

As was her custom, M. took a moment to check Ravelry (a website for yarn enthusiasts) and then her email. It only took a few minutes and then she turned around and picked up her project.

M. has been knitting a sock, and tonight, she was planning on finishing it.

One hour and then another slipped by unnoticed. M. was focused on her stitches and the shortening length of yarn.

To M., it seem to take forever to get within range of "casting off". Stitch by stitch, row by row she kept to her task. She later admitted that occasionally her mind wandered a bit. M. thought about funny posts she wanted to make in the CPaAG forum of Ravelry and other "such things like that, ya know?"

"Knitting a 2x2 rib is not the most challenging thing there is, okay?" said M. sounding a bit defensive. When asked what a "2x2 rib" was and what that meant, she looked around as if searching for words then frantically picked up two metal spikes and began waiving them menacingly. This reporter decided to let the question go and get M. back to explaining the events of the night.

It did finally happen and M. said that she felt a bit excited as she saw the length of yarn was finally within range to "cast off". She also claims that she gave herself a stern talking to, telling herself to "calm down before you mess up and end up having to rip back yet again."

M. made it through the first needle, carefully doing a loose bind off she called "k2, pass stitches back and k2tog, *k1, pass last stitch back, k2tog; repeat from * to last stitch." She assures us it is a loose bind off and since she was working from ribbing some times she "p2tog" but found that very uncomfortable.

According to M., 5 needles were being used to make the sock.
Tragedy struck when she was two stitches into the second needle. She was attempting another "p2tog" when she her a very soft snap.

"At first, I thought the cats were up to something out in the hallway. They stay locked out of my room, because of all the yarn-you see, and, anyway, they are always making funny noises trying to lure me out of the room, mostly in hopes I'll leave the door open behind me or something. I've often told the cats they should start an industrial music band or a kitty equivalent of STOMP or Blue Man Group, but anyway. So I heard this sound and froze for a second then ignored it. Then I noticed my knitting needle, the one holding the stitches yet to be worked, was a lot shorter than it had been and I couldn't figure it out. I think, like, my brain was trying to protect me or something. I didn't know it yet, but was 3 A.M. already and past my bed time.
So, it took a moment but I realized something was wrong. I had my working needle inside two stitches and somewhere around 45 stitches on the other needle so I was really, really careful to hold both those needles with one hand and not let them move while I opened my other hand.
Then I had one of those moments, you know, where you can't makes sense of what your looking at until your subconscious has had the chance to do whatever to cushion the blow. Eventually I sorted out the image. I had a snapped needle in my hand.
For a second, I was panicked. This was the second snapped needle from this sock just on this set of needles! I had a bamboo set I had started with that had a needle snap nearly in half, which makes three broken needles all together. Somehow this sock was eating needles!
I had all these stitches on the small piece and the rest of the needle was useless in my hand."

She admits that it took a lot of willpower to keep herself from blowing up and going on a killing rampage.

"Lesser things have tipped knitters off the edge and into pure madness. Just ask."

M. turned her panic into determination. She says that, for a moment, all her years of watching MacGuyver boiled up in her mind's eye, but in the end there was a simpler fix.
The needle she had already finished casting off of was with in easy reach.

"I don't think the stitches would have stayed still if I had to get up from my chair. Knitters know that stitches can be like three year old's, just give the parent some huge messy issue to distract them and the kids will take advantage of he distraction to make the mess worse in the name of play."

M. tossed down the piece of needle in her hand and picked up the whole one. She tried to be careful, sliding stitches over the sharp, broken end and onto the new needle but even she could not prevent some splinters getting into her yarn.
"All I can say is that my roommate better like splinters."

Eventually she did get the stitches moved over and was able to return to her task, but there was still another breath-taking moment ahead of her.

"I was starting on the last needle, and remember-we are talking 45 or so stitches per needle, when I noticed the end of the yarn was dangling from my hand a bit closer than I liked."

M. said she barely breathed at all while she worked those last stitches.

"I totally gave up on the p2tog and started pulling my stitches a little tighter."


In the end, there was a few inches of yarn left after the last stitch was worked.

"I was so happy that it was finally done. I mean, there were several times when I wanted to set the sock down and go get a big bottle of wine. After the needle broke, I wanted some strong port and when the last stitch was done all I could think of was the bottles of whiskey I've collected and how much I thought I could down straight before I lost consciousness. It seemed like such a good idea."

Yet, she resisted the urge and instead went to bed so she would be rested for work the next day.

Even as she laid her head down upon her pillow, she tried to dismiss the drama of the evening's knitting and instead focus on the accomplishment, but it was a challenge. In her mind's eye, the phantom of the second sock loomed before her and she hoped that it would not be needle hungry as well.

Some Statements on Sinister Knitting

I recently got involved in a discussion about Sinister knitting in Ravelry on the On The Other Hand forum (a group for left handed people who knit and crochet).

A left handed person, we will call them B, had joined the group and in response to a thread that dealt with a new knitter learning Sinister knitting, piped up to say that she should be given an option of right handed knitting so that she doesn't have to deal with issues reversing patterns.
In a way, it almost seemed like flaming and a few people did react. After a few posts where B said they were being attacked, I put in my two cents as follows:

I think part of the issue here (and this is my view), is that some of the things you are saying is the same things many of us have heard in our lives which threatens to drive us away from other people and bonds us as a group here in OTOH.
Thus, some of your statements push buttons.
For example:

“Knitting is a two-handed activity”
Sure, and so is playing guitar, but that does not change the fact that some people are more comfortable doing where the left hand will be doing the more intense or precision or the larger amount of work. Putting a stick in a small hole of yarn does require a bit of eye-hand coordination, thus while both hands can be used (some knitting styles don’t use both hands) one hand needs to be more involved and therefore the knitter needs to use the hand that they are comfortable with.
While people can overcome discomfort through practice and repetition, many of us believe that overcoming left handed leanings (even as a simple suggestion) is offensive.

“you can only ask online and hope people give you good advice”
That I can simply disagree with. A person can learn by trying and swatching and practicing. This will allow them to not only figure out the question, but also to learn something knew which can apply to future projects or designing patterns. There may be some people who would rather have all the answers handed to them than to risk trying on their own, but there are many who will bravely move forward even if we can’t find a helping hand. I learned to knit all by my self with no one to ask what the small pictures meant. I don’t know if knitting help was available back then, but it sure didn’t cross my mind to check. Instead I just tried and tried until I thought I had it right. I made scarves that got better each time. Now I can teach right handed people to knit, and not just the basics. A person is limited to the basics if they are not willing to experiment. Before I ever got a pattern book, I was fiddling with yarn and figuring out many different ways to increase and decrease, wondering if what I was doing had a name or if I had discovered a new technique.

“having to translate all the patterns and most of the instruction books”
This is just untrue and has been mentioned already. MOST patterns do NOT need to be translated. (Caps used for stressing the word, not yelling). Most patterns can be knit up just as is with no changes needed. None. At worse, the ws/rs is flipped, but since MOST patterns don’t even mention ws/rs again it does not matter and no changes are needed. Any person with enough braincells to rub together will learn while knitting, in whatever direction, and end up being able to figure things out, or have friends to ask, when they do get to the more challenging things like lace.
For the record, lace is challenging no matter which way you knit. Left handed knitters don’t seem to be asking unique questions on knitting technique, but rather benefit from getting answers that do not include “You’re doing it wrong” “you need to learn to knit right handed” and so forth. OTOH provides an arena where we can ask questions and not get our knitting style attacked.
Also, many patterns have errors. So even right handed people with only a grasp of the basics are going to have to ask for help or try to ‘fix’ the pattern in order to make the project work.

I hope this helps.

The response I got involved B saying that I take disagreement as an attack, claiming that I was easily offended because right handed people are the majority, that someone who chooses to knit left handed will ALWAYS have to translate patterns and that is a BIG DEAL and finishing with more statements about me being easily offended.

So I gave this response:

I do not interpret your disagreement as an attack, I’m sorry if you got that impression some how. I was trying to point out how some things you have said would bother some people. I am not trying to change your views, only trying to provide some perspective.

I am not offended that the majority of many countries is right handed. I am not offended by people being right handed or any such thing. I said it can be offensive to be told to do something that is uncomfortable just to make life a wee bit easier. Life doesn’t get easier just because you conform and doing things in a different way that is comfortable means carving your own path. I have no problem spending a little bit of energy to follow my natural inclinations and I still have energy left over to knit and do other things.

You are welcome to make your own choices. Freedom of speech means you can voice the advice that you thing is good, but it also means other people can disagree with you. Funny you say that it is a big thing for you, yet you wonder what a person is doing wrong if they turn being left handed into a big deal.
I think it is amusing how many people make a big deal out of knitting right handed and make it sound like it is such a better way to do things. If it is better for you, that’s great, but it is not better for everyone. The big deal about doing something left handed is dealing with right handed people constantly shoving out the same advice as if it was something new. It really does get tiring to be told about pattern difficulties, especially when so many left handed people have not had such a difficulty.

“You seem to be so invested in your left-handedness that you want to deny that this choice exists.”
First, you are not me and you do not know me or how I think. I do not go around telling people to knit left handed. In fact, handedness only seems to come up when someone else points out which hand I use. I am not invested in left-handedness, I am supportive of people who do things the way that is most comfortable for them. If the ratio was reverse and I heard someone telling a right-handed person to do it left-handed I would defend that person’s right to be comfortable. I do not deny the existence of choices and how you got that is a mystery to me. Considering your previous statement about the majority of the “world” being right-handed coupled with being left-handed runs counter to the idea of denying a choice. Rather, my statements have been the opposite. People should have a choice and those options should be provided without scare tactics attached. Telling someone to do something one way because the other way will make their life harder is not a balance explanation of the option.

I have never said I was offended that people need to choose nor that they may choose something different than me. I’m sorry, but I’m not that ego-centric. If someone makes a decision to do something how they want to, I’m OK with that. It is their choice. I think it would be even better if they tried out both options first. It’s not like a person will be limited to knitting only one way for the rest of their lives.
Frankly, I don’t care how you chose to knit. If someone asks because they are trying to decide, then great and whatever decision they make is wonderful. Unfortunately I have met many people who are very insistent that left handed people have to learn right hand knitting and if they learned left handed they have to relearn everything JUST so they can avoid the cliched line of problems with patterns. People who act that way bug me, because frequently it is those same people who want left handed people to eat right handed and write right handed and everything else.
A lot of people in this group have run across the same issues.

The purpose of my post was simply to try and shed a little light as to how some things you said can lead to the reactions you have gotten. If it is accidental flaming, then now you know that maybe you could consider what you are saying and to whom. That doesn’t mean you can’t say what you want, but don’t be surprised or get your hackles up if someone disagrees with you. Advocating right-handedness in a left-handed forum (especially since there are so many people on the main forums who do it all the time) is going to get people going.

Hopefully you understand that there is no personal points being made here. I’m not attacking you and I don’t think you are attacking me. If you read this and still don’t understand, fine. We can agree to disagree, and may again in the future.

B came back saying that the standard way of knitting was not necessarily right handed (a confusing statement, really). B then said their point was that the new knitter had to choose how to knit and our group was obviously on a crusade to make the world easier for left handed people and that not telling a new knitter that they would have to translate patterns and reference books is dishonest.
B went on to say we were "downplaying" the issue of patterns and that it was equally as wrong as not telling a left handed person that standard knitting would be awkward. B stated that they had given their advice and opinion and had gotten attacked for it, sited posts that were considered attacking and said they were done with the conversation.

I got the impression that B was claiming to wash their hands of the issue as an emotional response and probably wasn't done stating their side. Thus, the next response:

I understand you are willing to drop this, as am I.

Yet I think in our discussion we have one basic disagreement that we are dancing around but not directly addressing with each other. If you don’t respond I’ll understand and I won't push.

You seem to believe that all or most of the patterns will need to be changed or adjustments made.

Based on my experience and taking other people’s statements into account, this not true.

Patterns that need adjustment are actually not something a beginning knitter is likely to run across. By the time they pick up a pattern that really needs an adjustment, they will already have been knitting left-handed.
Often, there are decreases that do not make a difference in direction, so it no adjustments needed.

I understand you are left handed and, if I recall correctly, you knit your stitches from the left needle to the right needle. If this is correct then you knit right-handed and that is great, but that means you follow patterns as written. So your statement that most patterns would have to be adjusted is based on a belief and not experience. I’m not saying that as an attack, rather just to clear things up a bit, but if it is an accurate statement then perhaps you might take in to account the views of people who have been knitting sinister (aka, from right needle to left) for years when we say that the pattern issue really is not a big deal.
Most patterns work just fine. Left-handed knitters ask for help on the same techniques that right handed knitters ask and have equal amount (if occasionally different reasons) of problems with patterns. Frequently, the way you knit, does not make a difference with the pattern.

If there was no support for someone to get pattern help then the occasional issue would be more of a big deal, but that is not the case. Just as a beginning knitter often needs help, if they can get the help then any difficulty is reduced. If someone in Florida wanted to learn downhill snow skiing and they have people to answer questions and give support then it is not as hard as someone in Colorado trying to learn it all by themselves.

The existence of our group helps reduce any difficulty for other people who knit sinister. It’s part of why we are here. It is not about changing the world, but rather supporting each other in a world that often seeks to change us.

B then quit the group then made a final post on the subject claiming that our group was holding a belief that knitting stitches from left needle to right was right handed and knitting from right needle to left was left handed and B just could not accept those terms as B did not believe the direction of stitches to be related to right or left hand knitting.

That blew my mind and I made a final reply stating that we did not make the rules, or in this case the definitions, but that we live with those terms.

After all was said and done, I felt there was some good points worth posting here. The claim that all patterns have to be adjusted if you knit sinister is WRONG, just plainly and simply WRONG. I would be nice if we could lay that excuse to rest and move on.

Coming up:
The really delayed post about the Yarn For Breakfast X-Mas Party.

A wonderful knitting weekend.

Two short days make up the weekend, and mine have been pleasantly busy yet allowing for time with my yarn.

Saturday started with coffee and Ravelry. It is relaxing and nice to wake up in this way.

After catching up with the groups online I turned on a Cast On (episode 60, which I have been meaning to listen to, but life sometimes declines to give me an hour of free time) and went to work on my Autumn Blanket (aka, the ripple afghan). I got some progress done, though most of it was in the logistics area (more on that in the next post).
By then my roommate showed signs of being alive. I took the sock and put it on waste yarn then gave him the option of sitting down for a fitting or me removing the foot. For whatever reason, he believes his foot works best attached to the rest of him. During the fitting I learned a few things (mostly that I could have waited a few more rows before starting the ribbing) but it was fitting. He feels it is a bit snug overall. I told him when it was done it would be dampened and blocked on his own foot. He agreed, which shows his lack of understanding for the situation.
I then put sock back on needles and knit a couple of rows, mostly to assure the sock that it still had growing to do.
My friend Bill came over, since the outside temps were not scheduled to be nice at all, so we could pile into his large and warm car for our day's events. He was wearing a scarf that was one of the first I had ever knit. It is not a pretty scarf, but I am happy to see him using it. So happy, I decided to reward him with his pick from my stash for a new scarf.
At first he was reluctant. He actually likes the awkward purplish-pink fringe-less garter stitch scarf.
I told him he could, of course, still keep it. I was merely offering to make a better one.
He said it worked just fine at keeping his neck warm and had been doing so for several years now.
While touched that an item made with my own hands would inspire such dedication (even though it was given to him for lack of a recipient rather than as an intended gift), I was also a bit frustrated at this dedication when he knows I can make even better things now. I told him he did not have to give up wearing the scarf, but I felt it was time for him to have one that suited him better.
Once he was assured again that the old scarf was his to keep and wear as he liked, he agreed to pick out new yarn.
I directed his options to variegated fibers and told him he had to pick two. Eventually two were found, though it was actually a bit challenging. You would think, for all the yarn I have that there would be more than two skeins that go good together! Either way, I was glad to have that sorted out.

Then our group was off to a wine and beer tasting event at Grape and Gourmet. We sampled 19 different wines and 9 or so different beers. They also had food treats to try out and we did. After that we went to dinner at Big E's Deli in Virginia Beach. They have an amazing hamburger, with a pile of freshly sliced ham on top. It is so good!
When we got back on the road, it was time to go to our bi-monthly poker game.
While we were there, I got in several rows on the sock and Kellie, who deals the cards but does not play the game, worked on crocheting a blanket in between hands.

Today, laundry day! (As per usual).

Rather than work on the Laundry Soap Bag, which is what I am supposed to be doing during laundry time, I decided to cast on and start working on Bill's New Scarf. I think it is going to look very nice.

In the time it took for the wash cycle to end, I realized I needed to rip back and start over. The bottom edge was curling way too much. I transferred the clothes to the dryer and started over. I think I got a pretty good bit of progress in, despite some girl barking at me about how she knits, or well, crochets really but she hasn't done it in years and all and having a guy come over to talk. I have to say, his English is rather good for someone only in the country for a year. I did seem a bit unhappy about the turn of the conversation when he asked if I liked to dance and I said I liked to dance with girls. Things at the laundry mat have gotten interesting.

Clothes were returned home and I sped off to find some lunch, then I came home ready to tackle some of the messes that can be considered the tracks of my roommate. Dishes were washed, the kitchen floor swept and mopped, the living room, hall and my room were vacuumed, a pot of water was set boiling to bring the humidity of the apartment back up to reasonable levels, laundry was put away and a bit of straightening up in my room completed.

This means that the rest of the night can be dedicated to knitting on my Autumn Blanket and also on the scarf. Completed rows will be celebrated with small bits of chocolate, my feet will be propped up while my roommate makes dinner and the rest of the evening will be spent in relaxation.

Accomplishment and joy are my feelings regarding this weekend. I do believe I have had a balance two days, allowing for social events, new experiences, tasks completed and knitting through out.
I don't ask for much, really, but I am very thankful when things work out just right.

Quick note

I have started asking for test knitters in Ravelry for my Wine Bottle gift bag. As soon as I get some responses I will be posting the pattern here. :-)

Thank you and we now return you to your regularly scheduled web surfing.

What does it say about me that I check Ravelry before I check my email?

We begin through the past

Greetings and Welcome!

This is going to be my knitting blog. I have another blog on another server, one that I have had for many a year, but I felt the need to separate the knitting from there as my old friends are not as interested in what I do with yarn.

The next few days I will be copying old posts from that blog and reposting them here. In between I shall be posting about the different designs I am working on and eventually have patterns posted here that will be linked in Ravelry. There will also be posts to comment or respond to things in the knitting world, including podcasts that I listen to. There will be discussions about projects that have gone by and the things I haven't made yet.

In case you can't find me, I am Quasipsyco on Ravelry.

Wondering about the name of the blog? Well, I will discuss that on a future post.

So, tune in and enjoy.