smallcoffee, it is funny you asked that question because after I received my Kindle I did try reading and knitting at the same time. It wouldn't be possible for me with an actual book but I was fairly successful with reading on the Kindle while knitting a simple row of stitches. I can't see how it would be possible if you have to count stitches or knit a complicated pattern. Of course, both reading and knitting are slower together than separately -- but with enough practice, who knows?

I can knit a simple pattern and watch a movie or football game at the same time but have not succeeded in reading/knitting.
small coffee-I had to laugh when you talked about your "mishapen" efforts-I've had lots of those too! Yarn shops are very seductive-in fact yarn and knitting books can become almost as addictive as reading.
frances-you're right about having to make a choice between knitting and reading. I mostly knit when there is something decent on tv (which is less and less these days)-I can't seem to just sit and knit. I also can't get into audio books, but wish I could. I think I am an intensely visual person and my mind refuses to stay put while "listening" to a book.

Has anyone heard of Mason-Dixon Knitting by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne? I got their book from the library today. The log cabin knitting looks right up my alley. If you love color and just like to knit sometimes to relax and not worry about shaping, counting etc. you may enjoy this idea from their book. I then looked up their web site-they are a couple of entertaining gals. A couple of other knit/crafts related sites I really like, for anyone's information-angrychicken.com and purlbee.com

Pam53, what is the link to the Mason-Dixon knitting site? And what do you end up with doing log cabin knitting? I am intrigued.

Francesmd, thanks for the kind words re: my skill. I am really truly a beginner in my own eyes. I can knit, purl, cast on and off without peeking at the instructions, but that's about it. I am, however, rather fearless in trying new stuff, so using four or five DPN's is fun and I really want to use a cable needle as that looks fun, too. I have made scarves and such in the past but never a sweater or vest. My worst habit is that just like my cooking, I read the instructions and "tweak" them. I like to do my own thing which I think stems from the fact that I do not understand the directions in knitting. I am trying harder, hence my desire to do a vest.

My knitting claim to fame is that I made a scarf for my sister and when she was in NYC a few years ago, she went to a book-signing by the fab four on the show Gay Eye for the Straight Guy or something like that. The fashion guy, Carson, asked her where she bought it because he wanted one. Then he asked if I would make one for him and he'd wear it on the show but as he didn't provide her with an address, I didn't make it for him - although I would have if I knew where to send it.

I spoke with a friend who was in the high-end yarn shop. She is a much better knitter than I am and has deeper pockets. They fell all over her. Sad as it seems, when something like this happens, I tend not to trust them even in teaching classes. I start to wonder if they are trying to teach me to be their customer rather than teach me to knit. I am sorry to be so down on this, but I guess I felt like a guy in a grocery store when I was there.

And when I was in my local Michael's craft shop, I overheard a conversation between a Muchael's employee and a lovely woman who wanted to learn to knit so she could make a scarf for her grandson. The woman asked the emp. for help with how much yarn she needed. The emp. said, "Why don't you crochet instead. It's so much easier, just one needle. I can't help you with knitting, just crochet." I waited until the emp. walked away and went over to help the lady. I was appalled at the emp.'s comment. I crochet and knit and love both, but would it have been so difficult to find another emp. to help this lady? That's my rant.

I just picked up a copy of creative knits magazine and now I am unsure of which vest I will make. I like the one on knitty.com and I like the one in this magazine on page 18 with the four zig-zag cables on the front. I think, since the one in the mag looks much more "intense" skill-wise, I will start with the knitty.com one and then make this one, too. Maybe. Anyone else get Creative Knits magazine? Which knitting magazines do you subscribe to?

C'mon friends.... what else are we making? I am working on the second sock for my son. Then on to the vest. I bought the yarn and I am ready to...

I've been reading this thread with fascination since I am a lousy knitter. I do crochet, though, and with the two stitches I've managed to learn and retain in my fuzzy old brain, I've made baby blankets, hats and scarves galore. I even crocheted a bedspread for my DD. I'm currently working on a light-weight wool scarf in a blue and white twisted yarn and I'll probably make a hat to match.

I'd like to do mittens, too, but after successfully making one pair in a class I took, I could never manage to produce another pair that came out sized the same or looking even remotely like mittens, (those thumbs are killers, lol).

I have a dear friend who knits, sews and crochets, and she makes the most amazing sweaters, hats, socks, you name it, and she makes it look effortless. Watching her knit is mesmerizing.

I've noted down the beginners books, I may have to try again.

Another fairly useless knitter here, but have been interested in this thread especially where you have described the 'up-market' stores/shops and the superior attitude of the staff.
Here, in the UK these sort of places are always run by a really Motherly bunch of women. Besides sewing/knitting stuff many of them also sell 'drapery' ie zips, buttons, socks, underwear, probably to make ends meet.
We have one such small shop in our local town and yesterday I took in a sweater that had 'gone' at the elbow. It is an unusual shade of dark red and I needed to match the colour so I could darn it. Q. Am I the only person in the Western World still willing to darn?
The assistant was happy to spend some time trying to find a good match and came up with tapestry wool, which after some unravelling should do the job and only cost a few pence.
They also offer a most useful repair and alteration service turning up trousers, fixing zips 'invisible mending' etc.
The rent for even these small shops is very expensive over here and I hope we don't lose this most useful and personal service.
Do you still have these places where you live?

PAM, I think friendship is what these "womanly" crafts are all about.

I am more surprised that you witnessed a Michael's employee even interacting with a customer. Anytime I have gone to our local Michael's each employee I approach either makes eye contact and walks away or says they don't know anything about that, go ask at the registers. Even the person at the information desk is usually clueless. Much like the Joanne's in my area.

There is lots of college basketball on today, so after I go to the grocery store, and bind a small wall quilt, I will watch basketball and knit. That will pretty much define my weekend. It is sometimes hard to convince myself that doing this is "doing something" and not wasting time. If making an afghan is not accomplishing "something", than what is?

The yarn area at my quilt shop is expensive. One thing they do, however, is hang suggested patterns near each area of wool. Because, at least for me, it is the wool that grabs my attention and then I have to try to find a pattern to use it for. I think all my unfinished knitting projects stem from doing it the other way around.

I once read a novel, The Quilt, in which the elderly woman (sage like) ropes the entire community into making a quilt...because she told a relative that she wanted to make one, and the family thought she would never be able to finish it. Of course, it winds up finished, she has had lots of company during the making, people who never sewed or quilted learn how to, the community becomes closer. She tells them at the end that when she is making something like this she considers each stitch a prayer for the recipient. I read this when I had a friend who had an extremely premature baby. I hesitated to keep working on the afghan I was knitting - until I read this, and decided that each stitch in the afghan was a prayer for Matthew. It is a very large afghan, and the baby is a 12 year old now, although disabled, very loved. And he and his siblings still use the afghan as the official family car blanket.

Not a short post either.

Now off to the grocery store for ingredients for chicken cordon bleu, and vegetable chili. Have to be back for the 12 noon basketball games.

Happy knitting and enjoy your weekends, all.
Veronica

Pam-haven't started on the vest but I did copy the pattern and I may very well try it after I finish my daughter's gold and purple(ugh) college colors sweater-I've only finished the back-and my granddaughter's red poncho (very easy). I also need to sew a sweater together that I made for her and finish around the neck-I HATE trying to sew my "finished"stuff together as I really don't do a good job because I'm not patient about it-knitting is fun-finishing is not..and I ran out of yarn so need to make the trek to a new knit shop as the old nice one closed-I was devastated. Whew! Was that a mouthful? just type in masondixonknitting on yahoo search and you'll find it. Log cabin knitting-those girls make blankets and such but I bet it can be used to make other stuff-maybe even a vest! I've still got my nose in the book.
>vee-no shops like that in my area at least since oh, maybe the late 50's or early 60's? When I visited the UK a few years ago I observed that you were behind us in many things, but I mean that in a good way! ie. people walk all over, not so materialistic, neighborhood shops, etc.
>Michaels and Joanns are not very good sources of yarn-they never have what I want and are not helpful in my experience either. Pam-have you ever tried buying yarn on-line? LionBrand has a nice site and they aren't too expensive. Berrocco yarns must be available on-line too and they are nice. I buy yarn on-line all the time.
>sorry so rambley everyone

When I first started teaching, one of the veteran teachers was a prodigious knitter. One day she noticed that my sweater had a hole in the back shoulder-at the end of the day she told me to take it off, she took it home, matched the color from her vast store of left-over yarn, darned it and brought it back the next day...no one could find where the hole had been. She tried on three separate occasions at my request to give me knitting lessons-I was hopeless. Can't crochet, either, so the old "if you can do one you can't do the other" saying doesn't hold true for me! I needlepointed for years, but my fingers now cramp up after about a half of a game (veronica-according to the boys/men in my house, no time is ever wasted watching sports!) so my needlepoint is going more slowly than when I was younger!

Pam53 - my mother has bought her yarn at Herrschners, from their catalog, for years...been making afghans big time for abut 40 years! She does most of her work during the baseball and basketball seasons as well!

I love this thread!

My dog's groomer is near a Michael's store so while he was having his beauty treatment this week I stopped in to see if they had any new afghan books and found three. Two of the books are based on Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street knitting shop books and contain patterns she mentioned in those books, plus many more. I really like these books. I have bought yarn at Michael's occasionally but would not expect their employees to be able to answer questions about knitting. However, I would expect an employee of a knitting shop to answer questions. The experience PAM had reminds me of the movie Pretty Woman, where Julia Roberts' character went to buy clothes and the snooty sales lady said they didn't have anything for her -- because of the way she was dressed.

Most of my yarn is ordered online from either Herrschners or Patternworks. That works fine for when I'm familiar with the yarn but sometimes I just wish there was a place where I could see and feel it first. My favorite yarn for the baby blankets is Red Heart Soft Yarn. Michael's has some of it but not in baby colors.

pam53, thanks for the web sites. I need to go to the library and see if they have the book. From the pictures on the web site it looked like the blanket was straight knit and purl. If so, that would get to be very boring, wouldn't it? I need some type of pattern to keep me interested.

veronicae, you are most definitely accomplishing something and congratulations on sticking with it. I agree that watching sports is not a waste of time, especially if it is football, but it is also an excellent excuse for getting more knitting done. There will be lots of football this weekend so I should make some knitting progress, especially since my team is out of the playoffs and I don't have to spend time screaming at the TV and dropping stitches while doing so.

PAM, I'm still trying to decide which knitting magazine deserves my subscription. I want one that has something other than just clothes so I will have to keep evaluating them, which means I have to buy multiple ones for a while (how sad). And if Carson wanted the scarf you made, maybe you should go into business.

Since I finished a blanket for Linus last night, I get to choose a new pattern from my new books for my next blanket -- always an exciting time. I'm still fighting with myself about the socks class. I feel guilty about starting to knit something other than a blanket for Linus but I really want to knit socks (at least one). The internal battle will continue.

Just finished my beautiful Noro Kureyon Entrelac Scarf........it is gorgeous and I loved knitting it.
Hated to see it end!

If you do a search on the web with those four words you'll get the pattern free.

Busy hands are happy hands.
Now, with no knitting on my needles I find myself seated at my rug frame hooking on a wonderful pattern which I created.
As I cut my wool and choose my colors I marvel at the joy that creativity brings and am reminded of a favorite brass plaque which I have atop my armoir:

IMAGINATION IS EVIDENCE OF THE DIVINE

Check this out: THE KNITTING SUTRA

Booklist
This small, quite wonderful book shows all that knitting and meditation have in common--and it's more than some might suspect. In short essays, Lydon, a longtime knitter and dabbler in spiritual disciplines, winds her way through spiritual quests, physical problems, and, of course, yarn. Any knitter will readily identify with Lydon's take on the frustrations of knitting--the sweaters that don't fit, the half-finished projects that litter the house--but she also takes readers beyond the finished project and shows them how to appreciate the process. Seeing knitting as a road to contemplation may surprise some readers--perhaps even a few knitters--but by the end of Lydon's journey, most will agree that knitting "is the simplest and most ordinary of activities, yet somehow it mysteriously contains within itself the potential for expanding our conscious awareness." Ilene Cooper --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Lydon is a good enough writer to bring one to tears." ÂSan Jose Mercury News
"A very special book about women Gracefully links handcraft and spiritual practice in our everyday lives. Because she is both a fine reporter and an honest woman, her book will be rewarding to many women, knitters or not, who are trying to untangle their lives." ÂVogue Knitting International

"This soul-stirring volume offers proof positive that crafts are much more than creative outletsÂthey can be catalysts for our personal transformation." ÂBody Mind Spirit
"This small, quite wonderful book shows all that knitting and meditation have in commonÂand itÂs more than some might suspect

>Yoyobon-that scarf is gorgeous!!!!! Noro yarns are my favorite, in fact my granddaughter's sweater mentioned above is Kureyon shade 102. I love the striping. It's a treat to use that yarn. When I first started to "re-knit", about 5 yrs. ago? I made Many kureyon scarves and gave them to everyone I could think of, just to use the beautiful yarn. Now I hate to appear ignorant of knitting terms, but I have no clue what entrelac is? how did you make the scarf???? It looks hard, but I'd love to make one.
>yes, Frances-I think the log cabin knitting is basically knitting and purling but since I'm a color person and it seems pretty mindless and it looks like the blankets are nice I may give it a try. I get mixed up with counting, etc. when I'm watching tv-speaking of which I have to get back to the game soon-I really want someone to beat those Patriots! Have you ever tried Bernat softee for blankets for Linus? I have a younger sister who is handicapped and lives in a group home. She loves my blankets but they are washed to bits-that yarn is Very soft, knits up quick and washes well. The only problem is I'm not sure there are many colors. I've never looked online, but bought mine at Walmart.
>I love this thread too!!!!
>PAM-you must be a good knitter, but modest, if a tv personality wanted the scarf-I for one am impressed! I noticed you live in PA-where do you live, if I may ask? I go through there often as both my daughters live in MD-I live near Rochester, NY.

Frances, when you find a good magazine, please let me know. One of my pleasures is a good cup of tea or coffee, a cozy blanket and my quilting magazines. After searching and trying, I have decided my favorite two, and really cherish this time when they arrive. I would like to provide this same pleasure for my daughter in law, and give her a subscription to a good knitting magazine. In my mind, this type of "craft' magazine should have simple projects and some that stretch your skills. Some instruction, some history/features and some columns that make you laugh, cry, or feel like you could have written it. Ads that make you want to buy everything are not bad either.

pam53-my daughter has moved farther south from MD-now in Charlottesville in grad school. Not sure how you come down from Rochester, as I seem to remember one of your D at least is in Western MD, but in Southcentral PA we do still have some privately owned, non-chain knit/sewing shops:
would the names or phone numbers be of interest to anyone?

Entrelac is a french term which means "woven" and the scarf basically ends up looking like it is woven in strips.
The Noro Kureyon pattern is so easy really, if you are more than just a beginner. I found that after figuring out the pattern it was a cinch. I used knitwitch.com if I had any questions about a stitch direction ( they have an amazing library of videos online teaching each stitch).
The pattern is free and the results are spectacular with Noro Kureyon!
I love knitting with that yarn.....if you have difficulty finding it, eBay has tons.

Do it!!

Here is a link that might be useful: free pattern for entrelac scarf

yvonne-thanks for the pattern-I think I will give it a try-soon. It does include things I haven't done but I'll persevere!

PAM.....here's the link for the knitting videos for any step that is unfamiliar:

Here is a link that might be useful: knitting help videos

yoyobon, that is an amazing scarf! I need to spend some time reading the pattern to understand how it is done. How long did it take you to knit it?

pam53, I am using Bernat Softee for one of the blankets I am working on now. I've also used it to make little hats that were requested by one of the hospitals.

veronica, I spent some time evaluating the knitting magazines I had purchased and have narrowed my choice down to two -- Knit 'n Style and Creative Knitting (which PAM mentioned before). These both have some variety, not just sweaters, but I even like their sweaters better than those in the other magazines. For the kind of magazine you described, I believe Knit 'n Style fits best and is the one I prefer. However, since this is a very subjective subject, you should check them out before deciding on a gift. Sometimes I think I'm not really a knitter -- I just make blankets.

Last night I ordered more yarn from Herrschners new yarn catalog, including yarn for socks. I decided to give it a try on my own first before taking a class. If you hear loud screams of frustration in a few weeks, that will be me trying to knit a sock.

frances...I have found when learning a new skill, if I make a stab at it first, I know what I need to learn when I go to the class. This especially applied when I bought a new sewing machine, definitely an upgrade from my old one. I did everything in the book and on the video before my class. I knew what I needed to learn, and avoided that "I don't have a clue what I am doing here" feeling.

Yvonne, thank you for the link!

Frances, I am also narrowing it down to Knit 'n Style. I like the fact that the projects are not only diverse, but that they are varying skill levels. I cannot hear you screaming so the sock must be coming along rather well!

My vest is on the backburner. I bought the yarn, but a friend is having a b-day soon and I want to make her a scarf. That's next on the agenda.

Anyone else have project updates?
PAM

I am completing the second sleeve of my daughter's crewneck sweater-it is gold, purple and green hand-dyed yarn-I know, but gold and purple are her college colors! I am proud of the fact that I was able to sew the shoulder seams and pick up the stitches to knit on the sleeves (new to me). It should be finished by the weekend. The yarn is mardi-Gra from farmhouse yarns. I think it will come out well although it is a bit gaudy.

My daughter-in-law has finished 4 squares on the Log Cabin afghan and is "loving it!". I did about 4 inches on my afghan during the basketball games mentioned above. This past weekend I worked on a quilt for my grandson - laid the knitting aside, but will finish it before spring and gardening.

Just heard a fascinating BBC radio programme about the small Scottish town of Sanquhar in the Southern Uplands where they claim to have some of the oldest knitting patterns in the world (though they can't prove it).
Below is a link to this knitting tradition if you can drag yourselves away from the k1 p1.

Here is a link that might be useful: Knitting in Scotland

vee-thanks for the interesting knitting read-I will always be in awe of the wonderful knitting of the past (and present) that is so detailed and intricate
veronicae-are you talking about the log cabin I mentioned above found in mason-dixon knitting? I am dying to try it but must finish sweaters in progress first

pam - yes, that is the one.

Has anyone knitted a doll for the UTHANDO PROJECT? I saw an item on TV about this recently. The dolls are destined for African children who are orphaned because of the AIDS virus. www.uthandoproject.org

Has anyone found this site -- ravelry.com? I can't remember where I heard about it but I just became a member on Saturday and it is fantastic. I've only touched on the features but it offers a personal notebook where you can record information on your yarn stash, projects, needles, etc., and information galore. There are also numerous 'groups' to be joined. There is a waiting list because it is a new site and they allow a set number of new users each day.

Anyway, I found a group of knitters in Maryland and a thread there for my area. Some of the people on that thread have started a get together every two weeks (at Barnes & Noble, of all dangerous places!) so I am going to join them tomorrow evening. Since it seems that many of us feel somewhat alone with our knitting/crocheting hobby, maybe this site would help you find others in your area, too.

Just a warning -- the site is addictive! It is worth getting on the waiting list and waiting to be notified when it is your turn to join.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ravelry

hey all you knitting gals-just thought I'd boost this up and see what's new. I
just bought a new knitting book of stories-Knitting Through it, Lela Nargi Editor-Inspiring Stories for Times of Trouble.
I am finishing my second cotton log cabin bath rug - as seen in mason dixon knitting. I have had lots of fun and mindless knitting time making these while watching tv. I still have oodles of the cotton yarn left (peaches and creme) but not sure I'm ready for a third right now. I am thinking of making a little cotton dress for my 17 mo. old granddaughter.

My daughter-in-law is making a Log Cabin blanket/afghan. Her stitches are so incredibly even! I love the way it looks. I almost wish she were making it for me... since I was nice enough to tell her about it. I think I am deserving, don't you think.

There was an article about specialty cruises in a magazine, and one was a knitting cruise on a schooner in Maine...about 4 days sailing up and down the bay, no tv, radio etc..meals all provided. Sounds great to me.

I randomly received a catalog in the mail from lion design. They sell yarn...which may or may not be expensive, I buy at Michael's, so I don't know about good stuff. They include pictures of projects, and their website has free patterns for all the projects in the catalog...a lot of free patterns.

lionbrand.com

I am also finishing up a log cabin blanket made from wool blends. Someday I'll go into a yarn shop and treat myself to really nice yarn for a project. For now it's Michael's for me too.
Susan

Michael's is a very economical place to buy yarn, particularly if you avail yourself of their weekly coupons. (Available on their website, if you can't find it in your paper.) Jo Ann's and A.C. Moore are the other places for reasonable pricing.

Brenda

pam53, thanks for telling us about the Mason-Dixon Knitting book. I have made the dishcloth (but using Sugar & Creme, something the M-D authors would not approve) and am working on the Moderne Baby Blanket. Did you make the bathmat with three strands of yarn and, if so, is it difficult to manage multiple strands? That is something else I have never tried.

I've also completed one pair of socks and am finishing up a second pair. Knitting socks is so much fun and I have yarn for several more pairs. I'm using circular needles and, now that I know what I'm doing to some extent, next I will knit two socks at once on the circular needles.

Then I have to try the entrelac scarf that yoyobon did and then some Fair Isle knitting and mittens and on and on...... Of course, the Project Linus blankets still have to be done, too. There just aren't enough hours, as we all know, but what with the knitting magazines, the Ravelry site, and this thread I feel like a whole new world of knitting has opening up and I fell into it! While I'm working on all of these projects, I'm listening to 49+ hours of The Count of Monte Cristo, a completely fascinating book.

frances, The Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite book. It is a perfectly crafted novel. Who is the narrator/reader/voice on your copy?

I have read of knitters who find pure wool sweaters at the Good Will or Salvation Army stores and take them apart, unravelling the wool yarn and winding it into a ball.
Then they recycle it by knitting it into something new.

I think that's a great idea, but I suspect that you have to find handknit sweaters because those that are cut from knits have the machine sewn seams on the sides and that would give you lots of short lengths of yarn.

veronica, the narrator is Fred Williams and he does an excellent job.

frances-my bath mats are just regular peaches and creme cotton-no double or triple stranding-I had lots of fun with them, we'll see how sturdy they are-yes I want to try the scarf pattern also. I envy you the sock knitting which is something i have never tried. Do you think double points or circulars would be easier-I actually dislike double points but people tell me circular sock knitting is confusing...but maybe not, if you've never made socks?
I signed up at ravelry and can see everything on the site but can't post-I think it's something with my browser.
veronica-I think your daughter-in-law definitely owes you a log cabin afghan!
I saw size 50 needles somewhere the other day in an advertisement-can't imagine anything so big

pam, I've never used double pointed needles and started out with the circulars because I use them for everything else. In Michaels one day I found a Knit Along with Debbie Macomber book based on one of the fiction books about knitting I had read and mentioned earlier in this thread, A Good Yarn. This book contains patterns based on the fiction book. It has a sock pattern with excellent instructions and pictures for making a sock on circular needles. This is how I learned to do it. I was considering taking a class but decided to just go for it and it was great fun. Not that I didn't make a couple of mistakes but they didn't make any difference in the wearability of the socks -- I just love them! I did think I should start with one sock on circulars before trying two socks at a time but I may try that for the next pair.

These Debbie Macomber books (I now have four) are some of the best I've seen with very clear instructions and pictures and large print so it is easy to read the pattern from a distance without putting down the knitting.

Now I will also have to give the bathmat a try. I like working with the cotton except that it slides off the AddiTurbo needles in the blink of an eye.

Too many projects .... too much yarn .... too many books ....life is good!

pam53, It is quite coincidental that you just mentioned knitting socks on circular needles or DPN's. Just yesterday, I had a conversation with a friend who is a super knitter. She was making her first pair of socks on circulars... 2 pairs, size 2, 24-inch connecting cable and self-striping sock yarn. Apparently, Charlotte Schurch has sock books out featuring patterns for making socks with circulars, although I personally have not checked them out yet.

So glad this thread is still going on! And Frances, I agree with you... too many projects, too much yarn, too many books, life is indeed grand.
PAM

I'm in awe-knitting both socks at the same time?

pam and frances-I will definitely check out the books-thanks. I also agree-so much yarn, knitting, books-life is beautiful and full!
oh, Frances, I have done cotton knitting on wooden needles and good old plastic. I like how smooth the knitting goes on the lion brand plastic needles, but I'm not sure they have any circulars. I guess it's just a matter of getting used to it.

Size 50 needles must be like small baseball bats! But I'll bet the project gets finished fast.

The book I have with instructions on knitting two socks on circular needles is Knitting Circles Around Socks by Antje Gillingham. I'm currently using one of the patterns but only doing one sock at a time. Since I'm not yet to the point where I dread starting the second one, I think I will wait on doing two at a time. One at a time gives me a chance to improve on errors I made on the first one.

I went searching for this thread because I want to bookmark the site for the blankets based on the log cabin quilt pattern. My daughter-in-law made one...it is beautiful. Her stitches are so precise and even. She is an artist.

TWOBIGDOGS - if you are still around. I have had the experience of being ignored and shunned. But on vacation early this month, I went into a small shop on the coast of Maine...expert knitters...fancy knitters...knitters who sell their beautiful work there. When I was excited to fine a simple scarf pattern (cast on 17 stitches, k1, p1 every row until the yarn is almost gone and then end it off)...I was ecstatic...because the wool is one of those exotic, beautiful and oh so silky soft ones. And nobody mocked me for being excited.

When my husband wants to read me something from a book, or the internet, I reach over to it, and do off a couple of rows while he reads. I am no longer impatient with him, and I am accomplishing something while I listen, and I listen better. And I am a better wife.

(There, that makes it a reading connection! He just finished Shutter's Island and was explaining the plot to me.)

Any new knitting books...I have read both of the ?Bloom St? books - the ones about the shop owner with cancer. I really enjoyed the first one...the second one was a good read, but not as good as the first.

veronicae,
OF COURSE I am still around! haha. I've been here for probably twelve years now - maybe. I was thrilled to see this thread (er, I mean yarn), pulled to the top!

Time for an update! What knitting projects are you all working on now? It's been over a year and a half since this thread was started.

PAM

Me? Still the baby blanket which is a little bigger than it was. And the scarf I described in my post.

My oldest granddaughter, of the family I taught to knit, made a little stuffed animal for her cousin, my newest grandchild, last fall.

I bought the family master quilter, my daughter-in-law, a scarf that is the source yarn for a pair of socks. Very colorful yarn and a fun kind of thing.

I have completed several quilts. So I am productive!

It was eerie, however. In one of my first posts on this thread, I mentioned my mother, who could both knit and crochet. In the time lapse of this thread...she was diagnosed with cancer. Had one successful round of treatment, then a relapse, and died last November.

veronicae, I'm so sorry about your mother. Everything can change so fast sometimes.

I'm happy to see my favorite thread active again. First, to answer the question about books, I found a new series (to me) by Monica Ferris that is the best of the knitting fiction so far. The books revolve around a shop called Crewel World and are mysteries of sorts but she does the best job of making the needlework fit in with the stories and she writes better than the other authors of this type of book, in my opinion. I've listened to four of them so far, having started in the middle of the series, and will continue through them all.

My most recent project other than baby blankets was a lacy wrap I made for my sister for next Christmas. I used a bamboo blend yarn that was very splitty but the finished product is beautiful, if I do say so myself. I also started on a log cabin blanket but had to stop to wait for more yarn to be delivered and never started on it again. Someday.......

While reading on Ravelry, I found that there is a group called The Knitting Guild Association that has correspondence courses in knitting as well as three levels of masters knitting programs that lead to certification as a master knitter. While I don't care about the certification, I've been anxious to learn more about knitting for a while so I've started one of the correspondence courses this week. I've already learned a good deal and hope to continue on. My sensitivity to wool prevents me from taking classes at my local store because you can only take a class using their yarn and they don't sell anything that doesn't contain wool so I'm really happy to have found these courses. The masters level programs, from what I've read, are quite extensive and involve research as well as knitting and sound like a lot of fun. And, of course, I've had to invest in several new knitting books along the way, both books on technique as well as essays. I'm learning! I'm also studying Latin at the same time so it is like being in school again.

I don't know how I missed this thread the first time around.
I have been knitting almost since I can remember - well, about 10 or 11. The first thing I knitted was a cover for a hot water bottle, and I moved on from there.
I knit mostly jumpers (sweaters) and my favourites are Aran style patterns. I have also done some Fair Isle vests and loved those. I use wool for all my winter projects, but have done some short sleeved tops for summer in cotton.
I find large needles make my hands ache, so I generally knit with 5 ply on smallish metal needles. I also have to hold the needles from the underneath, which is most unusual and also makes things difficult, but I just can't hold them on top like most people and still knit properly.
When I began knitting I used my mother's plastic needles, but there is something odd in the way I move them and I broke several pairs before Mum insisted on buying me metal ones *g*
In addition to jumpers I have done a baby blanket in very fine 2 ply wool, and a pair of socks for a friend.
My son's girlfriend recently asked me to teach her to knit, and I gave her one lesson. I will need to check on how she is going.

For my newest project I bought bamboo needles...someone recommended them. So far I like them, they slide nicely over each other.

Yeah! the knitters are back. Thanks Frances for the Monica Ferris books-I will have to check them out.
I really have taken a rather long break from knitting or attempting to knit anything "hard". In the past year I must have made at least 12 afghans, nothing special just garter stitch in various yarns and colors.
I sometimes enjoy plastic needles but do all afghans and most else on bamboo. For some reason I can't abide metal ones.