New Year, New Addiction

It's the year 2007. New year... new blog... for my new addiction --- KNITTING :)

It all started last November 22 when I attended a class at Michael's to learn knitting basics. Since then, I've made 8 scarves (plus another one in progress) 6 of which, I have given away to family. (Below are the only scarves I have left)


Sometime late December, I learned to locate 2 of the 3 yarn stores here in Omaha: String of Purls and Personal Threads . And I got more hooked. Purchasing yarns just give me a different kind of adrenaline rush. Addictive! :)

I think what I need now are knitter friends to hang out with. There are "Knit and Sit" hours at String of Purls. I went there a couple of times... not to knit though... but to purchase yarns while I secretly observed the knitters. Hmmm. I felt so amateur just watching and listening to them. Don't think I'm ready for that yet. But then again, they could also help me learn new stuff, right? Hmmm...

December 27-January 13th was an "everything 20% off" sale at Personal Threads. As I looked around there one day last week, I started a conversation with a very nice woman who is as addicted to knitting but more experienced than I am. Her name is Kathy. She is actually a resident of Indiana and just flew in for the weekend to take advantage of the sale. Wow. She's more addicted than I am then. LOL. She and her daughter (Kate, who also flew in from Idaho) have successfully convinced me to graduate from knitting scarves. That it was time for me to "move on". So I met up with them for a couple of days last week and they taught me how to make socks, a bonnet and a felted bag. Soooooooooooo cool!

I found out from Kathy and Kate that Personal Threads also have "Knit Nights" which happens every 2nd and 3rd Wednesday of the month. Cooooooool. I've already made acquaintances at that store so I think I'm going try that out too. They don't have it for this month though due to their annual clearance sale but I heard it will be back next month.

Since last weekend, I've tried making different kinds of projects. First was a pair of fingerless mittens made with Koigu... then a red purse and a bubble bag, both made with Malabrigo worsted-weight wool. (I have yet to felt the bags though as I can't seem to find any Eucalan.) Yesterday, I made my first drawstring pouch and today, I'm making my first bikini pair (all using 100% cotton). 5 knitting projects in a week. Not bad eh? I'll update you all as soon as I'm done with the bikini. Then I'll move on to knitting socks. :)



One thing that frustrates me though is that I have been trying to make baby booties for more than a week now and it's still not going right. I'm not sure if there's something wrong with the pattern or if I need to change my yarn --- it just always is too big on the foot and too tiny on the cuffs. Sucks. But I'll give it a try again next week using another kind of yarn.