Knitting

A couple months back my friend Anne asked the rest of us in our playgroup if we would be interested in taking a knitting class with her. I had dabbled in knitting a few years ago, mostly getting the Knitting for Dummies book, some cheap yarn and a couple knitting needles (hell I don't even know what size they are). So I was interested but the most I had ever done was a very poor looking stockinette swatch from the basics in the book.

Well, we thought I would jump right in with this class for making felted Christmas stockings at our local yarn store. And thank goodness we chose this one because felting is very forgiveable. :) Anyway, it wasn't a beginning class so I had to learn a lot, and quickly, along the way but I had a good and patient friend in Anne and an understanding teacher and class.

Well, now I'm hooked.

I've completed three Christmas stockings so far, though I still have a lot of decorating to do. I took a needle felting class for Clark's stocking, so it's the most finished but I'm waiting until I do a few more stockings (presents for friends and family) before I invest in some roving wool and needle felt the rest. I also have a LOT of practice to do in embroidery so that I can put names at the top of the stockings. Anyway, here's a picture of them at Christmas:
I'll have to make them for the cats too!
Clark's is the most complete (the red one) and Dan's (grey and black) is waiting for that roving for a Batman symbol. I'll have a photo of it when it's done. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the blue one. I'm not even sure I'm keeping it for me, but it was the first thing I've ever made with knitting so it's near and dear. It was knit using Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride, which felt very nice to knit, but the other two were knit using Cascade 220 as that line had the colors I wanted. Unfortunately that meant that the blue stocking felted differently and was a different size from the other two. So I might be making a new one out of Cascade 220 for me.

Here's a photo of the blue and red stocking before they were felted. You can already see a difference:

Here's a close up of Clark's stocking:

The needle felting class was a LOT of fun and I'm looking forward to doing more of it.

Right now I'm working on my first pair of socks. I thought it would be a nice transition as it's more or less the same principles I used for the Christmas stocking only smaller. It's a bit of a challenge using only double pointed needles (and size 3 no less), but I figure if I can accomplish this I'll feel a lot more confident in my knitting. I'm making a few mistakes still but I think it's coming along ok.
By the way, that's using Plymouth Encore, 7515. I'm also using the beginning pattern from the Knit Socks! book (it's great book!).

I've also signed up for my next knitting class. It's to make an afghan "square by square". I'm really looking forward to this one. We had the choice of using Manos or Plymouth Encore and I chose the Plymouth Encore. As tempting as it was to use the Manos (because it's just so beautiful!), it was much more expensive considering the amount we needed and I would like to be a much better knitter before I start investing in expensive yarns. Besides, I can't help but think of Manos, the Hands of Fate every time I hear it. :)
Anyway, that class starts at the end of the month and I'm sure I'll have photos as I go along.

For Christmas I got this great knitting bag from Dan...
...as well as the larger sized needles from the Knit Picks Options interchangable needle set from my sister. I'm still waiting anxiously for the starter set to arrive...here's hoping it comes this week!

Enough about knitting for now I think. Sorry to just go on and on about it...I'm sorta obsessed right now. :) Anyway, I'm sure I'll be posting a lot more links and other items about knitting as I come across them. It's a brand new world to me so everything is new!