First Post

Welcome!
=)

I'm new to the blog world. I read lots of them, and have decided that I want my own! My goal in doing a blog is to give myself an outlet to talk about my knitting and hopefully get to know some other cool knitters. I don't know if anyone will be interested in my ramblings or not, but I'm going to dive right in anyway! It's my first entry, so I figured I'd make it more of an introduction and background on me and my knitting. I'm Miss Bea, although of course that isn't my given name, and I LOVE to knit! I can't get enough of it, I am obsessed!

I first learned when I was 9, my mother taught my sister and I to knit and crochet. Neither of us really liked knitting at the time though. My sister proceeded to make a long string of crochet bobbles (not intentionally, mind you), and then nothing even remotely crafy ensued from her for many years. I, being the pie in the sky type of gal I am, decided that I was going to crochet an afghan with my newfound skills. Needless to say, it did not keep my attention. Somewhere in my parents attic is a horrible mess of pink and teal Red Heart that shall remain unfinished.

I picked up knitting again during my junior year of college in the fall of 2000. My first project was a scarf for my boyfriend at the time, modeled after a scarf worn by the main character in the show "Rent". I gave it to him for Christmas and then started a scarf for myself. I designed it myself from stitch patterns I found in one of my mother's knitting books, and knitted it in Lion Brand Wool-Ease. It is my favorite scarf still, and every time I wear it I remember how proud I was when I finished it.

After that I knitted in fits and starts, only finishing a project or two a year. I would knit furiously for a month or two and then not a stitch for months. I did branch out into garments though, finishing a zip-up hooded sweater with pockets (I was quite proud of that one when I finished it too), a tank top, several pillows, and some mittens.

Then there was a looong lull. I had two UFO's; an Aran sweater knitted in Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool, and a fair isle style sweater knitted in a gorgeous handspun and dyed yarn that I picked up in green and lavender on a trip to Prince Edward Island. I didn't get any further than about 6 inches up the back on either of them.
My fiber craft dry spell ended this past October, when my boyfriend and I went to upstate New York for the weekend. I decided to crochet snowflake ornaments for my mother for Christmas during the trip. One thing led to another of course, and by the time January rolled around I had blasted through 4 crocheted hats, a crocheted sweater, 5 knitted hats, 3 knitted scarves, and a pair of arm cosies. I was a knitting fiend, and I loved every minute!

Since then I've slowed down a bit - I don't have the holiday deadline looming over me anymore. I made my boyfriend a hat, the poor lad had nothing to keep his ears warm! He's got a pretty big noggin, so it had to be custom designed and was my first attempt at designing something that involved shaping. Next up was another hooded zip-up sweater, which turned out to be a disaster (more on that another time) but I love it anyway. And then I knit my very first pair of socks! What fun!

So that's my personal knitting history, a very important thing for every knitter to recall from time to time, I think. It's nice to remember not only how you have become the knitter you are and what started you on that path, but also to reflect on how far you've come in the journey. There is so much to learn that I doubt I'll ever be bored.