I sort-of learned to knit in 2001, when I pestered my mom into showing me how. My first knitted object was a lumpy-looking cozy for my first-generation iPod, made out of dark green acrylic yarn with a gold thread running through it. Stunning! I do believe that said iPod cozy currently resides in my sock drawer.
A year or so later, I bought Debbie Stoller’s first stitch ‘n bitch book, and proceeded to teach myself how to knit…completely incorrectly. I distinctly remember sitting on the ugly-ass couch in my earwig-infested rental apartment fumbling with some aluminum needles and some delightful purple acrylic yarn. Little did I know that I was knitting through the back loop. At least my purling was fine. I did make a couple of items using my incorrect technique (including a felted purse made out of some less-icky-than-acrylic, but still-icky Noro). I do believe that said felted purse currently resides in the guest room closet. At least felting covers all ills.
At some point, probably in 2003 or 2004, I took a “knitting with beads” class at my LYS, Needleworks. Nancy, the instructor, very gently told me that I was not knitting correctly, and very patiently corrected the error of my ways. That afternoon, I went home and knitted like a crazed tricoteuse, determined to replace the “wrong way” that was ingrained in my memory with the right way. And guess what…my knitting improved, just like that. I took class after class at Needleworks and learned everything I could about knitting from Kate, Ray, and Kara.
Oh sure, I’ve had some missteps, and I have an assload of partially-finished sweaters to prove it. (Two-thirds of a hoodie knitted out of itchy raspberry-colored wool/mohair? Check. Unflattering “why did I make this” sleeveless top? It’s somewhere in the craft closet.) Plus, having learned to knit during the novelty yarns craze of the early 2000s, I have plenty of novelty-yarn (and, gasp, fun fur) scarves in my collection. But overall, I’m pretty skilled these days, and I’ve got a good feel for what I like to make (and what I don’t like to make).
My number one love these days is socks. Sock yarn acquisition pleases me, socks are useful, I can drag them around with me, I don’t have to worry that they’ll be unflattering when I finish them, socks make nice gifts, blah-ter-blah etc. I’m a bit of a sock yarn club junkie (Blue Moon’s Rockin’ Sock Club was my gateway) and I knit so many socks that it feels strange to hold needles that are larger than a 1.5. I am trying to branch out, though, and by “branch out” I mean both “finish the stuff I started before I got obsessed with socks” and “try new things.”
If you want to view my stash (which is still incomplete, and probably always will be) or my finished projects, I’m on Ravelry as “nanette.”