Tuesday Evening

I've spent a good part of today trying to post pictures of my first pair of knitted socks. I'm still having trouble with those photos, so I'm going to show you my first pair of mittens.
These pictures come with a bonus - Pierre!

Pierre is my sister's dog. He very kindly posed with the mittens. We think he really wants a beret (or is just very tolerant of his humans.)
Can you see how frightened I became of running out of yarn on the left mitten (pictured on the right)? I believe I fell out of gauge! My kitchener on the top of that one is very angular, and I redid it twice. Finally decided to just leave it. Any input would be appreciated. I am very proud of the thumbs, I had a very difficult time figuring out what the pattern was trying to tell me to do. Ann Budd's Book of Patterns saved me. Strongly recommend the book.

Wish me well with the sock photos.

First Socks

I'm still learning about posting pictures. Today I am going to share the first pair of socks that I knit. I gave them to my niece at college for a valentine's gift. She might have been most enthralled with the green paper that I slipped into one of the socks. The self-striping Modea sock yarn was used for these. Was on my way to the post office when I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of them, and knowing that socks don't last forever, I wanted to have something to remember them with. Consequently the photos were taken on my dashboard.

Welcome!

Hello. It is a beautiful warm Saturday Spring morning. There will be no Easter Dust (snow) this year. The daffodils and tulips my cousins planted in my lawn along the driveway are ready to bloom tomorrow.

Mona, my dog, has learned to not tread over the sprouting plants among the grass. Every year either the daffodils or the tulips bloom on Easter morning. (Except last year, last year was different.) This year I will have both. These gifts they placed for me several years ago, bring me much pleasure.

Until December I was a crocheter. I had tried knitting. Even completed 3/4 of a sweater 23 years ago, didn't enjoy any of it. The needles were cold and uncomfortable, I was very slow, it seemed tedious and admittedly too involving. Then I tried to change Christmas. I felt it had become too monetary. I wanted to give something that was more meaningful to those I love. I was in one of the local thrifty grocery/department stores looking for yarn to crochet scarves, when I found the fun furs. Those jewel tone colors! But all of the patterns on the skein labels were for knitted scarves. I hesitated. This found me eye to eye with the swatches. Very nice swatches. I reread the label. The US 19 wooden needles looked like it would be pretty quick to do. Those colors would be just perfect for my nieces. And the yarn was on sale! (I am now convinced the starw were aligned, for there are no coincidences.) How could I not try it? If I needed help, I thought I could go to my friend/sister-in-law who knits, or perhaps find some information on the web. Oh, what I have learned on the web! How to knit, purl, yo, ssk, cable and TURN A HEEL! I made seven scarves for Christmas. Since then I've done a baby hat, booties, dishcloths, socks and a pair of mittens. I've had fun! I've also managed to accumulate a stash, a mini library of books, and discovered a whole world of knitters on the web. I am very grateful to the many people who have provided so much information and inspiration.

I hope all of you have some of this beautiful sunshine.