FO

Don't get too excited, it isn't a recent FO - but, being new to this blogging thing, I thought a bit of picture practice was in order.

So behold, my first pic.

This sweater was my very first non-scarf project. (Now to be fair, there were a few other non-scarf projects cast on, and finished, between the cast on for this and the finish of this...)

Pattern: Sonnet (from Knitty, fall 2003)
Yarn: Caron, Simply Soft, color?
Cast on: Approximately Sept 05.
Finished: Approximately Sept 06.

I really like this sweater, maybe just because it is the first sweater I made for me. It's a little big, but really comfortable. and all told, not so bad for my first go.

Coming soon... more FO from my past, and more pictures!

Maybe I just haven't learned the hard way.

So my plans for this evening are simple. Learn and practice duplicate stitch on the swatches I made last night. It is the technique called for in the pattern for 'The Baby Shower Gift", and I've never really done it before. (I have done a moderately successful facsimile when weaving in the ends on my last project.)

I do this to myself alot. I choose a pattern/recipe/subject matter for my PhD that as a vital component includes something I know NOTHING about. Then I dive in with both feet and assume it'll turn out fine. (Hey, blogging probably falls under this category too.)

So far, so good (the jury is still out on that PhD thing...), but duplicate stitch is the most recent addition to the litany of things I decided would be no big deal.

Let's wish me luck.

Is the pattern ever inviolate?

I admit I have a problem.

I follow rules. Often to the letter. I find them hard to break, or even bend. I am sure my parents appreciated this fact a great deal, but occasionally* this habit just makes my life more difficult.

For instance, when I'm working along on a pattern and I realize that by repeating the motif 6 times instead of 8, the finished product turns out just as nice, and I will be done two weeks sooner. 'Great!' I think to myself, 'I'll do that, and give myself twice as much time to do all the fancy finishing work before the gift is due.'

But then the little Lawful demon shows up on my shoulder, 'But is that cheating?'

I think, in the end, this particular project is going to be modded. But how do I tell the little demon on my shoulder (the one who insists I follow every rule ever written) to shut UP? Does anyone else have this problem?

-Mel

*ok, more than occasionally, more like daily.

Welcome Visitors.

My first post.

What to do with your first post?

Should it not reflect the nature of the blog-to-be? But what if I don't know what that is yet? I need to find my voice...my story...my reason to inflict my views upon the world (or at least the slice of the world that chooses to visit these pages.

For now, an introduction:

I have wandered (and trolled) the knitting blogosphere for several months now, and have found the people who share their stories and FOs (you, I suppose) a charming and disarming lot. So here I am hoping to join the fun. My name is Mel, and I'm a self-taught knitter, a wife, and a graduate student, among other things. I hope in the future to post WIPs, FOs and general knitterly thoughts along the way. But first I must learn the basics of the blog...

Check back in a few days, you never know what may pop up here next.

Let's see what happens.