Productivity Part 1

Been a little while since my last post! But at least this time I have a good excuse. Instead of sitting around thinking about making things and/or saying I'm going to make things, I've actually been making things. Dennis has been encouraging - nay, nagging - me to get things done and I must say it's working! He's a big inspiration to me, and just the swift kick in the butt that I needed. I started a to-do list on the chalkboard in the living room, and having it up there in huge letters on the wall is much more effective than a little one hiding in a notebook or online. Therefore, the next few posts of mine are going to be of finished projects, how exciting! 

The thing that really got the ball rolling was when Dennis offered to learn how to knit with me. I've been crocheting for a very, very long time, but every time I tried to learn to knit I would get lost and frustrated. And when I took Dennis to the ArtFibers store closing he wanted me to make him a hat like one in the store, but I couldn't because it was knit. Then he said the magic words; that he would learn to knit with me if it would help. That's when I started the meetup group, and Dennis goes with me every week, and guess what?

Yup. That's me, knitting. Booya. And I've already finished my first project:

It's a very, very basic hat. I bought the Klutz kit on knitting which came with a book, yarn, needles, a case, a hook, and a yarn needle. I figured it would be the best book for me since it's designed for seven year olds *(>_<) ... And it worked - I made the hat from the book in two weeks, working on it here and there. It looks really good on Dennis except for the whole purple thing. That inspired me to make a men's version which is on my needles as we speak. Since Dennis has no prior yarn-related experience it took him a little longer than me, but he's got the hang of it now and has started working on a hat of the same type. 

So, now that I know how to knit I really want to learn to make socks, then I figure I'll be ready to try the more complicated hat Dennis originally wanted since it has cables and color changes involved. But the whole double-pointed needle thing is very confusing, and no one in the knit group has ever attempted socks. I guess they're harder than I thought, so I was wondering if anyone out there can recommend a good pattern for beginner's socks on circular needles? I'd really appreciate some help.

Up next week, some recipes and finished sewing projects!