A special place for nothin' special.


Wednesday, July 4, 2007

A spirited beginning!

I grew up in Washington, D.C., a truly amazing place to be on the Fourth of July. Watching the fireworks from the grounds of the Washington Monument, amidst all of the spectacular sights the city has to offer, has to be one of the greatest experiences ever. So, this day has always been a day of celebration and excitement for me. What a great day to begin a new adventure - my first blog!

Like others, I don't pretend to have anything really important (or even interesting) to share with anyone. Sometimes it's just enough to get a peek at someone else's perspective. If you are able to take something away from this, great. If not, then please just move on without ruining this for anyone else.

A friend of mine asked me what kind of blog this was going to be. The long and the short of it is that I don't really know. I suppose that I will probably write about the new things that I am doing. That is, the subject will probably evolve as time goes on, but I have a feeling that I will devote quite a bit of bandwith to discussing my knitting.

This year, instead of making a new year's resolution to lose weight or save money, I decided to resolve to learn something new. My husband and I were feeling very under the weather over new year's, so we ended up spending the night at home with Dick Clark. I was flipping through one of my magazines (In Style, I think), and I came across a blurb about knitting. So, I decided then and there that the thing I would learn in the new year was how to knit.

As a kid, my Mom had taught me to crochet, but I hadn't picked up a hook or any yarn in a VERY long time. Nonetheless, I visited a site mentioned in the magazine and I bought my "Cup of Yarn." It came with two bamboo needles and enough yarn to make a scarf. I was hooked. I've made a few "practice" projects so far - things with inexpensive yarn and pretty ho-hum designs, just to get a ton of practice before picking up something that will take too big a bite out of my wallet if I mess it up. Right now I am working on finishing up a wrap-style sweater. It's nothing too challenging - some shaping, a little moss stitch instead of ribbing - but it is the first project that I've made that makes me feel like a knitter.

My daily commute to work is about and hour and a half each way, so it leaves me plenty of time to work on my knitting if I am riding the subway or riding in with my husband. I actually don't get to spend alot of time knitting outside of the time that I spend commuting. One day while I was on the Metro (the D.C. subway system), I was knitting away happily on a project when a gentlemen I had seen before yelled over to me, "Hey, Metro knitter! What're ya working on?" I spent a minute explaining the project to him, and he said, "Alright then. Y'all keep knittin'." From that day, I was the MetroKnitter. I still occasionally see him, and he will ask how I'm doing and what I'm working on. In fact, my knitting has sparked more than few conversations with friendly folks on the Metro - it's a great icebreaker.

Anyway, now that you know a little bit about me, I hope that you will check in with me every once in awhile to see if I have anything new to share. I recently joined the Sexy Knitters Club and will be participating in the upcoming knit along (KAL), so I'm sure you'll read a little something about that as it progresses. The project will be the Red Carpet Convertible dress by Annie Modesitt. If you have seen Annie's designs before, you know that she designs some gorgeous stuff! The current pattern for the KAL is available on Annie's website (www.anniemodesitt.com) for a small donation. Annie's husband, Gerry, has been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, and the donation will help offset some of the expenses that go along for caring for a loved one who is ill.

So, that's it for now. More here soon!

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