Fleece on Earth

Beth inspired me to try to pull together a knitting/fibre blog. I've lost touch with knitting in the past several years in terms of new yarns/books/techniques, but I always have a sock or something with me to work on. I'm trying to dig out my knitting books and find my stash (literally stashed since our move last spring), and I'm also trying to finish some things. Since I am a process person and not a product person, this is ambitious. I prefer colour stranded work (Fair Isle) and would like to make a lace shawl at some point in my life. I love Scandinavian and Icelandic patterns and sweaters and would like to actually finish a Dale sweater at some point in my life too!

I have been knitting seriously for about 20 years now. I had the good fortune to move to Germany just when my interest in knitting was really taking off (by the way - if you are teaching a child to knit, do NOT start them on an orange acrylic endless scarf. I guarantee you this will make the average 8 year old not pick up needles again until she is 20!). Between the German yarn shops and the Stars & Stripes bookstore, I learned to knit Continental-style, to read charts, and a host of other things. By the time we came back to the US I was a confirmed knitter. Shortly thereafter I bought my first spinning wheel, and knitting and spinning both remain favourites of mine, as well as being therapeutic (fibre is cheaper than Prozac, right?). I wish there was more time in the day to work on these things.

Along the way I taught knitting for several years for adult non-credit education and also learned dyeing, weaving, and even soapmaking. Now that my kids are starting to be almost sensible ages (daughter 9 and son 13) I hope to have more time in the future for knitting and spinning, if nothing else. Since both my kids play hockey, knitting is the perfect take-along activity too.

I'm not really sure what will end up going in here. I have recently taken up photography as a hobby so I hope to incorporate pictures of knitting eventually, plus the obligatory pictures of adorable cats.