Knitting - I am obsessed

Just a couple weeks before Christmas, I learned how to knit. I've always wanted to learn and since my friend, Laurie-Anne, holds a knitting club for her family housing program, I decided now was my time to learn.

So, I went to knitting club, Laurie-Anne taught me the basic knit stitch, and then I furiously knitted a scarf for my mom for Christmas. I mean furiously! I knitted for nearly two hours every night and then on the entire drive to Utah. When it got dark on the drive, I opened my tiny light on the sunflap and knitted until we got to Utah. I still wasn't done. I knitted as much as I could and finished the skein of yarn and it was too short. So, I used youtube videos to teach myself how to add in another ball of yarn and added a couple stripes. I wasn't finished by Christmas day, so I wrapped up the unfinished scarf and gave it to my mom. Then, I was able to knit openly and finish the scarf before we left to go home. It turned out funny looking in a lot of parts but I was proud of it. My mom likes it even though it is ugly because I invested so much time into making it. Someday I'll make her a better one.

The  unfinished scarf on Christmas morning. My mom was so surprised. She thought I was knitting her a washcloth.

The finished product.

After I finished the scarf, my fingers were itching for a new project. It was so fulfilling to create something, especially when I never thought I'd be able to knit anything in the first place. So, I took on something a little crazy and challenging - a baby hat that required using doublepointed needles, connecting ear flaps, making an i-cord, and several other pretty challenging knitting techniques. My friend Sarah gave me some tips (she made these hats for her kiddos - that is where I fell in love with them) and let me borrow her needles and I set to work.

I made one hat and it wasn't perfect, but I was proud. It was a hard pattern - a huge step up from the simple scarf I'd made. I had decided to make two matching baby hats for my sister Kerri's twin baby boys that were about to be born. Why I give myself these ridiculous deadlines, I don't know, but I had to get them off to her before she had them. I was determined.

So, I made the first and then made the second. The second one looked so much better, though, that I had to rip the first one apart to make it equally as good. Once I finished, I mailed them off; just in time for the babies to arrive!

The twinner hats

The twins (L - Joshua, R- Jacob). I stole these pictures from my mom because I am so smitten with these little guys. I guess this shows their personalities really well, too. Josh is a sleepy little guy and Jacob has the lungs. 

Joshua

Jacob. Don't you just love his long feathery soft blond hair?! So cute!

Since then, I've made five more of these cute hats. I made one for my friend Staci's little boy, Jacob, one for  my friend Ulli's boy, Peter, one for my friend Ashleigh's baby boy who is still to arrive, one for my brother Brian's baby who just arrived a couple days ago (still nameless), and one for my friend Candee's baby, Rick, who just arrived yesterday. I've yet to make one for a girl.

A couple more of the hats. This one is for my brother Brian's nameless baby. The one below is for Candee's baby.

This weekend, I knitted a scarf for the sweet little girl, Sage, who I babysit once a week. She just turned 7 and is really excited about my knitting. She loves to just sit by me and watch me knit. She said to me the other day "I really would love for you to knit me a scarf. I really love the color red." I had a mission. It was fun to knit something for someone who I knew would absolutely love what I made.

So, here is the scarf. Imagine that I am about half my size (so the scarf is actually long enough) and that I have a skinny 7-year-old's neck.

I'm still deciding what my next project will be. One thing is for certain; I love knitting!