First

Well, well, well. Stop the presses, kids, it's yet another knitting blog out here in the ether. And don't you know we need just one more of those? I seek to be a part of a knitting community. I want to glean the wisdom of other knitters and have knitting friends who aren't 40 years my senior. I enjoy learning from older knitters, as they usually have far more experience than I can ever imagine having, but sometimes it'd be nice to sit down and knit with some other 23 year olds. I'm tired of admiring shawls and afghans. This blog is the first step in my journey towards being a more connected knitter.

I have no illusions that this wee little journal will chronicle feats of unmatchable knitting greatness (yes, I'm looking at you and your nine lace bridesmaid dresses, Knitting Iris) or ever attract hundreds of commenters on each post (why would I be glaring at the Yarn Harlot? I'm not glaring at the Yarn Harlot). I simply realized recently that somewhere between 40 and 60 percent of the conversations that I try to hold with my friends and family at some point come around to knitting. It's a good portion of what I do. Thus, it's what I talk about. So, rather than jumping up and down trying to make the unenlightened in my world appreciate just how incredibly awesome it is that I recently found 800 yds of cashmere on sale for just $30.00, I'm going to jump up and down and make you, dear reader, appreciate it, because if you're knitters (and I can't imagine you'd be reading this if you weren't) then you already know how exciting that is. Don't you?

This blog is also partially for my mother, who lives far away and still lovingly pays my rent while I spend part of my own earnings on yarn, and I think she deserves to see the fruits of my yarn-loving labor. She always listens patiently when I gush about the things I'm knitting, and she either feigns or actually has quite a lot of enthusiasm for the things I knit. So, I know that if no one else is appreciating my knitting posts, she is. It would be very easy for her to say, "Courtney, stop buying yarn and make your own darn rent payments." This blog is my way of thanking her for not saying that... yet.

Another impetus for this little endeavor is the fact that Sweet Darold (heretofore referred to as SD) is overseas in Austria for the entire summer. As SD often takes up large parts of my time by forcing me to do real social things like a human being, such as going out to new restaurants and going to see movies (can you imagine his gall? it's too dark to knit in a movie theatre, and all that talking coming from the big screen makes me lose my place in the pattern!), his absence has left a giant chunk of otherwise unoccupied time in my day that has now been devoted to knitting, thinking about knitting, reading knitting books, or planning what to knit next. Needless to say, I'm getting a hell of a lot more knit now that he's away. Do you think he'll forgive me if I ask him to extend his trip until I get my Christmas present knitting done? Austria has to be worth it, right?

So, for now, I'm at work, and cursing the fact that I don't have a digital camera handy so that I can show you my first ever sock. I've been knitting for several years now, and I've just never taken the plunge on socks until two days ago. Now I have what I think is a lovely first sock and an unquenchable thirst to knit more. I already have more sock yarn in transit to me. I'm thrilled.

Blog updates may be slightly infrequent until the internet in my apartment gets repaired, but hopefully the desire to talk on this blog a bit more will make me into the proverbial squeaky wheel, prompting my landlords to grease me up with a little internet access. Until then.