First is the Worst!

Apparently Gmail and Blogger do not play nice. I had a beautiful first post full of charm and wit, but it was erased when Gmail refreshed and made Blogger sign me back in. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Well, we'll see how much of the wit I can remember. I am a college student, working on my combined Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. To note: This will be a fiber blog, focusing on knitting, with a bunch of crochet, needle felting, cross stitching, and spinning thrown in for flavor (and when I have the time). Yes, yes, yes, the world doesn't need another, but there you go.

Why do I feel I should add my two cents to the world of knitblogging? I think some people might get a laugh or a tip while reading about my trials and tribulations with Fair-Isling and sockage. I attack lace, cables, and anything else I haven't tried before when I can. Some people have been put on this earth to serve as a warning to others, and I fear that may be true in my case...

So, about me and my fiberliciousness:

• I have a spindle and handcarders for spinning (and four llama fleeces and three pounds of alpaca...)
• I have a set of Boye interchangeable needles for knitting (and really should buy more cords...)
• I have a set of Boye crochet hooks for crocheting (and a bunch of smaller ones for holiday snowflakes...)
• I have a sewing machine (that I haven't had time to try out yet, though I definitely have a few items that have been looking at the machine longingly...)
• I have a couple of beginner's needle felting kits (and a cute little penguin, just waiting for me to buy the needle I need to put him all together...)
  
• I have a bunch of cross stitch kits, fleece bits, yarn earmarked for projects, and fabrics just waiting for me to find the time (as well as a healthy stash of random yarns and groovy '70s pattern books, hand-me-downs from when my mom crocheted...)
• And I can't quite seem to stay with one project long enough to finish (Hi, I'm AnaMarie, and I'm a fiber-aholic...)
  

I also have a sock sitting on the desk next to me, asking why I'm blogging instead of knitting. I just got to the heel flap and I'm going to stall? Blasphemy! But quite within the norms of my crafting world. The Hourglass Eyelet sock will be done when it is done...how's that for philosophical? And it's languishing because the computer is right here, while the pattern is in my backpack on the floor (and on the computer screen so I can get the link for the pattern, so sue me!).

Finishing things is a problem for me. Though I did finish a blanket yesterday (more on that later...). I've always kept a list of what projects I'm working on and have the supplies for. Projects I want to do I don't actually write down, because if I really want to make them, I'll remember when I have the money for them. At the bottom of my daily planner, I keep a tally of how many projects I have started this quarter (I go to a college run on the quarter system; this quarter started first week in March) versus how many I have finished versus how many I have ongoing. The goal is to get the ongoing below ten. Ha. The requirement is to keep the started at less than half of the finished, at least until the ongoing is at a much more reasonable number. Well, here it is: 9-19-36. As you can see, I'm winning by one. Yay me? I have two projects that just need blocking, and one that needs to be seamed after it's blocked, but that requires getting out the blocking board and playing with wet wool, and as it's almost the end of the quarter and finals are approaching, that just hasn't happened yet.

I do have a camera, and will be regaling those of you who will willingly stop by with photo proof of my knitting inabilities. Including the blanket I finished yesterday. You can "ooh" and "ahh" at my beautiful finished objects, marvel at the creativity of my designs, and see what stuff I made. Do you ever want to put the pictures of your finished objects on the 'fridge? I do. Kinda like, yup, I made it all by myself, aren't you proud of me? So I coulda stayed within the lines better, so what, mom always loved it anyway, right? Yeah, a lot of things fit in that category. I blame it on the college student budget necessitating acrylic (and the fact that many of my projects are from when I didn't know any better...) and Goodwill sweaters. I can also show off my stash, which is rather small compared to many I've seen. It's all just sitting there, waiting for me to attack it with inspiration, but the problem is that the inspiration usually desires yarn I either don't have or yarn that costs more than I make in a week. Oh well. That's why I'm going to school for engineering, maybe some day I can afford that Tilli Thomas for that beautiful Simple Knitted Bodice by Glampyre.