Day 1: A Tale of Two Yarns

Topic: Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

Well, the first yarn that I am going to talk about has been mentioned MANY times before on this blog. Anyone that has read my knitting/yarn-themed posts, has read about my obsession with Sunshine Yarns!! This yarn is hand-dyed by the super talented Dani and she sure knows how to dye yarn! She uses luscious base yarn (not sure what kind it is) and combines colors that just scream amazing. She also creates themed colorways, such as for characters in the Twilight series (Alice's Porsche, Esme Island, Jasper), Harry Potter series (Lupin, Slytherin Green), Alice and Wonderland (Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter), etc. It's so fun to see her interpretations of these colorways and I always check back for new items that I can't resist! :)

This is just some of my Sunshine Yarns stash!

The second yarn I'm going to mention is a new yarn that I just started working with...Mirasol Sulka. It's 60% Merino Wool/20% Alpaca/20% Silk and it is so lovely to work with!! I am currently making a cowl out of the book Mirasol Mini Knits that I picked up from a LYS. It's so soft, easy to work with, and comes in an array of beautiful colors...I highly recommend picking up some of this for your next project!

Mirasol Sulka in Snow White

Day 1: Knit & Crochet Blog Week

So, it's Knit and Crochet Blog Week (who knew?) :) meaning there will be a new post everyday regarding knitting/crocheting! I know, you all may get tired of reading about my knitting obsession, but I support my craft!!

Another blogger, Eskimi Knits, came up with this idea, to host a Knit & Crochet Blog Week, and also created the topics for each days bloggings:

Here's todays:

Starting Out

How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting? was it a skill passed down through generations of your family, or something you learned from Knitting For Dummies? What or who made you pick up the needles/hook for the first time? Was it the celebrity knitting ‘trend’ or your great aunt Hilda?

So...

I began knitting in the Summer of 2007. I had just started graduate school at SIUC earlier that year and had met a good friend, Susan, as she was one year ahead of me in my program. I found out that she was a knitter the year prior when I came for a departmental visit. At the visit, we met all of the current students, including Susan, and she was just knitting away on a couch in the department lounge. After my first year was over, I realized that I needed a de-stresser and something to take my mind off school/thesis/etc., even if just for an hour at a time. And Susan had been nudging me to take up knitting...and that she'd teach me. She did, and I became obsessed. While we were still in school together, we worked on a few projects together, which included fingerless mittens (so cute!) and we continue to share projects and talk knitting every once in awhile...even though we're states apart! Thanks Susan! You were such a great teacher and I'm so glad you started me on such a great hobby! :)

Here's us in action on our mittens: