I've been thinking and talking about starting a blog for a month now. I begin grad school this fall and hope this allows my friends and family to be a part of that experience. It will also be a forum for my favorite activity - knitting! Although I had stumbled on blogs while researching for a new production that debuted last fall at the theatre company I work for, I didn't consider starting one of my own until I stumbled upon the Yarn Harlot's blog. From that site I branched out and discovered the world of the online knitting community.

Here were people that I could relate to! Now, my friends and family, and even That Guy (my man, the fiance, will hereafter be known as That Guy, or even TG for short) are very tolerant, and even somewhat supportive of my knitting, ahem, obsession. Yes, you can call it that. Just a couple of months ago at work we had a staff meeting in which we were given a sheet with statements on it. You were to read the statement and finish it with you own. It had stuff like "The toughest thing I've ever had to do was..." or "My favorite way to relax is..." Several of my finished statements had something about knitting or yarn in them. What I didn't realize when I was filling it out was that when finished we were going to exchange them and read them out loud! Let's just say my coworkers understood the full importance of my "hobby" from that day forth. As for the friends and family, many of them have received a handknit item of some sort, so they are supportive if not somewhat amused. Mom has probably been the recipient of the most so far having had a pair of socks, two scarves, and mittens made for her (not just any mittens, each one has one of her cats faces knit on it, and they are not identical cats!) and the 2nd sister is probably close behind. That Guy has only received a pair of socks regardless of how many times I've asked him wouldn't he like a scarf or hat or something? He does want another pair of socks which are currently on the needles, and I think I've got him attracted to a zip pulli from the most recent Interweave Knits.

It was 2nd sister who taught me how to knit. I have three siblings. Two older sisters (1st and 2nd sisters) and a younger brother (LB, or little brother). All amazing, talented, and smart people, as are my parents. 2nd sister taught me to knit at Thanksgiving about 3 and 1/2 years ago. By Christmas time I had made my first hat (That Guy and I lived in Evanston, IL at the time. Much colder then Texas!) and she gave me my first sock yarn. That's all it took to hook me. Much of it I've learned on my own. Some of it comes naturally as I'm a costume technician and sometimes designer at work. And some of it I've picked up from the tips that abound at numerous knit blogs. I hope that I'll be able to contribute to that forum.

Oh, as I've recently returned from a fabulous trip to Germany with my dad, you may see some Deutsch pop up from time to time on this blog. I'll try to remember to provide translation as well, but I will most often sign off with,

Tschuss, machts gut!