Hello World!

          I’m a knitter/crocheter residing in Fairbanks, AK. Fairbanks is one of those odd places that although people have heard of it, no one seems to have any idea where it is. To give you an idea, Fairbanks is about 350 miles north of Anchorage and 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Mostly, that means that it’s really cold here and I’m really glad I can knit and crochet or I might have frozen to death by now. Possibly that’s an exaggeration (unless you’re outside without wearing the proper gear) but when it’s -25 degrees outside today with a HIGH temperature predicted to be -9 degrees it can feel like you are freezing to death.

          

          I first learned to crochet from my Grandma T. when I was a little girl, and then learned how to knit in the 6^th grade from a book and some help from Mom. Later I re-learned how to crochet in high school with the help of a few books, the wonder of the internet, and my sister. It wasn’t until my junior year of college that I really started to become an Ardent Knitter. Nothing makes a 10 page paper on some boring topic seem more manageable than taking a knitting break after every page (or paragraph, or sentence)…you get the point; the knitting helped get me through it. After college knitting has just been a great way to break up the day or something to do while watching a movie. More recently, since moving to Alaska (I move a lot) it’s been a great way to stay warm.

          My yarn collection has continuously outstripped my time to use it ever since I started collecting yarn in middle school. Garage sales are the best, a whole garbage bag for $5?!?!? Yes please! A 75% off clearance sale for a yarn they’re never going to make again? I’ll take a bag home otherwise I’ll never be able to get any! Recently I’ve been trying to curtail this habit but it’s left a ton of yarn in my possession. So much yarn in fact, it doesn’t all live with me. Half of my yarn collection currently resides in my parent’s basement in Michigan. This is actually a side effect of moving frequently. Someday, I will get all my yarn back but that means I really need to use the yarn I have with me to make room for that other half.

          This is my current project: I’m trying to use as much of my own yarn as possible when starting new projects. Oh the challenge! I love a good challenge. This blog will be the record of this, whether I succeed or fail, and I will offer up some patterns as I create new ways to use my yarn. The yarn often has its own ideas of what it wants to be and I’m not always on the same wavelength so this might get entertaining!

          *As a side note, I use the general term ‘knitting’ to refer to both knitting and crocheting. I don’t love one more than the other, some projects are just better knit and some are better crocheted.