Make sure you go to the photo gallery.  It has really fun pictures of my friends modeling some of their knitting!

Its a big decision! Yarn is expensive and I dont want to end up picking colors that I hate or am going to get sick of looking at before the bag is even done! Any suggestions?!

I am taking a class called Digital Publishing.  The entire class is foucsed on creating a website.  A semester long project was assigned to us in which we have to create a website based on anythign we want.  I thought it would be fun to create a website about my new hobby…KNITTING (duh!)

The website is broken up into a couple parts.  The first part will talk about basic knitting terms.  Another section will talk about the history of knitting (a timeline).  There is also a how-to video and a photo gallery! It is coming out amazing (well for the first website ive ever created).

Ill post the link when it is finished!

For some weird reason I decided that it would be fun if I didnt tell her about my new skill and surprise her when I came home.  I was so excited because I knew she was going to be so proud of me!

But I cant begin to tell you how hard it was to keep something as little as this from her!  I just recently went home and she couldnt believe that the scarf I was wearing was made by the one and only Erica Finkelstein!  She was so excited that I had started a new hobby.

The best part of it all is that she wants me to teach her, well reteach her because she said she used to knit when she was younger, when I come home from school this summer! Im so excited because now I will be able to teach someone for the first time.  It is going to be such a nice mother daughter bonding experience!

SHE LOVED IT!  Although the scarf came out incredible she loved it even more because I took the time to make her something.  Its so easy to buy someone a gift but it really comes from the heart when you make someone something.  And it meant even more to her because it was only my second project I ever made.  It was worth every second I spent making it.  She really appreciated it.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my next project.  I think im ready to move on from scarfs.  I am considering a little challenge.  I really want to make a messenger bag!  I would use a light yarn so I can wear it all year round!

What do you think of this one:

It looks really hard to make, but I think ill be able to handle something like this!

For the past couple months Sarah has been in the works knitting a sweater for herself.  It is going to be gorgeous, but it takes a lot of time and effort.  She picked a beautiful beige color along with this intricate pattern so took from a knitting magazine.

I didnt realize but in order to make a sweater you need to knit different pieces and then put it all together.  First she knit the back of the sweater, and now she is up to one of the sleeves.  As she was knitting the back of the sweater, she encountered some issues.  But what is so amazing about knitter is that they are so helpful and generous.  She went over to a knitting store and they gave her a lesson!

I am so eager to see the sweater when it is finished.  Hopefully she will be done people we graduate, which is only a month away!

Oh yea, I finished my first materpeice! The scarf came out amazing! I already started another one to give to my friend for her birthday.  Its getting a bit warm to warm scarfs but thats fine, its a timeless piece of clothing that will never go out of style.

But to tell the honest truth, I think that knitting has always been a popular hobby I just notice it more because I am now part of this new trend.  Now whenever I watch TV I always see commercials or watch movies and catch a character knitting. Celebrities have been knitting too!  I opened up one of those gossip magazines recently and there was a picture of a celebrity sitting outside a café just knitting.  It was so cool! 

Anyway back to my scarf; it is coming out wonderful!  I am being told that I am a “tight” knitter.  Its not a bad thing but it just strains my fingers a little more.  I have been messing up here and there.  That’s why I like to knit when my roommate is around.  This way she can pick up a stitch if I lost it and fix any of my mess ups. 

My roommate and I have been knitting so much that we got some of our friends to start knitting again!  If you walked into our apartment, we look like a bunch of duds, just all sitting around on the couch knitting.  Usually you would walk in on a bunch of college students doing kegs stands.  I guess that’s not the case within my group of friends!

Now that I feel comfortable with the level of knitting im at, I am so eager to learn new stitches.  I want to finish my scarf so I can move onto another project.

I went to a knitting store in Baltimore called Wool Works.  It was so unbelievably adorable!  My fellow beginner knitter and I pulled up to this cute little cottage.  As we walked in we were surrounded by all types of yarns; every color and style.  I didn’t even know where to start looking!

A cordial women that worked at the store approached us and asked if we needed help.  Since I didn’t know much about yarn, her help was obviously crucial during this process.  She informed me that different yarns are harder to knit than other yarns and that I should  start with a basic yarn.  My friend and I picked out a cranberry colored yarn that had a couple different shades in the same family mixed throughout.  The women also told us to use a medium sized needle because it would be easiest for a beginner to learn on.

I was SO excited until I went to the register to pay.  Who knew that yarn (well good quality yearn) was so expensive!  Of course I would pick a pricy hobby.  People had told me knitting wasnt worth doing for the purpose of selling the product because its expensive and consumes a lot of time.  Well those knitters knew what they were talking about.  Its going to be worth it in the end when I see my first knitting masterpiece; a scarf!

Well, as it turns out I LOVE IT!  I caught on pretty quick.  My roommate taught me the basic knit stitch. Of course I messed up a few times but she gave me some left over yarn from an old project of hers.  I need to perfect this basic stitch before I can start my first project!

The best part of this new experience is that my best friend is learning at the same time as me.  It is a good bonding experience (even though we already spend every second together).  By having someone learn at the same level as you really does give the hobby more excitement.  You support each other and get really enthused when they accomplish even something that is so simple! 

I cant want to start my first REAL knitting project.  I wonder what it will be!