What goes around comes around

Within the past 2 months I've found myself lodged firmly in a small knitting group that I love dearly. Sarah, Tammy, Meredith and new recruit, Kate, are wonderful women and I've enjoyed getting to know them better and being able to spend time with people who are as obsessed with knitting as I am. What I didn't expect is just how much we would influence each other.

At the Knit In at Simply Fibers that last Friday of February I was handed a skein of linen yarn by Tammy and Sarah who told me that we were going to make the linen handtowels from Mason Dixon Knitting and I bought the yarn without even owning that book or knowing what the towels were going to look like. Tammy saw the lace rib socks that I was working on and loved the yarn, so I sent her the link to the Etsy store for Fearless Fibers and pointed out that she still carried that same colorway and 45 minutes later I got an email back saying that she had bought the yarn and some stitchmarkers, too! On Saturday morning I showed off the log cabin blanket to Tammy and Sarah and later that afternoon I got a call from Sarah asking more about it because she hadn't stopped thinking about it all day.

When I first learned to knit almost 2 years ago I was settled that no one was going to influence my knitting. After all, how many people did I know that actually knitted? No one, really, so I was going to be the lone reed and my knitting was going to be my own.

Slowly, other knitters have found me and I've found them (or created them, in the case of my Mom) and the inspiration that those knitters have given me has been wonderful. It doesn't lessen the creative process or finished product just because someone else I know has done this before me or even if we work on it side by side. It is still my knitting as much as it is their knitting. In fact, I'd say that I've become a better knitter because of my fellow knitterly girls.

(By the way, I bought the Mason Dixon Knitting book on Saturday on our yarn store road trip and I'm loving it! It's nice to finally know what my linen handtowel is going to look like!!!)

Before I end, I have another finished project! Bryan's fabulous boss is expecting a baby girl just two weeks before I am and Bryan asked me to knit something for her, specifically a sweater. Bryan's boss is incredible but I was a little hesitant considering how many things I have planned for our own baby. Then I gave in and agreed and this was born!

Pattern: Baby Caftan, Creative Knitting March 2006
Yarn: Caron's Simply Soft in Plum Wine, 1 skein
Needles: Size 7 and 8 US circulars and dpns
Date began: March 17, 2007
Date finished: March 22, 2007
Modifications: I changed the neckline just a tad since I was afraid that it was going to be too small and I'm glad that I did. Also, rather than doing the seams from the wrist up and then seaming them onto the sweater I picked up the armhole stitches and worked them from the shoulder down. No seaming! I love this method of doing sleeves, I'm telling you!

Now that this project is done I've cast on for a sweater for our baby. I decided on this sweater which I'm using a skein of Cascade 220 Tweed in 601, a beautiful green. The 6 - 12 month size only needs one skein of yarn and I happened to have just one skein of this yarn that I bought on clearance at Simply Fibers for $4.00! It's a neck down construction which is brand new to me so I'm making myself trust the pattern and just do it without overthinking it.