Lesson 1 has arrived!

It begins! I received the first (of three) lessons this week from Arenda. I was out of town, so didn't start knitting until tonight. I'm finding that I am knitting a little differently than usual -- being maybe a little unnatural in the way I am pulling the yarn tight, especially on ribbing. I'll probably knit a couple examples of Swatch 1 -- the second time, I will try to do it less self-consciously, just the way I normally knit. It will be interesting to see the difference.

Lesson 1 asks for a letter with my knitting history, reference books, and whether I plan to do the Master course. Here's what I wrote:

Dear Arenda,

I started knitting on an extremely casual basis about five years ago. I watched an acquaintance figure out how to cast on and knit from YouTube videos and decided to try it myself. I bought some US4 bamboo circular needles with a short cable, tried knitting some worsted weight acrylic yarn I had laying around, and concluded it was too hard and frustrating!  A year or so later I felt like trying again, so I did some research and bought better needles for the yarn. I watched lots of YouTube videos, mostly those by Judy Graham (knittingtipsbyjudy) and Staci Perry (verypinkknits), and knitted dozens of small swatches of different stitch patterns. I found that knitting at night after my son went to bed was very relaxing, and it helped me with anxiety and insomnia. I just knit swatches for a long time before I tried making any projects.

I mostly knit accessories like scarves, hats, and gloves. I’ve never knit any larger garments or socks. I have done some Fair Isle, and I would like to try an intarsia project for a Christmas present. I have done some small cable projects. I have done moebius knitting and mosaic knitting. My username on Ravelry is harrietwimsey.

I plan to do the Master Knitter Certification program after I complete the Basics program.

Here are the knitting reference books I own:

• The Knitting Book, by Frederica Patmore and Vikki Haffenden (DK Publishing, 2011).
• How to Knit, by Debbie Bliss (Collins & Brown Ltd., 1999).
• The Complete Book of Needlecraft, by Janet Kirkwood et al (Exeter Books, 1983).
• Designing Knitwear, by Deborah Newton (Taunton Press, 1998).
• The Encyclopedia of Knitting and Crochet Stitch Patterns, by Linda Mariano (Service Communications, Ltd., 1978).
• Pop Knitting, by Britt-Marie Christoffersson (Interweave Press, 2012).

[P.S. - I know the blog is meant to be daily, but last week was crazy!!! I'll do better this week.]