A Very Grumpy Meme

like martha and claudia, i'm playing too.  

1.  although i learned how to knit as a child, i didn't start knitting as a hobby until i was in highschool.  my mother used to knit me sweaters all of the time.  yes, acrylic sweaters, but they were awesome.  she would cast on and do all of the shaping.  she was easily bored so i became her production knitter.  miles of stockinette, that was my job.  then when i got to the arm shaping, etc., i passed the sweater back on to her.   i never made an entire sweater on my own during this time, but every handknit sweater that i wore in highschool includes some of my handiwork (and strands of my hair.  i know gross -- but i had really long hair then -- it was kind of unavoidable).

2.  i learned how to read knitting patterns in french way before i learned how to read them in english.  i still have those old phildar books from 1980.  dolman sleeves totally rocked then. 

3. i didn't knit for the first 3 years of college.  supplies were difficult to come by and well, nobody else did it. during my senior year, i took a studio art class.  for one of my projects i decided to knit part of it.  i got so much positive attention (from cute boys, no less), i never hid my knitting again.  (i also got an A on the project).

4.  my first sweater from start to finish was a vogue knitting pattern (i still have the magazine).  a black acrylic cropped turtleneck.  if i weren't so fat, i'd still wear it.  i loved that sweater. (and i still have it).

5.  i think i'm a much better knitter than my blog might indicate.  i'm just not as committed as i used to be.  i used to knit a sweater a month with cables, lace, intarsia, fair-isle -- you name it, it was in there (not all at once however.  i have to say that none of my past creations would embarrass me today).   there are so many beautiful yarns available now, that i think they distract me from really focusing on one thing at a time.

EDIT:  some of you have asked for pictures of thse old sweaters.  i blogged about them (and some of the things i've listed here in fact, here.)

6. during an episode of cheers, kirstie alley wore a nautically striped navy and white cardigan.  i quickly sketched it and made my own version of it, all the way to the "gold" buttons.  i loved that sweater. 

7. i have never knit j a sweater (or any man for that matter).  but i did knit him an afghan the first christmas we were dating.  therefore i conclude there is no such thing as the boyfriend afghan curse.

8. although i'm not a big fan of seaming, i hate hate hate knitting seamless sweaters. 

9. i love to purl. 

10.  i never blocked or swatched until i started reading blogs.

Comments

[--Deb]

These are so much fun to read--it's interesting how different and yet how
similar we knitters all are . . . (grin)

[Jackie]

Wow Maryse - you're right, you don't show off your mad knitting skillz, but wow. Those sweaters are impressive. :) And here I was just thinking you were all about the crocheted soap cozie. ;)

[Beth S.]

Yeah, I too want to see the Cheers sweater! :-) But the ones you linked to are impressive enough to last me for now. (That one with both cables and intarsia: whoa! You got skillz! ;-)

[Lucia]

I love the joint sweater projects. Miss B and I are working on a project together as I write.

[colleen]

Male attention from knitting. Love it!

[Carol]

Photos please...

[Scribbles & Bits]

I love finding out these little facts! It was also great to see some of your pre-blog knitting projects!

[Martha]

We should put our '80s Vogue Knittings together and see if we have a full set. I still love them. Even the occasional dolman sleeve!

[Chris]

LOL - so you have all those amazing knitting accomplishments without any swatching. Hee hee.

[elizabeth]

I CROCHETED (yes, you read that right) Sgt. Britty a kitty afghan for our second Christmas together. He loves it. No sweaters yet, not even for me (although one's on the needles and several are in my head). I'm with the others, I want to see your old knits!

[caro]

I never blocked or swatched until I started blogging either! Actually, I didn't start using patterns until I started blogging.

[Carole]

I didn't know any of this. Great job.

[grumperina]

Blocking? Swatching? Ha! Those things are for losers anyway!!!

[grumperina]

Blocking? Swatching? Ha! Those things are for losers anyway!!!

[Kristin]

I would love to see some pics of those old sweaters you made. Don't tease us like that!

[Denise]

Funny, I share half your answers, 1-2-4-7-10. Only difference is I trashed the Vogue sweater last year, just before I started blogging.

[The Feminist Mafia]

So what happened to your Kirstie Alley sweater? And will we ever see pictures of these knits of yore?