A New Year's Post - What's Your Knitting Ninja Power?

As I glance through the many knitting blogs I have bookmarked, I realized that different knitters have different talents that they bring to their needles. Some, like Techknitter, are methodical and mathematical. Others, like Brooklyntweed, have gorgeous photography skills. Others come from an artist background and/or have magnificent color skills. Still others are designers. Of course you need a variety of skills to knit, but I began to wonder what my own “knitting ninja power” is. I’m not an artist (it is the one subject in school that I was afraid of), and I have no color sense at all (thank goodness black goes with mostly everything!). As you’ve seen on my blog, I’m also no great photographer. So…what *is* my knitting ninja? That thing that keeps me knitting? The thing I’m good at?

I have determined I have two useful skills in knitting. First and foremost, I guess I am good with my hands. I used to play both the piano and the violin, and they both require quite a bit of finger/hand dexterity and coordination. I like to knit because it requires me to coordinate my needles to create the “music” of knitting. This may not sound as poetic as saying “I’m an artist”, but I’m good with my hands, and I like to create things with my hands.

Second, I am very logical. Knitting, like music, has strong internal logic. Stitches behave a certain way under certain circumstances, and certain shapes develop when you knit a certain way. My two favorite forms of knitting – lace and fair isle – amplify this internal logic. When I start a knitting project, I like to know exactly where I’m going – it’s the same brain chemistry that drives me to skip ahead to the last chapter of whatever book I’m reading so that I know what’s coming up (and before you complain that I am ruining the fun, there is nothing more fun than trying to figure out the twists and turns that the author will make to arrive at said ending)

So what is your knitting ninja? What special skills do *you* bring to knitting?

See you next year!

A Photo!! Branching Out

I know you thought it would never happen - but I actually have photos! This year my friend Jennifer and I agreed to exchange "surprise" knitting gifts. She made me a fabulous felted bag (okay, I don't have a photo *yet* to do it justice), and I made her Branching Out from Knitty. Here's the completed scarf:

Here's the stats:

Pattern:  Branching Out from Knitty

Yarn:  4-ply Mongolian Cashmere (dk weight) from Sarah's Yarns in Olive - 1 skein.  I love Sarah's Yarns - they have great prices and great customer service!  These cashmere skeins are huge, too!

Mods: None - i did this exactly as in the pattern.

Notes:  This is a great lace project.  Much more interesting than "beginner" feather and fan, but still pretty simple and easy to memorize.