Intro

I guess introductions are in order, this being the first post and all.  :) 

My name is Dayna and I am a knitter.  Obsessed.  Addicted. Crazy. Use whatever word you want, but I have a passion for knitting.

It all started when I was a kid, and like my other obsession - birding - I found it came back to me as an adult.  My grandmother tried to teach me to crochet when I was little and it never took.  She made all manner of things - sweaters, blankets, jackets, slippers - and I still have some of them.  A few years ago, my sister learned how to crochet and when I saw how beautiful the things were that she was making, I thought I would try learning again.  This time, after a rather frustrating beginning, I finally learned how to crochet.  I made a few scarves and several blankets, some for myself, others as gifts.  The whole time, though, I wished I knew how to knit.

For me, knitting seemed to be the more versatile of the two. So between a friend who taught me the basics and YouTube, I learned how to knit.  I found that it sparked an interest in trying new stitches and yarns and techniques in a way that crochet never did. Now, I am not going to get into debates on this blog (knit vs crochet, continental vs English, man-made vs natural yarns) because I think that most of it is purely personal and everyone feels different about certain things and in a lot of cases, I have found it is based primarily on the application.  For example, if I am in need of a quick gift, a crocheted afghan is where it's at, simply because I usually don't have the time required to knit one. However, I personally prefer knitting and love how many lovely things can be made with just simple stitches.

That being said, I have decided that I am going to specialize my knitting, at this point in time anyway.  I find myself drawn to scarves, shawls, wraps, cowls and occasionally blankets.  I don't have a desire to attempt a sweater, although some of the patterns out there are gorgeous.  I hate working with double-pointed needles so I don't do hats, mittens or socks.  I found that with scarves and other similar accessories, it allows me room for creativity as well as a space to practice new techniques and stitches without having to commit to a large-scale project.

Like most knitters, I have an extensive yarn stash and a long list of knitting patterns that I am dying to do.  I have started doing my own alterations to some of the patterns and often use what I find online as a base or for ideas rather than following them to the letter.  I will be sharing a variety of things on here, using it as an outlet so my brain doesn't explode trying to hold in all this knitting stuff.  I will share links, yarns, discoveries, patterns I am doing, patterns I have made myself and whatever else comes to mind.