In which I realize I'm still knitting wrong...

A few years ago I found out that I wasn't knitting properly. My mom'd taught me ages ago to knit basically continental style, and that worked fine as long as you were pretty much just straight knitting and purling, but not for much else. I found this out when I went to make something I think in the round and it just wasn't working. What I realized was that mom'd taught me to knit so the stitches lay with the right piece in *back* of the needle, not in front. Once I realized this wasn't right, I fixed it and had it in front and everything worked out. I never paid attention that purling then wouldn't work because in the round you're just knitting and it always worked. Come to now. I'm making Emilien for my boyfriend and it's all just knit and purled. I know how to knit, but when I purled like mom'd taught me, the knits came out with the wrong leg on the wrong side of the needle like they did the way mom'd taught me. I go searching around the internet and see what I'm doing wrong and so now I know. I hate it though. I'll keep making the sweater because I love it and I love my boyfriend and want to make it for him, and purling is getting easier, but I'm not loving it like I do knitting. I'll learn to love it I guess because I can't just keep knitting in the round or knitting like mom taught me (because, while it's great for just knitting and purling, adding much of a pattern at all gets a little iffy). Here's to learning to love to knit again...

I forgot I'd been posting books and stuff on here too! Ha! Let's see, in 2008 I finished 50 books and had started 5 others. 2009 I finished 65 and started 1 other. Last year I read 75 1/2 (the 1/2 was the first half of HP7 before the movie) and started 5 others. Some of the ones from last year were only partial books, used for classes, so I counted them in parts and added up the parts, so I probably actually read parts of at least 5 more than that number reflects. So far this year I've finished 7 1/4 (another partial book for class) and have read bits of about 4 others that I hope to eventually finish (some are texts, so I won't finish them, lol). I haven't read any fiction in a month and I'm really beginning to miss it. I like what I'm studying, but sometimes you just need to escape into something made up...

Updates, changes, life...

So it's been nearly three years... I'd actually kind of forgotten about this thing... Whoops... Since then I didn't do a whole lot. Life and craft wise. Life wise, my parents' friend asked me out which was awful, my mom set me up with her co-worker's son which was okay until it wasn't. I started talking again to the guy I dated in college and we're back together and planning on getting married. I'm in grad school now as well, working on my MA in history; I've made some really good friends back in school, but have an awful roommate so it balances out. Craft wise, I was cross-stitching for a while, but haven't done that since I started school. I made some socks, an awesome scarf for my dad, a hat, um... I attempted some entrelac socks and some lace gloves but they were both turning out too small for whatever reason, so I quit them for now. My mom taught me a crochet stitch for blankets and I've been making an afghan on and off since last summer. I've knit two hats in the last couple months, and am stuck on the first sock of this weird yellow... I have some wonderful yarn I found on etsy that I have plans for, but we'll see when they realize (one I plan on making Skew but I don't know quite what with the other; there's about a half dozen patterns I'm eyeing). I've a laptop and highspeed internet (finally!) so will probably post pictures of stuff eventually. Assuming I don't forget about this place again. :) eta: And now I've changed the layout. :) I like this one much better. I'm still kind of a dark person, but the dandelion puff and grass is just so perfect... I love it. :)