Sometimes it's hard to title these things...

My mother taught me to knit when I was only 5 years old. I remember yellow plastic needles with brown buttons on the end and red yarn. I remember getting bored when I had mastered the knit stitch and so my mom showed me how to purl. I had some fun making stocking-knit and then I made reverse garter stitch by purling all my rows.

When I was 8 my mom taught me to crochet. At first I made chains, but by the time I was nine I was making little chicks with feet and wings and beaks. I made them for my friends too. From making the chicks I learned to sew and embroider. I used to do embroidery in the summer time. These are some examples from back then.



Then I picked up knitting again. My first project was a pink pig. From there I remember doing a toy monkey as a gift to my brother and shortly after that I made him a sweater, my first.

My mom always encouraged me in these projects. She gave me her yarn, equipment, pattern books and would help me when I asked for it. Unlike for other projects, where my mom would help me even if I didn't ask and would sort of take over the project.

I stopped knitting for about 5 years while I worked for my brother as a video game programmer. He insisted that all my spare time be spent playing games. Which was fun for a while, but now I only play games when I want to. Mostly, my spare time is spent knitting.

I discovered knit blogs when I was looking for a poncho pattern. Guess who I found? Yeah. The Yarn Harlot. What an eye opener. It feels as if my entire knit world has exploded with the wealth of information and community on the internet. But the kicker is: I got my mother hooked on knitting socks. Here she is working on Lorna's Laces that I gave her for Mother's Day. She's enjoying this yarn so much, she saves it to work on between other projects. My dad already has a pair of socks knit from yarn I gave her for Mother's Day.

The evil plan to take over the world continues apace.....