Has it been that long already?

I've told the story of my learning to knit many times.  How as a kid I drew all the time (mostly horses) and doodled incesantly (graphic design, very angular, repetitive).  How I got my first SLR camera when I graduated high school. How my childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian was chucked when I found out that my innate intelectual ability would only take me so far and I would have to (GASP!) learn to study (and work hard) if that was what I truly wanted. How I got an Associates Degree in Photography from the local (and wonderful) community college and went on to get a Bachelor's of Fine Art in Photography from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia.  How my wonderful other Mom (MIL) taught me how to cross-stitch and quilt. How I had dabbled in crochet (I can make a granny square or edge a sweater and that's about it). And how, for no known reason, decided to knit a baby blanket for Angie's child-to-be (now the lovely Reagan who is 4 and in pre-kindergarten at the same school our boys attend).

I will forever remember sitting at work one night with the 10 page booklet of knitting instruction and patterns on the desk in front of me and a bamboo knitting needle (size 8) and some crap cotton yarn in my lap (when not busy we were allowed to do whatever we wanted--within reason).  I bet I spent half an hour looking at the picture of the long-tail cast-on then looking at my hand, the yarn, and the needle and then the book, then my hand...  I finally placed the yarn around the fingers of my left hand exactly how it looked in the book.  Not the way you would normally do it.  I literally wound it around without any clue how a knitter would go about it.  But once I had it around my fingers and in my hand I got it!  I looks and feels like a rubberband slingshot (just with the circle 'open') I had used on many occassions back in grade school (don't ask).

It's been all downhill since.  I had never been into fashion (in any way at all).  But I found a physical understanding of these things we do with sticks and string.  A viceral A-HA! moment.  

Before my first year as someone who knits was over I discovered Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka the Yarn Harlot), her first two books, and her blog.  I joined the Knitting Olympics.  I knit my first pair of socks.  I became a Knitter.

That was five (5!!) year ago (approximately, I don't know the exact date but it was close enough to Feb 1st to make that the defacto anniversary date) on Monday.  

I almost let it slip by unnoticed until I saw Steph's recent post on her blog's 6th anniversary (congratulations, BTW) and found myself telling someone on Twitter this morning that I have been knitting for 5 years.

Wow!  What a difference just a few years makes.  So, to everyone who has ever posted about knitting (or spinning, or weaving, or crocheting, or designing...) and to all of the independant dyers and designers, and to the yarn shop owners, and the Etsy Sellers and especially the buyers, and to the folks who created as well as those who use Raverly, and Twitter, and Facebook...  to those people who attend the Fiber Festivals and the folks who bring all of their fiber loveliness to these events, and expecially to the people who make these things happen...  to the courageous people who turn their ideas about fiber in all of its forms into the books I have in my collection of inspiration...and most importantly, to my family (for encouraging me even when something goes a bit wonky and wouldn't fit a gorilla on a good day and for putting up with the Stash taking over the house and for tollerating (albeit with a grumble) my knitting instead of cleaning on most days)...

Thank-You

That said, the following are some pictures of some of the things I have done in the past 5 years (not all good).