Knitaversary

Today is my one year knitaversary! On this day one year ago, I became a knitter. So now, I'd like to share with you my first knit project. 

I joined Ravelry towards the end of the summer last year and decided to join a book swap. In this swap, we all read the same book, then sent our partners a kit to make something reminiscent of the book. I was really excited to participate in the swap, but a little nervous too. I didn't know what "real" knitters liked. I was so overjoyed to open my package and find this:

Two skeins of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande! How lucky can a new knitter get? Included in this package was a free pattern for the Easy Cabled Scarf by Margaret Schroeder (she's the owner of the yarn shop where my partner bought this yarn). I made a special trip to the craft store that very evening, bought my first pair of size 11 bamboo needles, and got started.

The border around the cable is done in moss stitch and honestly, it took me almost two hours to knit the first six rows of the scarf. I could make the knit stitch ok, but switching between knitting and purling was really annoying. I talked myself through it and a couple days later I had a brand new, hand knit scarf!  This has turned out to be my favorite scarf ever. It is so cozy and soft and despite the fact that it was a bit sheddy while knitting, it is super warm and baby alpacas have turned out to be my favorite kind of alpaca. 

And here I am, one year later trying my hand at stranded knitting and not doing too shabby (although not as perfect as I had hoped). I guess there's always room for improvement!