Welcome

Ever since I set a date for my thesis defense I have found myself gripped with even more of a knitting compulsion than usual. It's not just procrastination (really!), a lot of factors are converging:

--The holidays always increase my output, because knitting is perfect for family "events" that consist of sitting around being together, and none of them are needlecrafty so they are always mucho impressed by my big-needle Lion Brand Chenille Thick-and-Quick scarves.

--Being short on time and money for these holidays, my gifts to immediate family were knitting IOUs, which I am halfway through.

--Over the holiday I finished the biggest piece I've ever attempted, on which I did a lot of new-to-me things like intarsia and cabling and blocking, which was exciting and got a lot of positive feedback from aforementioned admiring family and assorted others.

--I'm on a mailing list that is not knitting-related, but which has a lot of knitters, and have been getting and giving advice as other people also succumb to the winter nesting instinct.

--The new Stitch&Bitch book inspired me to seek out a local S&B meeting the other night, which was too too much fun.

--All this increased interaction with other knitters has made me realize that I have a lot more knitting experience than I think, and a blog will be very useful for keeping track of projects and staying motivated.

So over the next few days I will try to bring the blog up to speed with my completed projects, WIPs, thoughts and opinions, because being 64 days away from my dissertation's due date is the PERFECT time to start new things!