Welcome to Gaia! ::

I'm a beginner knitter/crocheter myself! Ravelry is an awesome site.

I've been knitting since February! xd I can do scarves and shawls now, but I haven't done anything more intricate than that yet. I'm going to try my hand at making a hat next. I haven't done any increasing or reducing yet (that I know of at least, does the drop stitch count?), so I would be using that skill on my hat. I also need to figure out what that stuff about knitting in front and behind is. I'm still such a newbie.

I don't have to worry about finding patterns at this point. I'm in a knitting group at my church, and the ladies there keep giving me new patterns to try. They also gave me some yarn and a knitting bag. xd I think they're just excited to see someone under the age of 60 in knitting group. rofl

I would too - that would be so fun! And nice to have a few others at my level. hehe
Right now I'm gravitating more towards crochet but I like how the results of knitting can be more fluid (at least how I'm doing it now - I'm sure experts can get the texture they want either way).

My stepmom (my mom's partner) passed away last summer and I inherited all her knitting/crocheting tools. It's kind of overwhelming at the moment because she was sooooo good at it. I almost feel like I shouldn't be using her nice things for my pathetic attempts.

I LOVE double-pointed needles! My first project on them (as well as my first experience working in the round, AND my first time doing lace) was this. I made them in black. I have bigger hands and arms than what the pattern is made for, so instead of sewing up the sides, I laced them corset-style. I made another pair with blue worsted-weight yarn (the original pattern called for sport-weight) and bigger needles, and it fit perfectly. Then, with bigger dpns and the last of my skinny black yarn, I made a pair of just the hand part. I wear these to church all the time. whee These things are really hard to start (you have to cast on FIVE stitches and distribute them among FOUR double-pointed needles, leaving the fifth free for knitting stressed )--in fact, I wound up tying different colored thread to the stitch on each needle so I wouldn't knit the stitches out of order and get the whole thing twisted up--but after you're a few rounds into it and there are more stitches on each needle, it's not so hard at all. Yeah, I tend to get really crazy and try insanely hard projects these days. sweatdrop

That's really beautiful! 3nodding And yeah you're probably right about how she'd just be happy I'm making the attempt. Even if I never get very good I have to admit it makes my fingers happy. That might sound silly but I was always a bit of a fidget - folding things, tearing labels off things, etc... it's satisfying to use my fingers this way. (erm I didn't mean for that to sound quite so dirty rofl )

That's why I knit too. I am very fidgety and just don't feel right unless I have some knitting or something keeping my hands busy. I hate sitting in front of the TV and doing nothing...but...watching. stare

Same here. Audiobooks are my best friend when I have to drive long distances. With music, there's too much risk of me falling asleep! gonk