Starting With Socks

Hello,

No pictures today. I just wanted to give you a little background information about me. I have always loved fiber arts, texture, color, the amazing act of making something from nothing, etc. I learned to knit about age 9 from my mother but I don't have a specific recollection of it, only that I knit little bitty garter stitch Barbie scarves and that was the end of that. That was the same age as when I , with the help of my ingenious and talented mother, learned how to sew a dress for my Raggedy Ann doll. And yes, Mom, it had to be the yellow fabric with blue flowers on it! You have been recently "gifted" with that doll and said dress.

As a youngster, I tried crewel, needlepoint and counted cross stitch. I taught myself to crochet and made afghans as big as a tent! Don't laugh, Mom! You probably still have that one super duper monstrosity! Haha. But hey, I got better and won an honorable mention in Women's Day Magazine for my design when I was 19. I still have my prize, a full set of Bernat crochet hooks.

As I entered high school, I was enamored with quilts. Not knowing anyone who quilted at that time, I read everything I could and I taught myself handpiecing and handquilting. Quilting kept me busy up until the past decade or so. I even taught quilting classes for awhile when I was pregnant with my daughter (now 9).

While I was teaching at a quilting class, I met a lady who made hand hooked rugs. Well, that new passion ruled my life for awhile. I was fortunate to learn from a lady in her 9th decade of life and she was a wonderful mentor. Thanks so much, Alberta! I was also very fortunate to learn from several gifted teachers from across the country including Joyce Krueger, whom I will always be gratetful. They truly inspired me and I learned to express myself with dyeing wool fabric for hooked rugs. I even did a few commission pieces between chasing toddlers and changing diapers.

Then I happened to stumble across the book, "The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook" by Lynne Vogel. It totally changed my life. I looked at the colors and the fiber and KNEW just KNEW that this was a new medium for my dyeing. I needed to learn to knit and spin... NOW!! Being a stay at home mom with two small children, and knowing that as they grew, I needed something "portable" to do, my rugs and quilts were put away to make way for this new phase of fiber arts.

I discovered Needles and Pins yarn shop in Delavan WI and signed up immediately for a sock class. Doreen Marquart, the owner (and now author), was wonderful in helping this "crazy lady" who was a beginner knitter learn to knit socks. She explained that knitters don't start with socks. I was not deterred. I was on a mission! I figure, if I want it badly enough, I'll figure out how to do it! And so it began... Thanks, Doreen, I've loved the time we've spent together and with Kim. Then I was fortunate enough to meet, Lisa, www.sheepeez.blogspot.com who welcomed me into her home and her life. I was enamored with her sheep, the shearing and the spinning process and purchased my first wheel from her. I was off and running which later included being a part of her knitting group and making great friends with creative souls, starting the quest of fiber festivals and even dyeing fiber for Wee Croft Finn Sheep for awhile. Wee Croft is owned by the wonderful Sandy DeMaster. We were thrilled when my dyed fiber was chosen one year to be used in a class for the Midwest Felting Symposium in Madison, WI.

So where does that leave me now? I am currently living in a new state since the first of the year. We moved from Southeast WI to Northeast IN. I am doing some production spinning to help feed my "fiber addiction". I am enjoying time with my family; a wonderful husband, a daughter (9), a son (11), a rough coat Collie named Simba (he's not embarrassed to have his name on my blog), two cats, Tigger and Jaguar and my daughter's hamster (who likes to remain anonymous...haha). I am trying to convince my much missed WI neighbor, friend, and creative knitter extraordinaire, Judy, to blog so I can keep up with her "works of art". I am slowly uncovering and unpacking WIP's and my yarn stash so that I can make a dent in it. And most of all, I am trying to find my way to new fiber friends.