First Post

After thinking about doing this on and off for awhile, and with great encouragement from my main knitting group -- Tuesday night SSKers, I am taking the plung on a blog, mostly knittig.

I am middle aged knitter living in the 'burbs of Washington, DC. I am also LEFT-HANDED, and I knit LEFT-HANDED --- so where most knitters knit from the left needle to the right needle, I knit from the right needle onto the LEFT needle, hence calling the blog Knitting on the Left (hand).

I have been knitting most of my life -- since my mother managed to teach me when I was seven or eight years old. She only managed to get me to do the knit stitch, what with me being SOOOO left-handed, and she was quite right handed. So for ten years or so I did LOTs of garter stitch items -- dolls' clothes and household items, lots of baby blankets, an afghan in high school, when rediscovered 30 years later, went straight into the trash -- between the cheap yarn, the lack of any real finishing, and the loose gauge, I really didn't want anyone else to see it.

Then, back in college, I found the Sunset Book of knitting which included drawings on knitting LEFT-HANDED -- with VERY clear directions on purling -- I found the book in September, by that Christmas my father had a magnificant red cardigan -- all over cables! (I still have that!) Germantown yarn.

Since then I've averaged at least 12 projects or more a year -- these days it's a pair of socks a month, plus other things.

In the past month I've finished two lace shawls, a glorious fair isle pullover for my husband, a pair of socks for him, a pair of socks for me . . . .

Currently at the top of the pile:

1. A Christmas stocking for an almost nephew -- promised at the baby shower for him, and gee, he's gonna be two in February, so I realized he's old enough to maybe realize that he didn't a have stocking when his parents and older sister do! (all knit by me). So I deisgned it, and started knitting tonight.

2. An Alice Starmore baby blanket -- Elephants -- for the older sister of the stocking recipient -- explanation when I post photos of the blanket.

3. Alice Starmore's Russian River Fair Isle -- second time, first time was 8 years ago for a friend, this time for me (got the yarn eight years ago), and it's going to be a cardigan instead of a pullover -- also will post photos soon.

4. Fetching mitts from Knitty.com -- made one, will make a second soon, especially if it gets cold again -- my knitting room is only heated with a space heater, so if it's REALLY cold (under 30), my hands can get cold.

5. And a pair of socks, of course (ALWAYS have a pair of socks on needles -- finish a pair, start a pair -- I could knit over 100 pairs from the sock yarn in my stash).

And lurking in the piles are several lace shawls wanting to be finished -- I hope I go for one of the black ones soon, I'm always wishing I had one to wear . . . but knitting with black . . . .