I can no longer call myself a beginner knitter. After nearly three years, I have accomplished a few things (like knitting scarves for my sister, niece and nephews, my first toque, my first sock, my first baby bootie) and had a few things that didn’t quite work out, like the first baby blanket (I finally took it apart and donated the yarn to Hugginz By Angel, a non-profit business run by Angel Magnussen, who sews blankets for sick children and also knits scarves and hats for them) and the scarf I made for my friend Lisa, who has been knitting for several years more than me (I messed it up so badly that I finally had to call her to help me fix it, and she took it away so she could finish it herself).

In between, I developed tendinitis in my right thumb, and being right-handed it was a bit of a problem. I quit knitting for many months so that I could function at my job, when really I should have done it the other way around. But alas, yarn doesn’t pay for itself.

My first toque, Sandoval Hat Pattern (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sandoval-hat), a challenge accepted a completed for Chris M., husband of my good friend Charmead.

The baby blanket, unraveling it using my ball winder. Can’t claim originality on that one, but it sure worked well!

Here’s the problem: I often choose projects that come in twos, but I only finish the first one of a pair before moving on to another project (I haven’t yet learned to make some of these twos two at a time). I switched to baby booties so I could try something small, and something on double-pointed needles (DPNs), thinking something smaller would cater to the instant gratification I often crave while knitting.

My most infamous “two” that has yet to be finished is my sock. I took a sock knitting class three years ago February, which my friend and knitting mentor Beth Scott was conducting at a knitting store where she used to work. She was confident I could finish the sock even though I had only tackled dishcloths and a scarf at that point—all straight things.

I had only been knitting for a year when Beth S., my friend and knitting mentor, suggested I join her sock knitting class. “You can totally do this!” she said. It took me five—FIVE—trips back to the Village Yarn Shoppe in Comox to finish my sock, which I ultimately made into an ankle sock because I wanted to finish it! That was nearly three years ago. I finally cast on the second sock, but still have not finished it.

The second sock is still not finished.

Here is the first baby bootie…

Baby bootie No. 1 (Christine’s Baby Booties pattern, c/o Ravelry.com)

…and the second bootie—not the same pattern!

Basic Baby Booties, by Bernat Design Team; a different way to make a baby bootie, on straight needles, thanks to my friend Teresa B. for the pattern and suggestion.

(It’s knit on straight needles and I thought it wouldn’t take as long as the first bootie on DPNs.)

Besides the sock, this is my favourite “two”, and the one I will probably finish first: a fingerless glove. My motivation to finish is that my mother also wants a pair, and I already have the yarn for it.

Happy fingerless glove in Noro Mossa yarn, courtesy Pages and Stitches in Amherst, NS. Assistance on the first glove by my sister. Second project on DPNs.

So my knitting goal for 2015 is to finish my twos.

Just don’t get me started on my unfinished projects (UFOs).

P.S.

Here are a few of my favourite websites (although I haven’t figured out how to link them yet):

http://www.hugginzbyangel.com/

http://tincanknits.com/

http://mariknits.com/

http://www.ravelry.com/