I have knitted for miles and miles and miles...

I learned to knit at my mother's knee.
  
There I held my arms out in front of me, a skein of yarn stretched between them and learned the rocking motion that facilitates the winding of each ball of yarn.


The rhythm of the whirling yarn between us was dance-like, trance-like and  while my skein grew smaller and Mum's ball of yarn grew larger I stood captured, enraptured and fascinated.  This was my first experience with shared work and I couldn't get enough.

Learning to wind the ball came next, then untangling errant yarn and picking out the requested needle sizes.  Then the part I really wanted to learn-- holding the needles and making cloth!
  
I practiced knitting garter stitch rows on stitches cast on by my mother until the work was consistently even.  Then the purl stitch was added and the vocabulary of stitches became my next passion.  


When girls in my family reached eight years old they were invited to baby showers and their contribution was little woolen "soakers" that they had knitted themselves.  I can't tell you how proud I was the first time I did this.  It was a welcoming of me into the community of women as a real contributer.

At 10 or 12 we knitted beautiful  little lace baby sweaters, bonnets and bootee sets.  By that age I was an accomplished knitter and made sweaters for family and friends.  Coming full circle, I'm  knitting baby clothes for my grandchildren now -- an indescribable joy!

Over the years I learned from my mother, aunts and grandmothers.  They talked about yarns -- the good, the bad and the merely adequate. I learned about gauging and swatching and taking good notes, tension, caring for knits and all the rest.  With each new project my love for the craft deepened.

The pink sweater shown on my little granddaughter is knitted with Lion Brand's Cotton Ease, a worsted weight yarn that holds up well and was a quick and very satisfying project.  You'll find the details here on my Ravelry page...El