First ever!!

Aunt Val planted the seed.  She was my babysitter when I was small, and she introduced me to so many of the things that I love today.  Classical music played on her radio nonstop, she frequently took me thrifting or antiquing, and every once in a while I would see her knitting.  She didn't teach me how, but my interest in knitting started there.  I also remember loving sweaters and scarves (whether I got this from Aunt Val, I don't know). This drove my mother crazy since I often pulled old, moth eaten sweaters from the very back of closets, and anywhere else not usually frequented.  Any pile of old or boxed up clothes was like a treasure chest to me, and to find something knitted was to strike gold.   

In college, my affinity for knitted things, led me to purchase multiple skeins of yarn, random needles, and a book on teaching yourself to knit.  Never mind the fact that the needles and yarn were not what the patterns called for.  I knit a small swatch of practice knits and purls and put my knitting down for a year or so.  Then during my student teaching, I spotted one of my 6th graders crocheting a scarf for her friend.  I went and bought two hooks and started randomly knitting a baby blanket for my soon-to-be-born godson.  I do mean randomly, because I had no idea what I was doing.  Other than reading about how to start a foundation chain, I had no pattern to follow, and just assumed that if I made a big enough rectangle, it could pass for a blanket.  

Yes. I am aware that it sounds a bit naive.  Ok, it was lazy.  Needless to say, I never finished the blanket.  The poor lopsided, uneven thing is waiting (rather anxiously I'm sure) to be unraveled, and actually put to good use.  And there is actually a rather good chance of that happening, since I actually know a double crochet from a treble :)  and seed stitch from garter stitch.  In fact, this extremely long, tedious, and possibly boring historical chapter was written so that I could tell you....I have finally finished a project.!!! 

 Z's first wool soaker!!!  It looks a little snug, because I just pulled it on over her BG 3.0 for the picture.

Don't worry, she won't pull her belly button out.