Feeling unsatisfied by all your current projects? Start another!

For me, having six knitting projects at once is pretty normal. So it's no surprise then, that I felt the need to cast on for the top-down raglan knit-along that Susan B. Anderson is sponsoring here. I am so excited to be working on this sweater; it's the first cold weather item of the season. I picked a beautiful burnt orange for the fall (and for UT) and just knitting it makes fall seem a little closer, despite the fact that my car thermometer said 107 when I got in after lunch.

I love knit-alongs because they make an otherwise daunting knitting project feel doable. The parts are doled out weekly and I feel like a kid in school again! I looked at the blog yesterday because I was so excited and Susan had already posted the first steps - yea! I finished my whole assignment last night and I can't wait for the next part!

In other knitting news, I saw Barbara W. up at school today. She is a retired teacher and was up at school visiting all of us. She is very special to me because she taught me how to read a pattern and make booties. Once I learned that, my knitting life really took off. And when I say "took off", that's an understatement. Learning how to read a pattern was life-changing for me. I didn't even know I wanted to learn, so I'm glad Barbara took a chance on such an ambivalent person! Anyway, we're going to try to arrange a regular knitting night which is great because Stacy and I had already been talking about this AND Stacy was in Barbara's class in middle school! I can't wait to tell her (Stacy).