Meme? How Do You Pronounce That?

OK, Grumperina started this, and we're knitbuds from 'way back at the About.com Knitting Forum (now possibly becoming an endangered resource), so I guess I'll give this a try. Mem? Mee Mee? Where's a slang dictionary when you want one?

Ten Knitterly Things
1) I learned to crochet sometime before junior high school, but I don't remember just when. Or whether I learned from my mother or my grandmother. Weird, huh? The timing comes because of other life events after junior high, and I just can't recall who taught me. Now Mom doesn't remember either. Enh.

2) My first husband's mother (my first MIL?) taught me the basics of knitting my junior year of college. As I recall, I learned a LOT about frogging, lol! I have an old knitted scarf in a nice brown yarn with some light grey fibers, what we called 'frosted' I think, some kind of acrylic. I think this is the same yarn I learned with, but since it's knitted without any major errors, I must have ripped out and re-knitted it.

3) I got some pattern books and Barbara Abbey's 'Complete Book of Knitting' around 1980, and managed to teach myself enough to make two top-down pullovers. I wore them to work, too. Yarns from LeeWards, of course.

4) Sometime around then I learned the double-sided knitting technique. That was a great idea for scarves in Denver's winter climate. I made a couple of 'Dr Who'-style uber-long striped scarves for friends. Even for a scarf that is just long enough to reach the knees, when the friend is 6'4", that's a LONG scarf.

5) At Christmas 2003, all my yarn fit in one small three-drawer storage chest. At Christmas 2004, I had already reached SABLE status.

6) My first return-to-knitting project was a major disaster. It involved some very beautiful and pricey hand-dyed thin rayon chenille. Rayon chenille 'worms', that is it unwinds from its core and this causes loops to work their way out of the stitches. Badly. Over and over again. I sometimes still wish evil things to happen to the snippy LYS clerk, who sold the yarn to an admitted newbie with no warnings.

7) I learned to knit in the 'throwing' style. But I taught myself to knit Continental and I now use it exclusively. For a learning project, I chose a baby blanket with 6 knit rows and 2 pattern rows, and by the time the blanket was done, I was pretty good with the knit stitch part. Purling took more practice. Finally this year I learned to keep my left forefinger close to the needle rather than up in the air as if I were crocheting, and this has really added to my knitting speed, especially for purling.

8) I absolutely hate knitting with any sort of puffy yarn, such as Lion Brand's Homespun or yarns that make a 'velvety' fabric, like Wendy's Peter Pan Velvet Touch. Or chenille of any sort. See above, lol!

9) I'm a huge fan of circular needles and I use bamboo or wooden circs nearly all the time. I like the Crystal Palace bamboo needles a lot, but WEBS has a house brand that are nearly identical and half the price. I've treated myself to one of the new Lantern Moon rosewood circs, and they are lovely indeed. The Susanne's ebony circs are also excellent and less expensive.

10) I like making socks, but I've only finished 2 pairs; I think there are 4 pairs buried in the UFOs. Knitter's ADD is part of the problem, but I've learned I can't see the stitches properly without my Ottlight.