Julie here… been knitting 34 years, beginning at age 15. Can’t imagine a day withough sticks and string. I am “Juliepurplechick” on Ravelry. That about sums it up. (I’ve promised myself that I won’t spend this day off from work with my face in my phone, otherwise my intro would be my life’s story!) 
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Hello:
My name is Terry Swindell, and I have been knitting for about 15 years. I initially taught myself, and the first thing I made was a scarf. Surprise surprise! I discovered LYSs not too long after that and took some lessons. I also ended up working at two of them. My favorite movie and book is “To Kill a Mockingbird.” My favorite thing to knit is socks, and I like to use the FLK pattern and hand-dyed yarn. I knit plain vanilla socks, because I like the patterns of the dye to speak for itself. I knit TAAT, toe up, because I have second socks and from and I don’t have to remember a pattern. If I do it to the first sock, it happens to the second sock at the same time. I also weave, sew (a little), spindle spin (a little) and do all sorts of other crafts. I’m not sure what I want to learn at this point.
Terry’a
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I’m Michael, a female Michael, and 66 years old. I taught myself to knit at 19 while in college and my first project was a sweater for my younger brother from a pattern in a Woman’s Day collection of sweaters which I actually still have. Unfortuneately I majorly misunderstood the instructions and when I went home for the holiday break my Mother kind of got the giggles at this massive sweater I proudly showed her and then explained to me that it was supposed to be a ribbed sweater, not stockinette. She lovingly unwound, or as we say, frogged the sweater, washed the yarn and gave it back to me and I did reknit it and give it to my brother. Thinking back on this I am amazed I picked a sweater for a,first project rather then say, a scarf. I,was,that naive. It also was the beginning of both a long history of knitting and of frogging.
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My name is Elly, and I began my fibre adventures as a weaver. I launched my first sweater project about 45 years ago and it spent several decades in time out. About 15 years ago I met an avid knitter in the local yarn store and she encouraged me to finish the sweater. I tried it on, hated it, and immediately ripped it out and made a vest. I’ve never looked back. I knit 5 plus hours a day and usually have 3 to 6 projects on the go, half of them socks. I also spin wool for sweaters and socks.
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I’m Jill from Portland Oregon. My first knitting was over 50 years ago, a sweater from Seventeen magazine. I was on the old Knit List in the 1990’s and Ravelry has opened up the world even more. I knit every day and do all kinds of knitting. My daughters (grown) do not want anything knitted 
, so I have dozens of lace shawls packed away. Someday there will be an epic estate sale, lol!
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Hi! My name is Cindy Fitzpatrick. I’ve followed Mason-Dixon Knitting since almost its very first moments, I’ve been friends with Ann and Kay (Hi Ann and Kay!) for a little while now (it’s a long story involving children and math - and knitting!), and have just recently met Nell at Rhinebeck when she was spending some time with two of the gals, Jenn and Janet, that help out at my shop (Hi Nell!).
As a little girl, I was taught to knit by my mom and to crochet by my grandmother, so I’ve been knitting forever and couldn’t possibly remember what was the first thing I ever knitted. There were periods over the past 50-some years since that I didn’t get to touch knitting, but it has pretty much taken over my life in the last 12 years, and that is definitely not an unhappy thing! I have met the most wonderful, most kind, most generous people thanks to my involvement in the knitting community.
My favorites:
Movies - The Royal Tenenbaums and Best In Show
Food - Ice cream
Color - changes daily!
Kind of Shoes - I was recently introduced to AllBirds and I am in love, although I still have a particular fondness for my cowboy boots.
I am very excited about this whole new MasonDixonKnitting.com adventure and can hardly wait to see what will come next!
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Hello! I’m Nell.
The first thing that I knit is a mystery - my mother let me play with her project odds and ends and then eventually taught me to knit when I was quite young.
I do have a very fabulous Red Heart Mexicana cover that I knit for my 1960’s Girl Scout Sit-Upon. That color still makes me happy.
I’m really excited to be part of MDK, and look forward to sharing and learning here.
I always wear sensible shoes.
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I’m Emily from Oklahoma City, and I’m an Episcopal priest, which is the direct cause of me learning to knit -all those meetings!
- I can’t remember what my first full ploject was–II’do have the little strip of yellow acrylic that was my product in the knittting lesson I took. I have a vague memory that I hold on to it because of the advice you gave in either a book or a blog post.
- Bull Durham/red/milk chocolate with hazelnuts/boots
3, Play drums–
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Hi, I’m Andrea, and Andymeg on Rav. My mother taught me to knit (and tried to teach me to crochet, without success) when I was about 9. I don’t recall my first knitted object, but I’m guessing it was a scarf. I had another go at knitting in high school, when several of us knit stripy hats for our group of friends, so presumably I was using double points by then. Another knitting bout of several years’ duration in my late 20s-early 30s resulted in some oversized sweaters and socks. And then about ten years ago a friend was knitting some socks and I was inspired to pick it up yet again. A whole new world of amazing fibers and YouTube instructional videos and online patterns had happened while I was away, and I was enthralled and inspired. I think I’m now a knitter for good, and I certainly have the stash to carry me through the rest of my life and beyond. Ravelry, and now MDK, are my go-to places for inspiration and community. Oh, and my LYS’s Monday knit nights.
I am also a wearer of sensible shoes.
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Hello! My name is Liz. I am pretty sure the first thing I knitted was a rectangle full of holes! My grandma kept trying to teach me as a kid and failed! The first wearable item I made was a headband. Then I made a pair of socks in twisted stockinette by accident!
My favorite movies are a toss up of Star Wars and Lord if the Rings. My favorite food is sushi. My favorite color is aqua/teal especially mixed with red and I hate shoes!
I thankfully have gotten pretty good at knitting and I don’t make huge holes in things anymore. I would like to get good at provisional cast ons and my dream is to make one of those fancy Norwegian sweaters with all the fine stranded colorwork. I want to steek it and put on some fancy pewter clasps.
I seem to have a sock problem. When I don’t know what else to do I make socks. I have a big basket of them that I wear all winter. I also have a huge 48 inch floor loom that was handmade in Finland many years ago that I want to get up and running someday.
In the rest if my life I am mom to 2 kids, 9 and 11, and we live on 12 acres in the middle of nowhere. I garden and can, and I love archery.
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Hello everybody,
I’m Cinthia from France. I’m so pleased to discover the Lounge and i’m trying hard to catch up with the way it’s working ! The first things i knitted were actually pieces of projects and stayed pieces … It was around 14 years ago : pieces of a sweater for my first boy, pieces of a bear, pieces of a sweater for me. At that moment, i drew the conclusion that knitting was not for me, and that i couldn’t follow a pattern till the end … Then, three years ago, i discovered seamless knitting, circular needles, treasuries of fibers from all over the world and the incredible possibilities of learning from the online community. Now i love knitting ! I’m knitting everyday. It’s a sort of breathing.
Last year, i enjoyed a lot the Bang out a sweater kal, it was fun and warm, i met lovely knitters and i gained a sweater ! I’m enjoying a lot Ann and Kay writing which always draws a smile on my face ! That’s why it seemed natural for me to enter in the Lounge ! I love meeting knitting people, even if it’s online, i’m already enjoying truly friendships started this way, and i believe it’s daily enriching my life.
The knit along is a great idea but i still have to figure out what kind of knitter i am !!
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Hi! My name is Daisy - I’ve been knitting, well, actually knitting things since 2012. My grandmothers taught me to knit and crochet when I was a little girl, but I never learned how to make a THING, not other than big swaths of knitted material hanging off the needles (no cast off, no how). I tried picking it up again in 2002, and got a little frustrated with all the mistakes, and then, when I moved to Vermont in 2012, I felt like … how vermont-ish. SO. Ever since then, I’ve been making things - a rug was probably the first THING, but after that it was mittens, hats, scarves, cowls, cowls, cowls, sweaters, dishcloths, shawls, I mean, whatever uses needles and yarn, and I AM IN IT TO WIN IT.
I’m so happy to have found Ann and Kay and all of y’all here at MDK. What fun. What joy, and beautiful things. And now this lounge. Not to be too gushy, but a place where we can be with our people, and talk knitting? It’s the shiz.
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Hi, I’m Francis. I learned to knit when I was 8, from the next door neighbor. My first project was a garter stitch doll blanket. I’ve always loved crafts and will try anything.
I love old black and white movies, especially mysteries. I also love anything PBS and Masterpiece Theater puts on.
I tend to have startitis. The upside is always having a project to work on.
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Hi, I’m Jane, from Ontario, Canada 
I’ve been knitting since I was a kid, so I suppose the first thing I ever knitted was a ribbed scarf (Christmas present for my dad, who gamely wore it for several winters), but I didn’t knit “for real” until about 5 years ago, and the first thing I knit then was pair of fingerless mitts, out of Noro Silk Garden, no less. My cousin gifted me the skein, and I had no idea what lovely yarn I was knitting with.
My favourite movie . . . hmm, I watch the Pride and Prejudice BBC mini-series every year on my birthday (while knitting, of course), so that would probably count as my favourite movie.
Ooh, I want to learn how to knit Russian Continental, and also how to steek.
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My NAME IS Judith. I live in Wilmington, DE. I am jmpool on Ravelry Knitting is one of my passions. I learned to knit when I was five from my adored grandmother. The first thing I knit was supposed to be a scarf but it got wider and wider as I went along. So, I gave it to the daughter of one of my mother’s friends to use as a baby blanket. She actually showed me her baby wrapped up in it and I was off to the knitting races. Many thanks to her.
My favorite food is chocolate. My new mantra is “If it’s not chocolate, it’s NOT dessert!” Teal is my favorite color. My favorite shoes must be colorful and comfortable.
There are many things I would like to learn to do. I am pretty comfortable with my knitting skills although I would like to know more about stranded, two color knitting. I am currently trying to learn something about two water color painting.
Here is my biggest knitting adventure. Several years ago, I wore my Koigu Oriental Jacket to a First Friday art gallery event. I visited the studio of my favorite artist who happened to be there. I told her how much I love her work. She complimented my sweater. When, I told her that I had knit it, she responded, “If you knit me a sweater like that, I will give you the painting of your choice.” I was flabgberghasted as her work sells for thousands of dollars. I did say yes. Knit her the coat [in pinks and greens, not my usual color pallette], got the painting [which I love], and wound up with a new friend. How lucky am I?
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Ellen K here. I learned to knit when I was about 9 years old because my mother needed help cranking out socks for my father to wear under his work boots. I don’t remember when I learned to crochet, but it was before I learned to knit.
I stepped away from knitting for a long time and when I returned to it (pre ravelry) it was the start of the knitting resurgence. Knitting blogs were multiplying and gorgeous yarns were appearing everywhere.
My favorite knitting today is still socks, although two years ago I took the plunge and knit my first sweater. Now that I live in New England my woolies see a lot of action.
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Hi,
I’m Jan…born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio…have lived in Ann Arbor, MI on three different occasions; Munich, Germany, Alexandria, VA; and Nashville, TN for 48 years with three breaks. Now I live in Darien, CT.
No one in my family knitted…I grew up with a lot of embroiderers. I began to knit at age 23, taught by a colleague in 1963 on one of my sojourns in Ann Arbor. My first project was a baggy mohair (big trend at the time) cardigan for myself. As I recall it was on biggish needles and was stockinette. The yarn was a variegated blues and greens and I loved it even though it was kind of itchy and caught on everything. I was an avid knitter for the next few years, knitting scarves and mittens, learning cable to do a pullover for my husband and my favorite project after the move to Nashville: a Fair Isle cardigan for me. I wore that one literally to death. My knitting zeal waned when my boys were small although I did start a sweater for my oldest son in the early 1970’s, mostly finished it in the mid 1970’s when it fit my second son and… ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?.. after my retirement, I assembled it and chose buttons in 2012 for my 4 year old grandson!! Kind of embarrassing but a fun family story.
At that time, I did start knitting on a regular basis again, going back to really basic beginner projects like garter stitch scarves on huge needles for my two granddaughters and a hat for myself. I’m chagrined to confess in this forum of knitters, that I have been working on a seed stitch cowl off and on for 2 years…mostly off… while I moved cross country in 2013 and again 5 miles down the road last winter, got really active in my new church, reshaped my body with much more regular exercise than ever before, spent a huge amount of time with my grandchildren, who were the whole reason for moving, learned to play Mah Jongg and read for two book groups. I’m such a beginner knitter still that I can’t knit and watch television or barely talk to anyone so that limits my time frames. The last time I had those needles in my hand, it was at a Knitting Meet-Up group when I first relocated. The conversation was so interesting and I couldn’t even keep track of what row I was on. Yet, I’m fascinated by this blog and others, keep coming back to my yarn stashes and needles and feel drawn to the craft…like it was meant to be a part of my life. That’s more than you ever wanted to know about my knitting history.
I would like to continue to progress and learn how to try more challenging projects… I’m kind of obsessed with the idea of knitting socks but fear the tiny needles and new skills that will be involved.
My favorite movie is a tie between Gone With The Wind and The Big Chill and favorite color is teal blue. I live alone and have for many years. My sons live on opposite coasts so I chose Connecticut where there are three grandchildren over Oregon, where there are zero grandchildren. I’ve never been more content. Life is good. It will be better with more knitting.
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Pamela here (thefibersprite on Rav)! I’ve just moved to Colorado from Utah and am enjoying the change in scenery. Alas, the LYS just closed down, so the knitterly interaction is a bit light. Excited for the Lounge - at least I can get my fix virtually!
My grandmother tried to teach me to knit when I was about 9 or 10. I say tried, because she taught my cousins just fine. But since she and I are both lefties, she was trying to remember how to knit continental, and just confused the heck out of the both of us. Luckily, a friend taught me for real when I was about 15, and I was hooked! Since I wasn’t much for following directions, I knitted lots and lots of simple scarves at first. Then I found MDK and had a blast with their non-picky patterns.
I love carbs and chocolate, both of which get me in trouble from time to time. I love neutral colors, as well as turquoise and burgundy. Shoes must be comfortable above all else, so I usually stick to flats of some sort.
There’s a mini fiber mill in my new town, and I’d love to be involved in the process of making yarn.
Right now I’m nearing the end of a three-year odyssey of knitting a log cabin blanket on size two needles. I’m flying home to visit family towards the end of the week, and the only way it’s ever going to get washed/blocked is if it can take up the floor in an entire room. So hopefully I can get it done by then!
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I’m Karen from Yonkers, NY (karent on Ravelry). I learned to knit when I was about 9 years old when I was home sick from school. My grandmother had given my mother a copy of Knitting Without Tears (I still have it) and I was hooked.
My favorite color is purple and my favorite movie is Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,
I knit a lot of little bits and bobs when I was a kid but the first big thing I remember making was a sweater from Vogue Knitting when I was in college. I loved it! I still have it but it hasn’t been worn in years because a: I was a lot thinner in college and b: I had really bad taste in yarn in college. Maybe I’ll post a pick of it one of these days so you can all point your fingers and laugh at me.
Also in college, I learned how to weave. I went to college in the Hamptons and, because I worked at the campus radio station, I could live on campus for free every summer if I also took classes. By the time I was a senior, I only had one class left but it would have cost me more to take the one class than it would to stay the whole year (long story) so I took two semesters of weaving. I would love to pick that up again. I’m also learning how to spin because I have friends who are bad enablers.
I’m looking forward to hanging out here!
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Hello !
When you reply to the very post at the top of the discussion (the one which opens the discussion), i think you make a post. I hope it helps !
Cinthia
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