This new blog is all about my first love, gardening. I contemplated just combining the two interests, knitting and gardening, into one on this blog but decided it was better to devote each subject its own blog. I began Brambleberries in the Rain last month and it took off way faster than I could ever imagine it would. It has swept me up and I have been having so much fun with it.

I hope I haven’t lost too many of my readers here. I also hope you will stop by and take a look at my new place on the net. I am going to *try* to make more of an effort posting here and attempt to juggle my time between the now 3 (!)  blogs I am managing.

My knitting has been rather unproductive these past few weeks. It seems I haven’t been able to find much time for it. Not to mention we are in the middle of a heat wave and I don’t particularly like to knit in the heat! I am working on a pair of self-stripping socks that is coming along.

So, please check out my new site and continue to be patient with me as I may have been MIA these last few weeks but I am still here!

I knew then and there that my knitting looked strange to others. I have suspected since I began knitting that I might look a little “backwards” to say the least. I just wasn’t sure if it would be noticeable to others until that day in the hospital. So, what exactly is this knitting confession that has given me a knitting in public phobia? Well, I knit left handed. There I said it. It is now out there.

Now, I don’t mean that I knit continental or anything like that. I really do knit left handed. I hold the working yarn in my left hand because I am a “thrower” and I work from the left to the right. Meaning I move stitches to my left needle as I work them off of my right needle. Completely backwards from how most people knit. In order to knit the way I do I have to knit the opposite of what the pattern says to do. And if a pattern has a chart I have to knit the mirror image of that chart. It is completely and utterly mind numbing and that is putting it lightly.

Why in the world would I knit this way? It has to do with the fact that I am indeed left handed and I (maybe stupidly) taught myself how to knit. Had I enlisted the help of a right handed knitter maybe I would not be in the boat I am now. After all, my grandma taught me how to crochet and she is right handed so I consequentially learned how to crochet right handed as a child.

I am hoping that this means there is hope for me as I am considering trying to learn how to knit right handed. I am so done with trying to read patterns backwards. I just want to be able to knit “normal”! I want to be able to just pick up a pattern, read it, and get knitting instead of having to flip everything around in order for me to knit it up correctly.

My husband, SET, thinks it is pretty cool that I taught myself to knit left handed but then again he is right handed.

I have had enough of the mind warping left handed knitting so here soon I am going to attempt to learn how to knit right handed. I am a little worried about the ole “old habits die hard” thing but am hoping that since I am a thrower and I throw with my left hand I might adapt alright. I’m at least going to try!

I have done many searches over the years for left handed knitting on the internet and there are a few interesting and helpful sites but not enough if you ask me. Knitty has a great article on left handed knitting found: here.

This link kind of cracks me up. It has great pictures for learning to knit and if you scroll down there are instructions for left handed knitting that state to hold the pictures up to a mirror and substitute the word right for left and vice versa. This is exactly why knitting left handed gives me such a headache! Your brain starts to flip flop after a while of that!

This site has some good general instructions for knitting left handed.

Then there is this great You Tube video that really shows exactly what left handed knitting looks like. It is exactly how I knit except I throw the yarn with my left hand.

So, in the meantime I will still knit happily away even if it is backwards. Once I attempt to give it a go with right handed knitting I will post my progress. I want to try it out here soon but keep putting it off….after all, I still can knit even if it is backwards.

Happy Knitting!

Well, I would say that the whole month of April has been a lion for us over here in our little neck of the woods. Rain, hail, and snow have been the weather for the month which is really taking it’s toll on my spirits. Where is Spring???

We have also had several ups and downs in our personal life that have kept me away from my blog and computer. I am hoping May is a little nicer to us.

I am currently working on a new blog post that I think promises to be interesting so be on the look out here in the next few days. I am also trying to start up some new knitting projects as my knitting has been on the back burner all of this month. And if the rain would ever let up so I could get out and do some serious gardening I would be a very happy lady.

Until my next post……

I found this post about blogging without obligation. Why I never thought about it like the way this post puts it I really don’t know. I mean really, what a novel idea, not feeling quilty about random posts. The more I think about it the more I agree on how to post for the sake of frequent posting really does effect the content of what I may blog about. I would much rather have really interesting infrequent postings than dull and rather pointless regular postings. Not to say that I plan on going months on end without a post but now I feel a little better about going a week or two (or gasp, three) weeks without writing anything.

I take what I write about seriously and want to have strong content in each and every post. So, from this day forward I plan on B.W.O. Thanks so much for understanding.

Now, on a side note: my poor knitting has slooooowed down. I am almost embarrassed to admit how many projects are just sitting right now. In fact the striped sweater and the striped cardigan for Princess A are both finished knitting, have been for weeks now, and just need to have their seams sewn. Ditto for the halter top. I can’t seem to get my butt around to blocking them and sewing them up (I never have liked sewing up seams in the first place which might be part of the problem). And this might sound a little nuts but this is how my brain works, I have several other patterns I am wanting to begin but I keep not letting myself because I tell myself I can’t until I finish the seams on those previously stated three! Oh, and the green garter lace shawl I am in the middle of is just sitting right now cause I am bored with it….

I am working on a new dyeing experiment that I plan on completeing this week and hopefully I can get some good pictures and will blog about it.

One last thing: I am so happy this week marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring! I am sick of rain! :-} 

I bought a pretty simple 3 ring binder, some dividers, and some page protectors. I them proceeded to categorize all the different patterns into groups such as lace, socks, sweaters, diaper soakers, etc. Each category got its own divider and all the patterns went into their own separate page protectors. I like having the patterns in their own page protector because it keeps them nice and it is great for when I use the pattern. I just take the pattern out page protector and all and it doesn’t get coffee spilt on it or crumbled up accidently, you get the idea.  A few patterns are ones that I had purchased online that are PDF files. These are pretty nice patterns and I am thinking of printing them out on cardstock and them putting them in a page protector. I think that would be a great way of keeping them nice.

Like I had said, probably not very original of me, but I am rather pleased with it!

And because it’s just not as much fun without a picture, here is a picture of a view from my house a couple days back.