September...

I always get very sentimental in September.
The weather is not so hot anymore, evenings come faster than in August (I believe so, I'm not sure that's true ^^), leaves turn orange and red, and start to spin on the pavements moved by the gentle but chilly breeze. Autumn is my favourite time of the year - maybe because I was born in Autumn and I feel the inner bond with this season. (The date of my birth is also very interesting in some aspects - 31st October... some things end and start on that day in the Wiccan yearly cycle.)
I don't feel like leaving the flat - my inner party animal decides to lay on the sofa, with a cup of hot Darjeeling tea, chocolate biscuits and some knitting rather than going out to spend the evening in a noisy club (dinner at our favourite Japanese or Egyptian restaurant doesn't count! ^^).
Several days ago I put this lovely picture on my computer's desktop - it's the collage by the very talented Dawbis (I hope you're not angry with me, darling, for borrowing the picture, I just wanted to have it in front of my eyes ^^). It is soooooo me in the Autumn, I can stare at this picture for hours!

And let's not forget that September 2005 I started knitting, so we are having a small anniversary this month! *^-^*
What was my first project? Let me see...
You may remember the story of my first finished project - the green vest, but in fact my very first project last September was something completely different...

The 1st Project story

It began at some craft forum, when I saw a beautiful sweater some girl knitted, with bell-shaped sleeves, stockinette in the upper part and lacework in the lower bell part. I got in love with it and decided to knit something similar - not the whole sweater (I was wise enough to know it was far beyond my skills at that time!), but just the sleeves, with some buttonholes and a decorative fringe in the upper part, so I could thread a ribbon through the holes and tie it around my arm.
I followed some instructions how to adjust the number of stitches to your size according to the yarn weight, cast on and started to knit. Well... I chose a bulky yarn, so I very soon noticed that it's not going to be a delicate elegant sleeve, but carried on with determination. I very proudly knitted the stockinette part and asked the girl for a pattern for the lace part. She said that she knitted the sleeve cuff upwards, so I may have some problems with knitting it downwards, but gave me the pattern anyway. And then I looked at the chart!...
...
At that time I barely knew how to knit and purl. I never ever tried a mere yarn over, not to mention complicated k2tog or psso!... My hands were not acquainted with the knitters routine, the fingers were stiff and busy with securing the needles not to slip on the floor. And I wanted to knit a lace sleeve!...
...
Now, when I look at that chart, it's one of the easiest I've ever seen ^^, and as time passed I learnt how to knit different more or less complicated stitches used in this lace chart, but a year ago, as you probably guessed I just quit. The sleeves were never knitted. So, I thought that maybe now, when I know the technique, I could knit them again - using the right yarn weight (lace weight) and the right knitting direction (upwards), and commemorate my 1st knitting anniversary. *^-^*