Dangerous Knitter Interview - Meet Iggystar!

Iggystar (AKA Vicky Lynn Bagley) is self-proclaimed homebody who is not afraid of the label - geek, nerd or dork.

What other crafty things do you do?
None at the moment, although I am considering dusting off some very ancient crocheting skills soon.

Why knitting?
I was lured into my LYS by the beautiful colored yarns in the window while wandering through an office building one day, where I met a lovely teacher who worked there.  It was her encouragement, as well as that of a very good cyber-friend who's a knitter, that got me to sign up for classes.  My friend even made me get on the Ravelry waitlist before I'd taken my first class!

Also, I really enjoy the comforts of my home after a busy work week and spend many weekends reading, watching television and gaming.  So knitting is a good fit for how I spend my quiet, leisure time.

Have you ever injured yourself while knitting?
Nothing major outside of an occasional sore wrist due to not taking a break.  However, I have wanted to harm few balls of yarn for not cooperating.

Tell us something unexpected you discovered while knitting.
First and foremost, I discovered that I CAN knit.  I'm the least crafty person I know and I really thought I wouldn't be able to pick it up.  Also, I didn't expect that knitting could be so addictive, engrossing, cool and fun (and at times expensive)!

Have you gotten any strange comments about your knitting or while knitting in public?
Absolutely!  I'm surprised that so many people come up to me tell me how lovely my crocheting is (I guess they miss the extra needle).  One constant (and a bit irritating) comment are those who say they don't have the time, or don't have the patience to knit.  They make it sound like such a putdown. Sometimes I'll tell them that knitting teaches you patience.

What projects are you really proud of?
I'm really proud of all of my firsts.  My first scarf, hat, non-classroom pattern, cable project, pair of socks, etc.  The latest source of much pride is a my first charted lace project, The Liesel scarf.

What projects were total failures?
I don't really have any projects that I consider complete failures.  There might be aspects of a project where I've made mistakes, like on my second pair of socks.  I didn't calculate the guage correctly and they turned out huge.  Big enough to fit both feet in one.

What do you consider challenging?
Gauge, reading my knitting and identifying mistakes.  I despise gauge with a passion, plain and simple.  I get so bored working those swatches...I want to get started already!  The latter two are a part of knitting that I'm constantly working on.  Losing the stitch count, trying to find the position of my last decrease, finding my error so I can fix it and continue, etc.

Best piece of knitting advice you've ever heard is...
On expressing my fear of more challenging projects a fellow Raveler replied, "You shouldn't be afraid of knitting.  It's needles and yarn, nothing is going to blow up."  It was frank, but it kind of put those more difficult knitting projects into perspective.

Go read Iggy's Blog!