Knitting First

M.AnniversarySweater1
Originally uploaded by Wordpurler

I'm picking up on Emma's question, which I saw on Andromache's blog.

A knitting first? Well...my most absorbing current project, the Wedding Band Celtic Raglan, is FULL of firsts.

1. first grown-up sized sweater
2. first cabled sweater (the cables only run down the arms, but it counts, doesn't it??)
3. first cabled sweater where I charted the cable all by my very own self
4. first conglomeration pattern. By this I mean that I didn't COME UP with the pattern myself, but I have conglomerated a bunch of ideas from pattern/unpatterns that I like together in one opus. Sources include:
   
   • Stefanie Japel's Cable-Down Raglan from IK Spring 2007 (for the idea of top-down cables on a raglan sweater)
     
   • the incredible custom-fit top down raglan pattern by Pamela Costello (for the numbers and the construction instructions)
   • Elizabeth Zimmerman's seamless sweaters (for the idea for contrast-color hems and the secret knitted-in message)
   • The Girl from Auntie and Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting (for the basics of charting celtic cables)
   • Marnie MacLean's tutorial for using Excel to chart colorwork
     

I'm always impressed and excited by how willing knitters are to share information, patterns, strategies, and techniques. I have learned so much in the past two years after coming back to knitting; when I first started in 1997 I didn't realize that there were so many non-book resources, and I didn't have any knitters in my family or my friend group--besides my friend Joe who taught me, but he only knew the basics himself--to rely upon. I made mistakes, got frustrated, and put the needles away, for good (I thought) in favor of sewing and quilting. If it hadn't been for an impulse purchase of Mason-Dixon Knitting, I don't think I would have discovered the online knitting community, first blogs, then knit-alongs, now Ravelry, and I wouldn't have had the last two years of sheer enjoyment as I've motored through learning various skills and producing some wonderful, practical projects and gifts.

What is your favorite technique you've ever learned, from the simple to the complex? Why? If you write a post about it, leave a comment and a link!