New Knitting

I've been quiet lately because I have been learning a new way to knit. It has slowed me down A LOT. But I am starting to get a little faster, now. For nearly 20 years I have been knitting in a strange style that I am not sure I can really name. Maybe it is what is called Eastern Uncrossed. Or not. Now I am learning continental in an effort to knit more quickly and do away with 'throwing'. I've been learning it on this hat for Knitter #2:

When I learned how to knit way back when, I started out knitting English style just like my mom's old how to book taught me. And somewhere in the middle of my second sweater, I started putting the needle in to knit from the wrong direction. I knit twisted for several years without knowing what was wrong with my knitting. Then I realized what was wrong and fixed it. But not by going back to the how to book and seeing where I'd gone wrong. I just learned to untwist the stitches. What this led to was hard times with patterns. When a pattern says 'k2tog' I might have to ssk to get it to look right. Some things in lace patterns can't be made to look right. It's a pain. I am hoping that my knitting gets faster soon, though. It is taking forever to knit a HAT, for crying out loud. My old, hard way of knitting lets me produce a hat in about 3 days.

It is also that time of year when people who pretend to garden start thinking about what they are going to be planting. I am going to plant some of my friends in the cabbage family this afternoon in this planting tray:

I am excited for spring to come so I can grow things in my garden. I'm hoping my husband will stay on board with this. He seems to be on about saving money and growing our own things. We used to have a great garden and the past few years he has really been negative about stuff like this. Last year when the time came for him to help out with the rototiller, he flat out refused. I had plants waiting to go in the ground and I can't operate our rototiller. It is too big for me to really control. And I am a strong woman. I am not exactly sure what I am going to do if he gets in one of those moods again. Maybe cry. Sick the kids on him. Who knows.