Amy was curious about people's first projects. Well, my very first projects are long gone. They were mostly crocheted baby blankets and scarves. They were all acrylic and were lovely, at the time. My husband wanted a sweater, well, actually, the story goes back a little further. My brother and his wife went to Ireland and brought us back sweaters because we asked them to. I asked for a pullover and Peter Kevin, a cardigan. Well, I ended up wearing his cardigan all the time and it came to live in my closet. The problem was that now he didn't have a sweater. I offered to knit one. Now, at this point in time, I knew how to knit and purl but the concept of gauge and yarn thickness had not entered my head and I didn't know what I didn't know. I was a complete newbie but very enthusiastic about this project. Peter Kevin chose this very chunky wool/acrylic blend and I started. I found a cardigan pattern and without any regard for sizing, except I knew it should be large, I cast on. About 4 inches in, even I knew it was too big so I ripped it out and measured how large PK wanted the sweater to be and cast on stitches until I had an approximate size. I worked diligently and was so proud of my first ribbing and my button bands were exquisite, large but exquisite and I loved the buttons I chose. When I was done this is what I had:
It is so large that we call it "the blanket with arms.". I have often offered to knit a new sweater but PK swears he loves this one. Can you see how much he has to roll up the cuffs? If he wants to , he can wrap it completely around himself like a kimono. It weighs almost 4 pounds and takes up the whole washer when I wash it. It makes me laugh when I look at it but he loves it and so do the girls when January comes and it is cold here they like to snuggle inside the sweater.

Bells showed off her tattoo and was interested in other's tattoos and the stories behind them so here are mine, although I am pretty sure I have shown them before.

Here is the tattoo on my wrist. It was chosen because it matched the tattoo on my ankle:












I have had them for 3 years. Emily and I had been to Atlantic City and admired the tattoos and talked about it incessantly. We scoped them out online and finally, on a girls' trip to AC, decided this was the day. I got the ankle first and loved it. Yes, it hurts but it stops hurting as soon as he turns off the gun. The second tattoo came about 2 months later on another girls' trip to AC (we did that alot that summer!). The colors are pretty accurate (even the veins in my ankles) and I love these. If you look at the wrist, you can see the bumps in the middle in a circle around the flower. In March, I had my mammogram and they saw something "suspicious" and I was ordered to have an MRI done. I told them I had tattoos and they said not to worry. I was more scared of the MRI because of my claustrophobia and anxiety about small spaces and the tattoos faded into the background. About a week after the procedure (it was horrible but with negative results), I noticed that the tattoo on my wrist itched and was raised. It turns out that the ink used in the inside colors has a high concentration of iron oxide. MRI's use magnets. The magnets pulled the iron to the surface of my skin and now I have a Braille tattoo. It is not unsightly but slightly weird. The tough part was that I have a metal allergy and the darn thing itched for a long time until it settled back down again.

I also have a belly button piercing. I got it the year before the tattoos. I did it on a whim because Em wanted to go but was nervous so I went, too. It didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would and now I really like it. I have a gold hoop in there and it is a part of me at this point. I think I would like a small gold hoop in my eyebrow but PK says no more. He likes the tattoos because they are "feminine", or I guess as feminine as tattoos can be but he has requested that I stop here. For a while, I wanted another and I can see how folks end up with them all over their bodies. It is addictive. I chose the places I did because they are less likely to give way to gravity as I age. It is amazing the number of people who ask if it is real and if it hurt. And then they touch it. Thank goodness I don't have a phobia about being touched! I also have seen more tattoos that ever before as folks want to show me theirs. It's kinda neat and I have seen quite a bit more of some people's bodies than I wanted to....

Ok, class, show and tell is on. Show us yours!