While I learned many many crafty things from my mom, my knitting teacher is a dear friend that I met while in graduate school. Judy started in the MD/PhD program when I started on my PhD and we did our doctoral research in the same lab. She defended her doctorate the day after I defended mine and we both saw each other through the process of going from being engaged to being unengaged. Yep, Judy and I have been through a lot together.

It was between unengagements (mine happened first and hers almost exactly a year later) that Judy taught me to knit. She and her fiance really helped make my transition to singleness bearable. Some of our nights just involved sitting around and watching TV -- and Judy knitting. Eventually I just had to know how to do it. And the rest is history. After I got into it, she generously gifted me with a small collection of Alice Starmore books... Aran Knitting, In the Hebrides and Stillwater all have a very special place in my shelves.

Judy was a great person to learn to knit from. First of all, she was very patient. She taught me continental style but I never mastered it while she lived close by. I was a continental thrower which was not terribly efficient -- but Judy told me there was no right way to do it, knowing that eventually I'd probably want to take it to the next level. Secondly, she loved complex sweater projects. I don't think I've ever seen her knit a project that didn't have multiple colors or lots of texture. It never occured to me starting out that I could knit a simple stockinette sweater. Finally, she's fearless about knitting and encouraged me not to limit myself by what other people told me I could accomplish. She steered me away from big bulky yarns. My second ever sweater was Alice Starmore's Grapevine. And, yes, it isn't perfect (I had a very loose definitition of gauge at that time) but it's still one of the most major accomplishments in my collection.

Below is a picture of Judy (a swing dancing, synchronized skating, research pediatric rheumatologist!) wearing a sweater that is probably one of my all time favorites. I don't know the name of this Kaffe Fassett masterpiece, but it's even more stunning in person than in the photo.

Judy and a Fabulous Fassett Sweater

Pretty nifty, eh?

Judy came to visit Chicago in the fall for a conference and she and I spent part of the afternoon just hanging out with yarn. It was then that I learned something... Judy, knitter of fabulous sweaters, had heretofore never knit a scarf or a pair of socks.

Well. I just couldn't stand for that. So I let her go stash diving into to my stash and she came out with a lovely ball of Kitty (a ladder yarn like EROS) and knit her first shiny garter stitch scarf. I'm such a bad influence.

Bearfoot Pheasants for Judy

Not too long ago I finished the pair of socks that I decided would be Judy's birthday present (her birthday is in October...I'm so not on time). This was my first pair of socks in Bearfoot Pheasant. I gotta say, this yarn is a real treat to work with. It's soft and shimmery and makes a beautiful fabric. Special warm socks for a special friend.

But you know, I can't just give a knitter a pair of socks... I've got to convert her over to the darkside... I've got to find a way to get her to knit socks, too. After all, it was just about this time last year when the sock bug bit me, aided and abetted by Julie and Emma. So when Judy gets her socks... she's going to get a little bit of a sock starter kit, too!

I have some of my own ideas about the physical contents of such a kit, but I was also hoping to provide some good web sock resources, too! I have a few of my favorite places (see my Links page), but would love to know about other good places to go...