Life is all about learning new things, and that’s one of the reasons I’m growing to love knitting more and more. There are so many different techniques, projects and ideas!

I’m constantly learning from the myriad knitting blogs and magazines, but I think my favorite is from our Knitter’s Profiles. In our newest one, I heard a word I didn’t  know and asked about it. When Jordana explained the technique, my heart dropped into my stomach; she laughed and said, “Your face!”

Read our newest profile with Lynne, and see if you can figure out what shocked me so much it made Jordana giggle. I’ll post it at the end of the blog.

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JP: How did you learn to knit?

My mom taught me how to knit sometime while I was in middle school. She used to knit things for us when we were little, and I’d tried crochet but never got past the 19 feet of chain stage.

JP: Do you have a favorite type of knitting project?

It’d probably have to be socks. I knit socks constantly. But, I have also knit umpteen hats and pairs of fair isle mittens, love lace and have a pretty decent selection of sweaters.

JP: What project are you working on right now?

What am I NOT working on right now? Hmmm. Currently on the needles and started are a lace shawl that’s been languishing for ages. I started it during the summer of 2010 right before a road trip to Winnepeg. It’s almost done, but because I’m getting close to the end and it’s a circular shawl, the rows take forever.

I also have two pairs of socks (a pair of footies and a full pair of socks), a double-stranded laceweight cardigan which will be my first steeking project, a lace scarf, yet another pair of fair isle mittens, a pair of fingering weight fingerless mitts, a sock yarn blanket and a pieced afghan that I haven’t touched in forever.

JP: Any knitting resolutions in 2012?

Nothing specific, but I do try to learn something new all the time with regards to my knitting. I like learning new skills and expanding my horizons. A couple of projects that I’m currently working on are ”firsts” for me (i.e., steeking and beading).

JP: When do you enjoying knitting most? 

Anywhere and everywhere! The vast majority of my knitting is done on the couch in front of the tv (even if it’s not always on) but I also knit at work on my lunch and whenever else it gets quiet and I have a few minutes to myself.

JP: How did you find out about JP?

To be honest, I can’t remember. Maybe a knitting magazine? Most likely Interweave Knits. . . It was a looooong time ago.

I’m not a girlie girl by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m always on the lookout for the “perfect purse” and I was really excited to see the blend of functional purse that was geared towards knitters because by that time, I was already starting to cart my knitting around and it wasn’t always easy to make my purse work for knitting.

After using my teal LJ for a little over a year, I just switched back to my red Rio and remembered why I love that one so much. It is my absolute favorite and I’m seriously thinking that I need another one … In BLUE!

JP: If you could eat or drink anything with no consequences, what would it be?

Probably chocolate and Mountain Dew. I already enjoy both of them without regard for consequences, but I get headaches from both, so it’s a calculated risk. Alternatively, carbs in most any form.

JP: What’s the one knitting project you’ve always wanted to try?

There are some things I haven’t tried yet, like bobbles or intarsia. But those are mostly because I haven’t found a project that uses either one of them that I’ve fallen in love with and HAD to knit. I keep looking though, just so that I can say I’ve tried it. Oh, and entrelac. Haven’t tried that either. I’m not a fan of picking up stitches (it never looks right to me when I do it), so entrelac hasn’t found it’s way into my skill base yet.

JP: How many JP bags or patterns have you bought/knit over the years?

I currently own three JP bags (Rio, LJ and Bella) and have given away two others (a pink/black messenger and another Rio). And I’ve bought or downloaded most JP patterns, but so far have only knit a Landon (which I knit for the Rio giveaway contest 2-3 years ago) and have JUST finished Cerie. I also bought yarn for a Starsky a few months ago, just haven’t gotten to it yet (Christmas knitting strikes again!).

JP: What kind of music gets you in the crafty mood?

I don’t usually listen to music when I knit. I either have the TV on or enjoy a few minutes of quiet (which seems rare in my house sometimes). Occasionally I listen to knitting podcasts or mellow-ish music like Dido or Enya.

JP: Coffee or tea?

Neither. The aforementioned Mountain Dew. Or Pepsi.

JP: What’s your knitting inspiration?

I am a shameless copycat. When I’m struggling to figure out what to do with a skein of yarn, I troll Ravelry and see what else other people have done with the same colorway and when I find something I love, I tend to “steal” the idea.

I’ve got several projects like that in my queue and just finished a pair of socks that were spawned from the same process.

JP: What was your first knitting project? How did it go?

I’d rather not talk about it. . . A bad combination of pastel acrylic and adult sized booties. My mom had come up with her own design for these slipper things and of course all we had at the time was acrylic (this was mid 80′s) in pastel colors. I, of course, decided I needed to use various colors instead of just making them solid. I pitched them a million years ago.

JP: It’s the zombie apocolypse. What’s your weapon of choice?

I’d have to rig some sort of launcher for my seemingly endless supply of DPNs.

JP: What’s the last movie you really enjoyed, whether you were knitting or not?

The last thing I saw in theaters was the new Mission Impossible movie which was good. Didn’t slow down much. I see a lot of action movies, courtesy of my husband.

JP: What’s one of your favorite outdoor activities?

I love kayaking and camping, but don’t get a lot of opportunities to do either. We used to do a family camping trip every summer when I was growing up (us girls: my mom and sisters) and those are the basis of most of our best stories.

JP: Do you do any other sorts of crafty stuff?

Not really, no. I’d like to spin, but when I try I’m not very good at it. I’ve been knitting so many years that I don’t like starting over on the learning curve. I had a mini-spinning lesson a couple years ago and immediately went home and knit because I needed to do something I was GOOD at. I used to do cross-stitch and attempted scrapbooking briefly. Nothing else has stuck though. Knitting just takes up all of my free moments that I don’t make time for anything else.

JP: Knitting: alone or with friends?

I prefer to knit with friends because I have very little social interaction as it is. Nothing makes you feel good about yourself like taking your knitting projects to Knit Night and showing them off to ”oooohs” and “aaaaaahs.” But I am waaaaay more productive when I knit alone.

JP: If time and money were no object, what would you be doing?

Sitting at home knitting, of course! Or maybe taking a nap.

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Thanks so much Lynne! You are a brave woman for trying steeking! (That’s the technique that shocked me.) You can find Lynne with her countless sock projects on Ravelry.

If you’d like to be featured in our knitter’s profile, we’d love to hear from you! Email or leave your info in the comments and we’ll make it happen! Don’t worry, you don’t have to submit photos of yourself if you’re not into that (but we do want to see your knitting and your bags for sure).