Knitter Profile: Hungry Knitter Lauren

"Knitter Profile" posts ask an awesome knitter-you-ought-to-know a series of interview questions to get a bit of insight into their knitty life.
I'm so excited to share this brand new blog feature and even more excited that the first knitter sharing her profile on Perknitious is both a source of crafty inspiration and a friend!   

Meet Lauren Osborne, super-talented knitter, crochet superwoman, amazing photographer, and thoroughly entertaining blogger. Oh, and on top of all that, she's a grad student. Yes, this officially makes her a superstar. Check out her internet home over at the Hungry Knitter, or visit her Ravelry page.  Without further ado, the interview:

What made you decide to start knitting, and how did you learn?
I first learned to knit when I was in college. A good friend and I took a weekend trip to Chicago and one night while we were chilling out in our hotel room she taught me how to knit. I was immediately obsessed.


What is your favorite thing to knit (item to make, technique to use)?
My favorite technique by far is stranded colorwork. I just love the possibilities for playing with color throughout endlessly repeating graphic designs. 

The Frank mittens. Check out all of Lauren's designs on her Ravelry designer page

Please share a knitting success story or horror story (your choice!).
Horror stories are so much more exciting than ones of success! And I have way more of the former. Fortunately I've only managed to screw up a couple things badly enough that they couldn't be fixed. But the one project that is in permanent time out is my Raspy sweater. When I started this sweater (several years ago) I wanted it SO BAD. I knit and knit and knit until I ran out of yarn. I ordered more yarn. I kept knitting. I ran out of yarn AGAIN. By this point the yarn I was using had been discontinued and there were practically no more skeins to be had on the entire internet. At the same time I realized that the sweater I had been knitting was going to fit a woman about 6'5" tall who would have to weigh about 90 lbs. I shoved it in a cabinet and haven't been able to look at it since. Of course, since then I've realized that I loathe working with 100% cotton yarns, so I should probably just frog it and get rid of the yarn. I'm still completely angry about the whole thing.

I'll interpose a success story - you might recognize this design of Lauren's, because it won a contest. Buy the pattern for the Brocade Socks here.

Is there anything about knitting that you'd still like to learn? What's your next knitting challenge?
Gosh, it seems like no matter how much you learn there is always so much more knitting out there! I don't think there are any new techniques that I'm dying to try at the moment, but what I really want is a drawer full of handknit sweaters. I've only managed to finish a couple sweaters (see the horror story above...) but they are among my favorite knits to wear. But I want more handknit sweater options! So I suppose the challenge in this case is to stick with a large project until I finish it, and do this over and over and over again.

What's one thing about your life that you notice has been changed for the better because of knitting?
I watch more television.

No seriously, my knitting obsession hasn't really faded since that first evening when I learned in a crappy Chicago hotel room. If I don't get to knit every single day something is very, very wrong. So at the end of every day I like to spend at least 20 minutes or so knitting, and this has really forced me to calm down.


Other crafty hobbies or creative endeavors?
I just finished my first crocheted object in quite some time! I'm also currently learning how to embroider. I'd love to learn to sew clothes some day, but I've typically been pretty abysmal at sewing so this one may have to wait until I have some free time on my hands.

Lauren's Adva scarf, available through Knit Picks

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Thanks a million, Lauren, for sharing your hilarious and thoughtful answers, and letting me repost all your great photos :)  Readers, I hope you'll leave a note in the comments to let me know what you think about the new feature or to say hi to Lauren.  Happy three day weekend, and happy crafting!