Knitting like a boss

My Nan gave me a pretty great Christmas present this year - a little knitting kit with needles, wool, and a pattern to help you make a pair of fingerless gloves.  I have a strong 'Do It Myself' tendency but there was just one problem. I didn't know how to knit...

Initially I tried just following the diagrammes, but I was a bit foxed as I couldn't work out which thread was which.  Fortunately when I was at the IVFDF someone was running a knitting workshop, so I took time out from the dancing to grab a breather and get some one-on-one instruction.  When I got home, equipped with some basic knowledge and lots of website addresses for helpful online knitting resources, I tried again.

Here I'm just starting out, knitting my first few rows of 'garter stitch'.  This forms the slightly thicker border by my fingers. 

As you knit, you start to see the new rows you create holding the previous ones in position, creating an interdependent web of knots and threads.  It's pretty cool, and also means that if you screw up a row particularly badly you can just pull it undone and try again.  I had to do this a couple of times - it took me four tries to understand the 'ribbing stitch' you can see on the cuff.

It's garter stitch at the top, stocking stich across my palm, ribbing stitch around the cuff,
and a neat little casting off stitch at the bottom to secure everything.

Since knitting seemed a very lady-like and domestic endeavour, neither of which I generally am, I felt like I needed to balance it out with something a little les... genteel.  So I picked some hardcore movies to have playing while I worked.  I knitted to The Matrix, Fight Club, The Dark Knight, and I was going to line up Die Hard if I hadn't finished by then.  Possibly it was the most bad-ass knitting ever done.

Success!  And quite a good fit too.

For a first attempt I'm pretty proud, and I've acquired a new skill.  I've still got a roll of wool to play with.  I wonder what I should make next...