About Me!

My name is Trish, and I love knitting! No, I’m not particularly good at it, but not being particularly good at something has never stopped me before, so why not?

My father’s mother taught me to crochet when I was probably about 6 years old. I made the world’s longest chain stitch snake, until I got bored with that, then made tons of uneven doll blankets after that. (I was even creative enough to realize they were uneven, so I started making “triangle doll blankets” on purpose. Yeah, right.)

Within a few years I was making real projects and enjoying myself immensely, and fast forward to about five years ago when my carpal tunnel and arthritis suddenly made it impossible to crochet anymore.

Then about two years ago in 2004 I could no longer stand my yarn-less lifestyle and I became determined to learn to hand knit. (I won’t talk about my brief foray on the Bond Incredible Sweater Machine, where the biggest thing I learned was how much I hate to sew sweaters together!) I figured any book called Knitting for Dummies would just about be written at my level, and off I went!

So now what have I learned? I still hate to finish projects!! But on rare occasion that I actually do get something done, it usually gives me great satisfaction and happiness to share my knitting with others. You gotta love me to wear my knitting, because as I’ve said, I’m still not very good at it!

Knitting meets Internet, one of my other passions, and hence this site was born. But in my life away from yarn I do manage several other large internet-related projects. The one of which I am most proud is Parents with Disabilities Online, which is a comprehensive resource for people with disabilities who are raising children. I’m also lucky enough to be the “WebLady” for Beeb Birtles and Birtles Shorrock Goble, who are founding members of Little River Band, which happens to be my favorite band from my days in high school and college. (Which, sadly, were longer ago than I remember!)

I have a wonderful husband and two gorgeous kids, and in the daytime I work for Uncle Sam, buried deep within the Executive Branch. Lately, it seems deeper than usual!! But really, I’d rather be knitting…

25 Random Things About Me (In Case You Really Wanted to Know!)

1. I am completely obsessed with yarn and knitting. I’ve been blogging about it for nearly 5 years now, at Trish Knits.com

2. I must be getting old, because I still don’t really understand the fascination with social networking. Yet, here I am, doing it anyway.

3. I think I am in love with the new President. If loving him is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.

4. I have been writing a novel off and on for about 15 years.

5. I often have my best ideas in the shower.

6. I love playing with websites and blogs, but am clueless about new web technologies. Again, that getting old thing is at work.

7. The book that I give most often as gifts to others is, The New Oxford Annotated Bible, and yet, I don’t consider myself to be an especially religious person.

8. I would like to join my local Universalist Unitarian Church. I believe there are many paths to enlightenment, and that just because someone else might choose a different path than I do, it doesn’t mean they’re wrong, just on a different path. And I’d like to learn about it.

9. I have a child with ADHD. I’m pretty sure he got it from me.

10. I have my custom, one-story, wheelchair-accessible mansion all laid out in my head, just in case I win the lottery. (Of course, I’d have to actually *play* the lottery if I ever expect to win.)

11. According to the Myers-Briggs personality index, I have the same personality type as George Washington. Rebellious? Revolutionary? I think I like that.

12. I don’t mind being in a wheelchair as much as other people think I do. To me, walking is way over-rated.

13. My iPod is my most favorite inanimate object.

14. I am an “I Love Lucy” fan.

15. One of my favorite movies is “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” because I think it teaches a huge lesson in understanding cultural differences.

16. I love my spiky hair, upper lobe earrings, and Dr. Marten shoes. My daughter finds these things about me to be most embarrassing.

17. I am an advocate for adults with disabilities who are parents.

18. I don’t particularly like it that I am now of the age that when I look in the mirror, my mother looks back at me. Hence the spiky hair, upper lobe earrings, and Dr. Marten shoes.

19. I am chronically disorganized, but if I’m the one who made the mess, I pretty much know how to find everything that’s in it.

20. I hate being chronically disorganized. Despite the appearance of my house, clutter really bothers me. I need a personal assistant.

21. I believe that every person should have a legal right to marry. I hate it that we’re so backwards on that issue in this country. Get over it, people!

22. If I am intolerant of intolerant people, does this then make me inherently intolerant? This question has plagued me for years.

23. Right now I’d love a week-long nap on an unpopulated island, somewhere warm.

24. I have Seasonal Affective Disorder and right about this time of year, winter gets really, really old. It doesn’t help that there are no windows in my office, and that my house gets no direct sunlight.

25. If I could sit down and talk to anyone in the world, living or dead, it would be Louisa May Allcott. She was way ahead of her time.