Left-handed or mirror knitting

I'm about to start my first sweater, and I'm finding myself really frustrated by the knitting help available out there for people who knit like I do. One problem is that with the lack of resources and the scatteredness of the resources there are, we often have to figure out our own ways of doing things, which means we all end up doing things very differently, so what works for one left-handed knitter might not work for another. Another big problem is the way a lot of right-handed people seem to want to get involved in the discussion. This is particularly annoying when they want to tell us we lefties are doing it wrong. The way I figure, there is no right or wrong. The only thing that matters is the end product. If it came out okay, which is to say the person who made it and the person who is going to wear it are happy with it, then as far as I'm concerned, it is all good. Honestly, I find myself feeling that I understand knitting a lot better than a lot of people who've been doing it longer because a) I have to think a lot more about what I do and can't always just follow the instructions and b) I've had to figure out a lot of things by trial and error, so when I do finally get things right, I understand how they work and why.

So how do I knit? Well, I don't know all the technical terms, but I hold my yarn in my left hand and I throw my yarn with my left hand. As for the direction of my stitches, they move from the right needle to the left needle. I'm not 100% sure, but I think this amounts to knitting English style but mirrored.

Right now, I'm feeling the need to get organized with knitting, to understand it more at a fundamental level. I've set aside a journal, and when I figure stuff out, I write it down. I'm also planning on using some of the cheap yarn I inherited from Andrea to make swatches of different techniques done different ways. You see, after a personal situation recently--I hesitate to call it a tragedy because I'm physically fine, and though it happened to me, it didn't happen to me--I went a little overboard buying yarn. I've decided to wrap myself in my own warmth this winter, which means I'll be using all this yarn to make sweaters. If you know anything about knitting, you know good quality yarn--even at half-price, which is what I paid--isn't cheap. You also know that when I say I bought enough for 10 sweaters for myself, that's a lot of yarn and a lot of money, which means I'll be doing a lot of knitting, and I want to do it right since I'm going to be wearing what I make. I'm not really sure what I'll do with all this knowledge I'll be acquiring, but it seems a shame to keep it to myself, so I'll try to post some of it here. Stay tuned...

My Pretty Purple Hat

I made my very first hat. Yippee! I've been knitting for a few months now, and I've made lots of scarves. This, however, was my very first project knitting in the round or using double-pointed needles. It was a little tough at first, but I got the hang of it, and I'm so happy I did.

I used a pattern I found on Ravelry.com, a knitting myspace thing. It's pretty cool. Anyway, the pattern was so cute that I had to make it, but it wasn't perfect. There were a few things that needed changing. You can decide for yourself what to do. You can get the original pattern and check it out for yourself, or you can follow my instructions below. I used Rachel's pattern as a template and just added my changes. However, she is the brains behind this operation. I only get credit for moving some numbers around.

Robin’s Egg Blue Hat By Rachel Iufer

Approximate finished circumference:18 inches (My head is 21 inches, and the hat is fine.)

Gauge:
16 sts to 4 inches, 24 rows to 4 inches in stockinette
14 sts to 4 inches, 28 rows to 4 inches in seed stitch

Materials:
Misti Alpaca Chunky, less than one skein (108 yds)
US 10 (6.0mm) straights and double pointed needles (The way I knit, I used size 9 to get the gauge.)
1 Button: 1 5/8 to 2 inch diameter
Tapestry needle to weave in ends

Terms:
K2tog: knit two stitches together as one
Seed stitch: k1, p1 to end. On next, and following rows, knit into the purl stitches and purl into the knit stitches.
Kf/b: knit into the front of the stitch, leave it on the left needle then knit into the back of the stitch. One stitch increased.

Pattern:
*With straight needles, cast on 75 stitches
*Work 3 rows seed stitch, slip the last stitch purlwise on even rows throughout the hat band.
*Increase rows:
Rw 1: k1, kf/b, continue in seed stitch
Rw 2: seed stitch
Rep row 1 and 2, two times more (3 stitches increased)
*Decrease rows:
Rw 1: k1, k2tog, continue in seed stitch
Rw 2: seed stitch
Rep row 1 and 2, two times more (3 stitches decreased)
*Knit two more rows seed stitch.
*Next row: bind off 12 stitches, knit to the end of the row and join in the round on double pointed needles (63 stitches total)
*Work in the round in stockinette stitch until the hat measures 5-5.5 inches in total.
*Begin decreases:
Rw 1: *knit 7, k2tog* rep form. k to end (56 stitches)
Rw 2: k all stitches
Rw 3: *knit 6, k2tog* rep form. k to end (49 stitches)
Rw 4: k all stitches
Rw 5: *knit 5, k2tog* rep form. k to end (42 stitches)
Rw 6: k all stitches
Rw 7: *knit 4, k2tog* rep form. k to end (35 stitches)
Rw 8: k all stitches
Rw 9: *knit 3, k2tog* rep form. k to end (28 stitches)
Rw 10: k all stitches
Rw 11: *knit 2, k2tog* rep form. k to end (21 stitches)
Rw 12: k all stitches
Rw 13: *knit 1, k2tog* rep form. k to end (14 stiches)
Rw 14: *k2tog* to end (7 stitches)
*Cut yarn, thread tail through the remaining loops and secure.
*Tack down the flap to the base of the hat and sew on a button. Weave in all ends.