Knitting and Re-Knitting

I thought I'd post some pictures of my knitting progress.  None of these works are still in existence; they have all been unraveled and started anew to give me more practice.

My first attempt at casting on:

My first run at the practice piece.  At first I thought the trapezoidal shape was due to my stitches loosening up, but then I counted and found I accidentally added stitches.  I started with 24, and there are definitely more than that on the needle.  Whoops! 

Shortly after this picture was taken I accidentally dropped all the work off the needle -- can't remember if it was my own clumsiness or due to toddler interference -- and decided it was a sign I needed more practice on the first lessons before moving on.  I haven't made more than two rows of stitches since ... for which I blame BOTH my own clumsiness and toddler interference.  The good news is that I have had LOTS of practice casting on and getting the hang of a looser stitch.