Knit Happens

Many of my friends are still laughing about my launch into the world of yarn and needles. But being a little obsessive, I don't think it is that hard to believe that I have gone into it with with a vengeance. I always wanted to be considered creative. Unfortunately, I can't paint, fall down a lot (which makes dancing out of the question) and have a voice that makes my dogs howl.  Knitting turns out to be something that I can do while I'm watching TV or chatting with friends ... and I get a prize at the end! I love prizes.

Early this year my wonderful 70+ year old neighbor invited me over for a light dinner, glass of wine, and gossip with some other neighbors and friends. After a nice meal and chat around the table, Betty told us to all move to the living room where she thought she had the "lighting just right." I have to say, I had no idea what I was getting into. The thoughts that were going through my head probably don't say much about my character, and I will admit that I was trying to figure out how to beat a hasty retreat.

We all moved to the living room, where everyone proceeded to bring out a bag and pull out knitting projects at various stages of completion. I was relieved. Betty saw that I did not have a bag, and asked if I had brought anything to work on. After explaining that I wasn't aware that there was a theme for the party, Betty handed me some needles and yarn and left me with a hearty "here you go!"

Now, I had knitted before (at age 9) with my grandmother. As the title of this blog explains, that was a long time ago. I sat there playing with the needles and yarn for a very long time before nudging my friend Claire and asking how to cast on.  From that point, I was off to the races.

So now I have managed to get a few of my friends started and have finally learned to purl. (I never got the hang of that at 9.) I have made more scarves than my friends want and have learned new stitches and how to read some patterns. Some patterns are just stupid.

I won't bore you with multiple pictures of all of the straight knit scarves that I did as I learned. Suffice it to say that I learned a lot while doing them. Large needle loose knit scarves, chunky scarves, kid's scarves, curly scarves, you name it ... I tried it.

My first attempt was supposed to be a pretty pink scarf for a little girl. Clearly my sense of proportion was entirely wrong. I had no idea that some yarns were really harder to use than others and jumped right into a fuzzy yarn. I wasn't very good at keeping up with my stitches so the width kept changing.

Doesn't look so bad like that ... right? Yeah, take a look at it with the table to give you a perspective on the size.

Crazy, huh? But I got better and made up new things that I could do.

Scarves, and phone bags. I did them until no one wanted another. Thank goodness for You Tube and tutorials on learning to purl.