Learning to knot (I mean knit)

This knitting thing will be great... if I ever get the hang of it!!! I have actually been having a lot of fun with it since my first lesson on Saturday. Of course that fun has been accompanied by a little frustration! I spent about 3 hours at my teacher's house. She taught me to cast on, to knit, and to purl. I really thought I had the hang of all 3. I had done rows and rows of both knitting and purling. Then my teacher had me start doing k2, p2. It was all great. Then I went home. Somehow, between her house and mine (and playing with the kids for a while and going to the store!), when I sat down and pulled out the needles on Saturday night, I couldn't remember anything! Did the yarn go in front or behind for knit? And for purl-- am I supposed to wrap the yarn clockwise or counterclockwise? Oh no. In the end, I managed to get things so knotted up that I couldn't move the stiches at all. I tried to fix it and, in the process, pulled half of my work off one needle. I decided it was time to call that piece FINISHED.

No problem, I thought- it would give me a chance to cast-on again, and see how well I could do this! Oops. But I forgot how to cast on. Pulled out an instruction guide, but it showed a different method than my teacher taught me. I wanted to get that method down pat before learning other ways to cast on. After spending some time on the trusty internet, I discovered that the method I had learned was called the "thumb method". I also found a video online that gave me a refresher in how to do it. God bless the internet. I was off and running again. Until my yarn came unravelled and got me all screwed up again!

On Sunday, I ventured into a knitting store. I was a little afraid and intimidated, feeling in over my head. I went up to the counter and told the lady that I am new to knitting and need some good yarn. She was SO nice and helpful! Didn't treat me at all like the idiot I felt like.

Back home, needles, yarn, scissors.... trial and error. It took me a while, but I have finally gotten to the point where I am knitting, purling, and casting on without having to go reference an online video! Woo hoo! I may not be making anything pretty yet, but at least I am forging ahead.

Here goes!

Okay, well, after literally YEARS of wanting to learn to knit, it seems like I may be on the verge of doing so. My Nana taught me to "knit" when I was about 6. She was incredible at needlework. I wish she was still around to share the crafts with me now that I'm an adult and want to learn. Since she isn't, I bought a book on "how to knit" a few years ago. Got a pair of big blue needles, some yarn, and went home to my couch to indulge in my new hobby. I followed the first few steps, started a row, and was quite excited. Woo hoo-- watch me go! That is, until I had to learn the next stich.... I couldn't figure out what in the world the book and the illustration were trying to tell me to do. How on earth am I supposed to make the corner to the next row? It completely baffled me. So I went on the internet. That wasn't any better. I put down my shiny new needles and hoped to sign up for a class. But life (ie, two kids) kept me from doing it.

So here I am, years down the road, and I still want to learn to knit. Why? I don't know. Something about working with pretty colors and textures, having a project, seeing something concrete come out as the end result.... I have a great friend from college that has been into knitting for a while. She turned me on to a wonderful Yahoo group of women knitters. And introduced me to a lady who lives near me that is going to teach me to knit! This lady has been knitting herself for 60 years!!! I am so excited. Can't quite believe my luck, either! This Saturday looks like it will be my first meeting/lesson. So I created this blog to detail my successes and failures along the way. Hopefully there will be some successes amidst the failures!!