Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!
***First of all, before getting into today's post about my knitting adventure this weekend, I would just like to say thank you for all the visits and nice comments from the folks at the Grow Your Blog Party that went on Saturday. If you are just now getting around to visit, that post is below or you can find it in the blog Archive in the sidebar under January 2014. Feel free to stay and read at your leisure.
***Second of all, I just heard the most wonderful news this morning......We are expecting.....SNOW! You just can't imagine how happy that makes me. However, I am beginning to realize that there may be an ice event also, which could lead to power outages. I am surely looking forward to the white stuff. Maybe after all these years, I will finally be able to ride my horse in the snow. But, I don't want anyone to be without power and I hope everyone stays safe, especially while out driving. Take Care!
Knit and Purl Adventure 101
One of my favorite past-times is observing people and making up my own stories about their life. Usually, it's older people that I watch. You can really learn a lot from them. You just have to know what to look for. Lord, I crack myself up sometimes doing this. For instance....what on earth would you think of an elderly lady sitting in Barnes and Nobles reading a Rolling Stone magazine? Oh well, let me just tell you...I had a great time with that one. My imagination gets stoked by all sorts of things. The following account of what happened at the local Knit and Purl is not so much about developing a story of this particular lady's life as much as it was just observing. I had to concentrate on my task at hand, anyway. Read on to see what I mean....
So, I went to the beginners knitting class Saturday and I'm glad I did. I learned that I had been doing some things wrong. That is evident by the looks of that ugly shawl I showed you the other day. Anyway, after arriving at the Knit and Purl, I was astounded by all the yarn and different colors going on in this shop. I can see how it would feed an addict's habit. In the middle of the store was a table that looked to sit 6 comfortably, but this day it would sit 10. Yeah, a little crowded for this claustrophobic. And I was stuck in the middle! For 2 hours! I handled it because I can be brave like that.
We began the class by going around the table and telling about our experience with knitting. Most were absolute beginners and a few, such as myself, knew a little. The instructor, Molly, began by showing us how to cast on our stitches. Of course, I had been doing it all wrong....so I hunkered down and paid attention. She had us practice several times casting on, then taking it off and repeating. I got the hang of it pretty quickly, but this elderly lady sitting directly across from me was having some trouble. She was definitely an absolute beginner. She would get about half way and then snort, tear it off and try again. Molly tried to help, but the lady just wasn't getting it. Frustration was written all over her face. All of a sudden, I heard someone say, "S**T". I looked up to see that it was the little lady across the table. OMG! She did not just say that! I liked to have died laughing. Well, not out loud.....too close quarters for that. She might have taken her knitting needle and poked me. But I did giggle. No one else said a word. They may have been scared. I can only imagine. But, I was intrigued! So, the rest of the class I spent watching her and listening for more expletives from this little white haired lady. She said "S**T" one more time and I giggled again. I was clearly entertained! I'm quite sure Molly, the instructor, was not! HaHa!
Molly seemed to be impatient at times. She said things like, No, Stop, Wait, Start Over several times. I learned that she was a retired school teacher, so her impatience made sense. She kept talking about kicking children off the bus.....her words for dropping stitches. She asked me how I had cast on stitches in the past, so I showed her. She looked at me over the top of her bifocals and said,
"Don't ever do that again"! HaHa! I liked her, so I giggled again. By the end of the day I had learned a lot. I learned the correct way to cast on stitches, the importance of which way your live yarn should hang when starting your stitches, how to purl, how to knit one purl one and how to rip out mistakes and add your stitches back on the needles. It was a productive day. I think I'll take another class. Who knows what I might learn........some new stitches, some new techniques, whether or not the children got run over by the bus or maybe some new cuss words. HaHa!!
I love close-ups. The fibers look really cool and I love the color. |
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I love the way the yarn is wound into a ball and you knit with the center thread.
The Knitting Class project in progress. Looks nice and this yarn is definitely
easier to work with than the yarn from Satan.
Love these needles. I had used the straight aluminum ones before,
but was told that these were more ergonomic.
That's it for today. I have an appointment with the trainer at the gym, later. I'll let you know if it works this time or if it was barf city.
Oh wait, in case you were wondering......
Ran 9 miles Sunday....the first 5 with my good friend, Christie, and then the last 4 alone. Well, except for Cliff flanking me in his vehicle.
Apparently, this stirred up the neighborhood. A man and his wife honed in on Cliff thinking he may have been the person who broke into their home a few days earlier. They approached him and asked why he was just sitting in front of their house. He told them he was watching out for me as I ran. I guess they didn't believe him because just a few minutes later they approached me and asked if my husband drove a black jeep. I told them that he did and the women said, "Oh good, then he was legit". Because of the break-in they were very suspicious of Cliff. Good thing folks are on their toes these days. It was just too funny that we caused such a ruckus in the neighborhood.
The End,
Laurie
