Quit one, Purl two

So maybe if I make this quick, no one will notice my sad attempts at knitting, yet I will have fulfilled my obligation to post my progress. Like I had stated previously, my daughter, Juliana, taught me to crochet a few years ago, so I am well versed on the single crochet stitch.

Wowee, go me.



I wanted to move on to knitting and was inspired by a few things. One being this pair of Steve Madden shoes/slippers that I bought for comfort during my recent toe incident. They also have acted as armour against the jousting heroics of some pencils still on the floor. Aren't they cute? Juliana says they are slippers, but I think they are shoes, because they have a hard rubber sole. Feel free to cast your vote. And know that I wear them in public, so be gentle with your slipper proclaimations.

So we went shopping and loaded up on skein after skein of pretty yarns. Some thick, some thin, some stripey. I was particularly taken with a bright orange soft fuzzy one and a multi-stripey-purpley one.

I thought though, a smart move may be to start my knitting practice on something that I was less fond of, knowing I would be screwing it up somehow and it wouldn't become anything. I started with the granny pink colored yarn that felt soft and easy to work with. I spent some very long hours slowly trying to get comfortable with those needles. It felt pretty awkward, honestly.

I knitted, for a while, just repeating row after row of that same stitch, which really did feel more comfortable after a while. Then I tried knitting a row and then purling a row. Now that was exciting! It was looking real and sweater like! I soon became bored though, and thought I should try knit two, purl two, to get that ribbing kinda look. It was working! Then after a few rows of that I got just plain cockey. I thought I could alternate the knit columns with the purl columns for a while and maybe it would come out looking like a basket weave. Juliana just shook her head and snickered at my ambition. Well it wasn't long before I was noticing some missed stitches which got me frustrated.



After taking in a long look at my bumpy-wumpy curled in mess of a nothing, I swallowed my disappointment. I chinned up and realized that I did learn something with my first attempt. I learned that I have the attention span of an ant. A young immature ant.

I'm not done with knitting. I did however go back to some crocheting immediately and have been playing with that stripey-purpley yarn and the orangey yarn too. Of course I had to incorporate some of my fabrics. After I swell my ego up with a this cool new handbag that I'm crocheting/sewing up, I should be able to return to the knitting with some dignity.

I'll try to share the new handbag tomorrow. I'll be off to Quilt Market in Houston in the afternoon, but hopefully with a new bag on my shoulder. Do they allow knitting needles on flights these days?

Well that wasn't as quick as I had hoped. Hope it made you feel better about trying something new.

xo,AM