Had the first part of my Learn to Knit course last night and here are the fruits of 2 hours, yes 2 hours!, labour....
Not much to show for 2 hours is it!
We are being taught by a lovely Japanese woman called Hidekko (she must be very patient as we were all pretty hopeless and needing attention all the time) who persuaded me to try to knit Continental style (holding the wool with the left hand rather than right) rather than English style (these 2 styles are described differently depending on what country you are from) as it is, to quote "much easier". I'm sure it is for some, that is if your hand doesn't suddenly develope a will of its' own and turn into some sort of mutant claw incapable of performing the most basic functions you would expect from a hand! I'm sure this will be a lesson in patience and very character building but at the moment I would be happy to gouge my own eyes out with the unfeasibly small needles we have been given. The wool we are using is lovely - Spirit by Twilleys (I use this for my stocking pompoms) but it is really fine and has loads of loose strands - infuriating!! On the up side I did learn how to do double needle cast ons.
What will we be doing next time I wonder - knitting fine spun fairy gossamer with toothpicks!? Spaghetti with Twiglets? Dental floss with pipecleaners? Please feel free to add to the list!
My other knitting projects have been suffering from neglect as I was determined to finish the Enormous Blue Scarf so concentrated all my efforts on that. This is how they stand at the moment...
The one on the left is Noro Blossom yarn and is coming on steadily - with no holes!! The one on the right is Noro Iro and is a totally different story. It was the second scarf I attempted and I cast on too wide. It also developed a few holes. I carried on regardless until I had knitted up 1 full skein.
After alot of angst (and a few glasses of wine) I bit the bullet and frogged it...
As you can see it is back on the needles and I am confident that I might get something wearable at the end! I was feeling pretty chuffed with my newly acquired knitting skills (basic though they be) until I showed my scarves to my friend Bevis.
"Thats amazing yarn..." he said "it does all the hard work for you"
Try telling that to my left hand - when I woke up this morning it felt like someone had been hitting it repeatedly with a hammer all night long!!
Lovely neat knitting. I am doing a knitting course later in year but hope it is not left-handed! Well done. Pippa.
Posted by: Pippa Long | January 11, 2008 at 10:18 AM
I'm seeing the rope they tie ships up with, with drainage pipes...possibly the kind they lay across fields... teehee! - "just the one stitch in your scarf?"...I'm looking from the side lines with admiration - just the sight of several balls of wool has me quaking with the thought of how long it takes. Cx
Posted by: caireen | January 11, 2008 at 08:16 PM