Teaching Knitting at a Non-Knitting Class

No, I didn't finish sock #2 yesterday while at the training session,only because I had to frog back to the beginning- 3 times! Twice because my stitch was wrong, once because a dropped stitch didn't make itself known until the maximum damage was done. *sigh* But I did make it to the heel flap in class. And while I was knitting before class, one of the trainers came by to see what i was doing."Oh I could never do that," she remarked. I am amazed at how many times I hear that exact phrase and I have to wonder why. Because once, everyone knitted. They had to. Sure, not everyone knitted with great attention, say finishing (me) or was a great designer (guilty again). But everyone can manipulate the needles to some extent, pretty much. Then as class was gathering, another woman came and sat near me. She was very intrigued. She had recently learned to knit but never saw circular needles. She also told me she forgot how to cast on, so I showed her the thumb cast-on, being limited to just my in-play ball of sock yarn. And we discussed great knitting books, essential knitting books, and where the good LYS are in our neighboring towns. While I showed her the cast-on she made sketches so she could do it later. She confessed to having a project stashed away because she had dropped stitches on it, yet her son pesters her to complete it, since it's a scarf for him. You can guess what kind of yarn she was using, sold to her at by the LYS,knowing she was just starting out. Yup, highly-textured novelty yarn. Now I have to ask, was the immediate profit on that expensive yarn worth so much more than selling the novice knitter a ball of inexpensive smooth worsted? In the first scenario, the project is now languishing in a closet. In the second, she'd be better able to see her work develop. I hope she takes my advice and buys a ball of smooth worsted-weight yarn and a stitch dictionary, and just makes a few swatches. We need all the new knitters we can create!

I'm Back and I'm Knitting Again

Oh boy, the knitting hiatus is over. I have an office, I can use my ergonomic computer desk, my neck no longer aches, and I can knit without pain once again. I hate having to give up knitting temporarily, but it sure beat having to give it up for good due to nerve damage! Since picking up needles again I finished 1 Lupine sock, am about 25% done with the leg of the second Lupine sock, discovered that I slipped the sts for the sk2p purlwise instead of knitwise in the border, decided that I don't care, it's only a sock. Who'll ever notice? I certainly won't tell.

On the non-knitting side, DH and I had tix to Carnegie Hall last week to see Alison Krauss with Bobby McFerrin and Edgar Meyers. We had a lovely dinner at a new spot in the theater district, a bracing (hey, it was cold!) walk uptown where DH agreed to indulge me in a visit to the beauty floor at Bergdorf's (although he claimed to be having a "tesosterone nightmare" there, he did consent to buy me a bottle of Jo Malone scent, what a guy), then an uneventful walk crosstown. Only to find a near-riot at Carnegie hall because Alison Krauss canceled at the last minute. Ah well, she became ill, what can you do? I parked myself at a nearby Starbuck's while DH went to get the car (he will only park it at Lincoln Center), enjoyed some mineral water and Latin jazz by Kenny G. That is to say, a brand-new album just out called "Rhythm and Romance" and it is so delightful, to me at least, that I had to have it. iTunes and Amazon downloads both have it.

Today DH is ill so I'm home unexpectedly, and knitting a little bit. I do have an experiment to finish up and DH has a class to teach, though how he'll manage is beyond me. Tomorrow I have a mandatory training session at the VA. I expect to get a lot more knitting done, if this one is anything like the ones I had to sit through over the summer. Might even finish the sock.