Friday, June 29, 2012

Teaching Jill to knit and other stories

Earlier this week I talked a friend into meeting up with me for coffee, and 'just happened'* to suggest a spot close to PassionKnit.

* I really did just happen to suggest it, but I'm totally taking credit for it like an Evil Plot anyway.


Me: You know, there's a knitting store half a block away.  You want to go in and buy some yarn and needles and I'll teach you to knit while we have coffee?

Jill: Sounds great, let's go.


Okay technically it wasn't that easy.  I tried to teach Jill to knit a few months ago... with fingering yarn and teeny tiny needles.  There was no way she was going to be able to keep that up.  (and then her dogs ate the yarn.)

Anyhoo: here we are knitting:



See how Jill's yarn is pulled straight across there while mine is sitting beside a sock cuff?  She is diligent, folks.


It really paid off.  No mistakes!

What you're also seeing here is photographic proof of how the mighty have fallen, aka how the tea drinkers who only ever stray to hot chocolate at Second Cup get swayed by 6 weeks of a course requiring some degree of mental alertness.

(Jill's yarn is 100% wool Noro, and the needles are Knitters Pride, which I'm really impressed by.  Trish, who was also in on the overall scheme to bring Jill over to The Wonderful World of Knitting, was amazed that she is learning with Noro.  But on the upside, the colour changes make it a little more compulsive to keep going, and also the wool has enough bite that it doesn't want to slip off the needles or ladder down if you drop a stitch.)

(Do I also have to tell how both Jill and Trish laughed at me for suggesting Jill choose which needles to buy according to the colour she liked best?)

* * * * *

Living the dream: I saw a girl yesterday wearing a white sundress with red polka dots and a full skirt, riding an old-fashioned mint green bicycle with a big basket on the front.  All she needed a bottle of lemonade in the basket and some yarn and needles sticking out, don't you think?  Not out of the lemonade bottle, that is, but the basket.  Lemonade and yarn do not mix.

* * * * *

I remembered why I bought the candy thermometer for the cottage.  It was so that I can test the water temperature for proofing yeast when I'm baking bread up there this summer.  Because you know, the cottage is a long way from any alternative source of bread.  Does this redeem me at all I wonder?

(because if so, I will feel less guilty about making candy up there too.)

* * * * *

I had an amazing revelation the other day.  I finished a sock except for the toe grafting-shut-of, and admired how much I have left on the ball - not much, but enough for a good margin - and suddenly

laaaaaaa

it hit me


I was looking a a piece of string.  A very long piece of string that started with a tail and ended with a very small ball and in between had wrapped itself into a magical cloth of loops. 

Knitting: it's just a piece of string. Isn't that wild?


Less obvious in sock #2, but still.  A string!

* * * * *

When I was supposed to be studying and recovering from studying and writing a test,  I was redesigning the Hugs banner again.  The last version was a little too busy for me.  What do you think of this one?

* * * * *

Guys, Tour de Fleece starts in - what, two days now?  One?  And I still haven't joined any groups. I think that this year I just won't, but will spin every day I'm supposed to as though I had.  I've got sooo much fiber I want to spin up, I can't wait.  Except of course that I'm going to because hello, still kinda busy at the moment.

* * * * *

The other thing that is coming up: Fourth of July for my U.S. friends, Canada Day for we Canadians.  And this year I think I'm gonna give myself a very long weekend and not post for a few days - hence this very very long missive.  It's got to last till, oh, Tuesday night maybe?  Wednesday afternoon?

* * * * *

I case you're wondering how I did on my last exam on Monday: I passed!  Just found out myself.  WHEW.  Finally, I can knit in peace... and I really can, because the next part of the process is watching a ton of training videos.  Bliss.


Okay, those are all the stories I have for you today.  Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend and I'll see you back here soon!

3 comments:

Pauline said...

Again, congrats on passing your exam.

Re loopy string sock #1 photo, I thought you were going to say you forgot to knit the heel. That would be pretty amazing for you to overlook, but I couldn't see one; still can't.

Mary Keenan said...

Heh, the heel's lying underneath ;^) With the toe needles in, the sock looked too twisty showing its heel for a glamour shot!

(and thanks for the congrats - that second test was 'easier', but not if you're still recovering from the first, whew.)

Trish said...

I've seen the biker girl! And she needs a big floppy straw hat with trailing ribbons, too. Red and white checked cloth wrapped around the bottle of lemonade wouldn't hurt, either. *grin*