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February 8, 2005

Joining the club, and the yarn

Dilemma struck last night.

I was knitting obsessively on the sofa, and at 10 p.m. I knitted all the way through my skein of yarn. I had another skein just sitting there... but... how do you begin the new ball of yarn? I couldn't *stop* knitting and go to bed and wait until my next class (many, many days away!) so you see my quandry. I ended up consulting with Shannon, and I finally just sort of overlapped the tails and knit them in. It's not perfect, but it worked on this yarn, and continued in a frenzy.

Tonight after work I decided to stop by the LYS* near my house and see if they had any Filatura di Crosa Tokyo yarn for my scarf since I am a apparently a knitting maniac and have knitted all the way through the yarn I bought on Saturday. This is Tuesday. My beginner scarf is looking very tidy, all neat little rows, though it is rather wider than I expected. I must knit, must keep needles moving....but I am out of yarn!! And Lani's closes at 4 p.m.

My closest LYS* is a small neighborhood shop called A Major Knitwork, and I must have good knitting karma because tonight is the only night of the week they are open past 4 p.m.

The owner of the store is like a tiny, knitting Erma Bombeck, she's very tiday and cute, but all business. All yarn business. She and her mother run the shop and make all the creations sold inside.

I asked if they offered knitting classes she looked at me, in that way people have of sizing you up, "Well, if you purchase supplies here we'll show you what you need to know. Most people don't need a class. But if you really, REALLY need handholding we can sit with you.... for $25 an hour."

I found this very funny. She found me somewhat moronic for wanting a class, but she was nice. I think my exuberance was exhausting to her. This happens from time to time. I overtalk. Especially when nervous.

As it turns out, the shop doesn't carry the Filatura di Crosa Tokyo yarn. Never one to leave a store empty-handed, I bought another pair of knitting needles (size 15 "Uncle Ronnie" needles) and two skeins of Crystal Palace Splash! I LOVE this yarn. It's very shiny and fuzzy, exactly what beginners are cautioned to stay away from. But I have the knit stitch down pat (obsess obsess obsess and ye too shall learn to knit) so now I want to switch to a more challenging yarn and knit that. This stuff is like knitting a cat, it's all silky and fuzzy.

Erma Bombeck's mom showed me how to cast on (It was like having a nun stand over you weilding a knitting needle, only this nun was Jewish and wearing a Mickey Mouse wristwatch. "You're doing it wrong." "No, hold your yarn this way." "Stop tugging." "You beginners always hold the yarn too tightly.") In the end, this was best method of learning the two-tail cast on because I will NEVER FORGET casting on properly. I was so nervous and scared of wearing the knitting dunce cap that I concentrated like never before.

So, now I know how to cast on in the two-tail (one needle) method (and quite well, if I do say so myself.) I practiced several times on my new fuzzy yarn. Mmmmmmm, fuzzy. Also bought the Stitch n' Bitch book, it's a great reference and the patterns look fun.

* Notice the fancy lingo here. LYS means "Local Yarn Shop" in knitter parlance. Aren't I one of the kool kids now, using that knitter shorthand? I learned this and a whole mess of TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) in Stitch n' Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook.

Posted by laurie at February 8, 2005 11:44 AM