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February 06, 2005
The beginning...
Shannon has been knitting for months now. Sometime last fall she brought her knitting bag and a scarf project over during Survivor night, it was back in the early days of my sudden, newfound spinsterhood. She told me she'd taken a class at Lani's in Studio City and ... voila. She's a knitter. Scarfing it up! I was interested in her new obsession — yarn and sticks into fabric? Oh yeah!— but simply too busy being miserable to take up a new hobby. Recently FUBARed, trying to find a new place to live, trying to figure out how to handle the holidays, trying to wake up each morning and make it through eight hours at work without crying at my desk or talking into my bra while directing traffic on 6th Street, muttering something about marriage being for suckers. Film footage at eleven.So, now that's all behind me, thank God. Except the part about talking into my bra. Ahem.
Now that I have moved and I am safely nested away in my new little house, I can open up to a new hobby. I have survived the holidays and the shock of being uncoupled and the seemingly endless stream of bad luck (2004, The Year of The Wretched!) and finally my days have slowed to a more normal pace. Aside from bonding with my sofa, my truly beatiful sofa, and making sweet love to my TiVo, my life is pretty passionless.
Enter knitting.
On a whim I invited myself to Shannon's Saturday knitting class at Lani's. The instructor is a really cool lady named Linda who was patient with me and laughted at my neuroticness, but with a nice laugh, not the "You're making me nervous laugh." Very important difference.
I had no yarn or needles, of course, and Linda told me to select a yarn and then she'd help me with needles. I immediately went for the fussiest yarn on the shelf, and was sent back for a "beginner" yarn, something smooth, not too nubby, evenly sized, not too small. I picked a lovely wool yarn with little tiny ribbon bits running through it. Not exactly a beginner yarn, but not exactly an advanced yarn, either. Linda agreed with me that I had to love my first yarn or I'd never complete a project. Very smart lady, that Linda.
Filatura di Crosa "Tokyo" color 2 , 50 grams, $12
Lantern Moon ebony needles, 12", size 10.5
She cast on the yarn for me to get me started, and then taught me the basic knit stitch while Shannon watched on. Do you have any idea how much pressure it is to knit your first stitch while people watch you? Knitting stress! Who knew?
Before long I was looping and stitching may way to a whole row. Then another. Knitting is fun! (Knitting is like crack! Give me more! Can't stop!) I went home and all I wanted to do was knit, knit, knit! Unfortunately, I had to clean my house. Jennifer was coming over for dinner last night, so I had to tidy up and find something to cook. All I wanted to do was knit! Knit! I swept and vacuumed and put away dishes in record time. I got in at least two rows before she came over, and was midway through a third when she knocked at the door. I opened the gate for her and then, good hostess that I am, promptly sat back on the sofa to finish my half-completed row. She was obviously bored with this fascinating new hobby of mine, so I put everything aside for the evening. I guess it's more exciting to be the knitter than the observer, ahem.
But this morning I gave myself over to the obsession. Woke up, fed the cats, made a cup of coffee and planted myself on the couch with knitting and TiVo. By noon my ass had grown roots into the sofa and my very first scarf was all on its way. I LOVE knitting. I mean love-love-love knitting.
Posted by laurie at February 6, 2005 03:29 PM
