Aaaackkk...i missed another farmer's market snb and chance to meet Laurie...grrrrr.

I'm still glad I'll be going to SnB with you and Faith when I'm in LA!

So agree with you on the S'n'B thing. It's scary to go but so much friendlier than going to a knitting class. Classes seem to have a snob value attached where S'n'B doesn't. At ours we grab each others wool (!), reach over each other to ooh and aah at the new books/mags that have been taken along, discuss a'thing from technical aspects of knitting to poilitcs to sex to films (our meets take place in the cafe bar of an independent cinema) to how many pets are permissable before one is officially classified as mad old lady to....whatever! I wouldn't be without my S'n'B buds - they're great.

Ohh...this was about knitting...I'll just go back to what I was doing....

I just wanted to comment near the top!! CAP, your blog is my favorite ever!!

And also, Brooke... my favorite mistake-fixing method for when you have knit many rows beyond and don't want to frog all the way back (I hate frogging and mess up a lot) is to drop the stitch directly above the mistake and ladder down all Clapotis-like, fix the mistake, then go back up the ladder using a crochet hook. I learned that technique from the Yarn Harlot and am using it right now to fix some ugly decreases on a sock!

oh my god! i'm up towards the beginning of comments! hi laurie!!!

have a good friday!

I so love your blog. I would love to go back to LA, got to SnB and chat with you about my crazy@ss ex-H and my cats. Wouldn't that be swell?

Laurie - are there any knitters for hire? My cats want a kitty pi but there momma is not about to start yet another hobby...

Have to agree with the SnB thing. I remember feeling so uncomfortable at several groups. But soon I began to feel comfortable and it is swell to be around others that understand the obsession and I've learned so much by hanging out with other knitters! The only bad thing is you usually have to try a few groups to find one that fits with your personality and likes. I've met so many really interesting strong intelligent women from my SnB that I would have never met otherwise.

Hi, Laurie! If I'm understanding the corners question correctly, you're knitting happily along one side of a square (or rectangle) and then you come to a corner and if you just keep going you will be stretching too much around it, cutting the corner, so to speak. So you increase one (by whatever method you like -- if you want it to be inconspicuous pick up the running thread between the 2 sts and knit it through the back loop), knit the stitch right on the corner, increase one again, and keep going. I can't remember if I do this every time or every other time. I think every time, but try it both ways.

(You can also do this the other way around: start with a perfectly flat piece of knitting and, by doing double decreases, make it into a square.)

Geez, look at the time, I gotta go. I wish I had an intelligent knitting question to ask you. Callie says hi.

Laurie - Yeah, knitting help! I love your blog but I love your knitting "wisdom" the most.
I began knitting this past summer and I had a friend suggest that I keep photos of all that I make, good or bad. Now since I am not a blogger (yet), I wondered if you, or any of your readers, have a suggestion as to how to present these. I could scrapbook them or find a simple pocket-style album but I wondered if there any creative and fun suggestions out there. Thank you!

Laurie! I just shrieked laughing and almost woke up my houseguest who came over to knit last night and the roads are glare ice and no one is going anywhere and she was still up knitting (crochetiing actually -- *I* knit) when I finally went to bed at 2:00 a.m.! So thank you for a lovely early laarrff!

Lucia-
My mom got a knitting journal from a friend. You can insert pics of projects. There is a space for a yarn sample, and all your info on the project. It was bought at Borders, I think. You could also try Barnes N Noble. They can order you one if they do not have it in stock. She loves it!

CAL..I recently found your blog. It is my fav. You rock and keep me in stitches. I live in OK. Wish there were more young knitters in groups here. I am a member of the local guild and go to a knit in at a lys. All older ladies but very nice. Sounds like your snb is great!

To start off with I'm not a knitter. I married a knitter and have been drug into the knitting world. There have been many times that I've received a phone call saying "could you bring me the needles by the computer" or "could you bring me the stitch markers/holders". I always bring the forgotten item to the LYS or meeting. I am also always happily greeted by the knitters that are there.

Knitters are wonderously open and friendly people. I am into grilling and brewing and read a lot of blogs relating to them. You would be surprised looking at my bookmarked favorites. Knitting blogs outnumber grill and brew blogs by about 2 to 1. I've found knitting blogs to be a lot more humorous and entertaining.

So yes. Go to the local SnB and be prepared to really enjoy yourself. If there is any group of people that can crack a shell of shyness (in a very loving and gentle way) its knitters.

Most people get used to dumb off-colour remarks. I know, people still actually like me for some odd reason and I can say the most blue-collar things at the most uptight blacktie affairs.

I second maureen's comment.

I am an SnB leader in the philly suburbs. I was so worried that no one would show up for my first meeting (3/23/05).

2 years later, we have 20 regular members that meet in a local diner. we are a diverse group of women (sob - no men [yet]) that discuss anything and everything, both knitting and non-knitting. we rag on men, politics, LYS. we examine each other's projects/yarn; we help each other get unstuck from a problem. in short, WE ROCK!

and yes, we are always having new people join. we surround these newbies with attention and I try to hook them up with a "buddy" (for example, sock knitters) for their first couple of meetings. most of them return and tell me what a great group I have! AND I DO!!

get out of your comfort zone, get up off your ass, AND JUST GO! LET YOUR FREAK FLAG FLY!

Raven, when you get to one of the four corners, like at the neck , you simple do (2 stitches in one), this forms the corner, and on every round you keep doing (2 stitches in one) at all four corners. It's just an increase of doing 2 stitches in one except it's on a corner. Hope this helps. Nina

I'm hesitant about joining myself, but it is true, knitters can be very welcoming people. It's a great opportunity to meet people who have one fun thing in common, even if we never agree on technique or materials.

I don't knit, but I do bitch. Maybe there should be a group called bnb. I need to leave my comfort zone before it eats me for dinner and all that's left are Cheeto crumbs.

I'm am so with you on "getting out of the bubble" or in my case not. I saw an SnB going on at a coffeeshop I was at a few weeks ago, and didn't go over. Even though I had been sitting and knitting at the same shop not fifteen feet away. I can totally knit anywhere and not give a crap what people think (coffeshops, bars, public transport, in line at the bank, whatever), but introducing myself to strangers that know each other is a line that is hard for me to cross (I'm a little better if nobody knows each other for some reason).

Laurie,
When you get the stitches ass-backwards, there's a nice cheat so you don't have to flip them before knitting into them. Just knit into the back of the loop. Flipped and knit simultaneously. Voila. Knitting magic.

I know of this knitting activity. Actually, a friend taught me to knit on New Year's Eve this year (yes, liquor was involved). It became apparent very quickly that knitting was not my craft. In particular, when I dropped the needle totally out of the knitting and the whole scarf unravelled. F*.

I just went back to my first crafty love, cross stitch. And I'll sit all by my little self with my needle and floss and evenweave while you all crank out scarves and hats and kitty pi-s by the pound. *Sniff, sniff*

I always love email day. And, I was thinking about knitting a hat & what my shoe number would be JUST last night. Weird. Hey, are you watching Survivor? Did you know they have a knitter this go round (Stacey)?

Laurie, thanks so much just for reminding me that I'm not the only one who has trouble getting out of the house and being with the normal folk. You give me hope! Someday I may actually get up the gumption to seek out my own SnB.

You described every good knitting group, including mine. I was nervous the first couple of times I went, but after that, I couldn't wait to get there, even to this day! Now, I look forward all week to knittin' with my peeps, and then bask in the glow of a fun evening for a couple of days afterwards.

Non-knitters must think we're from another planet, but I have to say, I've never experienced anything like the camaraderie in that group. There's nothing else like it -- even if you have a great job, gatherings are typically work-related (ugh!). Even if you belong to a wonderful church, small groups typically have a Purpose and Goals and Things To Accomplish in an Allotted Time. It's just so nice to get together with a group of women with a common interest (obsession?) and have NOTHING else on the agenda. It's freeing, liberating, relaxing. It's heaven, in fact. And came at a perfect point in my life. Ten years ago I could not have appreciated the knitting or the group. Now I can't imagine life without either!

Oh, and the Super Simple Hat Calculator (http://www.earthguild.com/products/knitcroc/marypat/hatcalc.htm) is great for figuring out a hat's "shoe number". I found out about it right here in the comments of an old C.A.P. post. So, even if you might not have the exact answer yourself, one of your readers surely will!

Amy, I commented on your blog. I'd love to help you with your kitty pi. email me!

OMG! I've been having SnB anxiety! I'm in NYC, and I've joined the onlind SnB, but have yet to actually step foot in the awesome cafe/LYS where it is held because I am terrified! All of your words made me feel a LOT better and I'm really going to try and get there next week. Really, I am.

Laurie, I've always wanted to make the transition from crochet to knitting. Your blog just makes it sound even more fun! Also, it makes living in LA sound fun, too. Wish I was there! Thank you for being so cute and fun and sweet.

Bossy wishes she could fix life mistakes by unfurling...

I give myself the stern talking to, also. Last time I had to go to an awkward social event, all the way down in the elevator I was telling myself, "Come on, you're a grown adult, almost 40 years old. You can talk to strangers and feel uncomfortable and handle it with grace and dignity!" And guess what? It wasn't nearly as bad I thought it was going to be. I need to remind myself of that every time, though.

I have two snb's under my belt now. I didn't go this week but only because I was tired. The ladies I have met are very nice and have much more knitting experience than I do. It is neat to see what can be made with some yarn and a couple sticks. I love the creativity of it all!!

I am a Purl SnB convert. A couple of months ago, I was reading your blog about your local SnB and how much fun it was. So I googled for SnBs in my area and found one! I joined online (it was a Yahoo group) and showed up at the next gathering. Like everyone else, I was *terrified*. And like everyone else, I was quickly put at ease by the wonderful, sweet-natured people that all knitters seem to be. For everyone who is considering checking out their local SnB, I encourage you to follow Laurie's example. You won't be dissapointed!!

I too am someone who can choose to not to go to things for fear of "I wont be liked" or "People will think I'm wierd" etc. I try, and its a never-ending process, to ask myself that same question -- "What is the worst thing that can happen to me?" And usually, the worst thing isn't all that bad!

For Brooke-
There's a book that came out not long ago called Knit Fix: Problem Solving for Knitters by Lisa Kartus. It has lots of ways to fix mistakes without starting over. And don't forget that if you mess up your 'fix' and have to frog your work back to the start, you're no worse off than you were. So be brave, pull those needles out and take out a row or two, ladder down that stitch or more and try and knit them back up, what's the worse that can happen? Before long you'll get the hang of it and amaze your friends with your skill.

To RobynE-
If you don't really want to knit, fine, everyone has different interests. But if you would like to learn, don't let a few mistakes stop you. Everyone makes mistake when learning something new. I've been knitting for over twenty years and I can still do something stupid occasionally. I think of it as like trying to learn to ride a bike. If every child who fell over the first time they tried quit, how would they find enough people to hold the Tour de France? No one has to knit but if you want to, keep trying. There are lots of people out there who would love to help.

I have a great old knitting book that shows how to do corners. I have never tried it of course, but I can scan it and sent it to you or someone else that needs it - who knows the copyright might have run out and we can share with everyone.

I just started a new knitting group a few weeks ago with another gal I didn't know - we hooked up (ha!) on KnittersReview.com. Our little 2 person knitting group at Starbucks has grown to nine lovely women already, two of whom were just sitting at adjoining tables and struck up conversations!

One member said she felt exactly as you described - scared to death. By the end, we were all BFFs! That's why I wanted to start up a new group - the only other knitting group in town has been meeting for 12 years. Sheesh! Talk about intimidating.

So the moral of the story is "Suck it up and get out there!"

Hi Laurie,

Check this out:
http://www.frenchgirlknits.com/chezfrenchgirl.html

Knitting in an old winemaker's house in France! Is that just a dream vacation or what??? SnB in France -- oui oui!

Have a great weekend!

I tried going to an established SnB group, and although everyone was nice to me, it was hard to be at the remembering-names level with a group who knew everything about each other, from names to families to knitting projects and preferences. However, someone just started a new SnB, near where I live, and since it's a new group, we're all at the same level of learning about each other, which is much more comfortable for me. I was still SO nervous before the first meeting, I thought I would wet my pants trying to find a parking space, but as soon as I got in and met someone, I could relax a bit, and it's only gotten better. If you're too nervous to join an established group, think about starting a new one!

I've been going to our SnB for what, a year and a half now? And I still don't remember most of the folks names. It's like the dog park, where you know the names of all the dogs, but not their owners. I know the names of all the blogs, but not their real names. :) You'll *always* be "Purl" to me!!!

Thanks, Vicki in So. Cal. Don't worry about me :) The only craft that has ever given me the zen feeling is cross stitch. You know, where your brain stops jibbering at you from 5 or 50 different directions and just goes still.

Maybe this summer, I'll try the knitting again and make me a hat.

I have the same problem trying something new. I just missed the registration for spring classes because I'm more than a bit nervous about going back to school.

Maybe I'll try one of the local knitting groups as a baby step into getting out of the house. Hopefully they wont mind that I'll probably be crocheting most of the time. I've been a crocheter for 30+yrs and a knitter for maybe 6 months. I'll always love crochet more than knitting. Maybe if I join a knitting/crochet group, I'll learn how to knit lace eventually. (I've been looking longingly at a knitted lace shawl pattern for a few months)

My boyfriend has been bugging me about my hermit-like ways. He wants me to get out more and meet people. He thinks that I spend too much time at home alone. He's probably right. I do need to make more friends. But...there's always that fear of actually taking the first step into getting out of the house.

I belong to five SnBs with overlapping memberships. There's one whose S is for spinning (I do that too). Of the four knitting groups, I'm a charter member of one and a relative Janie-come-lately to the others, but I knew a lot of the members through their blogs before joining the groups. It's a pretty comfortable crew, in general -- people come when they can, sometimes with kids and an occasional spouse cameo, and if a complete stranger said "hey, are you knitting? can I join you?" we'd welcome him. (OK, probably her. A grrl can dream.)

It does take a few times to get past the remembering-names stage, but by all means try. I have yet to meet a knitter who bites.

Oh, and bizarre off-color remarks? We love 'em.

Don't be shy, Folks! Attend your local SnB!
I went to my first WeHo meeting with the sole purpose of meeting Miss Kendra and ended up meeting so many more. And Faith, our darling Faith, was so warm. And Kendra, Uccellina, Monkeygrrrrrl, Annika, Sachi, Pink Sara--everyone made me feel welcome right away. They asked me what I was knitting and what yarn, etc. There's always something to talk about with a knitter and not necessarily about knitting. Plus, where else can you hear such gems as, "I need my wine. Ellen's talking about math."

I wish I lived out there and could come to your meetings. I would be the one in the corner, not talking to you but listening to your every word.
Covered in fuz, of course!

About the shyness thing - one of the timeless lines from grad school I like to whip out is: They won't laugh at you in front of your face. Well, usually, they wait until you're gone. So you probably won't have to face down being laughed at. If you don't like it, and don't return, you might come up in conversation as "Hey, that person didn't come back. I wonder if we scared her," but they won't laugh at you when you're there.

i was terrified- and it went fine.

it wasn't until recently i started falling down and being all embarassed.

i love the days when you come, and i am REALLY sad that i didn't see Dog. i can't let it go.

Well, I'm about to leave the world of hermitdom and go to a church singles mixer tonight. I'm scared silly. I'd rather be going to my first SnB instead! Being single in my 20's was fun....in my 30's? Not so much. But I will go because I am more than likely not going to meet Mr. Right sitting on my couch eating Phish Food ice cream, am I?

Too bad all of us hermits can't just get together and hide out at home together! (would that defeat the point? hmmmmm)

The first time I tried to show up for a knitting group, it was at a coffee shop. I showed up, got all nervous and ordered a coffee to go and walked right out. Actually cried myself to sleep that night wondering what the hell was wrong with me. The next time I tried I actually sat down. I really enjoyed myself. Now I attend a regular one on Monday nights in San Diego and it is the highlight of my week!

Hi, Laurie. I don't comment that often because by the time I get to read you (every day), there are already 82 bazillion comments and I hate to add to your reading load. And I don't have time to read all the comments myself to see if someone already said what I want to say.

TO RAVEN: The answer has sort of already been given: increase one on each side of the corner.
That part that wasn't clear is that you do that EVERY OTHER row. There can be a center corner stitch or not; I like to use a purl stitch at a corner so it will recede. If you know how to make mirrored increases, so much the better (one way on one side of the corner, the mirror-image way on the other side; more tomorrow if anyone's interested).

You can do a single increase at a corner if you do it every row, it's the same number of stitches, but it doesn't look the same. You'd have to increase in one stitch in one row, and in an adjacent stitch the next row, and then back to the first one...

RE SnB: I've gotten out of the habit of going because fairly often I teach on Thursday nights. But I could have gone last night! I just forgot. Maybe next week.

--Kathy

Oh yes! I am very shy anyway and SnB was really traumatic because people might not like me AND I'm a fairly new knitter and I was afraid of not meeting standards. It was hard to walk in cold not knowing anyone but over a few visits people were very friendly and one day people even asked ME for help casting off!

Errr, then before I felt like I really fit in and was a regular they store went under and the group disappeared.

I'm going to try a new group next week.

If you don't mind me asking, Laurie, which SnB do you belong to? (I'm in the SoCal area too and am curious which groups would be good to try out. Thank you!)

I'm too tired to read all of the comments, so please forgive me if someone already said this: Raven, if you pick up 2 stitches in each corner instead of one, you'll get a "real" corner. Try it on a swatch and see!

Oh, it was good timing to read this. I've been trying to summon up all my little wherewithal to go to a SnB, and yet I have talked myself out of going 3 weeks in a row. Thank you, Laurie.

am so stressed and tired and but! horrorscopes!

Knit Fix will tell you how to fix your knitting mistakes... and for Sharon's sweater, I recommend handwashing at home with Eucalan or baby shampoo. It will be way gentler than the super-harsh dry-cleaning chemicals.

3rd vote for Knit Fix. VERY handy book.

And sometimes there are even men at the WeHo SNB... ;)

Side pony tail! I wore one in my 1988 wedding to one of the worst-ess people on the planet. The preacher called me Debi twice during it. They were signs I just know it!

Needless to say....... the second wedding in 2004 to one of the best-ess people in the world.......... I wore my hair in a pretty bun with a pink flower in it! The preacher called me Judi the whole time.

You're right.... it does feel weird. Oh, I had a string of pearls stuck in there somewhere too! Ahhh..... the eighties!

For the corners of your sweater, are you doing an increase such as a kfb? To do so, knit into the front of the stitch, leave it on the left needles and then knit into the back of the stitch and slide it off the needle. It makes a tight increase.

Or you can mk1. This is the stitch Lucia referenced. Pick up the strand between the two stitches and put it on the left needle. Now, the key here is to not knit through the front of the stitch like normal but to knit through the back of the stitch. If you knit through the front of the stitch, you'll create a hole. (Maybe this is what's needed for the corner? If so, the pattern will say so.) To avoid the hole, you need to knit through the back of the stitch effectively twisting the hole shut.

This site is really helpful and shows several videos on how to increase:

http://tinyurl.com/67b7q

Have fun!

I totally agree with the post about knitting beyond the oops and then dropping stitches down to make the repair. I do this a lot! Try it on a test piece first to get your knitting legs on and have the confidence to make an honest attempt. It is so much easier then ripping the whole thing out. A note to procrastinators: the difficulty is inversely proportionate to the amount of time spent thinking about it...so, just do it. It's just yarn, you can buy more!!

OK, I've been lurking around, reading madly from the beginning of this blog for the last two or three weeks and I've finally caught up and that's when my internal set of rules (O to the C to the D) tells me I'm allowed to post a comment. And I have very little to say. Except I went to my first SnB a couple of days ago and it was pretty good, if a little weird (my blog -- all four or five scorching episodes of it -- goes further in depth on that) and I will go back.

Also, I never had enough hair in the 80s to do a side ponytail.

Hee! "Sweaterly smart" somehow got parsed as "sweaty smart" in my small and sleep-deprived brain and I was thinking you know I'm both, but I don't usually stand up and proclaim it loud an' proud and all of that and then I re-read the sentence and I'll just go make coffee now, shall I? Because I might be sweaty, an I might be smart, but the only sweater I've ever finished was a baby cardigan.

okbye. (send Bob. I need help.)

Laurie, I just have to tell you that you are by far the funniest person I have ever "read" LOL. I only wish I had the honor of "meeting" you in person, but since I am a corn fed,cow breeding Ohioan, it doesn't look like I will be intruding in your area anytime soon, so thank GAWD for blogs. I think you should write a book, I would so buy it...and I would buy depends too cuz, well, a gal can never be to careful when reading, laughing and coughing in public!

I was **this8** close to attending the Thurs. night SNB in Weho, but I chickened out...again. I have been wanting to go for over a year and I always seem to talk myself out of it. I am going to make a point of showing up very soon. It sounds like a lot of fun and not too scary.

Sqeee! You mentioned me on your blog! (Blog-stalker alert!)

I was so happy to meet you, and had such fun at the WeHo SnB; *got* to figure out a way to go frequently!

As for the off-color remarks (which I missed, darn it!), with a small child in the house, I LOVE going somewhere where we talk Big People Talk, and I don't have to worry that what I say gets repeated tomorrow at the kindergarten show and tell.....

S n B in Reno is known as "stitch and rip" . I finally went to my first meeeting last night. I had been thinking about it for months. Very nice ladies, ages 7 to 70 and skill from "this is how to cast on" to some very interesting designs. I will be back.

Best of all I learned about UFO Saturday's at my LYS - I will be there this weekend to finish that tank I started in June.

Thanks for the courage to try something new. I even went to yoga afterwards and nobody laughed at my gas. The instructor said "and that occassionally happens when we do this pose".

I quit smoking and the sign off is "qtq for keep the quit" I say KTK for keep the knit.

Deb

no web site, no blog and went to my first chat room this week. I am almost a virgin on the computer.