Learn to knit

Bought enough yarn to teach my roomie to knit and for a project of my own. I’m starting a pattern for a bag from Stich n Bitch. It seems simple and straightforward, so hopefully I should be able to handle it. My other roommate who knits thinks that the three of us who are {becoming} knitters should all knit ourselves matching hats. That could be after I finish my bag and knitting roommate #3 becomes a little more confident in her newly found knitting skills. I’d like to work my way up to knitting myself a sweater, but that may have to wait till I come home (if only to converve room in my suitcase).

One of my roommates (the one who wants me to teach her how to knit) just yesterday found a yarn store in Rome where they speak decent English. Hooray! Makes me really excited. We’re going back today. Apparently she tried to buy some yarn and they told her they needed to know what size needles she was using before they could sell her yarn…dunno, whatever. Today we’ll go pick up some yarn so that I can teach Aurora how to knit and she, Dana, and I (the three of us that knit) can have our little knitting circle. Thank God they speak English, that will make life so much easier.

I finished the scarf I started with the yarn Alison got me. You can definitely see my improvement through the scarf…in other words, one end looks halfway decent while the other end is incredibly crappy looking. I also knit my sister a skinny drop-stitch scarf that came out looking pretty cool. I haven’t tried increasing, decreasing, or changing colors yet, though I’m pretty sure I know how to do all of those.

My siblings gave me some knitting stuff for Christmas. I was able to follow a simple pattern for an iPod cozy. I’m still working on the scarf that I started with the yarn Alison gave me. I tried making a scarf with the yarn my siblings gave me, but it’s really cheap yarn, and after about a foot I decided no one in their right mind would wear a scarf made of that stuff for more than a couple minutes. I’ll try again with better yarn. I’d like to be able to knit myself a sweater.

Still having trouble keeping consistent tension. Not quite sure how to weave in ends. Haven’t tried changing colors just yet. Can only cast off in knit, haven’t tried purl. Have decided that complete sentences are overrated.

The crappy looking first project scarf continues to grow. My yarn ball’s getting rather smallish. :(

Alison made the world’s ugliest knit swatch for me last night, in the process demonstrating casting on, knitting, purling, changing colors, increasing, decreasing, and casting off. I think I now know all the important basics of knitting. I don’t know how to weave my ends in, but I can probably figure that out from a book or an online knitting help page or something.

I’ve now got about a foot and a half of crappy looking knitting made. I’ve done really well as far as not dropping any stitches, but I can’t seem to keep my tension straight. I keep messing up in the middle of a row- my tension will randomly get a lot tighter or looser for a few stitches in the middle and then it will go back. Hmm. Must learn to fix that.

With the help of her roommate Mary, also one of my good friends, who taught her.

I got a skein of pretty heather yarn, bamboo needles, and a coupon for free knitting lessons for my Christmas present!!

So far, they’ve taught me the knitting aspect. Mary did the casting on for me, so I don’t know how to do that, nor do I know how to purl, nor finish whatever I’m knitting, nor do any fancy stuff like cabling. Theoretically, though, I do know how to knit. Haven’t quite gotten to the point where I’ve got the proper tension down and my knitting looks all nice and even. Right now I have about six inches of knitting that looks pretty darned crappy, but at least it’s a pretty color. But there IS learning going on! Yay learning!

Alison is currently knitting scarves as Christmas presents for her sisters, and has promised to teach me so I can cross this off my list. yay!

So yeah, learning last semester off that one girl in my one class never happened. However, this semester, both my friend Annie and my friends Alison and Mary have told me they’ll teach me. So somehow I’ll learn off of somebody. Eventually.

A girl in one of my classes offered to teach me how to knit. Yay! If only the professor hadn’t decided that he wanted to give us a midterm, I could have started learning already! Silly professors and their midterms.