Learn to Knit Class 3

This week was a packed lesson!

We learned how to put stitches back up on the needles. I brought a knit sample as a demonstration and we all passed that around as practice. This was a funny test part of the lesson. I would take my big needle sample and have a common “accident” with it. Then I would hand it to a student and ask them to fix it.  My little dramatizations of common mishaps is comedy gold. Everyone started chiming in during the mini-dramas. “Oh, WHAT did Don (Draper) DO?!?!” “Shoot, maybe the 3rd glass of wine was not the best decision…” All of the students excelled at this challenge. It is MUCH less stressful to fix the mistakes on the big needle sample than it is when I make mistakes for them to fix in THEIR projects.

Next, we learned how to purl. Once again, I passed around the big needle sample. We broke down some deep seeded fears of purling. I guess this has been the undoing of some of these closet knitters (who knew). Many of the ladies in the class have adopted knitting continental style. And it does take a little bit of time to learn where the yarn goes and how to move your fingers in the continental purl.

Next we learned how to cast off. It is amazing to think that next week, some of the bags will be CAST OFF!  But these ladies are FLYING.

And most importantly, we followed the pattern for the crazy modified i-chord handle.

I SWORE an oath that this week I would really get some neat shots of this group, their warmth, and their beautiful bags. Well, ha ha. We had a beautiful group and great bags, but mostly we had warmth. It was about 117 in the cafe when we got there. No joke. There was MAJOR road work on the roads directly outside of the Cafe and they needed to leave all the doors closed. And, (I am sorry to my Minnesota friends, I am not rubbing it in.) we are having a lovely Spring blast of heat. Shorts and a tank top was overdressed last night. And holding a big wool bag on your lap was not great. The sun went down, the road crews cleaned up, and we opened the doors. It was probably only 80 when we left. (And don’t worry, we’ll get back to our San Francisco-layered-fleece-all-summer weather shortly.) I will get pictures of the lovely ladies and their bags (pre felting) next week “fo sho!”

Happy Knitting!