Yesterday was a Very Cool Day, and today was pretty swell, too. Yesterday, I took my friend from work, Carolann, up to The Point and taught her to knit. Now, I've taught other people to knit (and learned to knit myself), and so I kind of knew what to expect: some frustration, lots of mistakes, loose wobbly stitches, stitches so tight you can't get the needle in, inadvertent yarn overs....if you've ever learned to knit, you know how it is. It's all to be expected, and you eventually get through it and have nice even stitches and then you either never knit again or really love it and keep on going. But that first learning curve is really kind of a bitch.

Yeah, well, not for Carolann. I showed her how to cast on, walked away to get lunch, came back and she had 24 stitches on, ready to knit her swatch. I knitted the first row for her (because that first row is also a bitch, usually -- stitches get pulled too tight) and was amazed at how even the tension was and how perfectly she had tightened the cast on stitches -- not too tight, not too loose. So then I showed her how to knit, watched her knit 3 or 4 stitches, turned around to eat my lunch and by the time I looked back, she was halfway across the row, knitting merrily away. No problem turning at the end of a row, no problem purling...the kid's a whiz.

Also yesterday I machine-sewed the Wrap Front Sweater together. The machine sewing was a success, but I'm not so sure about the sweater. I'm really not happy with the sleeves -- they're just kind of baggy and lifeless at the upper arm...it seems a shame to have such a beautiful sweater with saggy drop shoulder sleeves. If I knit it again (which I might, despite the fact that it's one of the most poorly written patterns I've ever come across, even using the errata), I'll definitely do some sleeve shaping, maybe even a set-in sleeve or sewn in raglan. I'll defintely be machine sewing more sweaters in the future, though -- super fast and easy, which is my favorite kind of finishing.

Today I got together with Merri of OW fame and her boyfriend for lunch, which was pretty awesome. We went to a dumpling place in Union Square that was both cheap and yummy, and then went to Max Brenneman's for hot chocolates afterwards. I told Merri I don't think we can be friends anymore -- friends don't introduce friends to that many caolries all in one place. I think we're going to have lunch there next time. :)

So last week, I told you I was going to take a spinning class, which I did. I do not have pretty pictures of yarn I spun, because I had spinnign wheel issues, wherein my wheel broke halfway through class. The instructor (Judith Mcuin-MacKenzie) let me borrow the loaner for the remainder, but I was already pretty far behind, due to my utter lack of skill, so I really only had a few singles by the end of class. I did learn that I'm a worsted spinner and not a woolen spinner, and that I should be making 3-ply yarns for knitting (while 2-plys are better for weaving), and got lots of practice and feedback...and she was really nice about me being a dolt. I highly recommend her, if you have a chance to take a class with her.

posted by Laura Y. @ 2:15 PM