Class: Fearless Knitting
Fearless Knitting was the first Lifelong Learning class I signed up for as part of the 30 Class Challenge. My knitting classmates and I are in the process of acquiring tactical skills over the course of six weeks–think of us as ninjas in training with yarn and little sticks.
I had previously been taught to knit on two occasions. Each time I knitted half a scarf, got distracted for a year or so, then couldn’t remember how to wield those sticks that knitters call knitting needles. I thought I understood basic knitting and purling, but I kept adding odd extra movements that made me a twisted stitcher. Sound familiar?
Secretly, though, I preferred to unravel. During the same time that my two half-knitted scarves sat in a basket, I unraveled 12 sweaters. All that lovely yarn was extracted and reassembled into neat round balls: moss-green alpaca, soft tomato-red two-ply cashmere, classic unbleached cotton. Previously trapped in knitted form, that yarn was now full of potential.
But did I have potential as a knitter as well as an unraveler? It did not seem that way during the first hour of my first class. Fortunately our fearless instructor, Miriam, was very patient with us. As I worked my way across a few rows of stitches, my hand muscles started remembering what they were supposed to do. We started out with knitting English style, but I switched to continental style because the technique seemed more efficient for me. I like to hold my eating utensils continental style too. Coincidence? I think not.
Over the last few weeks we’ve focused on perfecting our stitch skills and getting ready to put all of the stitches together to knit something intentionally. In a few weeks I’ll post some completed knitting projects because our ninja training is really paying off! And we’re learning how to trash talk. Just kidding.
For now, I leave you with a few photos of some things I knitted accidentally (and did not unravel): a chartreuse yellow moustache, a dish scrubbie (at top), and a cat toy for Mies.
