Never too early to knit!

I’m knitting ANOTHER scarf because I’m too scared to try something new….like these (I sooooo love em’) or these (so freakin’ cute). It’s also because I get confused when reading patterns. Just can’t seem to understand em’.

“What is this book telling me to do? S1…okay stitch one. k1….knit one. psso….what?! k2tog….knit two together…I think. 42 sts rem….huh? Forfrickingetit! I’m just making another scarf!!!” *sigh*

Knitting = Stress Relief

Nothing relieves stress from studying like knitting.

I went up to “The Knitting Room” earlier today for the first time to shop for some yarn and circular needles for a top secret project. I would have went somewhere closer such as “City Knits” in Detroit’s Fisher building, but my last experience (which was my first) was not so good that I am eager to go back. I found the sales associates to be VERY rude and stand-offish. They seemed like they didn’t want to help patrons, especially beginning knitters such as myself. You would think they would want to pull patrons in and make their experience memorable enough that they would want to come back. Obviously that is not how they think. So I took my business elsewhere. All the way to Birmingham. Talk about great customer service, I was asked multiple times if I needed assistance and everyone had a smile on their face. I felt so welcome and at ease in their yarn store. In fact, one of the sales associates even showed me how to wind up my own skein of yarn should they ever be so busy they can not do it for me. I can’t praise them enough!! You must go if you knit. Ann, my knitting buddy also told me about a place in Grosse Point that I might check out next. It would be a lot closer too. However, I will continue stopping into “The Knitting Room” every once in a while for future yarn:)

Tonight I met up with my knitting friend Ann for a session of knitting. I can’t tell you what we are knitting because mine is a surprise and I don’t want to ruin it. You’ll see it when it’s done. Whenever that will be:)

Here is what I have done so far. As you can see, it is not much. It is a beginning though. It took me over an hour just to cast on close to 100 stitches. I’m still learning how to talk and knit at the same time. Thank’s to Ann for listening to me babble on about random topics. No, really! I forgot to mention to all of you the fact that I accidentally took someone else’s medium sized soy latte and that I was also given the small coffee drink (caramel coffee something or other) I actually ordered. So I did what any normal (actually crazy) person would do and drank them both. I basically became a podcast without the ipod, music, or computer (does that make sense?). I was all talk radio with one audience member. Poor Ann. I’m not usually that loquacious (okay, maybe I am a little bit) but I really feel the coffee contributed to a large portion of my chatter. It seemed to magnify it 10x more.

It was really good for my studying though (when Ann left and I had noone left to talk to except myself….which I DID NOT do by the way). Here you see only one of my drinks. The other one might have been in my hand.

The coffee high is finally starting to taper off. This blog entry really helped use up some of the extra energy. Thank goodness cause I need to go to sleep at some point tonight or ummm this morning I should say….Zzzzzzzzzzz

Here it is…

Happy New Year!!!
Originally uploaded by Sarah_S.

This was our Christmas card this year. Thought I would reveal it before the new year.

Happy New Year everyone!!!! 2006!!!! Yay!

Publish your own book

Who would have thought of giving a printed version of someone’s blog as a gift? Well, this girl Carrieoke Knitter. She used lulu.com for the publishing. You can also publish CDs, DVDs, images, and Calendars. Too bad I just found out about it 5 days before Christmas. I would like to make a coffeetable book of images for someone sometime.

Scarf weather is here

Scarf close-up
Originally uploaded by Sarah_S.

I bought some worsted weight yarn Monday for this scarf I have begun for Jeff. Monday night I met up with my new knitting friends Ann and Catherine. We chit chatted, knit knatted, and drank hot tea and coffee. I must have been so caught up that I didn’t pay much attention to my belongings. Last night I was franticly searching for my “Stitch n’ Bitch” book. I turned the house and cars upside down looking for it. I couldn’t for the life of me remember what I did with it. I then remembered it was on my lap as I was knitting on Monday night at the coffee shop. I didn’t need the book so I brushed it aside to where it slid next to me in my sofa chair. When it was time to go I slipped my jacket on and was so preoccupied talking to Ann and Catherine that I didn’t grab the book. It must have sat there still on its side hidden from my view. I remembered this late last night and was unable to call because the coffeehouse was already closed. Damn it! I thought. It was hard to sleep last night. All I could do was worry about where my precious knitting book was. I imagined the worse case scenario. Someone saw it and took it. It was hard cover. Who wouldn’t want a hard cover knitting book called “Stitch n’ Bitch” even if they couldn’t knit? Yeah, that’s how erratic my thoughts had become. I knew I could get a new one and Jeff tried consoling me by saying he would get me a new one, but I just wanted the one I was missing. It was THE ONE he had given me for my birthday. It was sentimental to me.
To make a long story short. I called the coffee house first thing this morning and sure enough they had it! Whew! I was relieved. I picked it up at exactly 1:05 PM today and was happy to have it in my hands again. I looked at it lovingly and whispered “I will never let you outta my sight again!”
Ok, so I didn’t really talk to it, but I did just about damn near kiss it lemme tell you. That is how happy I was to see it again:)

Knit Picky

Knit happens

So I have been practicing the “knit stitch” since Monday. Here you see my first practice swatch. Something funky is going on with the sides. I think I have added some stitches or something. I’m pretty frustrated about it. I was doing a pretty good job until this funkiness happened. I’m going to have to do some reading to figure out what has gone wrong.

On a positive note Jeff’s mother has let me borrow a bunch of her old knitting needles. I’m excited to have such a variety of sizes. Pretty soon I’m hoping to do well enough to start working on a scarf. Most likely for Jeff. He may not wear it if it looks like this oddly shaped thing-a-ma-jigger. Believe it or not though, he wants to keep this swatch when I am done working on it. He said he wants it because it was my very first knitted piece *awwwwww*.

He can always use it as a nice dust rag or coffee holder:)

Let the knitting begin…

Knitting
Originally uploaded by Sarah_S.

Last night I met up with Ann and Cathy (two knitters/librarians) at a Royal Oak coffee house for a session of knitting. Ann was kind enough to bring some knitting needles and cheap yarn for me to practice on. Since then, I have been practicing non-stop. I learned how to do a”double cast on” after I got home and realized some of the mistakes I was making while at the coffee house. I was doing the “knit stitch” all wrong. Ann showed me the right way and I somehow mixed it up while I was talking to her and Cathy (which explains all of the problems I was experiencing). After looking at some video online today, I figured it out though. Now I am on a roll and can’t wait to learn the other stitches and begin a project. Thanks again to Ann and Cathy!
Coffee is on me next time we meet up. Okay?