It is an impossibility for me to walk past a yarn store with out ducking into it, stroking skeins or squashing balls (Keep your mind out of the gutter!) The texture, the soft silkiness, the colours. Hand-painted yarns where the colours blend and ooze from one colour into the next are my absolute favorite. Yarn to me is at the same time, both comfortingly cozy, and subtly sensuous. If I feel blue, I wander over to the yarn store and soak up the strands of eye candy on display. It takes all my effort to walk out of these shops empty-handed.
The problem: I can not knit! Or crochet. Or any other art or craft that uses wool.
I decided to remedy this problem. A friend and I signed up for the "Down and Dirty Knitting for Beginners" class at The Naked Sheep, in the Beach (Beaches?). It was meant to be a simple enough class: learn the knit stitch, move on to purl and finally, learn to bind off, and cast on. Two full hours for four simple concepts. Easy, right? Um... no! I got held back!! While everyone else was learning the fundamentals behind purling, I was left still struggling with knitting. By the time our two hour class ended (after three and a half hours), I did manage to figure out the binding off and the casting on. Purl remains a mystery of the universe!
I may not be ready yet to play with silk yarns, or invest in the beautiful ebony needles from Lantern Moon, but I have two simple needles now, with a deeply hued indigo yarn firmly cast on, ready for me to plunge in and start knitting.
The good news is I didn't lose an eye during the experience. The bad news is: I neither cured my yarn addiction, nor do I think I will develop enough skill that I will be able to justify buying skein after skein of yarn. Which is a shame, since while at the store I discovered the pure beauty and luxury of bamboo yarn.
For those who are proficient at knitting, I hope you are aware of these two fabulous companies: Be Sweet (yarns) and Lantern Moon (needles). Both companies have been developed to provide employment income and education to women in developing countries. Beautiful products, and a fantastic mission.
www.besweetproducts.com
www.lanternmoon.com
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3 comments:
Don't give up!
You too may eventually be a knitting diva:)
It's hard to get the hang of it, but once you do it's like riding a bike. YOu never really forget. You just need to wait for the "click" moment where everything seems to make sense!
Thanks for the web links too!
J
Oh sarcasticj! First thing I saw was your name and I was worried you were going to make fun of me. So I clicked and realised who you were! LOL. What a relief!! Thanks!!
You have very nice page!
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