K2, P2, R2 or 3 rows

Thank god for the kindness of almost strangers - well, ok, not strangers exactly, it's not like I randomly approached people on the street asking for knitting advice.  I went to a knitting group in town yesterday, having legged it to John Lewis beforehand and splurged on some Louisa Harding yarn and her accessories book - and I'm making the garden mittens, to satisfy my urge for wristwarmers.  I was asking advice in John Lewis and said 'I'm a beginner, I'm making gloves' - meaning sleeveless gloves, gauntlets, and the woman's well-plucked eyebrows shot up into her hairline before she regained her JL composure, and I corrected myself.  I suppose that a novice knitter starting with gloves is the equivalent of a novice runner setting off on the marathon des sables. What delicious yarn, and patterns - ok, admittedly I had a bit of trouble following the directions (started off with the wrong sized needles etc) but everyone at the knitting group was friendly and helpful.  Particularly faced with silly questions, such as 'how do I go from K2 to P2?  Ok, I realise that it's not that difficult - but that's once someone has shown you how.  I also realised that some of my favourite bloggers were actually part of the group which was amazing, but I thought that perhaps it would be a little bit stalkerish to get too excited about that. Perhaps I'll confess my adoration later...

I then spent the rest of the day, pretty much, clicking and clacking.  And I still only have this to show for it?

I keep screwing it up because it emerges that I have the concentration span of an amnesiac mayfly.  I have knit about 20 rows and ripped about 432.  But  I'm really enjoying it, bizarrely enough.  Leslie, please send good knitting vibes, I need a little [lot] of your skill. I echo what Leslie said about knitting with beautiful yarn - it's like the first skirt I started to make, I never completed because I used cheap material and knew that I would never actually wear it.  But Louisa Harding's range is gorgeous - just look at what's going to be used for the trim...

It's gratifying to keep plugging away at it.  Not my usual style, at all, this perseverance lark, but I believe it just might be worth it.

Edit ** Bekka, thank you so much for the comment - I rang my mother in the end, (ah, bless mammies!) and realised that what I had done was incorrectly read (yo, K2tog, K1) 12 times as (yo, K2tog, k1) 1 time, (K2tog, K1) 11 times... which is why I only had 3 stitches left at the end!  Then I interpreted 'work three rows' wrongly as repeat the previous row three times and lo and behold, it grew exponentially for a while... but I may have the hang of it now.  Just not making any promises - and bizarrely, still enjoying it!

Comments

[caroline]

good luck with the knitting - I love the colour you have chosen.

[bekka]

oh goody, a small bit of detective work and i've found you. wasn't sure you'd return to bekka, cause i usually forget where i've been in knitting/craftland and forget to check back for respones to comments.

my response to your comment about the gloves:

uh oh. sounds bad. just 3 left to knit. hmmmm. wish i could help. sounds like maybe you've gone the wrong direction? i'll get out my book when i get home and see if i can help.

they're darling gloves and a great project. wish i'd made them sooner. i was stuck on scarves for a very long time.

so glad you found my post and you're moving onward!

[leslie]

Oh darling, I am sending oodles of knitting love your way. I was tickled pink to see the beginnings of what looks like a gorgeous scarf on your site. Hurrah!

I look forward to seeing the finished product.