Knitting 101 - Take 1

Last weekend I took my first knitting class. I have tried in the past to teach myself to knit, and never had success, so I finally signed up for a class. It was fun!

The class is two sessions, and I'll have the 2nd session next week.

Our learners project is a wash cloth. I have never completed a project with so many mistakes in it before! I wasn't going to finish this so I could rip it out and re-use the yarn. Then my husband reminded me of when I was teaching myself to crochet. I was on an airplane, and trying to teach myself to make granny squares. I didn't quite get it, and my first attempt looked like a snail. With a little practice, I mastered the granny square and quite a bit more in crochet. So, now it's time to try and master some basic knitting.

I was actually doing quite well with this project and was pleased with how it looked. Then I mistakenly switched mid-row from knitting to purling. When I realized my mistake, I started to tink. That's when it all went wrong. I dropped a whole bunch of stitches, and when I tried to pick them up, they unraveled. I grabbed a crochet hook and tried to save the piece, but I never got it quite right. Despite the disaster, the front of the work looked ok - the back, not so much.

I'm not happy with the lack of consistency in my tension. There are several obvious mistakes that may not show in the photo, but are quite evident when looking at the piece. Somehow I have a loose stitch in the middle. I tried to pick it up, but there was noplace to take it - that's why you see the pink stitch marker in the middle of the work - I just grabbed the stitch so it wouldn't run.

So...... my first piece can not be called a success, but it was a great learning project. I hope that practice will get me closer to perfect, and that someday I will look fondly back at this little project and smile.