learning to knit

In December I took a beginning knitting class with Franny at That Yarn Store. Super fun. But since I was in the middle of making a bunch of xmas gifts, I had to put the knitting aside. While I was in DC at the end of December, niece Raquel taught me how to purl. While I was there, I played around with different stitches, but didn't make anything worth while. Then I couldn't remember how to cast-on. I couldn't remember any of the three cast on methods that I learned from Franny. And I couldn't quite decipher the diagrams in the knitting books I have- Stitch 'n Bitch and Domiknitrix (Jake gave that to me for xmas-what a love). I finally figured it out. whew. I'm not sure if I'm doing them right... I knit a scarf out of the beautiful recycled sari silk yarn that my friend and reigning LA crochet queen Ellen Bloom gave me. I also knit a pair of fingerless gloves, not in the round but by sewing up the side. and I knit a hat for Jake that was too small. I had to give it to my young friend Ben. (see Amigurumi post to see a picture of him.) Now I am frantically making one for Jake that will fit by Valentine's Day. Yikes! I don't have any photos of my knit projects. But I"ll post them when I do. In between the knitting, I have been crocheting too- I made a capelet out of baby alpaca bulky weight yarn in a lovely green. It is modified from the Jolly Rancher pattern on Crochet Me .

Also, I haven't been able to go to WeHo Stitch 'n Bitch in a while due to car trouble, but this week I'll be there! I miss it terribly...





And! my niece Christina was visiting and I taught her how to crochet. I also gave her a copy of The Happy Hooker.






Christina and I crochet
























Here's a picture of my niece Raquel, my sister Vicky and Machito.