Adventures in knitting

For a blog called The Yarn Belle there isn't much yarn on here. So *drumroll* presenting some pictures of the scarf so far (details of this evening's 'knit night' below) ...

Getting there slowly but surely. Mistake near the top left happened tonight, sigh



Close-up of mishap. This is what happens when you don't concentrate! My friend did her best to salvage it and turn it into a knotty lump instead of a gaping hole, but it turns out I should have gone with my instincts ...



The wool looks a little orange with my well-worn 5MP digital compact. It's actually a deep red.

So this evening I attended my first knit night and learned some valuable lessons:

1) New knitters shouldn't multi-task
2) Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate!
3) Don't be afraid to ask for help but
4) Trust your instincts

I chose Drink, Shop & Do as it's on the way home, spacious and sells yummy food - and coke floats! Oh yes. My plan to get there at 6 spectacularly failed, so when I finally arrived just after 7 it was *packed*.

I finally found two seats for my friend (who was running even later) and I in a dim spot against a wall. The people at the table were nice but very distracting and, shortly after they inquired after my lovely thick yarn, I made the mistake that led to photograph 2 :S

By the time my friend arrived I was in a bit of a tizz as I had *no* idea how to undo the pickle I'd gotten myself into. On the plus side, a table with a bright lamp became available.

While she ordered food, I shyly wandered around the tables of other knitters to see if anyone could help me. As a friendly twenty-something with a red polka-dot knitting bag scrutinised my work, it suddenly dawned on me - my mistake was that I'd gained an extra stitch and two of my stitches looked as if they'd been crossed over. I could just pick up these crossed stitches and knit them as one, right?

Right*. But, as usual, I didn't listen to my instincts and convinced myself that anyone but me would be right. My friend kindly tried to sort things out and she did an admirable job. Alas, while the result isn't a hole, it is a big lump of dropped stitches. Don't ask how that happened. And then, as I nervously continued knitting, I somehow managed to pick up two extra stitches.

Another (extremely craft-y) friend reckons she can solve the problem by undoing my work down to the knot, which I don't particularly mind as I have plenty of time. Still, perfectionist that I am, it turned out to be quite the frustrating evening.

Cheese and pickle sandwiches, brownies, my much-craved coke float and great company helped though. As did being surrounded by lots of other knitters. And, despite the mishaps, my desire to start a monthly crafting club is stronger than ever.

More yarns to come :)

*As my book, Knitty Gritty, confirmed when I got home