Learning Curve

Because I learned to knit from some older Italian women, my knitting skills are fairly basic.

Several of us made Alice Starmore sweaters, but it never would have occurred to these women to make socks from the toe up. Their grandmothers made socks from the top down, and they didn't see much good reason to change.

To non-knitters, the whole thing seems a lot more complicated than it is, but knitting really only has two stitches: knit and purl. I can knit two together or increase, but I'm still using the basic knit and purl stitches. With those basic stitches, however, come infinite possibilities. I've been knitting intarsia, double knitting, cables, lace, trinity stitch, etc. for years, all without another knitting class.

A list of knit classes at a LYS showed up in the mail yesterday, and I happened to mention some of the offerings to LB. He's become dead set on me taking a class. I found him this morning picking up the mailing and reading all the course descriptions.

"What classes are you going to take?" he said. "None," said I.

He's particularly intrigued by the class on how to knit two socks at once, one inside the other. He worked hard to convince me to sign up, and even twenty minutes later he said, "I wonder how they manage the heel or close the toe?"

I likely won't take the course, as the yarn store really isn't local; it's in St. Charles. I know how to double knit already, and I'd rather spend the cost of the course on yarn anyway.

Still, I confessed that I've been wanting to get a lesson hairpin lace, and promised him I'd look into it. That's something that can't be done with a knit nor a purl. Besides, knitting socks one at a time worked just fine for my grandmothers.