Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Adolescent-Male Yarn Snobbery

Monday night, I taught three pre-teen boys to knit. Actually, to purl. Their request, I assure you this wasn't a method of emotional terrorism on my part. One wanted to learn and it snowballed from there. Monday night they didn't want to stop knitting to go to bed. Tuesday morning they ALL got up & ready for school in record time so they'd have time to knit before the bus came. Keep in mind, they all get up at separate times, never see each other in the mornings. All three independently complained about the way the acrylic felt on their needles.

After I got off work, we went & got needles & 100% wool yarn for each of them and they started their first projects, scarves! Thankfully, I have the BEST LYS in the whole world, because she stayed open for me after I explained about the yarn snobs I've accidentally raised.



Above is the youngest with his scarf in Cascade 220, that's about an hour's work done Tuesday night after dinner. He just turned 10.

Below is my first lace sock, Monkey. I started this last Thursday, the 13th, at Knit Club. I love this pattern! Unfortunately, the sock is too large around the ankles and I didn't realize this until I got nearly TO the ankle part so I've got to rip it all back. A week's worth of stolen knitting minutes and lost sleep. See below, it looks relatively normal along my leg and the cuff fits just the way I like it, not tight but just enough to stay up.



But when you pull it down just a little bit, you realize that it's made for cankles. My ankle gets slimmer and the sock stays calf-width. I know I'm a slack-knitter, but this is WAY too large to be able to "fudge" it and keep going. See what I mean below?



This has become my sock of broken dreams. I've got a couple of sweaters waiting for minor adjustments, so it seems wrong to rip the socks back first when they've been languishing for so long. I'm going to compromise by ripping & re-starting these socks tonight, and then taking my Tangled Yoke sweater to knit night tomorrow night and working on my button band. Peer pressure, don't fail me now!

This ripping is going to require some wine... and some whine...

1 comment:

Fran said...

Teaching three boys to knit is quite an accomplishment. It's incredible that they also have good taste in yarn. :)