The Lovely Scones Learns to Knit

I haven't been cooking much dinner this week. I've been scraping together evenings of cheese and olives and defrosting steaks, so that I can get back to my knitting. Wait...knitting?!? I confess it's been consuming me for the last week.

They're offering a class at work--how great is that??--taught by Iris Schreier, author of Exquisite Little Knits and Modular Knits and owner of Artyarns.com. I learned to knit back in college, but I could never get beyond a simple knit and purl. I would throw my needles down in frustration when I tried to create ribbing, which just alternates the knit and purl stitches. I felt doomed to be stuck in knit stitch forever, and I understood fully why someone could write a book called Knitting Without Tears. I couldn't follow the directions in books or magazines, and my mother couldn't even figure out what I was doing wrong.

I can now tell you with confidence that I am knitting a scarf with ribbing. This is a *very* small step in the right direction, but a step nonetheless. Iris has taught us the speedy Continental method of knitting. (I feel rather European already.) Apparently, I knew the English method, which is easier to learn but slower. I can't tell you what a difference it makes to have an expert show you exactly what you need to do. Plus, she gave us this wonderful Web site called KnittingHelp.com , which shows you videos of knitting, so I watch as many times as I needed to get it.

Maybe I'll have a picture of a project to post soon!