Knit One, Purl Too: A Knitlog

Or, how I discovered my local yarn store. I’m sure I’ll look back on this moment and roll my eyes, but I’m writing it down anyway. I had been under the impression that I could teach myself all the knitting basics I needed; then I encountered ribbing, working the pattern for the Bernat scarf. I knitted and purled, and something was desperately wrong; the yarn was tangling, and for all the world, it looked like the scarf was eating itself. No matter how much I knitted, it didn’t get any longer.

After ripping the same stitches out for the seventh time, I was more than a little frustrated; my husband was begging me to call my local yarn store (which is not so local to our small town) for help. After swallowing my pride, I finally did; I imagined they might laugh, but the owner said “come on over.” It never occurred to me that yarn store owners see it to their advantage to help beginning knitters, because beginning knitters who stick with it become knitters who buy things.

Within five minutes, they had fixed my problem - I was not truly bringing the yarn to the front of the work when purling, so it was becoming trapped in the work with each stitch. After a few practice rows, I became a knitter who buys things, specifically tapestry needles to finish the Wonton, Knitting Without Tears and a pattern for an even cooler felted tote.

Such a small change, and I feel like I’m able to split the atom - I’m starting to feel like a knitter, or at least a knitter who can move beyond stockinette without screwing up.