My dear friend Martha and I are taking up knitting.  It seems like a relaxing hobby, and it’s good for our aging brains to have new learning.  Besides imagining all the new neurons firing in my brain, I’ve got visions of all the sweaters, scarves, and mittens I’ll be making.  At least I had those visions until I gave it a try!

My first project was a scarf, and I followed the directions from an online resource called Craftsy.  Through no fault of the online teacher, my project was pure CRAP!  I gave it to my granddaughter to use as a doll blanket, and I’m sure Princess Meghan finds it too crappy even for her dolls!

Martha and I decided a face-to-face lesson was in order, and we took our first lesson last Wednesday.  Our project was a washcloth — not too hard — where we practiced knitting and purling.  The picture below shows what it should look like — about an 8″ x 8″ square with a border.  The teacher also showed us how to use a “life line,” which is a piece of thread used when you have to rip out stitches due to errors.  It keeps you from having to rip out the whole shebang.

Well, I stitched and ripped out too many times to count, so I finally decided to ignore my mistakes and focus on developing automaticity with making the knit and purl stitches.  Here’s the product — about 6″ x 12″ — with multiple holes and extra loops.

Fortunately, I’ve got another lesson in the morning that will help determine whether I’m cut out for this line of crafting!