Last night went really well. Thank you all for your input. As it turned out, I only had 5 ladies come to learn how to knit, (there were a couple seasoned veterans along for the ride), and I taught them the long-tail cast on. I cast on that way, and I didn’t want to teach something I don’t do. I also taught them both the knit and purl stitch, and got most of them ribbing. (Thanks Maggie for the tip).
I started off the class by telling them about our conversation here yesterday, and about how much I didn’t want to hear any negative self-talk. And there wasn’t any.
By the end of the night, I was feeling a bit bad about assuming there would be a problem, but a friend of mine who was there said she was sure it was due to the what-for I gave them all at the beginning of class. She’s probably right, I can be pretty direct.
Lesson learned. Intimidate them before they have a chance to get out of hand. :-).
I also brought a wide variety of finished objects, along with all my Interweave Knits magazines, and a few books so they could see what was out there, and then I told them that everything they see is accomplished by manipulating the two stitches that they have already learned. I saw some eyes brighten at that, and that was rewarding.
I am still working on the socks, although they remain barely more than cuffs. After knitting a bit in the garter rib pattern, I decided that coupled with the color of yarn I was using, it looked too masculine. So I ripped it out and am continuing in the 2×2 rib of the cuffs.
I told you they don’t match.
Also, I’m thinking about getting a negative scanner. Any thoughts?
January 11th, 2006 at 3:03 am
Fantastic! I’m so glad it went well. Also, having the class cut in half must have reduced the worry as well. More time to spend with each person and all that.
I’ve never been into the long tail cast on. I don’t know why…I enjoy doing it and it’s faster than knitting on or the cable one, but those are my standbys for some reason. Probably because when I do long tail, I need a much larger needle but the other two I can do without increasing needle size.
One of the people I taught is always twisting her knit stitches (I just found out). But because I haven’t seen her actually do it, I don’t know if it’s because she’s knitting tbl or just wrapping the yarn in the opposite direction.
January 11th, 2006 at 3:24 am
I like the differences! I wear mismatched socks and earrings all the time — it’s double the fun that way.
January 12th, 2006 at 2:18 am
Congrats on the class, I’m glad it went well.
I have been thinking of getting a slide scanner, one with an auto feed. All of my famly pictures are on slides . . . thousands and thousands of slides. Come to think of it, so are Dh’s family pics. Let us know how the negative scanner search goes.
January 12th, 2006 at 2:29 pm
It sounds like your knitting class was a big hit! That’s great. I always prepare for the worst and later find out that I’m pleasantly relieved. Whew.