Finish Your Knitting

As you may have observed, I have a problem finishing my knitting projects.  I don’t lack enthusiasm or the will to execute; I lack, well, quite frankly, patience.  I get bored easily while knitting so I try to choose projects that I can finish quickly before I become disinterested.  I wish I was one of those people for whom knitting is relaxing, but I am not. Writing relaxes me and that’s why I write this blog, but if I don’t have any knitting projects for which I can write posts, then I’ve got myself quite a conundrum, don’t I?

For post material, I do a lot of cooking and baking, but knitting is so cathartic….and I yearn to proudly say “yes, I knitted this sweater!”

One day I'm browing through a magazine and I see a plain black sweater embellished with a white knitted Peter Pan collar.  So onto ravelry.com I go to see if there was a pattern and, sure enough, there was a cute little number, a pattern called "Sophie" by Jones Vandermeer.  This little gem will gussy up any plain sweater and to knit it, all I need is a ball of yummy white cashmere yarn, a crochet hook, some ribbon, and size 7 straight needles, but – what do you know – I don’t have size 7 straight needles. Off to the local knitting store, Finely A Knitting Party I go.  I procure the required knitting needles and the latest copy of KnitSimple and while exchanging pleasantries, Kathy, the shop’s owner, asked me how my knitting was coming.  I explained that I had more on the needles than a reasonable person should and she said “Oh, we have a class for knitters like you, it’s called ‘Finish Your Knitting’ and we are meeting Friday at 1:00.”   

This is the perfect kind of class for me…I enroll.

I arrive at the appointed time and there are several other perfectly delightful knitters joining me. 

While we knitted, Kathy made her rounds to check on our progress, right our knitting wrongs, and/or suggest fixes.  Additionally, there was a steady stream of customers including one in particular visiting her family from Kansas who knitted this lovely little frock...

The pattern is called “Daybreak” from designer Stephen West. 

Another knitter presented the West creation she knitted called “ClockWork.”

Both are absolutely stunning.

And, finally, thanks to Kathy’s gentle push, I can happily report that I finished the capelet I’ve been knitting.

I will gussy this little number up with some ribbons and other bobbles.  I wrote about the beautiful pattern here.

Now it’s on to sock class in mid-January.  The class meets every other week but the approach is brilliant….learn the skills and knit one sock in class, practice the skills learned and knit the other sock during the off week. Because, what good is one sock?