It's the process, not the product that interest me.

I now know why I love making art quilts better than anything else I have ever tried. In the process of making an art quilt I can altered the steps in a number of ways from concept to completion of the product. Knitting for me does not give me the same options and I find I am easy BORED with a repetitious process and following directions laid down by others. Not unlike making 25 of the same traditional quilt blocks.

This is probably the reasons I have started many KNIT projects and not finished ones. You see once I know I can do it I lose interest. Once I know I can make a sleeve the second one doesn't get made or the second half of the front. And when I lose interest in a project MY BRAIN TURNS OFF AND I SNORE. This goes for TV programs, books, needlepoint, knittng and several other activities I won't bore you by mentioning.

It really was NICE and FUN getting out yesterday. I had a reason put on a dress and some lipstick. I felt like part of the community. I met three women. I only remember one name. One younger one on the right is working on her Master's in Pychology. The one on the left was in town from St. Louis because her husband was riding in a two day 150 mile charity race. She confessed she a snobbish knitter and will tell all who ask, "SHE DOESN'T KNIT SOCKS" but there she was knitting her first pair. For her away from home project she showed us the front of a sweater she was working on in an off white yarn. Very nice. Sorry no photo.

When I asked is she minded me taking her picture for by blogs she was agreeable, but said,
"If any of my knitting friends see me on your blog and comment, I'll blame it on boredom."

The prospect of sitting alone in her hotel room while her husband biked for the day didn't appeal to her and she went online and found that the Knit shop was on the same street as her hotel and just the other side of the interestate. So she came for the company and it just so happened that there was a sock making class that she COULD TAKE.

The one sitting next to me ( no photo) was a jack of all trades so to speak, she was a weaver, a knitter and an art quilter. She mentioned some groups and guilds that were active in the area that I might look into. I remembered that her name was Lisa and she said she had an exhibit of her art quilts at the "Unity Center" I knew where that was, but was unable to get into the building when I stopped by on my way home.

All four of us were making a toe up sock from a different pattern with different starting instructions. We kept Rebecca hopping.

Rebecca or "Bek" as her coffee cup read was the manager of the shop and instructor. The knit shop is owned by her mother along with another fiber shop in the area that is geared more toward weavers and spinners.

There was a crochet class going on at the same time as our knitting class.

The entire staff at the knit shop from young teen girls to older ladies are great. Friendly and helpful; so much so that I had often ordered yarn from them from Louisville.

Here are some shots of the small group and some of the shop and the little bit that I got done in two hours on try three of the toe up sock while listening to the instructions for three other ways of starting a toe up sock. The funny thing was that each of us through our way of doing it was easy.


I ripped out and started my toe up sock twice because I was unhappy with the look of the first two tries. I've started socks from the top down. Blaaah. Toe up was interesting until I understood the process and had mastered it to my satisfaction.

I also taught myself how to knit in the round using one long circular needle after observing one of the other ladies use that technique for her sock. Now that was way cool and the only way to go after I got a handle on it too. No more dropped stitches, no more worrying about keeping the stitches on each double point or maintaining the same tension when moving from one needle to the other, which also prevents the laddering that can occur between needles and the joining of the first round is done very neatly. Now my double pointed needle collection is adoptable by anyone who is interested in having them. I'm only buying 36 to 40 inch circulars from now on.