AAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!

Never let an old lady who can't see touch your knitting!!!!!!

EVEN IF YOU NEED HELP!!!!

AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!

I finished my first bootie yesterday and it looked a little funny. She, one of the knitting shop owners, a woman who is quite old and seems to be almost blind, took hold of it, said it was lopsided and started to take it apart to see where the problem is. Because of the way the bootie was knit there were different ends in the same area and she got completely confused, started undoing different sections, got confused and totally mucked it all up. It was all I could do not to snatch it away from her and run out the door screaming! Then she complained about how small and tight the stitches were... I was using small yarn and US 3 needles (small needles)... so yes, the stitches were tight. After watching her struggling with the bootie for about 20 minutes and seeing it get further and further unravelled and disordered, and hearing her mutter about not being able to see, I finally asked if she wanted me to undo the stitches and I finally got it back. I was able to repair the damage, and while I did that I got a lesson in how I was knitting the wrong way and that the person who taught me taught me wrongly. That annoyed me to no end. My knit stitch may not be the standard way of knitting, but it's perfectly fine - and it's straight.

And my purl stitch... well, I'll admit I do purl incorrectly resulting in a twisted thread. But not because my mom taught me wrong, but because I'm not doing it correctly. I remember her telling me that I wasn't purling correctly when she taught me, and I ignored her and went my own way. It looks almost the same. Almost. For those in the know about knitting, I wrap the yarn in a clockwise direction when I purl rather than counter-clock-wise. This causes the stitch to get twisted. As I said, it looks almost the same.

Anyway, when I finally got back to where I had been with the bootie, with the exception of finishing off the last two rows, I gave it back to the old lady to look at... with much trepidation - didn't want her to muck it up again. She took a look at it and was surprised that my stitching was straight. I know she got confused between the moss stitch section and the garter knit section, plus the knitting of 2 stitches together when she was previously taking it all apart. And I know I knitted it together correctly. Anyway, as she said, I learned something by doing this... not that I knit and purl incorrectly, but to try not to let her get her hands on my knitting! Not unless I have the huge needles all the other women seem to knit with.

Still, I'll got back to the knitting shop because it's nice to meet other women and to socialize. Much as I love Don, sometimes spending time with other women is really nice too. Plus I'm enjoying knitting. It requires you to be really precise which fits in with the side of my personality that is more ... well, less flexible. And it's nice to create something.