In many ways Lotte and I are poles apart: while I write about bridge design, she tackles the world of corporate clothing and traffic engineering, although not in the same publication. She believes in dragons, is intimately acquainted with the world of Harry Potter, and is addicted to poker. But now she has a new passion: knitting!
I have been boring her with tales of my ongoing projects for some time now, and just before christmas I noticed a flicker of interest taking hold. Perhaps it was the trip to the yarn department of John Lewis that finally did it; she went on a mission to buy me a birthday present (the yarn that became the Killer Tea Cosy) and came back with wide eyes and the thrill of discovery in her voice.
So this week I brought in some yarn (leftover Alpaca from the last felted tea cosy I made) and some needles, and taught her to knit. I cast on 30 or so stitches (plenty of time to learn that when you've mastered the basics) and showed her how to knit. A few rows later she was confident enough to learn how to purl, and with that I sent her home to practise.
What happened in the intervening days taught me that Lotte and I have much more in common than I previously thought. She wasn't afraid of the stitches; having bored of stocking stitch, she decided to try rib. But not realising that you have to move the yarn back and forward between the knitting and purling, she made up her own version and somehow ended up with twice the number of stitches and some rather fetching 'lace' holes. They were all evenly spaced, however, and very neat, so it actually looks like it's intentional.
It's very flattering to have such a skilled and enthusiastic student; I am predicting great things for Lotte's knitting future. Watch this space for future progress.
No comments:
Post a Comment