I’m a knit-wit in stitches!
Ok, I dunno if I’ve shared this before or not, so here goes:
I’ve always been knitting-ly challenged! I tried learning to knit not long after learning to crochet (roughly 20 years ago) — I couldn’t grasp the concept.
I’d walk away from it for years, try again, Fail Sucessfully!
Then a friend of mine sent some handmade knitting needles to my son, who had shown some interest in knitting (just because I couldn’t and he wanted to show me up, but I digress) He had difficulty with knitting, and came to me( 
)
for help — well, that’s was for not, since I was better at stabbing myself in the eyes with needles than actually getting stitches from one needle to the other.
Well, last month, another crocheter in my local knit/crochet group said “Hey, let’s learn to knit together!” Um, ok — she was aware of my knit issues, but was sure that this time would be different.
Well, she was right. Do you know how GREAT it is to learn to do a craft with a real person in front of you?!!!
I was moving those stitches… LEFT… RIGHT… LEFT… RIGHT! Wahoo — I was knitting!
It was on my 2006 Goals list, so I was so happy to have one more thing crossed off! Now, I had cast on, knit, and bind off — I could go places with those skills! But I couldn’t get PURL. Purl was like a mean aunty. Now matter what I did, she just wasn’t complying.
Well, I grabbed my old copy of FCEK (Family Circle Easy Knitting plus crochet) and read through the purl instructions, tried it, and it stuck!
YEEEEEE HAW! Cast on, Knit, Purl, Bind off — I was going places!
Now, fast forward all that to this weekend. I set out to make my first knit project — a drawstring bag for my oldest DD’s overnight trips to Opa’s.
No one ever told me it was a RPITA to keep all those stitches happily going left & right! No one said you can’t just FROG something if you mess up. I mean, you can, but not easily!
I was 1/4 through my bag when I started screwing up. I can’t tell knits from purls. I would put down the needles to care for the dog (grr) or something else, come back to my work and SCREAM!!! WTF happened to my stitches. I couldn’t remember if I was purling or knitting a row, so I would do what I thought I was doing, only to end up UNKNITTING! So, I took that whole bad boy apart and started over. 
DH kept telling me to put it down, cuz he was looking at my face everytime I’d unknit and see the true frustration in my face. He suggested making up another felted tote (crocheted, of course) to make me feel better. 
At the same time, I’m also crocheting a bag for my youngest DD, using a knit pattern that I converted to a crochet pattern.
I’ve almost finished it, while the knit bag is about 1/8 done.
I’m determined to finish the bag. I don’t think I’ll be a crocheter and knitter, but I am glad that I was finally able to beat the 21 year old beast that kept me from learning to knit.
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