My darling daughter was so amazed at my burgeoning knitting prowess that she asked me to knit her a scarf (beige) and a beanie (red) for her Christmas presents, to keep her warm whilst back-packing through Europe during the northern hemisphere winter.
I decided to start with the scarf, which really must be just like making one elongated square so I thought it couldn't be too hard. A special expedition to the wool shop in Blairgowrie was called for!
The wool shop was very daunting. Behind the counter were two elderly ladies who looked as if they had been knitting from the cradle; in the store were several ladies of all ages, knowledgeably discussing garter stitch, four needle patterns and fingering-weight mohair. Embarrassed at my complete lack of knitting jargon, I decided to wait until the shop emptied before approaching the counter. In the meantime, I explored the vast range of wools on offer until I was completely bamboozled - and couldn't put off the evil moment any longer.
Taking courage in both hands, I explained to the dumpier, fluffier elderly lady that I wished to make a beige scarf from really thick wool. "Oh, you need chunky," she said and she showed me her thickest wool that was on display, made into a complicated sweater. It was far too thick and the wool had tweedy flecks in it which I didn't think would pass muster. She then went behind the counter where there were more shelves of wool, located where customers couldn't go, so safe presumably from beginners like myself who might mess up the order of things. After looking at a myriad of cream and beige options, I settled on a lightweight chunky wool in creamy-beige called Hug.
I now raised the tricky subject of how many balls of wool and what sized needles I would need. As I knew how wide and long I wanted my scarf to be we were quickly able to decide on five balls and 8mm needles.
Emboldened, I needed to settle the final and most crucial issue: what stitch to use. As I only know one knitting stitch, I said, "So, er, would stocking stitch be the best way to go?"
A sort of stunned silence came over the store. I heard the woman next to me snigger. The elderly lady serving me took in a sharp intake of breath.
"Oh no! That will make it curl at the edges!"
"Ah, yes, of course," I said, shamefaced. "So what would you advise?"
Wrong question. I was then bombarded with several suggestions, none of which made the slightest sense to me. By this time, the queue of ladies waiting to make their purchases was quite lengthy, although no one seemed in too much of a hurry, I think they were bemused and amused by the floorshow and the fact that someone of my age could be quite so knitting-ignorant.
As it turned out, I didn't need to get involved in this part of the conversation. The ladies in the shop all started to debate the best stitch to knit a scarf and eventually the collective decided on two-rib.
"And, er, how do I do that?" I asked, risking the withering looks.
"Knit two, purl two," they crooned in unison.
"Or knit three, purl two. Or knit three, purl three," piped up the lady serving me, keen to maintain her position of superiority, or perhaps just to further confuse me.
There's evidently a lot to this knitting lark - and to think that next week I will have to return to the shop to broach the requirements for the red beanie ......
No comments:
Post a Comment