Multi-Tasking in This Lifetime

Last year, I bought knitting needles and spools of yarn in June. I had high hopes of getting a scarf or a beanie going by the end of winter. Winter is from June to August. I thought that I would be able to come up with something decent in three months time.

In my blog post Knit and Purl I wrote about my intention of finishing a 5"x5" square.

What was I thinking?!! I must have been dreaming.

I managed to get the first 5" out of the way. I had gone through the motions of casting on the required number of stitches.

I knitted a couple of rows ... literally.

The stitches were uneven. It didn't look nice. I didn't like them. (MyGirl's work was heaps better than mine.)

My knitted work looked wonky (if there is such a word) and I was not happy, not happy at all.

I didn't even get to 5" x 1". I stashed the yarn and the needles away.

That was last year.

About a month ago, my sister-in-law's sister-in-law (did you get that?) enrolled in a knitting class. She was the beginner in the class but when I saw her work, I was quite impressed. And that was just after ONE class.

I asked myself -- Do I have hope? Dare I imagine that I can actually knit something decent?

YES! Of course there is hope. One must NEVER lose hope.

I borrowed a couple of knitting books again from the library. (But I also borrowed a whole stack of other books which I ended up reading, leaving the knitting books in the library bag until I had to renew them.)

Yes, I dug up the knitting needles and the yarn but they sat stationary beside the library bag.

That was about three weeks ago.

A couple of days ago, on the bus on my way to the office, I sat beside this lady who was knitting a scarf. She had already gone through several colour changes and was working on rows of beige. I noted her nimble fingers and her even stitches. I noted that her yarn was much thicker than the one I had at home. She was knitting all the way from Castle Hill to Sydney while listening to her MP3 player.

It was a sign. Time to open the book and get the knitting needles to do some crossing.

After dinner on Friday, MyGirl helped me figure out the steps on how to knit. She had to show me how to cast on several times before I was able to get the hang of it. I decided I wouldn't go for an ambitious 5" this time. I didn't even count how many stitches I had cast on. I just decided to stop at a certain point and go for the second row.

I tried to mimic the way the lady on the bus was holding her yarn. I checked some sites in youtube to see how things were supposed to be done. I couldn't replicate the way the lady on the bus wound the yarn around her fingers. I decided as long as the stitches looked decent, I would be happy.

I think I managed to finish five or six rows that evening. It looked nice. I was happy.

While I was knitting, RD handed me over the book Catching Fire which he had borrow from his friend. This book is the second in Suzanne Collins's trilogy. RD had borrowed the first book, The Hunger Games, from his school library some time back after I had told him that I wanted to read them but the copies in the public library were always on reserve.

Oh boy, what is one to do? Knit or read? Read or knit?

I decided why not do both?

So after I ironed the clothes on Saturday, I sat myself down in the living room with my knitting stuff on my lap and the book on the floor.

Here is my knitting at page 246.

Here it is at page 369.

I honestly didn't think I would find myself knitting in this lifetime.

I have absolutely no idea how long it will take to knit this whole ball of yarn. I also don't know how long the end product (eventually a scarf?) will be.

I do know that this labour of love, finished or unfinished, will forever be treasured as my first (and fingers crossed, not only) knitted piece.

I know I am two winters too late, but God willing, I will have more winters to go.