Forgive me Chuck, for I have SINNED.
I made a mistake - when I was helping my friend Chuck learn how to knit, I gave him the basics - how to knit, how to purl, casting on, changing colors, counting rows, understanding gauge, etc. but I didn't really cover preparation of yarn... specifically, what you can and can not knit from... you CAN knit from a skein of yarn - center pull or from the outside, I don't think there's a big difference. IF you have hand rolled your yarn into a ball, there's no problem - even using a ball winder, there's no issues...
what you can not do - is buy hanks of yarn, untie the little pieces of yarn that hold the hank together, and knit from the pile that remains...
Mind you, he had already started and had done considerable work on his scarf. He is visiting us for a few days and brought his yarn into the room (it looked like a pile of spaghetti) and my heart froze - I am so upset that I didn't tell him this vital piece of information! He has a fantastic attitude about it though - he's going to just keep knitting and pulling yarn, untangling as he goes and he's determined to finish his scarf.
What I CAN say about his knitting is that it's beautiful; perfect almost - he has amazing tension, he's changing colors like a pro, and ribbing like a madman... I'm sure in a few months, he'll be doing cables and fancy colorwork - it's just a matter of time.
I felt bad about my not fully instructing him, and actually attempted to gift him (a'la niecy nash from clean house) some bouton d'or yarn if he agreed to just throw out the wool he was working with... he's determined to finish his scarf - but this was his prize anyway...
sorry for not being the best teacher, Chuck! - I'll be sure to point this out for every new knitter I encounter... and for those of you who pass the craft onto your friends, make sure you mention this too... it's important information!
6 comments:
Don't worry Kyle - not matter what basics you cover there's always one that you've missed! Who'da thunk that Chuck would go out and pick skeins?!?
It's not too late to wind the yarn into center-pull balls; just put the end that goes to the scarf between two fingers and start wrapping. Of course at this point that might be a two-person job: winder and untangler.
I did exactly the same thing the first time I bought a hank of yarn so I have to admit your story made me chuckle a bit. It took me a long time to untangle the yarn but eventually it was done and hand wound into a ball. The good thing is that Chuck learned what to do with a hank!
Too funny! You only learn to knit once and now he has a fun story to tell about it.
But what about that yarn shop that didn't offer to wind it for him?
That was a great story. =) It totally made my night. Thanks for sharing!
Totally made me laugh out loud. I would never have thought to tell someone that either.
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