My Adventure Into Sock Making!

So far this month:  I have been productive, but not much to show for it. LOL

I talked my friend (Charlene)  into taking a sock knitting class with me.  A few years ago we took a beginner's knitting class.  We are a wiz on knitted dish cloths.  I did manage to get a few more knitting projects done, a couple of scarves, 2 Wallaby sweaters for my grandchildren, and a few other things.  But, by no means do I consider myself a true "knitter". I really do find it relaxing and I do enjoy it.

Now, so I drag my friend into the quilt/knit shoppe.  We sign up for the class, and the teacher of the class so happens to be there when we do it.  So, she says, why don't we just get started and we will have that much more done when we come in for our first class.  Doesn't sound like a bad idea.....so 3 hours later we leave to come back the following week.  I think we have like maybe 3 inches sewn?

I end up tearing out what I had done at the shop, my friend does also.  She was watching  Char knit and told her she was knitting the stitches wrong.  So, she tears them out, Char starts again.  Char comes over to my house a few days later to show me her progress, and I ask her why she is knitting that way.........cause the lady told her to!  We look it up in my books, cause at that point I am thinking I am doing it wrong.  Nope.........the teacher lady was wrong.  She must have been looking at my friend upside down?

So once again, my friend tears her knitting out..........  Following week we go in to start the heal.  After 2 hours knitting, not understanding a darn thing (because she doesn't have the pattern for us to follow, she just takes our work and does some stitches and gives the work back to us).  (Or she takes our work, tears it out, and hands it back for us to re-do. Not understanding why, just doing.)  We head out to lunch. We come back, we have to scramble to get our chairs back.  You see, not only is she teaching us, but it is an open knit.  Around the table are 7-8 knitters, all doing something different.....she is helping us all.  Talk about confusing (the teacher was getting a little flustered herself...she's good, she knew how to help everyone, but it was frustrating to see her work so hard).  After 5 hours of knitting..........we looked at each other and knew we were done for the day, and left.

Third time is the charm?  No.  We finally get the pattern, but it is nothing like we are doing.  We are learning on small circular needles and the instructions are for 4 dbl. needles.  We are doing different number of stitches than the pattern calls for too.  Talk about lost.  After another couple hours.....we leave for lunch.  Come back, more knitters at the table.  Someone comes in and asks if she is teaching a class.....she said no.  What???? We thought we were still taking lessons.  So she takes a few minutes to sell a private job for herself .......and we are left to try and finish our "gusset" .  Finally, we bid goodbye, and hope I can figure out the toe from the so called pattern at home.   She said we need to come back for the toe ...........I am thinking no-way.

Are you still with me?  My family gets tired of the endings to my stories too.  So smarty me,  I find a pretty easy looking pattern on u-tube.  LOL   So I said to myself, everything fits pretty good so far, I can figure out the toe part of the pattern.  No, there will be no pictures of the toe of my sock, thank you. Once again, back to the internet again,  find another easy looking sock, and I am now working on that.  If this one comes out, I will tear out the end of that first sock and no one will be the wiser.  Oh, I do not want to go back into that crazy store for her to help us with our "toes".  

The moral of the story, I don't think there is one.  But, probably for a good wool sock you could buy at a department store, you would pay around $10.00??  We got a bargain, our pair of socks, if we finish, will only have cost us $60.00 (needles,yarn,lesson)........plus the 3 trips into the store.

I am sorry, I am laughing so hard I can hardly type.  Maybe someday in the future, I will share with you my completed pair of $60.00 knitted socks.     Again... LOL

Sharon.........
(Maybe I'll look for a crocheted sock pattern!!!! )