Yesterday my children started their new school year. I'm not one of those parents that cheer for this day as I enjoy, rather we enjoy spending time together. But I did as any normal parent would do when faced with a few hours of alone time ... I headed to our local Borders bookstore and hooked up with another crocheter for coffee. We had a great time catching up and I even got some more rows done on my scarf for the Scarf Contest that will be held at the upcoming NYC "Knit Out & Crochet Too" event. At one point a woman sitting across the cafe approached me and complimented me on my knitting. "Oh! It's not knitted," she exclaimed as she petted the airy softness of my scarf.
"No," I replied with a big grin, "it's not."
"Oh, I see that now; you only have one stick in your hand," she commented.
"Yes, it's a crochet hook."
"You're right," she said. "I should have recognized that. Your work is beautiful."
I thanked her. If I were reading a mystery novel I might have thought that would be "foreshadowing" -- a hint of things to come later on. But since it was real life, heh, I just took it at face value. A compliment from a knitter; I like when that happens!
After picking my children up from school we then headed into NYC for another "Knit Out & Crochet Too" meeting. Upon walking into the conference room nothing looked "unusual" ... until we took our seats. This is when Mary, the coordinator of the event, announced there were no crochet hooks for us to create the "starts" with. This meant that all the volunteers involved in planning this big event would be busy knitting them. GASP!!
"Oh, hmmm," I quietly said. "I'm not a knitter. I use those sticks to keep my hair up." As the meeting took place with many plans coming to a close I looked around the room. Everyone had needles in their hands, knitting. Even my daughter! I felt left out of the party. Could I possibly remember how to create those stitches with out twisting & warping them? As I wondered why I never quite found the time to practice a little, I asked my daughter for her help.
She climbed on my lap, cast on a bunch of stitches and did the first row. "Now you do the next row," she encouraged. I took a deep breath and took her lead. "Like this," I asked.
"Yes, Mommy."
"Are you sure I'm not pulling the yarn up the wrong way; the way you end up twisting your stitches?"
"You're doing fine, Mommy."
"I'm at the end, I don't remember. Do I chain one to turn?"
"No Mommy." (I swear she rolled her eyes at me!) "That's crochet you're thinking about." She took the hooks needles and began the next row effortlessly. Fearlessly. "OK, Mommy, I did the third row, you do the last."
I did, and I think our little "start" we created came out pretty good (see image #2). For dramatic effect I could say we continued on but fortunately sadly they ran out of yarn. I really should put in some more practice time with the sticks!
Some details from the meeting:
1. There will be Knit and Crochet Speed trials. If you're fast with your stitches, then this is the place to enter!
2. The New York City Crochet Guild pledged 1,000 preemie hats for the Caps to the Capital" campaign. Make that 994 now as Barbara, the NYCCG President, got six from me yesterday. (See image six; she didn't care that I hadn't tucked my ends in; "I'll do it for you honey," she said. "Just be sure to get me four more!") {{chuckles}} If you'll be attending the KOC2, why not see how many you can donate too! Click here for the details & free patterns!
3. It's not too late to submit your Doggie Fashions! Click here for the details!
Lastly I want to thank my son for being our photographer yesterday; I think he did a wonderful job, don't you?Tags: crochet, knit, koc2, Knit Out, Knit Out & Crochet Too, needles, hooks, NYC, caps for the capital