Slytherin Knitter

So...I knit now. You'd have to know me to understand how bizarre that is. I hate pink, shopping, shoes, and gossip on principle. I am not girly. I will never be girly. I have never been girly. Oh, what's that? You say you have proof I used to play with Barbies as a child? Have you shared this evidence with anyone else? No? Well then, why don't you take a little walk with me behind those dumpsters in that dark, secluded, never-patrolled-by-police alley? You get the idea.

And yet, I've had this nagging desire to learn to knit for a while. At first, I ignored it on principle. Knitting = very girly. Girly ≠ me. Thus, knitting ≠ me. Duh. Simple mathematics. But the desire persisted, so I gave in. I justified it this way: I like being warm; wool is very warm; why spend my practically non-existent income purchasing wool items when I could make them for 1/4 the store price?

But that's not really why I started knitting. I just wanted to. I was compelled. Like the need to write, it just wouldn't leave me alone until I succumbed. So, despite the massive damage dealt to my self image, I'm now a knitter. Guess I may as well enjoy it.


First project: Slytherin Scarf

Ten stripes in and I'm only slightly over halfway done. Awesome. Those green and gray strings dangling on the right side are the places where I cut the yarn to switch colors. They all need to be woven in later via sewing needle. Double Awesome. (Sewing = girly...)

Close up. The little Vs are the result of the stitch I'm using: stockinette. You knit one row, then purl one row (basically, reverse knit). Pretty much the simplest stitch there is, other than just plain knitting (garter stitch). And boy does it get boring when all you're working on is a fixed-width, flat, seemingly never-ending scarf. Knit, purl, knit, purl. I'm ready to tear my hair out. (You may not be able to see this in the pic above, but the scarf is being held by a length of gray string at the top. This is because I've taken the needles out (because I'm poor and only have one set up needles) to start a pair of mittens. I was afraid otherwise I might die of monotony.)

Back side of the scarf, also known as the wrong side. And yes, it does indeed look very wrong. You can see the color transitions and it's all bumpy from the purl stitches. If I weren't such a noob, I might have foresaw this and used a stitch that looks the same on both sides. Going to be awfully tough to keep my scarf from flipping over in the wind. (Also, notice how curled the edges are. This is an inevitability of stockinette stitch. Again, if I weren't such a noob, I could have prevented this (by edging the whole thing with a less curly stitch). But now at the end I shall have to try straightening them through a mysterious process called "blocking," which calls for steam and pins. Or I'll just have to live with the curly edges. Wonder which choice I'll make...

Anyway. That's all for now. More riveting adventures in knitting coming up. Or perhaps cats. I've got lots of those stories too. (See how exciting my life is? Don't you just wish you were me?)