I Will Never Take Another Class Again

If you want to feel like a complete idiot, take a class from a renowned knitting teacher when you're out of remission, feel like shit, and are so tired that you can barely hold your head up.

But first, the haul of the day. The Yarn Fairy was very good to the Goddess.

First of all, I bought some sock patterns. I'm bored with the patterns I have, so I decided to get some that I haven't tried before. With the exception of one, they're all by Wendy.



The patterns standing in the back are all Wendy's; they're "Frog Warts", "Garden Path", "River Run", and "Tangled Vines". The smaller one in front is by Heartland Knits and is called "Fanning the Flames". That one is going to be a challenge. I don't know if I'm ready for a challenge right now, but when I am, it's there.

Along with the patterns was some yarny goodness to cheer me up. All of the yarns are by Yarn Pirate with the exception of the yellow skein; that one is by Yarntini. I would have bought more Yarntini (I love the base they use), but none of the other colors really spoke to me. The small blue skein in the front was purchased at the show today; it's 100% silk by Red Fish. In fact, it's the replacement for the yarn I bought from them yesterday. I went back to get another skein because I was afraid I'd run out, and they had already sold out of it! So I had to buy another color. As it was, they only had three of these. I bought two - even though it's 400 yards, it's also knit on size 000 needles. As you all know, that will take more yarn. Enjoy!



What happened today? What didn't?

First of all, I got a grand total of 45 minutes sleep last night. I had a feeling that today would be a challenge since my sleeping schedule is so out of whack. But I gave it the old college try and failed (just like I did in real college). I figured that I would be okay since I snoozed during the evening, but you have to remember that I haven't been in my bed for a week. When my body hit it, it was like meeting an old friend. I just didn't want to get up. But get up I did, put on my sweats (it was cold today), and off to class I went.

For those of you who don't know, Nancie Wiseman is a well-known knitting teacher and has written some killer books. Today's class was on Fine Finishing. No problem, right? I've been finishing garments for years. The techniques she was teaching were new to me and just ingenious; you sewed the seam, pulled the sewing yarn, and it just disappeared. I was using hot pink (the lovely yarn I got from Lion Brand yesterday) on a soft peach swatch, and you just couldn't see it, either front or back. I so wanted to learn all about it. But then something happened.

My head hit the table.

As it turns out, the lady sitting next to me knew me from Sacramento (told you I can't go anywhere without someone knowing me). When I formed the guild there, she and some of her friends came to the first meeting to see if they could help with the organization (she belongs to an old and well-established guild in the northern part of Sacramento). Anyway, she gently nudged my arm, which woke me right up. She had to do that three times. Nancie knew what was going on, because every time she walked by me, she gently laid her hand on my shoulder. I just love her. I managed to make it through the first half of the class, but to my horror, my brain wasn't working. I just couldn't pick up what Nancie was laying down. I felt stupid. I felt like a loser. I felt like 47 years of knitting was for nothing. I was in tears. Nancie saw what I was going through and came up to me after the class broke for lunch. She asked me if I should maybe consider going home for the day. I told her that Hubster was coming to have lunch with me and that I was sure I would be fine. She nodded and set off for the fashion show (she was in it). I went to the hotel lobby to wait for Hubster.

He showed up right on time, and we went to the hotel restaurant for lunch. They have an excellent restaurant; it's the place we had dinner last night. I ordered a burger, which turned out to be two huge patties stacked on top of each other. No way could I eat the whole thing. The fries that came with it were sublime. Hubster had a Reuben, but it turned out to be soggy. I guess it's hard to make a Reuben correctly. Since I don't like anything about them, I've never made one. We talked during lunch, and he told me I needed to come home and sleep. I finally agreed and went off to the market where the fashion show was occurring so I could tell Nancie I was leaving. I also needed to buy that extra yarn. I lucked out; she was just coming off the runway when I came up. I told her I was leaving, she hugged me and said she'd see me tomorrow, and I took off.

We got home and Hubster told me to go to bed. I had every intention of doing just that, but I wanted to check my mail or something first. Well, I fell asleep at the keyboard again. Worse than that, I burned the numerical keypad with my ciggie. The number 5 is now obliterated. Hubster wasn't home - he had to go to an appointment - so he wasn't around to save me from myself. I also burned a hole in my favorite old Disneyland sweatshirt. I was so pissed off that it finally woke me up.

What really upset me about the class today was that there were techniques I really wanted to learn. I also had such a hard time yesterday that I feel like I look like a total idiot to Nancie. Everyone else was getting it; why couldn't I? I think it was the total lack of sleep and the overriding pain. It was just too much.

So I've decided to never take another class again. I'll finish out the series with tomorrow's class - Cast On and Bind Offs. If I fuck that up, then I'm heaving my knitting bag over the rail on top of some conventioneer and going to the bar. Nancie sad to me that she thought everyone in the class should go to the bar during a break. I love her to death. Oh... and I had her autograph my book today. She wrote the coolest inscription I've ever seen. It was incredible.

Especially for a moron like me.