Knit-picky or knot....

So, my friend Marie gave me a washcloth that I adore, and I've always wanted to know how people make them. And since that time I keep running into people with a pile of string and knitwork or crochet in their laps, so I've decided to try my hand at it, armed with nothing but the Internet. AND, I am super excited to start a hobby that I never want to sell. It's just for me, and just to relax me, and make movie time a bit more productive.

I've found some great videos to help me along, because when it comes to knitting, I have no clue. I think it's just a bunch of knots tied together, and it is, but it sure is clever. Marie can knit all sorts of fun things, and I was really impressed with some of her projects. For me, I'll be thrilled with a washcloth.

I gave it a go last night and....well...I started with the 100% cotton yarn for washcloths, and I'm thinking this might have been a bad idea. I did make a cute little square I might wrap around a bar of soap, but the cotton yarn seems to catch on itself. So I need to run to the store and try some more slippery yarn for practice. But, I can now officially cast on, and do the knit stitch. And even a little binding. But...the sample piece is not very pretty, and even has one hole, so I must have missed a stitch. Some of the rows are haywire. But I'm getting a kick out of it. What a funny thing to do with sticks and yarn!

Here's a great video I found that talks about Continental Knitting, which I am learning, rather than the "throwing" kind. Whatever that means. I learned it from this site, which I like because the person in the videos sounds like Maggie Gylenhaal. I loved her character in Stranger Than Fiction, so it's fun to pretend she's teaching me to knit. Didn't her character seem like she could knit?

Here are some great beginning knitting links as well:

Knitting Help - My Favorite

Hipster Knitting

Tips for the Beginner

Simple Dishcloth Pattern

CyberSeams: How to Knit Videos

Monkey See Videos