Post Sandy Entertainment

Last week was a very trying one here in NYC.  It was eerie to see half the city dark and partially underwater.  There was an underlying current of anxiety in every New Yorker that was unsettling.  People were charging their electronics in the streets at any available outlet that had electricity running through it.  Mass transit had come to a standstill which lead to thousands of people walking blocks with no street or traffic lights and only a flashlight to alert cars on the road that they were trying to cross the street.  It was a strange feeling.

Feeling helpless and a little guilty that I still had electricity, I offered my apartment to a friend who had no power the whole week.  To entertain ourselves I taught her and another friend to KNIT!!!  I am by no means an expert knitter.  I have only been knitting for about a year and only just recently moved on from knitting scarf after scarf to knitting gloves, hats, and learning how to do a cable.

One thing I learned was how hard it is to teach someone to knit!  I have a whole new respect for knitting teachers.  There's only so many times you can show someone how to do something before you have to hand over the needles and let them ty it themselves.  Everyone has to learn how to hold the needles and get their own rhythm and coordination down by actually knitting on their own.  I love the online resources that are available to someone just learning to knit.  KnittingHelp.com and The Knit Witch are 2 awesome resources with videos that you can watch over and over to perfect your knitting!

I am happy to report that all my students (or both of them) are still knitting over a week later.  And today I am going with one of my students (and good friend) to pick out her own supplies.  She is going to knit a scarf for the Red Scarf Project which I wrote about last week and can be found here.

2 new skeins to make some fun hats!

We are also all knitting scarves and hats for Make It Better: Craftalong For Sandy Relief.  We are all very fortunate that our power, heat, and water has returned but there are many people in NY/NJ where this is not true and may not be true for a very long time.  If you are a knitter/crocheter/sewer and would like to donate you can find the info here.

First time trying reversible cable!

Wishing you big waves and an artful day,

~C