A few years ago when I first decided to bite the bullet and teach myself to knit, I like many scoured the pages of amazon.com for the perfect knitting how-to book. And like many I ended up with Debbie Stroller’s Stitch-N-Bitch. From the first time I opened the stiff pages I knew that I wanted to find a knitting group to join.
Although the members welcomed me with open arms, the nearest group was an inconvenient hour drive away. It wasn’t to be…and I was sad, so I decided then and there that one day when I found a fellow knitter I would have to form a group of my own.
Since then I have kept an eye out for the hint of needles or a handmade scarf peeping out of someone’s bag. There are no local yarn shops here, but everytime I ventured into the local Hobby Lobby I looked for others amongst the yarn. I mean for heaven’s sake, someone had to be using the needles and yarns they were stocking. I even went so far as to ask the lady in the yarn department if she knew of a knitting group only to be told that they mostly cater to crocheters, a fact to which I can attest. There are a wealth of crocheting women in my county, an overabundance, a plethora even, and though I know how to crochet and have since childhood, it never did it for me the way knitting does.
So despite my best efforts I hadn’t managed to find anyone who knit and I was faced with the somewhat scary realization that if I wanted someone to knit with, then it was up to me to teach them. My first victim was my brother who I basically guilted into being my guinea pig. I did teach him to knit successfully, but it didn’t stick. Then I begged his roommate to let me teach him as well. Once he agreed he picked it up quickly. He still knits and from what I hear has even taught a few people himself (Yeah Will!) I have taught people since then, but for one reason or another I don’t get to see any of them much.
Finally I was able to teach was my closest friend who had recently moved back from England with her husband and two girls. She has embraced it and over the past year or so we do our best to get together to knit while our girls play.
It was on one of these play-dates that the subject of forming a knitting group resurfaced. With two of us to help out newbie knitters with the basics, the idea of forming a group seemed doable. So I sent out an email to a handful of ladies I thought might be interested in learning the craft and hopefully there will be some interest and we can meet after the new year begins.

Onto other things knitterly, I finished my LMKG legwarmers this weekend and realized that I will probably have enough to do another pair of fetching (for me-finally) so I cast on for those last night. I thought I would try adding beads between cable rows so I will work on those today and post pictures of both the finished legwarmers and the in-progress-beaded fetching tonight. Hopefully the fetching will look good with beads since I have 4 pairs to make before Christmas and adding beads will break up the monotony of knitting 4 of the same pattern.