A Knitting Story

This story was mostly written in class on Friday but I've edited it a bit since then. Enjoy!

The last time I picked up my knitting needles was Wednesday. I was sitting in the Dunedin Public Library. My friend was there and we were filling in time before picking up the boys from piping. Knitting is very useful for filling in time. One or two rows can be done in a short space of time and it saves sitting around waiting and wasting time. I find that I get less impatient when I'm knitting as I am still achieving something while waiting.   We sat in a corner of the children's section at the library. It was quiet and warm. We discussed whether the pattern I was doing would work since I'd left the cable needle at home. It didn't matter cause I wasn't up to that part yet. I was still doing the hat band which was in ribbing. Ribbing is knit one, purl one, knit one etc.... It has a rhythm and is quite relaxing. Because I was in a warm quiet place and the rhythm of the needles made me feel relaxed and peaceful. We were there for about 15 minutes and then picked the boys up. Back at home we picked up our knitting needles again. I sat at the dining room table and finished the ribbing section. We were all chatting and when it came to doing the next piece of the pattern I accidentally skipped a row. The result of this was I had to unknit that row and go back to the one I had missed. It was late (10.30pm) and I found it hard to concentrate on figuring out the new piece of pattern while engaging in a conversation with the others. The new pattern was more complex and knitting complex things takes more concentration. Since the boys were there as well the conversation was more general not so much discussing what we were working on. This meant switching from a social conversation to trying to count stitches. Since I was having trouble doing this late at night both activities, my knitting and my conversation suffered. I got completely lost in my knitting so in the end had to give up halfway through a row (That meant more unknitting on Saturday). My conversation was affected like this "Oh really why was that? knit one, purl one. No I'm listening" or "Hang on a minute just checking my stitches, one two three.....122, what were you saying?". None of us minds this sort of conversation interruption as it is a common occurrence, however with other people I would have given up sooner. The boys were also doing other things at the same time so they were equally distracted.  Having my knitting needles around was useful when the boys got irritating! A little amateur acupuncture was in order.... I enjoyed knitting while chatting because I felt like I was using my time well. I am knitting another hat for mum since the first one came out too small. I'm using the same red wool that I bought at the Elna shop when I went shopping with another friend. It was on special then so I bought two 100g balls. Good thing since now I have enough to make a second hat that will actually fit my mother. The new pattern i'm doing is one that my friend has tried several times before. I really like the way that it turns out. It has cable in it which I haven't done before so I will be gaining a new skill as well. It will be helpful since my friend has done it before she can show me what to do if I get stuck.