I've come to realize that my two hobbies have A LOT of stuff associated with them. Needles & Pens, Yarn & Paper, Patterns & Pictures, both use sissors. Needless to say I have to haul all of this around when I go to events and classes.
Last night was the first night of the knitting class I teach at Casper College. We have a huge class this semester - woo hoo! Darlene is teaching 5 new crocheters and I have 10 (yes, count them, 10) new knitters. And 4 of them are teenagers! This will be the largest group of new knitters I have had to teach - but I think I shall be able to manage.
On the first night of class I always haul everything to show the students what this new hobby involves. They get to see and feel and squish all the different types of yarn - lace, fingering, sport, worsted, bulky, wool, cotton, alpaca, llama, silk, bison, seacell, hemp, etc. They get to see all of the types of tools - needles (straight, circular, double pointed), gauges, rulers, cable needles, yarn needles, stitch holders, stitch markers. And they get to see the finished projects - I tear apart my house pulling out scarves, hats, gloves, sweaters, dish clothes, socks, shawls, blankets, and the like. The fall semester always has more of the finished projects to display as I am knitting Christmas presents. The spring semester does not have a much - just photos. I try not to overwhelm everyone with all of this - I just try to get them excited about the semester and all of the cool projects they get to create.
Tonight I am off to a scrapbooking retreat for the weekend. Instead of yarn and needles, my car is now loaded with paper, albums, and photos. We will be up on Casper Mountain for the next 48 hours! The golf pro claims that this is just an excuse for us girls to escape and drink beer for the weekend. He is right - I do have beer in the car. But we will be doing a lot of scrapbooking! I plan on getting my knitting album caught up, and I will also be working on the album from when I did my year abroad in 1994. Talk about a trip down memory lane.
Maybe I'll have photos to post of my adventures. For a scrapbooker I sure hate to take photos.
To keep you amused until then, here is photo of my mom wearing the shawl I knit her. It is out of Malabrigo yarn - the wool/silk blend. Yummy. And this is the Clapotis Scarf/Shawl:
