Someone is learning how to knit cables! Hey, that’s me! I took a class (surprise!) and there was some pre-class homework to do for the initial ribbing. I finished the ribbing and thought I’d just dive right into the cabling task. I had seen cabling demonstrated once and I thought, you know, Nike-wise: Just Do It.

So I did it! And what did I learn in class? That I was holding my knitting backwards, or inside-out, sort of. That means when the pattern said “hold the cable needle in front” I was actually holding it in back. This is not a problem, as long I’m consistent and hold it in back for the rest of the pattern, now that I’ve oriented my knitting correctly.

Alpaca yarn from Alpacas raised by the Ply! Yarn shop owner, Kathy Utts, in Wimberley, Texas

I also learned that even though it sounds easy to count to 5 (purl stitches) and 6 (knitting stitches), sometimes I didn’t make that happen. One of my fellow knitters suggested using a marker at each stitch change and then I wouldn’t have the opportunity to miscount on each row (assuming I got the first row correct). Whoa! Great idea . . . for the next project.

I actually am learning something new each day.

Every few years I decide to take up knitting again. I knit a few scarves and then move on to another hobby. This year I decided to take a class. (I love taking classes!)

As most of us in the beginning class knew a little something about knitting already, we each decided to make a cowl. Here’s how it goes: Cast on 70 stitches. Join. Knit while the working yarn is thin; purl when the working yarn is thick. Bind off.

How hard can it be?

hahahahahahahaha

Here’s what I ended up with.

Cowl in progress. Looking okay.

Finished cowl. Not so sure about it now.

I was so proud of myself for finishing the cowl before the second class, that is, until I showed my work to the instructor. She was very nice; one of those who murmurs, “Well, isn’t that interesting.”

One problem I had is that I didn’t know what it was supposed to look like. Somehow the instructor hadn’t shown us the shop sample in the first class. Oh.

Shop sample. Mine doesn’t look anything like it.

Where did I go wrong? Probably in more than one place, from the looks of it. I bought another skein of yarn and tried it again.

My second effort.

Here are both cowls, the first effort on top. I’m not sure what to do with the first one. It’s too short to be a hula skirt.