Knit night

The fates conspired against me to finish the hat today. Lunchtime interruptions thwarted my knitting behind my closed office door. A pal instant messaged me. I was perfectly happy to chat, so that's a knitting discontinuation I don't mind at all. One of my brothers called me, which happens almost never, especially at work. He wanted to talk about my holiday flight options when he could have replied to my simple e-mailed question. (Getting a straight answer out of my family members can be quite a chore.) Before I knew it, lunch was over, and I needed to advise a student about her future.

Almost as soon as I got home from work I sat down to finish the first skein of yarn for the hat. I figured I could knit one more round before needing to join another. Midway through the round I was having a little trouble moving the stitches around on the needle. I then proceeded to pull several stitches off the needle on accident. I thought that I salvaged most of them--not the best assumption when working in the dark with black yarn--and took out a crochet hook to deal with the others. I managed to undo the damage except for two stitches. Defeated, I decided that I would suck up my pride and and let my request for help be my introduction at knit night.

Yes, this secret knitter went to a knit night at a LYS. It had been mentioned in a discussion thread on a local Ravelry group's forum. I thought it might be interesting to check out. Making my entrance with a messed up project was not what I had in mind, but you know what they say about the best laid plans.

The main area was filling up quickly, so the owner had me go to another room for more space to clean up my knitting mistakes. Another Raveler recognized me--needless to say, I tend to stand out in these crowds--and joined us in this side room. The knit shop's owner got everything straightened out, including some of the stitches I thought I had saved but hadn't quite. Additionally, one of my Options needles was coming loose and snagging the yarn. Might that have been the instigator for this temporary knitting tragedy?

I finished the skein and tried the hat on because I was fearful that the blasted thing wouldn't fit. It might be a smidgen on the tight side, but that's for reassessing later. Best to put the hat aside and work on it another day.

I was smart enough to bring the scarf, my other WIP of the moment, so I still had something to work on. By this time the three of us in the side room joined everyone else in the main area. It was nice to be in the company of other knitters. I didn't feel too awkward or get the impression that I was imposing. That being said, I stayed relatively quiet, which is how I am in unfamiliar surroundings or until I'm drawn out. I was content to listen and knit the scarf. Before I knew it, almost two and a half hours had passed.

The screening schedule is due for an awards season steroid injection, so it's hard to say how often I'll be able to make it to this knit night. I'd like to go back regularly if I can. Although knitting is a solitary activity, it is very much about community. My knitting community has been mostly virtual, so it would be nice to have a little of that offline too.