A Knittin' Weekend

I used most of my weekend to knit! On Friday night, I finished the first River Valley Sock. When I arrived home from dinner at my in laws, there was another package waiting for me. This time it was from the No Sheep Swap. My pal sent a box of yummy raspberry tea (one of my favorites and I was out of it!) and a skein a of Phoenix Soy Silk. Since, I finished the sock, I cast on for a hat with the new skein. I made Odessa from Magknits.com. I finished this project on Saturday and then cast on for the second River Valley Sock. I almost finished turning the toe. Upon checking the mail, on Saturday, there was another package! This time it was yarn that I had ordered from Sarah's Yarns, teal 100% Bamboo! I quickly set about to find a pattern. I settled on Green Tea Raglan from Interweave Knits, Spring 2007. I finished the first sleeve and started the front! Like I said, I really had time to knit this weekend. It was so fun, probably because I didn't do any housework, either. Of course the house doesn't clean its self, but my husband was working on it off and on during the day on Saturday. What a sweetheart!

On Saturday, I met with a friend for tea and crochet lessons at Village Yarn and Tea. (She asked me to continue teaching her where another friend of hers left off.) While we were getting started, another customer was watching us and my friend C invited her to join us. She, too, is new to crocheting, so I ended up helping them both. It was fun and I enjoyed getting to know another needle artist along the way. We set up time to do the same thing, next Saturday, and L (the new knitter/crocheter friend) was invited to join us, too. Surprisingly enough, I did get about 1/4 of the hat done and all of the River Valley Socks knitting during this teaching session. Neither needed as much help as they thought that they did, so it was easy to get some knitting done while talking and helping. I usually have a project with me to work on when I am teaching (I've only ever taught 2 people at a time, never more than that!) so that I don't feel like I'm hovering/watching every stitch. When I've been the one learning, I've always found it easier if I'm shown and technique, left to practice, but still knowing that the teacher is nearby to answer questions when they arise. Most times, this has worked well for both me and the person I'm teaching.