Yes, I am a writer, but believe it or not, I can do other things with my hands besides ram my fingernails into a keyboard 12 hours a day. I love to cook, I do crafts, I garden, I sew (barely).
But knitting? Nooooo, no no. It just sounds hard. And look at the materials you are given. A rope and two sharp needles. Essentially weapons! Whoever invented it knew it would be so frustrating that they have provided you with an option to hang yourself and/or puncture a large hole in your carotid artery if it doesn’t work out.
A more important reason for me not to try knitting is that I was really worried I wouldn’t be good at it. I have no patience for projects that require things like precision and measuring and counting. I like ambiguity, improvisation, substitution. This is why I am not always successful at baking.
Enter my neighborhood design shop ReForm School (first of all, how cool is it that I have a neighborhood design shop?). This store is probably the best-curated collection of handmade goods in LA, but the most delightful thing about it is how strictly owners Billie Lopez and Tootie Maldonado stick to the school theme (look up for the pencils stuck in the ceiling). They just moved into a bigger space where they started offering classes curated by Felt Club‘s Jenny Ryan called—oh so appropriately—Home Ec. In these very good hands I felt confident that I might be able to learn how to transform a ball of yarn into something less ball-like. And if not, well, there would always be Plan B.
I signed up for one of the first Home Ec classes, Knit a Cactus. The ladies in class had a range of abilities; some had never touched the needle, some could purl (which I thought at first meant adding nice pearl bead accents to our stitches). Julie Edwards from the Little Knittery was the best kind of teacher: patient, funny and encouraging (and she cast-on for us, and for that I am forever grateful). After a few false starts, I secured my first stitch. And then I knit a whole row without screwing it up. And then my needle slid out of my hand and into my lap, abandoning all my pretty knots. And then I messed up and had to undo the whole row and start again. But after that?
I was knitting! And knitting and knitting and knitting—and eating delicious cookies provided by ReForm School; note delicious cookies in the background—and knitting and knitting and knitting.
And a few hours later, what do you know?
I knit a cactus. We all knit cacti. But mine was the cutest. Because it was mine.
And the funny thing is, there really is quite a bit of improvisation in knitting. You can add different stitches, knit loose or tight, end up with a little nubbin of a barrel cactus, or a big, pickle-shaped torch cactus.
ReForm School has just announced their March schedule, so if you’re planning to be in the hood, I’d recommend signing up fast (our class filled up the day they posted it). Some highlights are Succulent Terrariums, Paper Maîche Bracelets, and Embroidery 101. And they’re also starting a monthly, free Community Craft Night which starts Friday, March 27 at 7-10pm. So everyone in the neighborhood can drop by, and bring whatever project you’re working on for feedback and company. If you ask nicely, I might even show you how to knit.
