Pretty much my entire life, I’ve knitted alone.  Happily, on the couch, in a relaxed state of mind, figuring out the pattern stitch or the possible mistake in the pattern or in my thinking, always knitting alone  . . happily.  The main advantage of that is the ease of stealing an hour here or there between the hustle bustle of family life, after a school day (whether a student or teacher or both), in between the piles of homework and/or housework, there were always those precious hours.

After retirement, feeling like I might have a bit more time and a desire to socialize, it was very much a goal to find a group to knit with, to share in ideas, conversation, technique, or just a ladies’ night out.  I tried small groups, large groups, Organizations, retreats, coffee shop groups, and online groups. I’ve invited groups to my home and/or I’ve been invited to people’s homes to knit whether it was for teaching knitting or knitting individual projects.  It’s been nearly four years since my retirement and I’ve been in . . . and out of pretty much all of these scenarios.

In the throngs of volunteering which is how I have spent these last four years when not care-taking, house keeping, keeping up with my own health and wellness, well, you know the list. And, always keeping my ears open for that knitting group, I came across an opportunity. In search of a soup kitchen in which to serve, an opportunity arose to teach knitting to a group of temporary residents (women) during their winter semester (January – March) where they reside.  Oh, here we go again, I thought, but hey, let’s give it a try.

The class was named Stitch Away Stress.

Well, can I say how delightful I was to be with this group?  The ladies were enthusiastic, willing, able, but mostly so very appreciative to learn how to knit.

We used donated yarn, donated needles, and FREE patterns found on Ravelry.  Our goal within the twelve weeks was to complete at least one project.  Well, one lady completed more than one project as seen here in her pile of finished projects.

Here are individual projects, all knitted in garter stitch ~

 Triangle Neck Wrap

Infinitude Scarf

Infinitude Scarf, before

and after with design change of added fringe.

Color Tipped Scarf

and another.

Of course, I had to get into the action.  Mine is modeled outside along the driveway.

Below is a most enthusiastic knitter but she began a bit late into the class and is working on getting the stitch down. That hooded scarf pattern in the background is a project a lady and I said we would be making during the summer semester, our KAL of Hooded Muffler.  Again, all of these patterns are easy to find and are FREE and on Ravelry.

I look forward to meeting up with the ladies again soon. In the meantime, I am delighted that I have found my knitting group.