Teaching Old Dogs...

In the interest of reducing stress on my right shoulder, I’m trying to switch my knitting style from English to Continental.

I started another Aibhlinn from Knitty, thinking that the K3, P3 would be a relatively simple pattern that would give me lots of practice with Continental. I’m using a deep burgundy/black tweedy yarn, Plymouth Encore DK, to make it. If I succeed in this, my next “learning experience” will be using the same yarn to make fingerless gloves using dpns. (If I don’t succeed at Continental, I’m still going to try to make the gloves!)

I guess this means an “old dog” can learn new things? I’m spending a lot of time at Knitting Help watching the videos. They are such a help!

Hmmmm….my pattern came from online, the yarn was bought online, the knitting instruction is coming from online…I found my local knitting group online.

What on earth did we do before the internet? Oh, I know. We learned at our mother’s knee. Well, you know what? This old dog (taught English knitting by her Mom) was a pretty lousy knitter (because Mom only knew so much) until she “met” all the wonderful gals - they are mostly gals - on the internet who are part of the online knitting community.

I’m an in-betweener…one of those folks who came kicking and screaming into the computer-age. I watched as many of my contemporaries (and their parents) lost their jobs because computers were faster and handled the more mundane job activities. I made an early decision that I was going to know how to use computers even if I wasn’t fond of them. (And I really wasn’t.) I became a keypunch operator (back in the days of IBM cards?). And from there I morphed along with the technology (I remember going “live” for the first time on a main frame computer and threatening to throw the monitor through the window) as I put myself through college in accounting (more computers). Well, I’m relatively fond of the technology now, even tho’ computers still make me crazy more often than not! Still I can’t imagine life without mine.

I really do spend a lot of time online. There are those in the blogging community who have decided that they must take a break from blogging, from “wasting” time on the internet. Well, I admit that it’s very possible to do that. But I learn so much while I’m out here that I just can’t justify going offline. I respect those who choose to reduce the time they are online, but it’s not for me. Not right now, anyway.

Of course, I have a business online. I have two blogs. I own 3-4 Yahoo groups and participate in a few others. I can’t imagine reducing my internet time without sacrificing a lot of knowledge.

And besides, if I truly want to knit instead, I’ll do like my pal Jane and knit at the computer while I read blogs!