Bitten by the Knit-and-Purl BUG!

When I met Kim more than a year ago, I was secretly shocked to learn she knits - a LOT. "What an "auntyfied" hobby she has for a chic fashion director!?", I thought. And then, I read in TIME magazine and got blown away by the statistics - 53 million peeple alone in America KNITS today!!! What am I missing here? Even the men knit! And then, my childhood friend, Honghui, surprised me over Christmas when she pulled out from her bag 2 beautiful long scarves which she had knitted! Oh-my-god. I dun know how this busy girl manages to knit 2 scarves on top of her busy MBA schedule!?! Finally, winter came in January and I decided to give this "chak-chak" activity a try to keep warm and busy. Never in my wilddest dreams would I have ever thought I would pick up the 2 needles and knit. N.E.V.E.R.

So, after 9 days of dropping stitches, purling, impregnating my stitches and mindless knit-o-meditation(i.e. stare blankly as I work my way through), this is the result... I'm pretty sure I can finish this scarf for Emmanuel before winter passes over(fingers crossed!)

We went to a knitting club who gathers every Thursday at Starbucks on Upper West Side so I could see what other knitter are up to. Somehow, the demographics of this group fit into my perception of people who knit. BUT Kim said these are some of the best knitters around(i.e. been around the block a few times) and if I ever need some help, they would be the ones to go to. It was their 5th Anniversary for this Knit Group Gathering and we had some lovely strawberries, cookies, cake and free Starbucks all round. The highlight of the evening? I won the first prize in their lucky draw! A $35 gift voucher to a yarh shop!!! Beginner's LUCK! Heh... I had just visited Knitty City before and eyed some lovely Italian extrafine merino wool which costs $10 each and now I can afford to get them! Yippee! My very first yarn! Aren't they lovely?

WARNING: This is a very addictive activity. Try it at your own risk. Dun say I didn't warn ya!