Knitting Party!

I was up at 4:50am this morning having a mini-panic attack.  I had 12 little girls and their moms coming for a knitting party and I hadn't finished baking and getting the house ready.  But, at 9:30am when everyone started to arrive, the baking was done and the house was ready.

My yarn ball wreath greeted our friends as they arrived.

The table was set with goodies and punch.  We had leaf (vanilla) sandwich cookies, pumpkin whoopie pie cookies, and chocolate chip bars.  The leaf cookies I found at Aldi for only $1.29 a package.  The pumpkin whoopie pie cookies were also an Aldi find - they were in a baking kit that only cost $.75!  The chocolate chip cookie bars are just a cookie recipe made into bars.  The punch ingredients are as follows:  2 packages of raspberry Kool Aid, 2 cups of sugar, 2 quarts of water, 1 (46 oz.) can pineapple juice and 1 quart 7-Up or ginger ale.

I decorated the table with things from my knitting supplies:  pattern books, needles, place markers and yarn.

Once everyone arrived, we took a field trip to our local yarn shop - All About Yarn http://allaboutyarn.biz/.  The girls, and moms too, picked out yarn for a scarf.  I warned Roxanne, owner of All About Yarn, ahead of time that we were coming!  She graciously gave each of us 10% off of our purchases.

 Then we returned to our house for a "how to make a scarf" knitting lesson.  Every available seat was taken as well as some spots on the floor.  I won't lie......there were a few tears but no one quit trying and everyone left with the certainty that they indeed could finish their scarf!  It was fun to see them helping each other.  Once the girls caught on, they would help their moms.  Some of the girls helped each other and the moms gave each other encouragement.

 I had only planned for a couple of hours of knitting but our last guests left well into the afternoon.  I love to knit and it was fun for me to pass on my passion to others.  I think my daughter enjoyed the day too!

Someone asked me later in the day, "How was the 1st Annual Knitting Party?"  Hmmmm.....ANNUAL?  I think I like the sound of that!

"In the nineteenth century, knitting was prescribed to women as a cure for nervousness and hysteria.  Many new knitters find this sort of hard to believe because, until you get good at it, knitting seems to cause those ailments."  -Stephanie Pearl-McPhee