I made it to the machine knitting class last night without much ado. Teacher Sonya wasn't that into it, though she warmed by the end. I was right to worry about not liking the finished product too much - I'm so picky. The scarf is a felted stockinet with a Japanese tie-dye-like process they call Shibori. We didn't get to this part yet, but you wrap marbles in the scarf and tie off with skinny rubber bands [the size the grocer wraps around green onions] and then agitate it in really hot water until you're happy with the amount of felting. It looks pretty hippie-dippy and the term Shibori doesn't make it any fancier. It's not really my look. I spent a ridiculous amount of time just trying to pick a yarn I like so I'd be happy with the result. Of course each yarn I picked only had a few skeins in stock, so I ended up with about my 5th or 6th choice [this always happens to me]. It's a pumpkin colored wool with a little alpaca in it. It's pretty soft and it should show the technique well. I'm making mine wider and longer than her sample. I always like my knits big and yummy or sheer and wispy. So tonight I learned the bare basics of machine knitting which were setting up the bed and threading. I couldn't troubleshoot to save my life, so I kept going even with all my mistakes. I figure practice is the only way to learn it and I won't get much with just this one class. Teacher was cool enough to change the next two sessions so classmate and I could work around our scheduling conflicts. Next class isn't until tue the 22nd...long wait.

Meanwhile I managed to miss garbage night so we'll have diapers out our ears for another week. I NEVER sleep through the garbage trucks barreling down our tiny echoing alley. Of course when my husband is in NYC and it's all up to me I sleep more soundly than I have in about two years. Go figure. And this am on my walk to BART, 3 - 22 Fillmore buses pass me by and I'm between bus stops each time. There's a stop on every block! the gods just weren't with me today.