featured athlete: our beth

today i am bringing you part 1 of my SPOTLIGHT on the LACEPACERS interviews, this one starring beth p!

beth has been taking wednesday night classes with me for a few months now (that is, the raucous, unruly wednesday night class). this is a class of about 8 people, most of whom began knitting about a year ago. beth joined us december and has completed several projects that stretched her knitting muscles, including mitts and socks on four needles, cabled scarves, and her newest venture, lace knitting. she trained for the olympics by knitting the Feather and Fan Lace Scarf (more about pattern later), which was her first experience with openwork knitting. her success inspired her to embrace the idea of olympic glory by committing to the Feather and Fan Lace Stole project, a longer, wider version of the scarf.

3 days before the event began, she found the perfect yarn: Prime Baby Fine Alpaca in a beautiful taupe color (<Black Dog).
here are some excerpts from my conversation with beth:

me: how long have you ben knitting lace?
beth: oh, just a few weeks!

me: (incredulously) you gotta be kidding me!
beth: well, (blushing) i had a good teacher . . .

me: really, well, she must be! your work is AWESOME! tell me, how do you like your yarn?
beth: oh, i love it; this is my first project using alpaca. i am happy with the color—although next time i would want to use a variegated yarn of the same soft type. the plain color seems like too much work and i’m not sure it shows the stitch pattern as well.

me: i see your point. now, this is an endurance event for sure, 84 inches of the same stitch! what do you do to keep it interesting?
beth: i am watching the olympics on tv and watching the shawl grow!! at first, i thought the project wouldn’t be completed until the next olympics but it is moving along nicely. i thought i would tire of it easily, but i find it’s almost like a baby with a toy—goes everywhere with me. in fact, yesterday, i traveled to assess an Entry Year Teacher (beth has a REAL job, too) for licensure and found myself knitting over the lunch hour at a local resturant! I can’t seem to put it down.

me: hmm, did you ever explore attachment issues? er, let’s see, how long is your shawl now after Day 5?
beth: approximately 22 inches long.

me: nice! so that means that after 16 days, if you knit at the same rate, you should have about 70-ish inches. doesn’t that mean you will have to step things up a bit?
beth: well, i WASN’T worried about it til you put it that way . . .

me: let’s move on! what made you choose this pattern?
beth: i find these knitspot patterns to be clear, precise, and easy for the new knitter to follow. i am definitely devoted to the brand!

me: so, you just purchased the pattern, took it home, and started the project without any help?
beth: yup!

let’s take a closer look at beth’s piece to see the stitch pattern:

and that’s all we have time for today, but catch us again for more on beth and her project as well as other LACEPACER knitting olympians