Cast on, cast off ...

I'm going to give knitting another try.

In my life, I've taken up knitting three times. The score so far: Dilettantism 3, Finishing What You Start 0.

But one must never underestimate the power wielded over me by a certain store with a red bulls-eye logo. If Target had a sale on a starter kit for, like, torturing puppies ... well, I wouldn't buy it unless it was at least 75 percent off, but still.

So there was this knitting kit with SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS! and EVERYTHING YOU NEED! to make your VERY OWN! hat, scarf and mittens. The woman on the box looks a little bit odd hugging herself with her mittened hands, but the finished products are pretty cute, and the kit was 30 percent off, and I've been thinking about picking up some knitting to do on vacation.

So.

Casting on is HARD, man. I had to rewind the DVD (yes, the kit came with an INSTRUCTIONAL DVD! so I could LEARN TO KNIT!) about 12 times and unravel my knotted mess of yarn at least three times before I was finally able to make a go of it. But I did it, and I now have seven garter-stitched rows.

Now if only I could remember how to purl...