There's no yarn in Peru. Well, there's some, but not the mountains of soft alpaca for pennies a skein that I had hoped for. The only alpaca yarn I could find was one brand that was sold in every store and in a stall at a tourist market (a total of 4 places that I found). So, instead of pictures of a newly expanded yarn stash, I'll give you pictures of Peruvian yarn stores. The first is in Miraflores (a neighborhood in Lima) and the other two are from Cusco, near their farmers market.

I don't know if it was the screeching babies, the barking dogs, or the smokers (have I mentioned how much I hate Hartford?) but while I was tensely knitting, waiting for the Urban Knitters to show up after my spinning lesson, I missed a bobble. And noticed it 4 rows later. Damn. I had to leave because I didn't have anything with me except an extra ball of yarn, so I missed hanging out with the girls, but at home I had the necessary equipment to fix this problem.

I dropped the stitch (which involved switching back the single cable that I'd carried for 4 extra rows), got a second pair of needles and a length of the same yarn, created a new bobble, and picked the stitch back up. All I have to do is weave in the extra ends. I sat and looked at what I had done and thought, "Wow. I really am a knitter."

Then a few hours later I did this:

See it? I zigged when I should have zagged. For 8 rows. (At least I realized it before I got to the bobbles.) So, yes I could have dropped stitches and redone cables for each of the 10 pattern repeats, but...nah. I ripped out a couple hours worth of work, picked up the stitches and threw the whole thing down on the coffee table and went to bed. Knitters know when to quit, too.

I posted on a local forum that I wanted to learn to spin, and immediately the gracious and talented Margaret volunteered. Within a few minutes she had me from "what's this thingamahoowie and how am I supposed to..." to...well, this:

It's certainly not beautiful, but I know the basic steps and how to prevent some bad things and how to appreciate the good things. Now I just need practice. Lots and lots of practice. And she gave me lots and lots of fiber to practice with, too!

The best thing, though, honestly, was getting to meet Margaret. What a lady. She's a treasure and I'm so glad that I got to spend time with her.