Mindi's Knitting Patterns

Last night I saw Mindi (an avid knitter) at a party. She gave me some knitting patterns to try to help me learn the knitting craft. I had emailed her describing how much I can do (knit and purl, baby) and had asked her to recommend some patterns or a book to get me going onto harder stuff. She gave me a pattern for a scarf that will teach me to knit multiple stitches together, a hat that will teach me to do "short rows", and a dishcloth.

I will need to call my mom and have her help me cast-on over the phone. She does it in this odd way that want to preserve. I say "odd" because I have yet to see her method on any of the tutorials I've found online.

She does some very simple thing to get loops on the needle while leaving a long tail. Then she uses the tail to knit into the loops on the needle. And that's her cast-on.

If it turns out I can't get that to work for me, I'll probably go with the "Italian Cast-On". I saw a tutorial on it and gave it a try. I almost managed it, but it will take a bit more practice.