The Teacher: Roxanne Jelenfy

We all remember our first knitting teacher - that special person who now seems vaguely like a, well, drug-pusher, or other evil being who desired my very soul...No wait, for MOST people, a beloved grandmother or mother was the teacher of knitting (this, according to the Book of Ravelry). But for me, it was a 12 year old girl, in the living room of our first house in Maine - a rental house decked in Landlord 1971 carpets & wall colors - our first warm haven during a winter where 4-5 feet of snow fell & NEVER melted til the end of March.

I guess it must've been a Christmas gift: The Klutz book of Knitting, by Anne Akers Johnson.
This is where we start our interview with Roxanne Jelenfy, my daughter, now almost 17 years old.

Who taught you how to knit?
Mom bought a book & I couldn't figure out how to do it by myself. Stephanie Thostenson, the mother of my friend Erin, taught me. I wanted to learn how to make my own scarves. I liked the way yarn felt & looked.

What's your favorite yarn?
The nice, soft kind! Any classic shade or sparkly yarn.

Have you continued to knit?
Knitting isn't so much a serious thing as a thing to do while watching TV.

At this point in the interview, Roxanne, who is styling grunge these days, thumbs through her recently acquired pile of vintage records, & puts on The Doors...

Do you have anything to say about how seriously your mom has taken this whole knitting thing? Isn't she sort of...obsessed?
NO COMMENT!

Tell our readers about your infamous crochet ball. Do you still have it?
Yeah, it's up in my room. I learned how to crochet in Montessori School when I was 7 or 8. The older kids in the school taught us. I only learned how to do a chain, so I just kept on doing that. When I stopped, the crochet ball was about the size of a small globe.

Which do you like better, crocheting or knitting?
Knitting.

Do you have anything else you want to tell us?
Yes! I need a pattern for a slouchy beret. In the words of the Beatles, "HELP!"