if you give a knitter a skein of yarn...**

she's going to ask for a knitting pattern to go with the yarn.

when you give her the pattern, she'll ask for knitting needles.

then she'll knit a gauge swatch.

(or maybe not.)

next she will cast on.

after she casts on the right number of stitches, she'll follow her pattern and knit.

as she is knitting, the kiddos start crying.  so she'll stop knitting and tend to them.

a few hours later, she'll pick up her knitting.

she'll probably study the pattern and her knitting, trying to figure out where she left off.

after she finds her spot in the pattern, she'll resume knitting.

she'll repeat this knitting behavior for days...(sometimes weeks...and months...)

after she's done knitting, then she'll felt her project in the washing machine.

when she felts in the washing machine, she sets the timer in 5 minute increments.

after about an hour, her project is felted and she sets it aside to dry.

and after the project dries, she'll needle felt a design onto them.

when the straps are finished, she'll sew the straps on.

she tries on her new french press felted slippers.

but then the knitter finds another neat pattern.

chances are, she'll ask for another skein of yarn...

**no disrespect to Laura Joffe Numeroff