Okay, how did you folks who are great knitters LEARN to do it? And how long did it take to get to the point where you felt like you knew what you were doing?

My sixth-grade teacher taught me the basic stitch, but not how to properly cast on or cast off, so last year I bought myself a book and started teaching myself to knit properly. I can now cast on, cast off, knit, pearl, increase, decrease, do cables, and read simple patterns, and have a closet full of scarves, but still feel like a knitting dummy. I started a class at the local college last night called "Knitting: Beyond Scarves," that was advertised as teaching a new knitter to move past rectangles. All the other ladies had their projects picked out and were planning to make sweaters and little tank tops and really cute things, while I had no idea what I wanted to do because it seems so overwhelming -- like learning to hammer a nail into a 2x4 and then being told "Okay, now let's build a house." Fortunately, the instructor has a great personality, and is willing to work with each person on her own level, and the other ladies are really nice, but I feel like a remedial student in an honors class!

KB