I am fine, just out of time this morning.
I pray you are all always happy, blessed, loved and healthy.
Have a God filled day and go forth and knit!
V
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
BASICS, BASICS, BASICS – Lesson 1/Swatches 2 & 3
Swatch 2:
· Using the long-tail cast on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Iv03nRS8xU
· K1/P1 Ribbing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUj3mw1SFZM
· Calculating evenly spaced increases http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUj3mw1SFZM
· Right slanting lifted increases http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKxZGa1qI5M
· Knitting stockinette stitch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1gWJGGZbO4
· Binding off http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0plhuwVF4j0
Swatch 3:
· Using the long-tail cast on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Iv03nRS8xU
· Mirrored lifted increases http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G4FBYXtr4U&playnext=1&list=PL3C16CB784D76DA9F&index=2
I was glad to learn that there is a right and left slanting lifted increase. I practiced both methods before working the swatches. Tomorrow, I will be working on Swatch 4 which deals with M1 both right and left. This is an increase method that I tried early on in my knitting experience and just could not seem to get it right. I have been practicing both the M1L and M2R and think I have it figured out so I could use this method of increase, should I ever be required to, but I still think that the two lifted increases (right & left) are my favorites.
Another thing this lesson works on is noticing the difference between the two different sides of the cast on edge. If you have been knitting even just a little bit, you know that there the two sides of the cast on row are different. One side, the one I like to call the right side, is smooth and neat. The other side shows bumps and I like to refer to this side as the wrong side. The truth of the matter is whichever side YOU choose for the right side is the right side. There is no law that says one is the right side and one is the wrong side. The first two swatches allow you to choose which side is the right side. The 3rd swatch tells you to use the bumpy side as the right side. Late you are asked questions about how you feel about using the bumpy side as the right side. Personally, I can’t imagine ever making a conscious choice to use this side as the right side, but you know what they say about never say never.
I have two more swatches to knit then answer questions for all the swatches and prepare everything to send off for evaluation. I have already learned quite a bit from this first lesson and have not yet completed it. I am not sorry that I started with this basics course before moving on to other courses and the Masters program. I have discovered that a lot of people that went into the Masters program actually took the basics course first. I intend to continue through what I call the “foundation” courses until I have all five completed before starting the Masters program.
Go forth and Knit!
I pray you are all always happy, blessed, loved and healthy.
Have a God filled day,
V
Saturday, January 8, 2011
BASICS, BASICS, BASICS - Lesson 1/Swatch 1
Today I start Lesson 1 of the Basics, Basics, Basics course. Following are thoughts of what I am learning in this course so far just from reading over the reference materials. I would greatly recommend considering taking this course, whether you are a new knitter or an experience one. To take this course, you do have to be a member the Knitting Guild Association http://www.tkga.com/. Membership is only $30 per year and the courses are more than reasonably priced. The advantages of TKGA membership are listed here:
Lesson 1 deals with how to tell the difference between Cast on and bind off edges, basic increasing methods and how to decide where to place increases. The lesson also covers mirror increases. When increasing in a pattern it is often required that they mirror each other, such as when increasing up a sleeve seam.
For 30 years I only knew one way to increase other than yarn over, which leaves holes and you only use when you want the holes. The increase method I knew and used for 30 years was:
· Knit in the front
· Leave stitch on the left needle
· Knit into the back
· Slip stitch off the left needle
Advantages to this increase are that it is easy to remember and blends in easily with ribbing (use between a knit stitch and an purl). The problems with this increase are that it leaves a purl bump where you increased, leaves a hole at the base of the purl bump and the stitch below the increase is noticeably smaller. I always had to incorporate that purl bump into the basic design of whatever I was knitting. I knew there were other ways to increase, but the few I tired never looked right and some left holes. I decided I would rather have the purl bump rather than the ugliness that the other attempts left. Remember that I was self taught and only had books to learn from. Now we have the Internet with video demonstrations, which makes learning much easier.
I recently learned the “Lift 1” increase, which is nearly invisible. This has become my new favorite way to increase and I have used it almost exclusive since learning this method. One problem with this is that I only learned one way to do the increase and there are actually 2, which slant in different directions. In this course I have learned there are two ways to do the “lift 1” so that they slant either to the right or the left.
Okay, those thoughts on increasing completed, here is how lesson 1 goes:
Swatch 1:
· K2/P2 ribbing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuPsks2yZss&feature=related This was the best video I could find showing and explaining the K2/P2 ribbing, but I did find her why of holding the yarn and knitting quite awkward. Like I said several times before for every knitter there is a “right” way to knit. Use the method of holding your yarn and knitting that is the most comfortable for you.
I know you are all capable of going to You Tube and searching for knitting techniques, but I have looked through several to find the ones that I thought would be the easiest for you to follow and learn from. I used the video by Arenda Holladay as she is the instructor that I am working with on this Basics course. As mentioned in previous posts, you can always go to http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/learn-to-knit for basic learn to knit videos; I wanted to give you at least one other view point of the same technique.
Tomorrow, I will discuss swatch 2 of Lesson 1.
Go forth and Knit!
I pray you are all always happy, blessed, loved and healthy.
Have a God filled day,
Vee
Friday, January 7, 2011
Battling a Bad Cold
I have been battling a nasty, nasty cold for a week and it is really kicking my butt. Yesterday, I stayed home from work and missed Thursday evening knitting. I have not knit all week and I didn’t even look over the Basics course materials. My vision appears to be a bit impaired with this stuff. I spent most of the day sleeping with breaks to let the dogs in and out and get a bite to eat a couple of time. I also checked work emails, FaceBook and personal email a few times as well. Other than that I did nothing but sleep all day. I need to get back to knitting and I need to get the course materials read and get busy on my lesson to get it in the mail. Maybe today, I will get something done.
It was pointed out to me that I told you about Ravelry, but did not tell you how to find me there. To be honest, I didn’t think about anyone wanting to find me. Anyway, for any others that would like to find me on Ravelry and become friends there, here is the link: http://www.ravelry.com/people/GrammieVee I hope to see you there.
Also, if you are interested, you can find me on FaceBook and I would love to be your friend. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/VeeVee.Mosher
I found this lady’s You Tube videos through links on TKGA’s site. There are some very good knitting instructions here; mostly a bit more advanced than the basics. I like that with just a bit of searching you find out how to do anything on the Internet. Sure wish this tool had of been available to me when I was trying to learn to knit. http://www.youtube.com/user/MtMomDesigns
Even though I haven’t been able to read the course materials very much I have already learned one thing from what I have read. I have learned the difference between gauge and tension. Stupid me, I never knew there was a difference; I always thought they were just two different terms with the same meaning. That shows you how lacking my knitting education is/was. I am sure you all already know this, but if not, here it is:
· Gauge is how many stitches per inch and how many rows per inch.
· Tension is how firm and even your stitches are.
I also learned that the most likely place to have your tension off is when switching from knit to purl stitches or purl to knit stitches in a pattern. So far I have learned that the most likely way to correct is just to pull your yarn a bit tighter when making that transition. More on this as I learn more.
I do apologize that this is not too informative today; I am going to use my cold as an excuse to not being able to do more research and/or thinking of things that would be of interest to you.
Go forth and knit!
I pray you are all always happy, blessed, loved and healthy.
Have a God filled day,
V
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Catching up a Few Loose Ends
Yesterday I told you about the laundry soap I use in my front loader washer. Here is the link to read about it. http://www.ecos.com/ecosliquid.html The prices listed on this website are much higher than I pay for it at WHOLE FOODS. I do see that it is available in some stores closer to where I live. Of course, if it isn’t as reasonably priced as it is at WHOLE FOODS, I will just stock up when I make my once monthly trips there. I really, really like this laundry soap especially the Magnolia & Lilies; the scent is very subtle and not over powering at all. I always love Lavender, but find the Lavender just a bit over powering in this product. Going forward, I think we will stick with the Magnolia & Lilies. WHOLE FOODS has never had the Lemongrass, so I have never tried that one. The other very important thing to know about this product is that it does a really, really good job of doing what it was made for.
It dawned on me that some of you may not have known what I was talking about when I mentioned woolen hand knits “felting” and that I should explain exactly what that means. Since I am not an expert and I want you to have the correct info and not just my opinion, I went to BING and did a search. Here are links to the sites that had, in my opinion, the best explanations:
Another thing I want to talk about is knitting groups at your LYS. Most LYS has knitting groups on various days and at various times. I have heard of some LYS charging $5 or $10 for the groups. I really, really like COUNTRY YARNS in Snohomish, Washington; starting March 1, 2011 there will be a $5 charge for each event. It is a good way to make friends with like minded people and, if you are just learning or beginning to knit or crochet, you can get lots of help and support in furthering your skills and your love of the craft. I have lots of friends from different parts of my life, but only my knitting buddies really understand my passion for knitting. I try to get to at least two groups a week, even if I only manage to have an hour to spend with my knitting friends it is worth it. Next time you are out and about check out what is available or go online and see what you can find in your area. You won’t be sorry. If you cannot find any local knit groups, consider getting one started. You could post an ad on Craig’s List or FaceBook or both looking for knitting buddies or ask your LYS about getting a knitting group started if they do not already have one.
I know I already told you about this, but it so good, I want to make sure you have the link to this wonderful online community I learned of from my knitting friends http://www.ravelry.com. There are several different groups/communities within the main community that you might want to research and join the ones that are of interest to you. It is also a good place to track your projects and post for others to view, if you wish.
Yesterday, I received emails with the PDF course materials of lesson one attached for the first course I signed up for. The person that will be working with me is traveling until the end of the week and didn’t want me to have to wait for the hard copies to arrive. She will ship out the hard copies next week. I printed out the PDF downloads and spent last evening reading over the materials. I will read over the materials several times before actually starting on the swatches and answering the questions that are required. I want to make sure I have everything down before doing the actual lessons. I have found that at my age, I sometimes miss some things the first time or two I read something. Yes, it is pretty much basic just like the title of the course indicates (“BASICS, BASICS, BASICS”), but I expected that. Just because it is pretty basic does not mean that I am going to whip right through it and expect that it is perfect. I spent good money for this course and I intend to get the most out of it that I can. The introductory letter informed me there is a Ravelry group forum for each course, so I checked that out as well. It is good to see what others have to say about the courses and the Masters program. I found out that I am not the only one that started with the basics before moving on to the Masters program. The thing I learned the most is, exactly what I expected to learn: “You will find the Basics course a help in preparing for the masters--you'll learn what to expect!”
The cold is still making me miserable. I do hope it isn’t too bad today. I really want to go to knit night.
My charge to you today is …… Go forth and Knit!!
I pray you are all always happy, blessed, loved and healthy.
Have a God filled day,
V
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Hand Washing Knitted Loveliness
Okay, so you end up with wonderful, lovely woolen hand knits either by hand knitting yourself or someone honors you with the gift of a lovely piece and how do you take care of them to keep them wonderful and lovely? As with everything else for every knitter out there, there is an opinion as to how to take care of your hand knit natural fibers. Whatever you do, DO NOT DRY CLEAN!!!! Yes, that’s right I said, “DO NOT DRY CLEAN!!!” Dry cleaning uses chemicals and high heat that can damage and ruin you natural fiber creations. Nothing is more heart breaking than to spend hours and hours knitting a one of a kind piece only to have some uneducated soul ruin it either by throwing in the washer and dryer or sending off to the cleaners to be abused with chemicals and high heat. I remember watching a patient of mine many years ago spend hours and hours (nearly 2 months) knitting her husband an Aran sweater with lovely wool with the lanolin still in it with all those cables and honeycomb patterns. Since she was in a rehab facility and was paralyzed from the waist down, she had no way of washing and blocking, so smart husband took the sweater to the cleaners. Totally ruined the sweater; the lanolin was totally stripped from the wool fibers, the sweater was stretched and out of shape and the color was no longer the lovely warm cream, instead it was a streaked yellow and brown tinged in places. How sad for both of them. It broke my heart to see what the cleaners had turned the sweater into. He wore it, but it was not the lovely sweater she had knit.
So, what do you do with your wonderful natural fiber hand knits? Like I said there is a “right” way for every knitter out there. There are special soaks you can purchase at yarn shops and other specialty stores and online for a pretty penny and they are good, I have used them and really liked the ones I tried; I do try to keep one or the other on hand. Some people swear by good ole Fels Naptha bar soap (if not available in your local grocery, check online or the local feed store). Here is just one online source; I am not recommending it just letting you know it is there. http://www.soapgoods.com/Fels-Naptha-p-779.html One thing I learned from a co-worker’s mistake all those years ago when I first learned to knit: DO NOT USE WOOLLITE. Yep, you read that right DO NOT USE WOOLLITE. . Yes, it is advertized for delicates and woolens, but you do not want to use it on your hand knits; it totally ruined my co-worker’s garment among other things it felted the garment. The last time I had a hand knit to wash, I used just a tiny of bit (less than a tablespoon) of the organic HE laundry soap (ECOS brand I get at WHOLE FOODS a very good deal at $14 for 210 ounces – only takes one ounce for front loaders and 2 ounces for top loading washers) I use in my front loader washer. I love the nice light scent and it has just a titch of fabric softener included. Not that I can honestly recommend that you go that route, but it worked for me in a pinch (it was mid-night and that is all I had). I do try to keep one of the specialty soaks I originally told you about, but I was out and that was my best option. I have a friend that hand dyes yarn. She uses baby shampoo when she is rinsing the excess dye out of the yarn. So, in a pinch, I would say you could probably use baby shampoo, if you have any around.
Okay, so all this talk about WHAT to use to wash your natural fiber hand knits, but HOW do you wash them? Good question since your yarn labels most always don’t give much more instructions other than posting the temperature of the water and telling you to “Hand wash. Lay flat to dry.” What the heck does that tell you? Not much that I can tell. So, I will tell you how I do it including my LYS owner’s suggestion for squeezing out as much moisture as you possibly can when you are through washing.
1. Measure garment(s) in all directions.
2. Fill sink or large bowl (enough to cover the item) with suggested water temp or just barely take the chill out of the cold water, if no recommended temperature is available.
3. Add the smallest amount necessary of mild soap and swish around to disperse in the water (if using Fels Naptha just swish the bar around in the water for a bit to get enough dissolved into the water).
4. Put the item into the water and make sure it is totally immersed into the water.
5. Let sit and soak for 20 to 30 minutes. There is no need to rub or agitate in any way. Agitation is one of the causes of felting.
6. Drain water and rinse with running just barely warm water (same temp as you soaked in) until all signs of your soap is rinsed out.
7. Squeeze as much water out as possible. DO NOT WRING item.
8. Now here is the cool thing my LYS lady shared. Put a pad of towels down on the floor (about 4 thicknesses), place the wet item down on the pad sort of laying out like it should be. Cover with another pad of towels. Now, walk, stomp, dance, whatever you prefer to get as much moisture squeezed out of your item as possible (LYS lady holds onto the back of a dining chair to keep her balance). I usually change the towels next to the wet item at least once to make sure I have dry thick towels to wick the moisture away from the hand knitted item.
9. When as much moisture as possible is out, pick up the hand knit item and block to original measurements on a blocking board or pad (refer to yesterday’s post for more detail on blocking).
10. Run the towels through the washer (no soap required) and then the dryer.
11. Allow your hand knit item to dry totally before moving.
12. Fold and lay flat on shelf or in dresser drawer. DO NOT HANG!!!
While on the subject of caring for your natural fiber hand knits, I just want to say that when I learned to knit I knit wool sweaters and other items for my kids. They were always hand washed and laid flat to dry. I remember when my oldest son was through with a lovely red tennis sweater, it was passed to a friend of a friend. The next time I saw that sweater, it would have maybe fit a newborn, but I am not even sure of that. It was heart breaking to me. It was like having a part of me cut out. On that note just let me say, if you are not a knitter (or crocheter) and someone makes you a lovely item whether a garment or table runner or other such thing, please understand that it isn’t just a “thing”, it is a part of the person that made it. There is a lot of time and expense (even cheap yarn is not cheap) put into any thing that is hand made; we put part of our soul into each and every item we make. I always make sure that I put plenty of prayers into the items I make to pass on to those I love and sometimes to strangers (you would be surprised how a hand knit scarf, hat or whatever can touch a person’s heart and soul when they are given something and told you made it just for them). Please remember that person with love and respect as they have so lovingly poured out their soul for you and/or your children.
I haven’t knit for a couple of days. I have a cold and don’t really feel up to much more than just sleeping. As soon as I am feeling better I will make up for lost time; I always do. Today is Wednesday afternoon knitting, but not sure I will get there. It will depend on how I feel at the end of my work day. Yesterday, I came home and went right to bed.
I want to thank each of you for your support of this blog. I have never blogged before mostly because I never thought I had anything to say that anyone would be interested in. Your reception of what I have had to say the past few days has been encouraging to me. Thank you.
I pray you are all always happy, blessed, loved and healthy.
Have a God filled day,
V
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Some Thoughts About Yarn (Mostly)
Disclaimer….. All statements posted here are my personal preferences and opinions and although, there may be proof to back up and prove that my preferences and opinions are correct (or maybe even incorrect), I am offering no substantiating proof here. I believe that for every knitter in existence there are personal preferences and opinions and we all have a right to have them. I also believe that for every knitter in existence there is a way to knit. The way I knit, may not be the way you knit, but that doesn’t mean either one is the only “correct” way to knit or the “wrong” way to knit. I do believe that we can learn from each other and if someone has a better/easier way to do something than the way I am doing it, I for sure will be adopting it.
I already told you that I have never blogged before, so I am pretty much making this up as I go. I have decided that I should share with you things I have learned over the years of knitting (and crocheting, but I ate to admit to anyone that I even know how to crochet). With that in mind, today I want to talk about yarn. The Yarn Craft Council has come up with suggested yarn standards. www.YarnStandards.com http://www.craftyarncouncil.jade-server.com/files/s-and-g.pdf actually, the Yarn Craft Council website is a wealth of information and if you are going to get serious about knitting and/or crocheting, you should bookmark this site. http://www.craftyarncouncil.com
I am not an expert on yarn, but I am the first to admit that I am extremely opinionated when it comes to yarn or rather the fiber in the yarn. My word, I think it would take a college degree in yarn to even half way understand all the aspects of yarn. That’s why I gave you the links to glean your own information and make your own decisions of what you prefer to use and wear. Personally, I prefer wool of wool and certain natural combinations, in fact, if I never had to knit anything else again in my life, I would be perfectly happy with that. I am totally in love with Merino wool and silk combinations. It is totally awesome pairing! That said I do knit with synthetics from time to time, usually acrylic. The reason I knit synthetics is that most people I knit for would not give proper care to wool or other natural fibers. They do now have Superwash wool, that you can machine wash; making care of items knit with this yarn a bit easier. I do want to warn you that even the Superwash will felt, if not taken care of properly. It is recommended that you put any machine washable hand knit or hand crocheted item in a lingerie bag when washing in the machine. Some Superwash wools say you can dry in the dryer, but I strongly recommend you not try that. If you MUST wash in the machine, I recommend these steps (NOTE THIS APPLIES ONLY TO YARN LABELED MACHINE WASHABLE – we will discuss hand washing another day):
1. I prefer a front loading washer as there is much less agitation and stress put on all your clothes and especially your hand knits. If you don’t have a front loader, not to worry, just use the gentle cycle of what you have.
2. Measure garment in all directions
3. Put in zippered lingerie bag and zip shut
4. Wash on gentle
5. When the wash cycle is complete, remove from the lingerie bag supporting the item at all times so as not to stretch the fibers used in the garment.
6. Lay flat (DO NOT HANG!!) shaping into the before washing shape and measurements to dry on a thick bath towel out of the way so it can take its time drying. LET DRY COMPLETELY!! I have an ironing board that hangs from a door that I put down in working position and put my blocking board on it and this is where my hand knits are blocked and dried. It isn’t exactly out of the way, but in my tiny little space is the best I can do.
7. Once your garment is dried, fold and put away flat. DO NOT HANG!!
Okay, so that is how I recommend caring for your hand knits especially if you have natural fiber hand knits. If you have acrylic hand knits, do not dry in a hot dryer; turn down to no higher than Permanent Press, but preferably gentle or whatever is below the Permanent Press.
Now, let me tell you why I prefer wool and natural fibers. Wool is like working with warm putty. You can mold, sculpt and manipulate it in ways that you can never do with synthetics or some other fibers such as cotton, linen, etc. Wool has such a soft, cuddly feel where as some other fibers are not. A lot of people will say that they are allergic to wool and some (actually very few really) people most likely are allergic to the lanolin in the wool, but most often the reason some people feel they are allergic to the wool is the “extra” little items that are left in the fiber such as tiny bits of straw and such like makes the yarn scratchy and rather than breaking out in a rash, they are being scratched by the “extras” left in the yarn.. If you choose good quality yarn and fiber, there will be little to none of the “extras”.
If you aren’t going to take care of good woolen hand knits and I am going to knit for you, then I will definitely not make you anything out of good yarn. You will get good ole acrylic. The garment will be nice, because it is lovingly hand knit for someone I love and my hand knits are quite nice, but it will be inferior just because it is acrylic instead of lovely wool or some blend of natural fibers.
I grew up in an era when “felting” was a bad word. You did not want your lovely woolens to shrink and/or felt. Now, some people knit items purposefully to felt, but I am a snob there as well. I doubt that I will ever knit something to purposefully felt. I won’t say “never”, because you know they say, “Never say Never.”
Not only am I a snob about the fiber I prefer to knit with, but I am also a bit of a snob as to the size of the yarn. If you looked at the yarn standards you will understand this next bit better. I DON’T LIKE FAT YARN. About the thickest yarn I will ever knit with is worsted weight/4 if you are going by the yarn standards charts. I really prefer knitting with smaller yarns, in fact the smaller the better. I don’t mind that it takes thousands and thousands of stitches to get around (I recently knit an item that by the last inch each row had over 1,500 stitches). I currently have two favorite yarns that I really love working with. You can purchase any of the yarns listed below at Country Yarns 119 Avenue B Snohomish, WA, 98290. And while I am being so self opinionated…. This is the best yarn shop in Washington State.
1. Lollipop Cabin Yarn is my absolute favorite. This yarn is the nicest yarn I have EVER knit with. If you don’t want to knit on such a small gauge, you can knit worsted weight/4 by holding two strands together. http://lollipopcabin.com Lollipop Cabin is 400 yards of organic wool sock yarn (1). Each skein is one-of-a-kind, individually hand-dyed in a wee little cabin with collected rain water from the Pacific Northwest Cascade Mountains. To contact, email: lollipopcabin@gmail.com. You may also see this yarn at the 2011 MADRONA FIBER ARTS WINTER RETREAT
FEBRUARY 17-20, 2011 Hotel Murano, Tacoma, Washington
FEBRUARY 17-20, 2011 Hotel Murano, Tacoma, Washington
2. Cleckheaton Country 8 ply machine washable pure wool from Australia. The label says it is a DK/ 3, but it is really a worsted/4 (this is from Australia where they must not be using the yarn standards I mentioned above). This brand has solids, tweeds and some painted yarn colors.
3. A close 3rd is several different wool/silk combos. Merino/silk is the very best just because Merino is the very best wool you can get your hands on.
Tomorrow maybe I will pass on a tip I learned from the LYS owner to get as much water as possible out of your hand washed woolen garments. For now, I wish you happy knitting.
I pray you are all always happy, blessed, loved and healthy.
Have a God filled day,
V
Monday, January 3, 2011
Some Good Learn to Knit Links and Other Ramblings
So, yesterday I told you that I taught myself to knit at age 35 from a book I got at a yard sale in 1981. Yes, 30 years ago. In today’s modern world you can go online and learn to knit. There are quite several sites with good instructions, but one of the very best is http://www.knittinghelp.com. They have easy to follow videos as well as written instructions. Another good site I just found is http://www.tkga.com/, which I mentioned yesterday. TKGA has a free to anyone learn to knit page that gives very good “printed” instructions: http://www.tkga.com/pdf/howtoknit05.pdf. They also have good extended knitting courses for members and a fee (I know that I posted the TKGA links yesterday, but feel they are worth posting again). Individual membership for TKGA is $30.00 per year for US residents and you get a subscription to their quarterly magazine “CAST OFF”, which has good articles to increase your knitting knowledge and skills. As I mentioned yesterday I intend to take all the “foundation” courses in preparation of entering the Masters program.
Yesterday afternoon (1-3P) I went to decorative cast on class at the LYS taught by the LYS owner. It was fun and now I know 4 decorative ways to cast on:
1. Picot cast on - http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/secure-html/onlineec/instructionalArticle.asp?iaid=36
There were all pretty easy to do, once you see how to do them and they each have their own use and purpose. They are each quite lovely in their own way.
I didn’t get much knitting done yesterday except the class. There was church in the morning then time for a quick lunch before the class. During class I started coming down with a cold or something and went home to doctor myself to get well before this morning.
Yesterday I mentioned completing 8 projects. Here are pictures of a few of the completed projects:
This is the “Happy Sweater” size 5 knit for my 3 year old granddaughter. I knit this sweater 5 times before I was happy with the outcome. It is acrylic and I had to purchase new yarn between attempt # 4 and 5. Right now it fits her like a tunic, but she should be able to wear it for a couple of years and therefore justify my time and wasted money on making it.
This is the Orchid hoodie knit for my great-granddaughter, Jaley. The color didn’t work for Jaley, so it was given to the baby that my daughter-in-law babysits for Christmas; it was perfect for her. The little bugs on it look like a cross between dragon flies and butterflies. Usually, I can knit a child’s sweater like this in a week or less.
I pray you are all always happy, blessed, loved and healthy.
Have a God filled day,
V
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Trying Something New in a New Year
So, I have never blogged before, but since I have a lot of knitting projects planned for the coming year I thought a blog might be a way to track the progress of my endeavors and projects. WARNING..... I DO TEND TO RAMBLE.
Before talking about the projects for 2011 I should probably give you a brief history of my knitting.....
I love to knit and I tend to be just a little bit competitive about it as well. I also tend to be pretty much a perfectionist about my knitting (or anything else I do for that matter).
I was 35 before I taught myself to knit using a book that I found at a yard sale. I immediately became quite a prolific knitter producing a lot of projects in a short time. When my first grandchild was born, I knit a sweater a week the first few months (most all of them were later burned in a house fire when that child was 10). With the exception of a few tips from friends along the way, I am a totally self taught knitter and pretty much just "fly by the seat of my pants" when it comes to knitting projects, etc. I don't follow patterns all that well, I mostly just start knitting and figure it out as I go. If I do start with a pattern, I tend to make changes as I go. The projects that I have liked the very least are the ones that I followed a pattern to the letter.
About 6 or 7 years ago I had to quit knitting due to pain from an unknown cause. I did manage to knit a few small projects from time to time over that time but not without extreme pain and the projects took forever. It was like having one of my arms cut off to not be able to knit. In June 2010 a large mass was found in my right kidney. Early August 2010 I underwent a procedure to block off the blood supply to the mass with the hope of killing the "critter". The procedure worked and I have my health back. By the end of August I was knitting without pain again! From the end of August 2010 to the end of December 2010 I completed at least 8 projects including an original designed Christmas dress for my little great-granddaughter. I am still waiting for pictures good enough to post as I gave it to her before getting pictures.
I have joined a couple knitting groups at a local yarn shop (LYS) and enjoy getting together with other knitters to knit together and visit.
What is in store for 2011? I am currently working on samples for a friend's hand dyed yarn for a fiber show in mid-February. At the same time, I am working on a sweater for a co-worker (working on gauge swatch); this sweater will be knit from a pattern that I will have to follow to the letter. I have promised to knit sweaters for a friend's two children (my own pattern for a Henly style pullover that I have prefected) as well as several extended family members have requested sweaters for their children. Not to mention that I have 15 grandchildren of my own to knit for. My daughter-in-law has requested a hoodie and a niece has requested a sweater as well.
The thing I am most excited about for 2011 is that I have discovered The Knitting Guild Association and their correspondence classes. http://www.tkga.com Remember I am self taught and although all my friends (both knitting and non-knitting) tell me I am a great/fantastic knitter, I feel inadequate and want to learn the "proper" way to knit. After discussing with dear, supportive hubby, I have decided to start with the very basic class and work my way through what I call the "foundation" classes to The TKGA Masters Knitting Program. http://www.tkga.com/resources/TKGA_CATALOG_Color020510P3.pdf It is working through the classes that has prompted starting this blog. I plan to track my course progress as well as my projects during 2011. It may be of no interest to anyone other than myself, but I will have this for documentation of my progresses and defeats throughout 2011. I have already signed up for the first course (Basics, Basics, Basics) and am waiting for it to arrive to get this process going.
Today, I am taking a two hour class at the LYS "Decorative Cast Ons" taught by the LYS owner. I am looking forward to this.
I pray you are all always happy, blessed, loved and healthy.
Have a God filled day,
Grammie Vee
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