I know I have a few knitting friends that like to visit me here. Then there are those that don't knit, but maybe someday... :) I haven't been knitting quite as much as I used to, but I still enjoy trying different things. Knitting is a great stress reliever. For a while now, I've been wanting to try knitting an entrelac pattern. Last week I got started on a dishcloth. (Ravelry link and pattern link)
It is a lot of fun! The knitting goes in two directions! :) Here it is with the needle out so you can get a better idea of how it works.
What really helped me was watching this video. (Which is also where I got the pattern link.)
I love learning new things! But isn't that the fun of the journey? :) And it's almost fall... time for me to wear my new socks (although they are a little big.... maybe after a couple of washings they'll fit better!) :)
Later this week.... what I've been working on around the house! :)
"When you use handspun fibers, you're no longer just a knitter.
You're a fiber artist."
~Patti the Garden Girl~
If you've read my blog for more than a couple of days, you probably know I love knitting. Although I don't always make time to knit, I love looking at projects on Ravelry and admiring "yummy" yarn. :) If you've read my blog for a while, you may remember my first spinning lesson. I still have that first skein.
However, what I am about to share is a dream come true for me. This is something that I never dreamed would be a reality... I now am the proud owner of a spinning wheel!! Actually two spinning wheels (one is held in trust for my sister in law.) :) (Eta: Should she decide she wants to learn... not sure on that.) :)
Mark's grandmother has a friend that used to own a yarn shop. This friend is in poor health and gave Mimi two spinning wheels, which Mimi in turn passed on to me.
They are both great wheels, and I am so excited to learn to use them. My head is chock full of words like drafting, twist, tension, spools, treadle... However not only was I given the wheels, but also several drop spindles (which perform the same task and are also a bit more portable - you saw this one in the last post.)...
Several books...
and magazines...
As well as some wonderful roving!
(I'm not sure what "Sugar Ray" is, but boy, is it soft!!!)
Wow! Wonder what I can make with that? (Eta: Not much. This roving was felted so I couldn't spin it. Oh. well.) :)
You know, sometimes it seems like we pray and pray for something, and we may feel that God just doesn't hear us. Then He drops something totally unexpected, and un-thought of into our laps. Just like He's saying, "See, dear one, I'm listening. What you are asking me for isn't right just now, but here is something just to show how much I do love you." That's how I feel about this gift - what a boost to faith!
So to Mimi and her friend, I really don't know how to thank you. Words aren't always adequate. But, thank you so very much!! This is such an awesome gift! What a wonderful way that God has blessed me through you!
To all the rest of you - I hope you will enjoy as I share bits of my spinning journey with you!
Here is a short video that gives an overview on how one of my spinning wheels works.
Today I visited the frog pond. These two pictures (above and below) are the capelet off the needles. It gives a good idea of the shape it is becoming. The top picture is more the true color - I don't like using flash, so the other pictures are a little grayer. I am really liking the basic construction - maybe soon I'll move on to an actual sweater. The pattern I have picked out has similar construction.
Here it is ripped to where I am going to resume knitting:
And now safely back on the needles: (Whew!)
The pile of yarn reminds me of Little House in the Big Woods. Laura is describing her doll, Charlotte, that she got for Christmas, "Her hair was black yarn that had been knit and raveled, so that it was curly."
So now I'm ready to go at it again! I have a much better idea of where I'm going now, thanks especially to Techknitter and today's post. The post includes something I was looking for in trying to figure out this pattern - a chart generator!!! After a little tweaking, and learning how to input the data, I came up with this chart that gives me a good picture of what this pattern is supposed to look like:
Yes, much better! Thank you all for your encouragement - you really helped me to keep on going! :) (oh, and a non-knitting post coming up next!) :)
ETA: So Funny... I got my Knitting Daily email right after I published this post - it's on reading charts!
In my knitting journey, I've come across some bumps in the road. Usually I am able to work through them or drive over them.
Not this time.
I'm stuck. stymied. spinning my wheels.
and it looks like such a pretty piece of knitting...
I am trying to knit a shawl for my Grandmother for Christmas. I was going along pretty good until I started watching the pattern - paying attention to what stitches are on top of each other. Hoping that I could memorize the two repeating lines of the pattern and get some speed going. (and also be able to knit without paying the utmost strict attention.)
However, evidently "strict attention" isn't what this project has been getting, because I must have messed up... or I'm just reading too much into this. I've set it aside, then looked at it, looked at the pattern, set it aside... Just waiting for that "AHA!" moment because those are supposed to come, right?
I know it doesn't look messed up, but if I keep going, it will...
So do I rip back? do some plain stitches in hopes of starting again right... you know - improvise? Or even scrap this pattern altogether? (But when I think of that, I think of the sock I made... This shouldn't be much harder than that!) Or maybe I should just keep going in hopes that it will work out in the end?
Until I decide, I guess I'll just keep waiting for the "AHA!" Although the more I wait, the more frogging becomes highly probable.
Have you had projects you've been stuck on? Did your "AHA!" moment eventually come? (Is there any hope???) :)
The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything. ~Edward Phelps~
**Disclaimer***This is the post with pictures that I vowed I'd never share! (Be prepared for openness and honesty.) When I took the pictures, it was merely for my own record. I like to share pretty things on this site, but this ain't pretty!
Ok, lest you think that I am the perfect knitter that never made a mistake, and each knitting project turned out perfectly, and helped me learn something new, allow me to share this picture with you from about three years ago:
Before you look, just know you've been warned!
This is the hat that couldn't. It is a monstrosity. I think it was the first hat I made - before circulars. Not totally beaten, I even made this one:
One of them I even totally reknit. (I don't remember which at this point.) But to no avail! The pattern came with the yarn. I guess that's why I'm a little skeptical of patterns on yarn labels. :)
It's just HUGE!!
So now you know... but I guess a few failures are part of the learning process, right?
When we can begin to take our failures seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves. ~Katherine Mansfield~
Oh, and the title of this post is in reference to a certain radio drama - first episode. Avid fans will know it without having to click the link. :)
As I said earlier, I finally started the second purple sock. I was knitting along, thinking "This doesn't look quite like the other sock... maybe I need to do a few more rows..." After a "few more rows" I looked again and it still looked funny. THEN I read the rest of the pattern.
This is the chart:
Note the number sequence, but I was knitting from the top of the chart DOWN. oops.
Lesson One: Always read the pattern!
Lesson Two: Always reread the pattern - especially if it's been three months since you made the first sock.
Lesson Three: If something looks funny, it probably is... or isn't. I guess it all depends on which way you look at it. oh. well.
Lesson Four: Ripping isn't really very fun. Picking up the stitches isn't either!
Happy Saturday!! :)
PS~ This pattern is my first with reading a chart. ...but that still doesn't make the ripping any easier.
"Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken." ~Frank Herbert~
I love learning new things, knitting has become a series of new adventures for me. (Ok, some of you are laughing at knitting being adventurous ... I can hear you! It's ok. I don't have to do crazy things to get my "thrills." I'm ok with that!) :) I am still learning much about knitting. The great thing about knitting is that you can know just a little and still make beautiful things. (If you haven't read part one, you may want to before reading this.)
My next big step in learning to knit was circular knitting. I bought some 16 in. size 6 circulars and made a hat, then two then three...
For you beginners, circular knitting is like knitting a spiral up. As you knit it makes stockinette stitch, if you were knitting flat you would have to knit one row of knit the next of purl. Stockinette stitch naturally curls, which made the cute little rolled brim naturally. I then finished the hats with a three needle bind off which binds off and sews the top at the same time. I now use my circulars most of the time - even in straight knitting.
I still wasn't quite ready to head into the strange world of purling, so building on my knowledge of circulars, I started one of many purses. The basic construction of the purse is to knit a rectangle, then pickup stitches all the way around and knit with circulars until it is as tall as you want. I based my purse (loosely) on this pattern. I also learned a new technique - making I-cord. It still isn't my favorite technique, maybe that's why I invested in this little contraption! :) That purse led to a few more.
I'm not sure at what particular point I decided to learn purling. I know I picked a pattern with lots of purls and just kept at it. One motivating factor was my desire to knit socks (my resolution for 2008). I did learn to knit socks, thanks to a great tutorial, and knit six pairs that year!
That's how I learned the basic building blocks for knitting. I've made lots of different things since then: fingerless gloves, pumpkins, cherries, bonnets, and slippers, as well as designing a little dress. :) I get inspired just looking around on Ravelry! After a frightening bout of SSS (second sock syndrome) I have finally started the next purple sock, you know - the mate to the "well traveled" sock. Most of these projects have just built on what I knew, plus adding a little more "know how."
Well, that brings us up to date on my knitting journey. Most of you have been along for the ride anyway, so this has been a synopsis. Thanks for coming along with me!
***Now we will return to our regularly scheduled programing... whatever THAT is!*** :)
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Confucius
I know some of you reading this have been knitting longer than I have, some have just started, some thinking of starting, and some don't knit. Those who are interested in learning to knit or just starting may see my projects here and think, "I could never make something like that." You don't have to learn it all at the same time, I certainly didn't. I am sharing my "journey" here to encourage you and also the give some tips on the process of learning. For those avid knitters or non-knitters, I hope you enjoy reading anyway. :)
Every journey has it's beginning. My journey in knitting began one Christmas when one of our friends got this book as a gift. I looked at that book, and became intrigued with the knitting process. Fiber arts run in my blood... both my grandmother crochet, but knitting was something just a little different. So I've been on that journey for only about five or six years. I feel like I've come a long ways, and still have a long journey ahead.
I didn't start knitting a lot until I graduated from college - it's hard to knit and write research papers at the same time. Some may knit sweaters as a first project. However, I am a cautious person and have yet to knit a sweater. I first knit scarves.... lots and lots of scarves. Scarves are just one knit stitch on top of the other. I used basically Homespun yarn by Lion - I can't stand that yarn now... it is very difficult to knit with, but oh, so soft.
If you are just starting, I recommend using a regular yarn (vs. a novelty fuzzy yarn), that way you can see your stitches and know what they are doing. One cheap yarn that I like to use is Caron Simply Soft. You can usually find it at Wal-Mart. It is acrylic (I love naturals or natural/acrylic blends) but it is much softer than most acrylics.
The second type of project I did was dishcloths. I am still making them - I have a standing order for Christmas gifts. :) Granny's Favorite is a great little pattern that helped me start learning about increases and decreases. Some one at work gave me one that a friend had made her, and I found this pattern online. It's a great little project and introduced me to one of my favorite fibers to use - cotton.
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Well, obviously my journey is longer than you want to read in one sitting. :) Thanks for sticking with me thus far. I hope it has encouraged some of you to pick up the needles. For you knitters, how did you get started knitting?
