Ah-Ha Moment

Last Thursday I showed up at Anova again to have a follow-up knitting class. I wanted to ensure that the kids could cast on and, possibly, move on to the knit stitch.

There was an interesting mix of knitters. Some of the students were comfortable with the long-tail cast on and went smoothly on to the knit stitch. A couple of them needed a little more help, and one or two were still at the beginning of the learning curve and I worked with them further.

After I got home and had a chance to think about the class and how to present the knit stitch, I had an "ah-ha" moment. I realized that knitting a stitch used the same moves I had taught for the long-tail cast on.

So today, at our second 'official' class, I presented that concept, and the students understood what I was telling them. Even though they were still 'knit-stitch-challenged,' there were proper knit stitches appearing on their needles! I was as pleased as they were!

I am insistent that they all knit continental-style, at least in class, since it will make other knitting skills easier to perform - like the purl stitch and stranded knitting. So there was a support group of knitters, sitting together working on their 'picking,' rather than 'throwing' knitting skills.

Next week we're starting on our first class project - knitting 3 small squares. Each student will put their initials on each square and have a little banner that they will add to as other projects get swatched.

Stay tuned, pictures to come.

A New Class

Today I started teaching a knitting class at the Anova School...this is going to be fun! The class consists of 5th & 6th graders, some of whom are already familiar with knitting.

Of course I had to start out with the most difficult move - long-tail cast-on, but by the end of our first class, most of the students had picked it up. I asked them to cast on about 25 stitches, and then, as they used up the tail end of the yarn, I taught them two more new things: Knitter's slang - "frogging" - and how to slide stitches off the needle and pull them out. This gave me a chance to talk a bit about how knitters often had to undo their knitting to correct mistakes or to make changes if they didn't like how things were turning out.

Rhinebeck Bingo

I'm pretty sure I signed up to play Rhinebeck Bingo. I'll be there both days. Most of Saturday I'll be helping out at the Bijou Basin Ranch (Yak yarn) booth - the benefits of being a yarn rep...otherwise you might find me wandering through the animal barns giving out samples of Unicorn Fibre Wash and Fibre Rinse (another benefit of being a yarn rep). If not there, then fondling fiber and yarn!

See you at Rhinebeck!

Fiber Revival 2010

There is an historical working farm in Newbury, Mass., where this year's Fiber Revival was held. There is also an alpaca farm down the road that brought over a couple of alpacas for people to view - no touching or climbing on the fence!

But the horse didn't mind getting some attention, and there was this turkey wandering around, as well as some chickens. It's a farm!

It was also a gorgeous day. The vendors provided thoughtful opportunities to enhance your stash...

There were classes throughout the day - I took a class for spinners on the difference between woolen and worsted spinning, with lots of interesting tidbits thrown in for good measure. Barbara, the instructor, brought many bags of fleece, and showed us the differences in the fleeces from different breeds, and how these differences resulted in different types of yarn. Several of us were caught sniffing the fleeces, and had to admit that we really liked the scent of the lanolin in the unwashed fleece...

I don't have pictures of the class because I was too busy spinning and sniffing.

There was a shady area where spinners set up their wheels...

Notice the custom-made cup holders on each wheel!

After all, it's summer, and spinning is thirsty work.

Summer of Lace

My Icelandic Shawl languished on the needles for over two years. Now all it needs is blocking, but all the knitting is done. I like shawls that will actually keep me warm, and this one will be put to good use!

I changed the browns in the original pattern to purples and teal. The yarn was orderd from Sarah's Yarns - she offered to put up a kit of the necessary yardages for knitters - and there is enough yarn left for several other projects. I'm actually using the white and greys on another scarf/shawl - Clover Fields Scarf, which is part of a knit-along on Ravelry.

I used a skein of lovely silk yarn from Yarn Sonnets to knit 198-yards of Heaven, a small shawlette/kerchief that I've been wearing as an accent piece, and pinned in place at the shoulders to cover a neckline that plunged a bit too much!

This is a picture of the Dancing Cranes Stole actually blocking! It's done! I used two skeins of Jojoland Cashmere for this stole, which was also a Ravelry knit-along. I seem to do better at finishing if I'm part of some sort of group. The stole was knit along its length, which made for long rows, but the repetition of knitting the pattern repeat made it easier to remember. I could just keep knitting the row. I find that knitting lace requires more concentration to keep the pattern in mind, but that patterns with multiple repeats go relatively quickly. Especially since I seem to make fewer mistakes, thereby avoiding the frustrations of tinking or ripping back.

Most of my knitting this summer has been on lace patterns. It's like something clicked on in my brain that said, "Lace, lace, lace!" I'm fine with that. I've finished several projects and am almost finished with my Clover Fields Scarf, and there is something very satisfying about finishing a project!

Must Have, Had

Here it is - my Knitting Olympics entry - done. Finished by 9:30 pm EST on Feb. 28, 2010.

Patons "Must Have Cardigan."

Technical stuff:

I used just under 5 balls of Patons Classic Wool (475 gm to be exact) - I weighed the amount left on the fifth ball.

I didn't use a smaller size needle on the waist ribbing, since I don't need a blouson look.

I did go down one size (US#7 from US #8) for the button band ribbing.

I knit the size that would fit most of me and added bust darts to make it fit the rest of me.

I love the cushy feel of the wool.

The color in this picture is not very accurate, it should be greyer, but my photo editing skills weren't up to the challenge.

I made an excel spreadsheet to keep track of the pattern changes, increases and decreases. This made it very easy to make the back match the fronts. I'd also like to extend my personal thanks to the person who invented post-it notes.

First I knit both sleeves at the same time, then both fronts at the same time, then the back.

Although I knit continental (pick), I listened English - I completed all 17 disks of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", plus 10 disks of Dorothy Sayer's "Murder Must Advertise."

That's it for now...

Knitting Olympics - the Sleeves

This time around, I'm participating. Last time around I didn't and then wished that I had.

So, when the Yarn Harlot announced on her blog that she was sponsoring the 2010 Knitting Olympics, I signed on.

I'd had the yarn, pattern, and even the buttons for Patons Must Have Cardigan for over 2 years, so this seemed the appropriate venue for this sweater (for those of you who are not Yarn Harlot fans, she knit this sweater and posted about it on her blog).

I "planned" two days for the sleeves, two days for the fronts, two days for the back, and one day to finish. Hah!

After eight days, I finally finished the sleeves.