I'm much more of a "process" learner than a "project" learner. For both quilting and knitting. Also a lot in the kitchen. It may be a personality trait.
The last few months I took a few classes and learned a zillion techniques. Okay, several. And lots of tips. After a word from our sponsor, I'll share.
What Are You Working On is a community diary series for all things crafty and artsy, in a variety of mediums and techniques.
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First I took a basic hat class, to kind of warmup, and to start to understand design choices and their effect on the knitted fabric. This hat went to a friend.
Next was a hat with Magic Loop. Magic Loop was out of my self-teach ability, and this project was a nice, non-threatening way to get a grip on it. I gave this finished hat to a friend. Magic Loop seems most useful for two-at-a-time socks. I am still fond of DPN's: double-pointed needles.
By now, my kids are getting jealous of these hats going to other people. So I stopped knitting hats. I was reading a LOT about knitting: The Book of Yarn and her second volume, The Book of Wool. Stitch guides. Lots and lots of patterns.
Lucy Neatby came to town, and the scheduling was tough, but I took an intarsia class. Here is my little sample:
And the pattern:
And my adorable little yarn butterflies:
A few lessons from Intarsia:
1. Figure out the right twist when you are changing colors and it will make all the difference in the world.
2. Use straight needles - a circular needle just gives the yarn butterflies one more place to catch. It's almost evil.
3. Don't use more yarn than you need. It will only get in your way.
Here's a way to take care of those seemingly endless yarn tails from all the color changes:
On the purl side (intarsia is almost always done in stockinette), catch the end of the color you want to weave in in your working yarn, on the back side.
Well, maybe I need a better picture. This is the slickest trick, and works in non-intarsia too.
So you are purling. And you get to the stitch above the color change. Take the old color - the old tail - and twist it around your working yarn after one purl stitch and before you start the next one. You need to do this every other purl stitch. Does this make sense or should I try more photos?
More Knitting:
This is a heavy worsted weight scarf I am designing as I go along. I am making zigs and zags using the increases and decreases I learned onAero. I am adding in some purl texture in various patterns when I get bored, in the center section of the scarf.
I also finished the center section of Aero, after starting over and carefully counting to 4 over and over and over again.
I am 2/3s of the way through a lace class for Progression pattern shawl. Each section of this gets more difficult technically. I am having a hard time. I need to knit only when the kids are not around - it takes a lot of concentration for me. So far.
I am using Madeline Tosh Prairie, in Cathedral, which is very lovely. I have a few tips and hope to have more on this lace knitting topic in a future WAYWO.
I had a crashNburn on my Olympic knitting projects, so I knitted a few fashion scarves instead. This is the Sashay yarn and is pretty fun. You knit through the top track on the ribbon. About every 3rd or 4th track-space. If you stitch too close together, you don't get the ruffles.
I have a second one in colorway Ballet, and I need to stitch all 4 ends down on the two scarves.
Are you able to transfer skills from one technique to other projects? What is your favorite kind of class, project or process? Have you taken a class recently?
What Are You Working On?