Books

I have been reading The courtship of the Vicar's Daughter the continuing saga of the Gresham Chronicles by Lawana Blackwell. I read the first in the series: The Widow of Larkspur Inn and just loved it. I think I'm going to really enjoy this book too.

I finished the sweater for my daughter's birthday. It is chocolate brown so did not photograph that well, however here is the one I made in raspberry. This is an excellent pattern.

Beginner Knitting

I've been thinking about the multitude of questions a beginner knitter has, everything is so new; the needle sizes, the yarn sizes and all the specialized language. Yarn over for instance, yarn over what? A needle? Another piece of yarn? Or maybe just over the hand? Just getting to the point of the physical act of knitting is an accomplishment. Then there is casting on, everyone has a preferred method, and any and all of them are fine but for a beginner they are all confusing. There are several knitting books that explain the basics but the best way is to have someone who is willing to sit down and knit beside you. My granddaughter learned at camp and I taught another granddaughter. A classroom setting is also excellent. A friend's daughter's teacher taught his class to knit. Another friend actually taught herself to knit from a book, but most people don't have the time or patience--I would hate to have to do it myself! It is so easy to become discouraged because it takes time and concentration but for most of successful knitters there is a time when they can see the result of their hard work and have that first feeling of accomplishment.

Finishing work

Today I did a lot of finishing work, boring but necessary. I finished the baby reefer sweater and hope to get a picture of it as soon as it finishes drying (I always hand wash a gift before giving it probably a holdover from my 4-H days). I also made several dish cloths and finished a birthday gift. I am working on the prayer shawl again, this time it seems to be going better--I am using the right needles!!!

We want to have a table at the church bazaar. At this time, we are third alternative however it occurred to me, here in the middle of August, that if people back out we will be responsible for filling in at the last minute, hence the sudden spurt of dishcloths. I want to make several other items; the bootees in the Debbie Bliss book for example and some larger items.

I finished Beverly Lewis book "The Preacher's Daughter". I enjoyed the history of the Amish and their lifestyle of today, however the ending was disappointing as it was obvious just a lead-in to the next book in this series. I will continue to read it however as the characters are very believable.

I think the hardest lesson for a beginning knitter is ripping out. I know there have been times when I have had to put aside a sweater or afghan I was working on because I was going to have to rip it out, maybe not all the way but enough that I couldn't face it at that time. Fortunately for me and my sanity, I always have several items on needles or something else ready to start. I think the time I had to rip out a man's cardigan sweater was the worst. It had an elaborate pattern and as I was ready to sew the pieces together, I realized I had made the back 2 inches longer than the fronts. Since it was a gift, I couldn't shunt it to the back of my closet for a couple of months but had to rip out the fronts and redo them immediately. I never made that sweater again.

One of my students refused to rip out and cast on over when she ran out of yarn, instead she joined a second ball and continued. Fortunately, the yarn was knobby and the knot was hidden in the pattern. However the next time she cast on she pulled out plenty of yarn.

Knitting at the County Fair

Today I did a knitting demonstration at the county fair. They had a very nice demo area set up, a tatter was demonstrating his craft and a leather crafter was chiseling leather. There were some teenagers interested in learning to knit so I showed them how to cast on and knit. They were thrilled they caught on so easily and are interested in lessons. I find it totally satisfying to teach someone to use two needles and yarn to make something they can wear or give as a gift.

I am working on a second baby reefer jacket but only brought the size five needles so had plenty of time to people watch after I finished the ribbing. I actually did the ribbing for the back and then pulled out the other end of the ball of yarn and knitted the ribbing for one of the fronts. Fortunately I was using my circular needles so had plenty of room for both pieces of ribbing.

It was cooler today than it usually is during fair week, last year it was up in the low 100s, today it was only 85 degrees. I talked to the tatter and learned a few more techniques, tatting is almost a lost art and when I have time I want to do it more, also beading, painting, scrapbooking, the list is endless but for now I'll stick with my first love, knitting.