How to knit

I have been thinking about knitting and the questions that are asked by people interested in learning to knit. Most of them are interested in the basics; how to cast on, the knit stitch, purl stitch and casting off. Once these basics are mastered the student just needs to sit and knit. It's the student that puts the knitting aside and doesn't practice the basic stitches that doesn't progress.

The harder aspects of knitting; reading a graph (or chart)and doing more complicated stitches become a challenge. I love starting a new pattern that is so complicated I have to use a Post-it to keep my place on the chart line by line. A pattern that is so difficult I can't even have the television turned on and woe to anyone who calls me at that point! This is a challenge--one that I try to do at least once a year.

Book reviews

Last summer not long after I started this blog, I discovered that I could go on Amazon.com and do book reviews. It has been a lot of fun and I now have several reviews posted. To read my reviews or post reviews yourself, go in on the title of a book such as "Debbie Bliss Cotton Knits for all seasons". Below the title will be the customer reviews link. Open the customer reviews and there you are! Right now, I'm doing a review on "Every Fixed Star" but haven't finished it yet so it's not posted. Also, at the review itself, there is a button to read all the reviews that person has posted.

So much for New Years Resolutions

As you can see, my New Years resolution to blog at least twice a week is a joke.

I finished all my knitting projects for Christmas and got them in the mail although they were a few days late.

We are going to be in a spring bazaar so have been working on the baby shoes by Debbie Bliss and the felted lambs. This is really exciting because it will be such a good opportunity for feedback.

I just finished reading Every Fixed Star by Jane Kirkpatrick and really enjoyed it. Her books are historical fiction based on factual events. They are special, at least to me, because she brings the characters and landscape to life. Even the horses and dogs become an integral part of the story. In this book I felt as if I could get in my car and drive to the area to visit the characters. The people were very real and, as it was set in Oregon, the scenery was easily imagined. I wanted to step in and help Marie search for her husband when he was lost.

I also Murder Walks the Plank by Carolyn Hart. This is another light mystery that was entertaining.

We are going to start making blankets to give in next year's Christmas baskets for children under the age of four. We have some quilters who want to participate with us knitters and crocheters so the project involves several ministry groups.

Christmas

May you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! Christmas is a very busy time of the year with shopping and baking and...but we have to remember the true meaning of the holiday that it is a holy day and that Jesus our Savior was born on this day.

The afghans are almost finished. The fringes are a real job, it takes almost as long to do the fringe as it does to knit an afghan. Obviously, they will be late but next time I will remember how time consuming a fringe is.

I am going to set some New Year goals this week--one of them will be to write my blog at least twice a week and hopefully three times a week.

Merry Christmas

The Not-so-wonderful world of knitting

I have been making an afghan for a Christmas gift. After I finished the last panel--Panel No. 7 and laid out the rest of the afghan, I realized I had 2 left outside panels and no right outside panel. So now I am knitting frantically trying to finish the right panel in time to mail the afghan!!! When will I learn that knitting under pressure never works? The last time this happened, I was making a sweater for a gift and the back was longer than the fronts (Yes, I had planned to make the whole sweater 2 inches longer than the pattern stated, but forgot my plan halfway through). There must be a law somewhere that states that knitting is only to be done as a hobby or at your leisure otherwise it will not cooperate. Oh well, humility is a virtue and my knitting is often humiliating.

The wonderful world of knitting

Once again, I was reminded of how much of our learning to knit is in the mistakes we make. One of my students had to rip out a good portion of her vest last night because she hadn't understood the pattern. However, she has really advanced as a knitter; when she first came to me she would argue if I used the word "Rip". Now she very calmly rips it out and corrects her mistakes. She is becoming a more experienced knitter and as such knows that (All together now) "As we knit so shall we rip"!!! The other students refer to her as the "Advanced" student and she is becoming a very good knitter.

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a very blessed and safe holiday. Hopefully, the roads will stay clear and we will all arrive safely at our destinations whether it is near or far. Have a very good Thanksgiving.