Friday, May 23, 2008

Babies Got Blankets

Spring has brought two baby blankets across my needles.

The first was a communal project of the Knit Night gals at MFA for our friend, gypsyknitter, aka Tabitha. Amazing squares were knit, and it was my job to knit them together:

Tabby'sBBlanket

And knit up:

Tabby'sBblanket3

You can go here to see read more about the party and fun we had, and here for some great photos!


The other blanket is for Afghans for Afghans, and it has not been completed in time for the May 19th deadline:

miteredsquare3

Yes, that is Isadora with the enquiring look. It's finally sewn together, and now I have to find some TV time to sew the ends together.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

The Knitterly Teacher

I have taught a lot of things in my life. I can remember teaching dancing, Bible stuff (duh), flute, math, reading, etc. I've lead plenary session at large events. Most recently, I've started to teach water aerobics at the YMCA nearby.

Last Saturday I taught my first knitting class. Now, I've taught or helped folks one-on-one with knitting issues, because if you've knit as long as I have, it's hard not to do so.

Teaching a class on a pre-determined topic for which people have paid is a whole new kind of teaching. The basics are the same as any teaching. What are my goals for the students in the class? How can I help them along in their learning? What resources can I leave with them or lead them to so that the learning does not end with the Session?

The class? Intro to Lace Knitting.

First, a digression.I am silly enough to, when my college roommate Lolly retaught me to knit continental style (thanks, Lolly!), decided to make my first sweater a long-sleeved sweater on size 1 and 2 needles, in an all-over lace pattern. The only good thing was that I didn't choose cotton yarn - instead, it's some kind of itchy mohair/wool blend that I can't wear next to my skin. Yes, I am crazy.

But I did finish it. And altered the length of the body and sleeves to my petite frame. This was a sign of my future knitting determination.

So, going back now to look at what I wanted to know when I first tried lace knitting I realized several things:

-- Charts are cool. I'm a visual learner, and what a chart would have done for me I simply cannot express.
-- The person who invented the lifeline should win the equivalent of the Nobel Peace prize for knitting.
-- Stitch markers are not for small minds. They are for any mind that can wander for even a nanosecond.
-- Fixing lace mistakes comes with the territory - you are not stupid or dumb if you make them - we all do.

And you know what? I don't think any of my students thought I was new to teaching knitting...

Friday, May 2, 2008

It Fits!

Whew, I took the Flutter Sleeve Cardigan to my cousin Allison and here is what it looks like:

FlutterSleeve7

And another view also looks great:

Fluttersleeve6

In other knittings news, I am finally trying some BMFA Socks That Rock "lightweight" yarn that I bought at Purlesence Yarns a while back. I'm finally knitting a fairly vanilla sock,and I'm absolutely loving it, I have to say:

str1a

The colorway is Pebble Beach. My friend Judy thinks that the weight was mislabeled, because I'm knitting on Zero's and coming out at 7 stitches to the inch. So maybe it's really mediumweight, which would be fine by me!