It's the last day of 2013. While I'm preparing to send 2013 off into history and ring in 2014, I am also preparing to begin my Knitting Masterclass journey. The preparations including choosing yarn from my stash for the first project, the Sedgemoor Cardigan. I have enough Knit Picks cotton yarn purchased for another project that I previously loved, but don't love the project so much now. So that yarn is being repurposed to knit the Sedgemoor. Beside, living in South Central Texas means a short sleeve, cotton cardi is appropriate knitwear for our climate.
My knitting chair is all set, the end table is set up with my stay at home knitting tools, and my yarn is chosen. Oh, and my copy of The Knitter Knitting Masterclass is on the end table as well within easy reach. I think I'm all set to begin.
On a side note, I'm an ADD knitter. I need to have more than one project going at a time to keep my brain from fogging over. Most of my projects are not basic stockinette stitch so it helps. I've got a cabled cowl for my daughter to finish before January 6th when she leaves to go back to college in Virginia, I need to cast on a hat for my friend Nadine who crochets, but does not knit (she had the yarn, I told her I'd knit her a hat), and the Wonderful Man I'm married to, herein and ever after known as "The Husbeast", bought me $150 worth of Sublime Lusterous in black/silver to knit him a sweater and I've cast on Cobblestone by Jarred Flood for The Husbeast. I'd like to get the Cobblestone done by Valentines day as an anniversary present for him. We'll see about that.
I'm also preparing to host my first ever fiber arts retreat on the last weekend in February. I have 19 wonderful ladies joining me for a 3 day weekend of fiber arts fun and relaxation. Just ladies, their sticks or hooks, string, wheels, weaving, etc along the beautiful Medina River miles away from the hustle and bustle of town.
So fondly, I bid 2013 a fond, fair adieu and say a boisterous HELLO 2014! Let's kick this Masterclass knitting off with a big BANG!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Saturday, December 28, 2013
A Different Approach
Before I start the serious knitting from the Masterclass book, I found myself asking several questions such as is it a cop out to quit knitting a project due to a poorly written patter; is it acceptable to substitute patterns of similar characteristics because I am not fond of the way a designer work or the difficulty is what I might consider inappropriate for the lesson; should I skip around and knit what I like first or should I move through the lessons in chronological order?
I've been following another knitter who started a similar project back in October. While I think our goals are similar, our approaches are certainly different. Case in point, she's chosen to move through the workshops and projects randomly while my approach is to dive into the book head on and work through the lessons one at a time from the beginning of the book to the end and knit the projects in the order they appear in the book. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to take this learning journey; I just feel the right way for ME is to take it one step at a time, breaking it down into smaller pieces, and moving through the book in chronological order. It may not be right for her or anyone else. This is what is right for me.
I don't keep up with the other knitter's progress in any fanatical way. I check in to see what she's done and if there are issue with patterns that may require searching for errata since the book was published several years ago. What I have found is that her journey process is to move around through the book which obviously works for her. Her latest posts indicated she was not happy with several of the patterns and in recent weeks, she chose to substitute patterns for a project that she feels are similar in difficulty and technique. I'm not sure I agree with her process; it's my prerogative to disagree and as long as I do so in a polite and appropriate manner, I don't see anything wrong with that. I don't feel it's my place to call her out on this; it was her choice and it is how she feels she will learn the most from the lessons being taught in the various workshops.
However, with all that said, I don't see anything wrong with knitting just 1 sock for the project. To me, knitting a pair of sock is a two part lesson. The first sock teaches you the lessons to be learned. The second sock reinforces the new skills and techniques learned while knitting the 1st sock. But if you don't like the sock pattern to begin with, choose a yarn from your stash that you're not in love with, knit one sock, and save the rest of the yarn for the next sock project. Nothing says both socks have to be pair from the same pattern and if you're building a sample reference library as I was considering doing with all the swatches from each lesson, well, there you go. The other thing is that you can always frog the project at a later time, right?
Well, off to get some fiber time in on Lark (that's my Kromski Minstrel) before I head over to the closest LYS for the Saturday S 'n' B. Happy Saturday and Happy Fiber Journey, My Friends!
I've been following another knitter who started a similar project back in October. While I think our goals are similar, our approaches are certainly different. Case in point, she's chosen to move through the workshops and projects randomly while my approach is to dive into the book head on and work through the lessons one at a time from the beginning of the book to the end and knit the projects in the order they appear in the book. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to take this learning journey; I just feel the right way for ME is to take it one step at a time, breaking it down into smaller pieces, and moving through the book in chronological order. It may not be right for her or anyone else. This is what is right for me.
I don't keep up with the other knitter's progress in any fanatical way. I check in to see what she's done and if there are issue with patterns that may require searching for errata since the book was published several years ago. What I have found is that her journey process is to move around through the book which obviously works for her. Her latest posts indicated she was not happy with several of the patterns and in recent weeks, she chose to substitute patterns for a project that she feels are similar in difficulty and technique. I'm not sure I agree with her process; it's my prerogative to disagree and as long as I do so in a polite and appropriate manner, I don't see anything wrong with that. I don't feel it's my place to call her out on this; it was her choice and it is how she feels she will learn the most from the lessons being taught in the various workshops.
However, with all that said, I don't see anything wrong with knitting just 1 sock for the project. To me, knitting a pair of sock is a two part lesson. The first sock teaches you the lessons to be learned. The second sock reinforces the new skills and techniques learned while knitting the 1st sock. But if you don't like the sock pattern to begin with, choose a yarn from your stash that you're not in love with, knit one sock, and save the rest of the yarn for the next sock project. Nothing says both socks have to be pair from the same pattern and if you're building a sample reference library as I was considering doing with all the swatches from each lesson, well, there you go. The other thing is that you can always frog the project at a later time, right?
Well, off to get some fiber time in on Lark (that's my Kromski Minstrel) before I head over to the closest LYS for the Saturday S 'n' B. Happy Saturday and Happy Fiber Journey, My Friends!
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Welcome
Welcome to the home of my 2014 knitting project. On January 1, 2014, I am going to embark upon a journey to improve my knitting skills. How am I going to do this? Well, it's simple. I heard about the book titled, Knitting Masterclass written by the editors of The Knitter magazine published in the UK.
There are 20 workshops and 15 projects included in the book. I plan to work my way through the book starting with the first chapter and going through to the last one taking one project on at a time. My goal is to learn new skills and techniques as well as to improve upon the knitting skills and raise my level of expertise to a higher bar. While I'm tolerably good at some of the basics like cables and such, I want to improve those skills and take my knitting and my process of knitting to new heights.
While one of my goals for this project is to blog about the journey and the lessons I learn, I will be honest with you here and say that I'm not the most consistent blogger in the blog-a-sphere. I'll check in as much as I can and post on my progress.
I started a group on Ravelry, Become A Better Knitter. This group contains many other knitters who are embarking on this journey with me. We work at our own pace; we move through the workshops at our own pace; we knit the projects at our own pace. If you're on Ravelry, stop by and check the group out. Everyone is welcome and it doesn't matter what level your knitting skills are at.
So, I'm off to go start pulling possible yarn choices to knit the first project. Check back in January 2014 for more updates!
There are 20 workshops and 15 projects included in the book. I plan to work my way through the book starting with the first chapter and going through to the last one taking one project on at a time. My goal is to learn new skills and techniques as well as to improve upon the knitting skills and raise my level of expertise to a higher bar. While I'm tolerably good at some of the basics like cables and such, I want to improve those skills and take my knitting and my process of knitting to new heights.
While one of my goals for this project is to blog about the journey and the lessons I learn, I will be honest with you here and say that I'm not the most consistent blogger in the blog-a-sphere. I'll check in as much as I can and post on my progress.
I started a group on Ravelry, Become A Better Knitter. This group contains many other knitters who are embarking on this journey with me. We work at our own pace; we move through the workshops at our own pace; we knit the projects at our own pace. If you're on Ravelry, stop by and check the group out. Everyone is welcome and it doesn't matter what level your knitting skills are at.
So, I'm off to go start pulling possible yarn choices to knit the first project. Check back in January 2014 for more updates!
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