KniCroBlo Week -- Day 4

A New Skill

Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork

Note: I misread the assignment for day 2, so I am reposting it here, and have answered day 2 again.

There are so many skills I am interesting in honing into the future. For the most part I have learned a new skill with every project I pick.  My current project (links to Ravelry so you will need an account) Shifting Sands, I am working on cabling without a cable needle.  I also made the Inga Hat, which was my first colorwork project (which was a blast and turned out great, photos to come). I am also working on a lace project in the form of the Butternut Scarf. I have also tried Brioche, but the materials I had (some yicky, cheap polyester) was too splitty and slick to enjoy working this interesting stitch, I may go back to it sometime. I would like to work on these skills and make bigger, more complex projects out of these different techniques.

The big thing I would like to try, and probably will once I get myself settled down, post graduation, is spinning. I have had a not-so-secret desire to live off the grid, with animals who provide me with wools. However, as that is probably not happening anytime soon, I need to start working on my spinning in the interim.

I would also like to improve my continental knitting skills, I am okay with the knit stitch but I am struggling on the purl.  I am trying to use continental on most of my projects (and I used it for my color stranding on Inga), and seeing as I have a half-decade head start on english style, I need to be patient on my continental style.  I find continental to be a cooler stitch, and looks more impressive, as well as being more efficient on movement.

KniCroBlo Week -- Day 3

One Great Knitter

Write about a knitter whose work (whether because of project choice, photography, styling, scale of projects, stash, etc) you enjoy. If they have an enjoyable blog, you might find it a good opportunity to send a smile their way.

I have to be honest, I don' t really follow other knitters, other than my friends who knit.  There many, many beautiful patterns and photos out there and I enjoy looking at them, but there isn't anyone to whom I am a devotee.  I am still a dabbler on figuring out "what kind" of knitter I am, and as such I am still figuring out what I like the most.

What I do like are clear patterns, preferably with charts, patterns that are PDFs and not web pages, and ones with clear photos of the item in question.

KniCroBlo Week -- Day 2

An Inspirational Pattern

Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft. If you don’t feel like you have any left of the mountain of learning yet to climb, say so!

Note: I totally answered the question wrong yesterday, I am trying again today (when I am not overly focused on schoolwork)

So, In order to answer this question I went to my Ravelry queue. One pattern I really want to try is Honey Baby.  It looks so pretty and complex.  It is the one I will make for my any very, very future babies my sister may have.

There are so many inspiring patterns, but I would really like to design my own patterns.  To make something unique-ish.

Also, at some point I need to knit the geek canon, including the Jayne Hat and the Tom Baker Who Scarf.

One thing I am not inspired to do is knit a sweater.  Nope, no way, no how (for know).

KniCroBlo Day 1 -- Starting Out

So, something about me that I haven't really said yet, I am a knitter, a pretty serious knitter.

So after my good friend, the Knitting Ninja, linked me to the  Knit & Crochet Blog Week.  So I decided to get in on the fun.

How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting? was it a skill passed down through generations of your family, or something you learned from Knitting For Dummies? What or who made you pick up the needles/hook for the first time? Was it the celebrity knitting ‘trend’ or your great aunt Hilda?

It was my Auntie Ellen, she taught me when she was my Girl Guide leader when I was in high school.  We were at a winter camp for the unit and she taught everyone how to knit, but as far as I know I am the only one still knitting.  My first project was a cotton dishcloth, you know this one.  Well it turned out looking like a holey stingray.  Between the dropped stitches and the split stitches (from the stranded cotton) it was pretty darn ugly. After that point I was more on my own, a little Stitch-N-Bitch here and some mom guidance on crochet there. This past summer, seven years after my aunt taught me how to knit, I was teaching her a new pattern, the one.  It was fun to teach my teacher.

I have taught several other people to knit, including my roommate in first year, my floormate in second year (and she was a lefty) and my current housemate.  It is nice to take things full circle.

My main interest in learning to knit was to learn something new, something very hands-on.  I wanted to be able to 'make' something.