Getting ready for the first swatch measurements
Swatching is probably one of my least favourite parts of knitting, second only to weaving in ends. It feels tedious, doesn’t feel productive (even though I completely admit it is), and it’s time away from knitting the final product. Lately, however, I have been trying to embrace this process as practice, an introduction to the yarn I’ll be using, and a way to experiment.
Happy New Year! I can’t believe it’s already 2016. This is both my favourite and least favourite time of year. It feels like there’s so much promise, when the new year is just a couple of days old, but it also feels a little bit pressured. At least in my knitting resolutions, I see nothing but fun ahead for my new year.
Even though Christmas hasn’t happened yet, my mind has moved past it already (blame working in the publishing industry; there I’m getting started on 2017). Potential New Years Resolutions are streaming through my mind, and knitting-wise, the same one pops into my head each year (just like the perpetual “I will lose weight this year!”): stop buying so much yarn and knit down the stash.
Tis the season for the mad dashes, the frantic knitting, and the rushing to post offices to get presents out on time. Just thinking about it now makes me a bit winded. But, for the first time ever in my knitting or otherwise adult life, I will not be in that mad dash. For the first time ever, I made it!
The newest additions to my stash
Remember number 4 on Friday’s list?
4. Try not to buy anymore yarn.
Ha!
The former sock
I tend to disregard swatches. In fact, I think I’ve made one swatch ever. I’m not a huge fan of knitting stockinette flat, so it’s just not something I do. I learned yesterday just how important this particular knitting technique really is.
Starting to sketch
When I first started knitting, I had no desire to design anything. I figured, the pros have done a great job, and I can just use what they have made. This has worked quite well for me, as there a ton of really talented designers out there. The past couple of weeks, though, I have been itching to try my hand at it as well.
Mistakes always happen. Well, that might be too broad of a statement. With my knitting, mistakes always happen. The question is this: What do you do when you realise you have made a mistake?
I love the tangerine colour!
Well I did it. I made progress. It would seem smoothing out some of the chaotic parts of my life has helped me refocus my energies a bit more. I’ve been completely stressing out over a lot of small things and a couple of really big things. I developed a system that’ll work at work yesterday, managed to pull together ingredients to make chicken broth in the slow-cooker, and even cleaned the house (a little). After that, I knitted. Something must’ve clicked back!
From the title, you’d think I’ve been knitting for a long time. In a way, I have been. I was first taught by my Grandmother when I was about 8, along with the piano. I quit both of those very early on. Then, when I was a senior in high school, I learned from a woman at the Lutheran Youth Gathering in San Antonio. I made the scarf she taught me to make and didn’t pick up the needles again. I tried again in 2010, making half a cabled blanket, a bracelet, and a couple small odds and ends. I guess it wasn’t until last Christmas, though, that I needed knitting rather than just thought it would be fun. I haven’t really put the needles down since.
For the Knit of It 