A Sweater Knitting Class

In all my years of knitting I have never ever taken a single knitting class. So when my LYS advertised a baby sweater class that promised to teach several things I had attempted to do on my own but had never successfully completed, I signed up.

The great thing about the class was one of the co-designers of the sweater pattern was the teacher. Alexa Ludeman from Tin Can Knits helped a few of us through a sweater named Gramps. Let's start with a photo of my co-learners; Alexa is in the center.

My Gramps classmates and teacher

Here's a photo of Alexa's lovely daughter, Hunter, modelling her version of the pattern. (BTW it is named Gramps because it looks like something your grandpa might wear, pockets and patches on the sleeves.)

There were several techniques I have failed to do in the past but managed to do right this time with Alexa's guidance and the tutorials from the website. First there was the provisional cast-on using a crocheted chain. I've done this in the past only to have to cut away the cast-on instead of being able to simply pull it away. It worked like a charm this time. Then there was the paired increased for the raglan sleeve inset. I managed it as well. See my version below:

My paired increases

The lines you see on the left and right sides of this photo are the slants that help shape the sleeve. You can also see those lines clearly on Hunter's right hand sleeve above.

There will be more as soon as I finish this project, so stay tuned. Thanks, Alexa and classmates for making learning this stuff so much fun! I should have taken classes years ago.

As a follow up on my yarn bombing post it appears one crafter has taken on 100 stop signs recently in Clairmont, California, you know the land of fruits and nuts.. Check out this website for a story and video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/stop-sign-yarn-flowers-san-diego_n_1454101.html

Should a stop sign in PoMo end up with a stem and leaves, don't blame me!! Lots of knitters read the Huffington Post, right?

Comments

Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time. One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock. So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep. Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot. And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms...

Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing. I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away. Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close. Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening. As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend. Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration. I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned ou...

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting. It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008. (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.) See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles. And what about the yarn? It is truly ex-bulky. It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space. Or h...

Flagel Knitting Files

Search This Blog