Sometimes I Impress Myself

I know, what an arrogant statement especially from a Canadian slash Midwestern American, but those who know me also know such a statement is rare for me. Nonetheless, this week I did impress myself.

On October 19 I wrote about the Continental knitting workshop I took in the post called: Pickers and Throwers. So it is now as I write less than one week since I learned a new way to knit, six days to be exact I'm impressed. Those six days have been spent practicing the new style of knitting, in fact, it's the only style used. And on one point Judy, the instructor for the Continental workshop, was wrong; I have fallen in love with this new style far short of a month in time.

The movement is different so I'm not using that throwing motion to create a stitch. Instead a much more refined picking technique is used, which leads to much less stiffness/soreness after a couple of hours of knitting.

I do have the knit stitch down, not to the point where I don't have to look, but I'm good enough that I switched from English to Continental style of knitting on my first West Desert Hood. After close examination I can't tell a difference in how the FO (finished object) looks. In fact, if anything the tension is more consistent with the Continental style. Considering how long I've been throwing (over 40 years) this less-than-one-week improvement is remarkable. Thus, with regard to knitting in the Continental style, I have impressed myself.

Then there is purling. It requires a flick of the left index finger down to hold the yarn in place long enough to snag the stitch.

This is pre-flick, it will be the next movement to finish the stitch

See how the yarn in green on the top picture is still sitting on top of the needle? One needs to use the left index finger to push the yarn down and around to pull the stitch back up to the right. If you think it sounds awkward to do, it's even more awkward when you try to do it. The actual movement is still developing. I have tried wrapping the yarn twice around that index finger (the tension was too tight), doing a quick flick (the new stitch wasn't consistently snagged) and now I'm just slowing everything down so I can figure out what works best for me. Luckily with the West Desert Hood after every 1,260 stitches that are knit a mere 180 purl stitches are required. So to conclude this discussion, let's just say my skill is emerging with the Continental purl stitch.

So there you have it, I did impress myself this week and didn't really realize to what extent until I tried to describe it to Paul. He did his best to understand my enthusiasm, but then this was a personal journey for me, not him. He did listen patiently as I babbled on and on. (I know, that must be hard for you to imagine. :-) Finally, an old dog can learn a new trick and actually enjoy it as well.

I leave you with a close-up of the West Desert Hood. See if you can locate where the knitting technique changed.

For the curious it started in the second row of blue/green pane and moved north to the pink at the very top.

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. (BTW

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 out finished, and

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 how about the longest piece of finger knitting that measured 4,321.4 m

Flagel Knitting Files

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