Challenges and Rewards and the 'aha' moment

Saturday was my first pass at teaching students to knit Haruni.  It has taught me some valuable lessons, and if the shop wants to run the class again I've got some ideas. 

The first thing, is class #1 is nothing but making a 4x4 swatch to confirm which students have had their knitting 'aha' moment and learning the provisional garter tab cast on.

(I'll explain the 'aha' moment shortly.)

The second thing is that using a worsted weight and size 9 US needles to demonstrate is not enough.  I should probably move up to bulky.  The swatch class should be able to do the rest without overwhelming students.

Finally, I have to say that the shining star in this class has been the youngest student.  When her parents signed her up for the class, they mentioned that she knew knit and purl but only as the mechanics of doing them.  She is a beginner. 

Knowing going into it that she wouldn't have that foundation of understanding her knitting (her 'aha' moment) to draw on... instead of just knowing the physical motions to make a knit and purl... I was okay with this.  I am not adverse to teaching people who don't understand why knit or why purl, as long as I know going into it that I'm going to need to teach at that level.

This student is 14 years old, and a little bit shy about asking questions in class.  I remember being 14 (it is vague, but I suspect I'm about that age mentally these days anyway) and am also okay with that.  I stayed for an extra 1/2 hour to walk her through a few rows and see if I couldn't help her on her way to her 'aha'.

She was amazing.  When I left, she was putting in her second row with beads.  She could identify which side of the lace should be knit, and which side should be purl between the garter borders.  I don't think she's had her 'aha' yet, but if she can do that much already it won't be too long.

About the 'aha' moment. 
I've come to the conclusion that a lot of people who nominally know how to knit are actually still beginners.  Again, this is not a bad thing, but it does cause some confusion when determining what level of understanding and knowledge people are at.

In my internal lexicon, beginners are the folks who know the physical actions to knit and how to purl.  Maybe they know a couple of cast on methods, maybe they  know a few other stitches, like k2tog or s1k1psso.  But the biggest defining thing here is that they do not understand why they are doing what they are doing. 

Understanding and being able to read knitting seem to go hand and hand together.  On some level to the beginner 'stockinette' means knit one side and purl the other, but it isn't automatically knit one side and purl the other without putting thought into it.  Ditto for garter (although it's knit all sides). 

So when you're doing a project that mixes and matches, these knitters have a stronger liklihood of getting lost simply because they don't understand why they are doing the motions they are doing and what those motions mean.  They do know enough to know when it looks wrong, but not how it got to that point or where the "one of these things is not like the other" part is.  When they look down at what their hands have produced, they can't identify what it is without some serious mental crunching.

Frankly, I love me some beginners.  That 'aha' moment when it clicks and they look at their knitting in their hands and understand the "WHY" is pure magic.  And if you thought your beginner knitter loved knitting before the 'aha' moment.... this is the point where it goes exponential.  The enormous world of knitting opens up to them, because they understand at least some of what they're seeing in a complex project.

Instead of saying 'I'm going to do a super hard lace/cable/colorwork project' they are excited about it because on the subconscious level they now recognize that this is (for instance) essentially stockinette with garter borders.  Anything in between those garter borders will only be a pattern slapped on the knit side with the return row being plain old purls between garter borders.  And that subconscious will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it can do stockinette and garter, so only keeping track of a little extra patterning is not as intimidating.

So, that's all the news that's fit to print on the knitting front.  On the personal front, short stack lost his first baby tooth.  He's both a little proud and a little weirded out by the process. It's been a big weekend, and I need to shake down my camera to do another picture post sometime shortly.

Happy Knitting, and many 'aha' moments for all!

Taking Care of Your Hair(y yarns)

So, I've spent the last hour looking for my camera.  This was going to be a post with pictures, but I've set the foolish thing someplace "safe" and don't remember what I am keeping it "safe" from anymore. But I digress...

As a lot of folk know, I have a great whack of hair.  It's about 3 feet long at this point, but I almost perpetually keep it up (preferably braided).  Every few years, I get it lopped off for locks of love or pique, whichever comes first.

My hair is stupidly fine.  Not quite newborn fine, but definitely first 6 months of life fine.  It tangles at the first hint of a breeze, and then locks together like mohair daring me to steek it into submission.  It also turns into tiny Shirley Temple pin-curls if I have it too short, so when I consider my hair, it is with grudging admiration (it's more stubborn than myself) and a great deal of ill humor.

However, thanks to the folks as Johnson and Johnson, I seem to be winning the (admittedly lopsided) war with my hair.  This stuff is divinely inspired.  There is also a generic version, but for what it does it's worth more to me than cashmere... so I don't mind spending a little for it.

The no more tangles spray is also fabulous for serious knots.  Again, mohair comes to mind.  But this applies also to angora or other fibers that tend to lock down with little encouragement.

When I get terrible frustrating tangles or knots in yarns containing hair, I've been using my no more tangles spray and embroidery needles to "encourage" the yarn not to felt to itself.  The worst part about knitting with one of the fluffy mohair yarns is that the fluff sets to itself better than concrete.  I can totally understand steeking mohair with no fear, having dropped a stitch in a sweater and not noticed until I bound the sucker off and came up one short for the k2 p2 .  I have worn this sweater for almost 3 years now, and the mohair locks together so well that the dropped stitch has never laddered. (In the interest of honesty, I *do* know where it is and have been watching it with interest to see what it will do.  I did not pull the sweater back 6 inches and fix it.)

Tonight is knit night, and I will be untangling some angora.  I am definitely bringing the teeny needle, and the detangling spray.

For the record, no more tangles also makes the Kauni yarns easier to bear when knitting them.  I find them awfully rough (remember, I have a love affair with alpaca), so making them less abrasive when I'm knitting them is like finding the bean in your new-years cake.

On a side note, that lovely pile of Aran-to-be is this Afghan.  I'll be dropping off the first 4 squares tonight at Knit Night.  On one hand, it's a really exciting project.  On the other hand, I find the bobble instructions a little aggressive.  I don't mind a nice bobble here and there, but being more used to the nuup I find the size of the bobbles required by this pattern a little over exuberant.  I am no fainting maid, but I keep having Red Dwarf flashbacks and contemplating gooseberries....  but you always do the first one exactly as written, even if the bobbles do make you feel faint.

Happy Knitting, and may your bobbles not be suggestive!

So, there I was...

Just minding my own business.

No, let me back up a bit.  I broke my arm in December, and it healed up nicely.  With that came some unfortunate weather-wise aches and problems with my tendons. So, since Sunday night I haven't really been knitting.  I haven't really been able to use the hand because the tendons swelled up... and it put off the blog posts. 

I don't have any knitting progress since the tendons decided they needed attention, but I'm back to typing and I can show you what I got done last week at least.

So, this is where the big russet blob is:

And this is where the giant peach blob is:

I'm actually through 8 repeats of the center on this, and working up to edging...  I really enjoy this pattern, and want to try it in a tencel lace-weight next.

For fun, there's this blob:

It's a combination of 2 laceweight yarns, and it's in kid-mohair, alpaca and wool.  I may even get around to blocking it if I can stop petting it.

And last but not least, I';ve been test driving some possible patterns for quickie-gifts:

Aug 17 is coming quick!

I hope your knitting is treating you well & you're not melting in the heat.

Friday Winners, and a Thank You

You guys are really too much.  I can't thank you enough for participating in these little give-aways.  I've had so much fun, and from what you've said you are too.  I'm grateful and happy that you all have enjoyed this as much as me.

This is the final prize I have to give out from this series, and I used child labor to pull names once again (don't worry, the child is rewarded with toast with honey on top so he feels it's fair).  I have to admit that this time only one of the winners expressed an interest in a particular object, so I also popped the yarns into a bag and let him pull them out to match them with the winners. 

So, for the Alice with Flamingo bag and the silk dk we have Penny who said:
WOW!! Look at these yummy giveaways!! Lovely. The yarns all look so breathtaking. I love all three project bags as well! :)

For the daylily bag and the prism blues we have Mujercita who said:
That blue laceweight and Daylily bag is beautiful. It's so nice of you to be doing giveaways like this!

And last but not least we have Girlieknitwit who said:
These giveaways have been the highlight of my summer (so far) These new prizes are just too awesome. Those project bags are phenomenal. You do beautiful work. Thanks to much for your generosity and the fun of this!!

I wish I had enough to give to everyone who entered, you've all been just wonderful through the whole thing and I love sharing :)

This brings our give-aways for the Fiber Fair to a close for 2011.  I hope all of you had as much fun as I did and that everyone gets a chance to go to one of these sometime soon.

I hope everyone will check back around August 17, as I'm working on a project giveaway for the 1 year anniversary of this blog and all the craziness and joy around it.  Just between you & me, I'm putting together a large project, a medium project, a small project, and a single-skein weekend project.

There will be some changes with the blog, and I've got a stack of FO to 1 block and 2 post about in the next few days of the 3 day weekend.  I realized I must block when I saw this waiting for me:

Erm, that color combination can't be allowed to continue, so the blocking must be accomplished.  Thanks again everyone, and congratulations to the winners.  You've really made this fun, and I hope to do it again next year after the 2012 fiber festival!

When time files...

Sheesh, I got snowed under again!

This is the knitting that's been going on in the meantime:

A hoodie, size 6 needs blocking and buttons sewn on

Pieces of Gudrid, actual color is scarlet.  I'd ask why I can't capture reds... but I think I should just accept it.

Let's get a closer look at that:

detail of unblocked cable, photo still 100% color inaccurate

And then there's this:

spring shawl version in pale green cashmere

 A little of this:

light fortifications:  1 oz peach schnapps, 6 oz gingerale, frozen blueberries

 So I wouldn't be afraid to do this:

Actually, not too bad a representation of the color.

This will be a sweater for meeeeee.  It was a ton of fun, and I have more dye-days planned.  Speaking of dyers check out Tanis!  She's having a giveaway, and the prize is pretty awesome.  Even if you don't see yourself wearing a Wispy cardigan in silk, I'm sure you  know someone who would and would love it.  Just sharing the love!

Next week should be more calm.  At least, that's what I keep telling myself....

when it goes awry

So, this weekend I made the kind of cabling mistake made better than famous by a Vogue Knitting magazine in the past.  Personally, I treasure that VK.  It lets us know that everyone makes mistakes.  Even the most awesome of designers, and most awesome of knitters can make random cable mix-ups.

I didn't have the heart to photograph the mistake.  It  might not have been that obvious to the person I was making the item for... but it would have been obvious to me and I love them too much to give them something I would cringe to see them wear.

So, instead I started this little project:

Yes.  6 inches of thick cable painstakingly ripped back to the error.

There are lots of blog posts out there on how to fix this kind of error.  Eloquent ones, with awesome shots (that aren't using Quince & CO's peacoat color to illustrate) so I didn't spend the time to record the process.

But here is how the fix ended up:

Very lightened, obviously.

You can see the little tension differences, but those will block out when it gets it's wet-blocking.

I understand that some of my favorite bloggers are also having difficult times.  In their honor, I am sharing my favorite cookie recipe.

Grammie Rowe's Refrigerator Cookies
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp salt

-----------
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (or butter)
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla

Sift first 5 dry ingredients together.  In separate bowl, cream shortening and sugars until fluffy.  To the sugar/shortening mix, add eggs and vanilla.  Beat well.  When well mixed, add dry ingredients and mix.

This makes a stiff dough.  In a length of waxed paper, make a low and long "loaf" of the dough (roughly 1/2-3/4 inch deep by 2 inches wide by cookie sheet long).  Refrigerate the dough a minimum of 2 hours. 

Slice dough and bake on cookie sheet at 350 degrees for ~ 8 minutes.

Enjoy!!

What do you do when today feels like this:

he has a head, it's just hiding in the beast's room somewhere waiting to be attached

Personally, I like to do a little bit of this:

rough sizing a hacked together pattern on my dressform

Then I spend some time admiring this:

oooo, such a pretty color

And then, do a little of this:

soon, my pretty.... soon.

Ah well, who knows what yarn-ish-ness tomorrow may bring?

It's been a while...

So, things have been busy at 200 Shawl Central.  I've been knitting, but it's been mainly knitting infidelity.  I should be ashamed.  I really should.

Some of this is for the show that was put off at the coffee shop.  They are waiting for Old Home day since their original weekend clashed with something else that was happening in the area.  Since I've hit 18 shawlettes, 8 felted bags, and 16 market bags I'm going to walk away from the show knitting for a while.  It sounds like a lot, but I'm sure they'd like more.  I just really want to focus back on the 200.  I'm up to 20 shawls out of 200, and I need to finish blocking and take pictures of the latest and then post them.  It takes me about an hour to take the pictures, about an hour to edit them (meaning cut them down to size) and at least an hour to blog about them.  So it may be next week before I get to them :(

Here's a quick photo chain of what I've been up to shawlette and shawl-wise.

First, these:

finally blocked out

there are 2 of these, one for the blog one for the shop

silk singlespun

These are some of the blocked 'ettes that are waiting for hang-tags.

Then this:

Was knit into this:

Which needs to be blocked.  But I thought it might be nice to show what it looks like pre-blocking.

These are also entering the blocking line up

While working on writing out the pattern for Autumn Glow, I realized that I hadn't explored fully what I wanted to do with it.  So this is a test-knit blocking out

Then I started on these:

Originally, there were 4 of these... guess who absconded with one?

I started a White Rabbit (have some great chessboard fabric that will become a waistcoat, and a pocket-watch button to go with it) as a gift.  Here, I'm deciding how to put the ears on.... looks a little intimidating

look out, he's got dpn's hiding in his ears

Then, there were these:

number 2 and number 3

The original test knit was done in an alpaca boucle that I had left-over from something else... but as with much I knit someone absconded with it.

I found the shaping of the head a little off in this test knit & have since modified it.

But, really... could you resist letting him have it?

Yeah, me either.

Anyway, computer troubles have been solved and work is about to become less frenetic.  I'm dedicating one day a week to the stuffies for the next ~ 3 months.  I'm hoping to get into a more regular blogging rhythm now that life is no longer creating fireworks.

Thanks to everyone who waited me out, and all those who make it to the bottom of this long post!

never let it be said

that being snowed in leaves you with nothing to do

more to come, as time allows today.

2 week countdown

 Let me lead off by saying that I look a lot younger than I am.  The bone doctor was a little concerned about the speed that my arm is healing last week.  He said it wasn't as rapid as he thought it should be, and that I am in this cast for another 2 weeks before he'll replace it with one that will allow me to shower without acrobatics. 

Part of my youthful appearance is the fact that my naturally round face has very few wrinkles thanks to the extra weight I carry.  Part of it is in my genetics;  all the women from my Mom's side of the family look 10-15 years younger than they are.  Part of it is that I dye my hair.  No shame there, it's my nod to vanity. 

When appraised of exactly what portion of my 30s I'm in, and how many children I've had suddenly my arm is healing at a reasonable rate. I wonder if I explain that I'm going through early menopause and that my nerves (which were severed 3 years ago now) have come back alive, if he'd realize exactly how amazing the recovery is.

So, two more weeks in the cast.  I can live with it.  Since the cast completely changes my knitting tension, anything I start now must be able to be finished within 2 weeks.  HAHAHA.  Yeah, right?  I did finish the silk shawl I posted about earlier.  It now looks something like this:

working on the increases in the leaves to make them more graceful in the pattern

Noodles.  But it will block out beautifully.  I have faith.

I've also been working on these:

bulky!

These are to be felted.  They are a fast project which I can finish quickly.  The local coffee shop is planning on a spring craft show of some kind in the not too distant future.  These will look like pretty water colors once finished, and I hope they're something I can put in.

I have 3 spring patterns in the works:  2 stoles and another triangle.  I know, I just like working triangles.  They're flattering to wear, and I find being able to see visible progress very satisfying when knitting.  I'm tentatively planning them in these yarns:

silk, kid mohair and silk, cotton and silk...  hmmm tend?

We'll see.  The red one is from the Dye For Yarn shop.  I look forward to doing a review of their yarn, their sister shop and its yarn, and my experience with them.  It's always good to find someone who makes a quality product with good service, so I will be happy to review them once I have a sample in their yarn to share.

Finally, I leave you with one of my favorite projects being appreciated by one of my other favorite projects.

shorty cowl, in kids size, fresh from the outdoors

Wednesday morning drive-by

Monday, I got all of the prizes packed and labeled.  It took a lot longer than I thought it would, and I'm very grateful that the broken wrist wasn't something more serious or debilitating.  I am very grateful for the mobility I do still have.

Yesterday, as I loaded the bean's little red wagon to walk the packages to the post office (during my lunch break from work), my phone rang.  It was my largest client with a serious issue.  I did not make it to the post office, and it was an 11 hour work day with no breaks.  Given that this job allows me to work from home, I'll take the occasional tough days.  The 11-16 hour days only happen every few weeks.

Today, there is at least 8 inches of snow and falling.  I resume con-calls at noon, although today I should be able to sneak out for 1/2 hour and get the stuff mailed off.  If I take the all terrain red wagon (purchased to drag 2 year old through blueberry picking hills), and use a hand-warmer pack in my sling I should make it ok.  Just need to call the post office and make sure someone is there before I leave.

Here's hoping this blustery day brings you warm drinks and knitting joy!

the power of wool compels you

Wow, I hadn't anticipated the response to the giveaway when I posted it on ravelry! I guess that was pretty silly of me. I mean, they've got over 1 million user accounts now.... and none of us joined because we dislike yarn and the many things yarn can do.

Actually, I'm excited to have so many interesting and often quirky and fun suggestions for the winter blues. All of the entries so far are fabulous. I'm enjoying hearing about what folk do, and what they sometimes avoid doing in the winter months.

The giveaway is ongoing until midnight January 9, and winners will be drawn and announced on the 10th.  I'm really looking forward to it!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I've been fighting one handed typing up my patterns and doing sneaky knitting.  I can't knit for long with the cast, and having only my off hand as my primary knitting engine has changed my tension.  It has made me something of a tight knitter so I am not/cannot work on the projects I started before the fall.  It occurred to me that, given the nature of lace, even if I post what I'm working on it is unlikely anyone will be able to identify it.  That frustrating thought in tow, I've snapped this:

look, ma, no hands ;-)

While I'm thinking about good things, I wanna thank my little band of loyal readers.  You know who you are, and so do I.  Even though I'm too much of a pleeb to figure out how to respond to comments, I do read every single one.  And they mean a lot. 

This afternoon, I'm editing pictures to do the finished object posts I've been meaning to do.  I have 4 FOs that I need to get documented;  I will answer the questions that were asked about my INSANE FO in its post.  I haven't forgotten, I promise.  :)

I just want to say thank you again for the encouragement.  Knitters on the web, you rock!

such a small thing

So, most folks know that I have been working on this:

pooooorch!

off and on with my Dad for the last 6 weeks.  Things got around weather, obligation, illness... y'know, life.  It was cold, hard, intense work.  My Dad and I spent the weeks off recovering from wind-burn. 

On the 24th, my Mom and Dad came over.  My Mom watched the bean so Dad and I could put up the skirt below the porch and close in the last 6 foot space that allowed air to freeze my pipes.  We worked steadily from 9AM until 1:45 AM.  We were at the very end of the project, getting ready to go inside for the lunch I'd prepared and baked that morning. 

The observant among us will have noticed something not quite right in the picture above.  I was on the ladder, when there suddenly was no support from the left.  I felt that I was going down, knew that it was going to be the last gasp of my knees if I landed on them, and managed to twist enough to land on my butt.  And part of my right shin...  oh, and I gently bumped my right funnybone.  Not even enough to make a bruise.

Looking around, I was relieved to see this:

ha!  metal fatigue in the support, not bad balance

I know relieved sounds strange, but the fault in the ladder couldn't be predicted, planned, or taken into account.  Plus, I am thrilled and grateful that I was the one on the ladder when it went.  15 minutes sooner, and it would have been my Dad hitting the ground.  I would have been sick over it, and have been cheering that my (now NOT frozen) pipes were not the cause of hurting my Daddy.

Anyway, quick trip to the emergency room shows that funny bone bumps?  Not so funny.

bone in wrist cracked by MY OWN TENDONS.  Heh.

Yep, I'm immobilized from above the elbow to just below the tips of my fingers.

On the other hand (as it were), there was this waiting for me. 

"Ma, I wanna cuddle!"

So, knitting is on pause for a little.  Not long, just a little.  In the meanwhile, I'm working on this:

1 started, 4 to go.....

Tomorrow, my Mom is taking me yarn storage shopping.... for my 3 season porch with no unwanted cyclones!!

Hehe, take that Winter!!

Conan, what is good in life?

Where to start.  Hmm, how about here?

Ah, sweet caffeine, with knitting beyond.  This is good in life.

Wait, let's get a closer look at this

Chocolate coffee???  This is GOOD in life.

What else is good in life?  I'm personally fond of quick projects in alpaca.  Something like this:

Knit by mom, worn and loved by boy.  This is good in life.

Shorty announced that this was the best small scarf ever because he doesn't trip on it.  That boy has a way with words.

Then there's lace projects in bulky red wool that photographs like crap even with a renewed flash.  (flash is another story, and I think I'll pretend it didn't happen so that I won't get a facial tic or toss it down the stairs shrieking "knitter smash!" in response)

Scarlet in real life, this is my bulky project.  It's also the only photo that shows the yarn color for the peacock medallion.

This was once enough yarn for a size 10 sweater.  It was my perfect 10 denial sweater, in that I'll never be a size 10 again.  Heck, I haven't been a size 10 since I was 17, so reality and I were clearly not on speaking terms when I bought it.  On the other hand, it's knitting into a niiiice stole... so I guess it wasn't a bad purchase after all.

Interestingly, the peacock is too dark to be seen, the red is closer to right, and the pattern shows some tentative plans.

Medallion stole thoughts are good in life.  I love things that keep my mind busy.

What else?  Oh yes Fleece Artist blues in a new shawl start are good too!

color is good on this one

Love Fleece Artist.  I might have mentioned it in the past, but it's still true.

This is also good in life, especially now that I'm not knitting on it any more.  This one needed a knitter intervention, and I lost a few days of knitting due to exhaustion in my arms from holding it up.  It's almost 3 lbs and all of that in the pearls.  The antique tinted beads in the main body were not that heavy....

teaser pic, this deserves its own post.  HEAVY

And that's sort of where I'm at.  I was thinking I'd take porch pictures but was disheartened by the snow.  Perhaps tomorrow, when I'm not working I'll grab a few for here.  Snow isn't much fun for building, but it does encourage knitting (and coffee!)

Speaking of which, time for more COFFEE!  MMMMMMM.

alpaca hugs and a sneeky peek

These are what I've been working on the last 10 days.

alpaca.  No replacement for loss, but good for a hug.

A second serious scarf

And a latte colored stole

I just hope they have the intended message/effect.

I've also been playing with beads.  I'm thinking of calling this twinkle twinkle

fairly representative of the correct colors, no thanks to my flash

pretty close on color, I like this shot

representative of the pattern, color not dark or bright enough.

Still fighting with my flash, but it looks like I'll win sometime soon.  I look forward to that.  I have one last secret project I need to finish knitting.  I might photograph it if I can get permission from the recipient.  I like the pattern I've come up with and would like to use it in this project.  I have to apologize in advance, this weekend will be just as light blogging as the last 10 days due to project conflicts.  But I really want running water this winter, so it needs to be finished.

Hope all is well with you!