Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

In spite of the teaching being done, I still didn't sleep all that well on Saturday night. The convention is just so much fun, and my head is racing with ideas that all need to be worked out now, dang it! For Sunday morning I took Carson Demers "Ergonomics for Knitters" class. I believe I had asked for a class like this on last year's feedback form. Alas, I don't recall the name of the knitter, but I sat next to someone who was wearing a beautiful blue, purple, and green Ann Feitelson Fair Isle cardigan. Hmmm, maybe it really is a good idea for the air conditioning to be turned up. Seeing a sweater like that in person makes you want to throw everything else aside and give Fair Isle a try. Carson's class was exactly what you would expect. He did a wonderful job explaining what ergonomics is and what risk factors to watch. I got a little lost with some of the anatomy lesson, but it was fascinating none the less. And he had several videos of people knitti...

Now I wasn't afraid about staying up late because I had nothing planned for Saturday morning. This was done purposefully. I left myself time if I had needed to do anything last-minute for my class. Since I was already prepared, my plan was to sleep in, then teach. Well, between the Earl Grey, the thrill of the party, and the excitement of teaching, I just couldn't sleep. I did a lot of lying in bed pretending I was asleep, and maybe a little light dozing. Eventually I got up and went in to the convention, figuring that I might as well sit and knit since sleeping clearly wasn't happening. That was okay, because it gave me a chance to go spend that Knit Witch gift certificate. I picked out some beautiful light blue lace weight yarn. The yarn bowls were also tempting, but I just don't trust Brûlée and Vincent when it comes to pottery within reach of their paws. Thank you, Brittany, for the door prize! I think class went well. For some reason, it took longer tha...

For Friday I wore the Bootkicked scarf. I also carried the Elfin Lace shawl and wore it a couple times. I have mixed feelings about appropriate room temperature. On the one hand, I don't like to be cold. On the other hand, if the knitters are cold, then they are wearing fabulous knitwear. Maybe keeping things a little on the cool side is appropriate in these circumstances. Friday was an all-day pattern writing class with Edie Eckman. She did a great job explaining how submissions are done within the industry. She also showed us how hard it is to write a pattern to the industry standard. Our practice sample was a flat sweater pattern graded in four sizes. Writing it in the shorthand of the knitting world was really hard. It was also harder than I expected because I don't knit sweaters from flat patterns, so it really hurt my brain to try to think that way. I would much rather draw out shoulder and neck shaping on graph paper than try to explain how many stitches to bi...

First, thank you to everyone who makes STITCHES South happen. That includes XRX, who throws the party; but also the sponsors who give us all the fabulous prizes; the vendors who bring lots of gorgeous wares to dispose of our tax refunds and support the economic recovery; and the teachers who leave our minds swimming with new ideas and techniques. Once again, STITCHES was the best weekend of the year. Here's the story of my weekend. Once again, I started off with the Opening Day presentation. I had to leave early for the teachers' lunch, so I missed Jane Slicer-Smith's part of the presentation. But I did hear Leslye Solomon. Leslye showed scientific evidence of why you have to wash and block your gauge swatch. She knit identical swatches, washed one but not the other, and then compared them. Oh my gosh! A knitter's horror show for sure! No wonder we think our swatches lie. Because I knew I would be doing the Teacher's à la carte lunch, I made it a p...

It has been more than four years since I've taught double knitting. That's a real shame, because it is so much fun to do and so much fun to teach. This is one of those techniques that is a real delight because people think it is so much harder than it is. Students come into the class nervous or unsure, and leave feeling like they can work magic. It is wonderful. For my class in May, I've chosen to make a less-intimidating sample by working the chart for the "Ukrainian Tiles" afghan. The book is Comfort Knitting & Crochet Afghans by Norah Gaughan, Margery Winter, and the Berroco Design Team (New York, NY: Stewart, Tabori & Chang 2010). I don't really need an afghan book, but this one has some delightful and interesting patterns. Because afghans are large empty canvases tossed around the house, there is a lot of opportunity for playfulness in stitch pattern and color. After all, an afghan doesn't need to pass the same fashion wear-ability...

North Georgia Knitting Guild plans to knit an afghan or two as a charity project. The blocks need to be exactly 8-inches square. I decided to try a square for a quick change of pace. Sometimes a knitter needs instant gratification. Fortunately, I have the full run of Knitter's magazine's afghan series. Those of you who know my fondness for geometry will not be surprised that I picked the block by Linda Cyr in The Great North American Afghan booklet (Sioux Falls SD: XRX, Inc. 1999, second printing 2008, pp. 40-41). The North American afghan is the second booklet in this series. In addition to the geometry, I liked that this block is worked from the center out, which meant that I could knit until it was big enough. And I could fudge and add a few border rows at the end if it came out to seven inches square instead of eight. I got lucky, and it seems to be right on the money at eight inches square. The booklet lists this as one of the five hardest blocks, but I don't...

Because I've taught the Baby Surprise Jacket several times, I've worked up several of them in different yarns and with slightly different details. This striped example requires about four skeins of Trendsetter Tonalita. Note that Tonalita is a variegated yarn that does not have a pattern repeat -- the color changes are completely random. The color changes are also several feet apart instead of just a few inches, but not the many yards apart of Kureyon, Karaoke, Paintbox, or Mini Mochi. On this pattern, the color will change about every-other row. You can see that the stripes on the left side of the picture are more solid, while the stripes on the right side are more broken. This occurs because of how odd-colored blips poke through in purl bumps. I am to the point of trying things out on BSJ just for the sake of seeing what happens. For a change of pace, I used a Debbie New's double increase instead of the make 1 left and right Elizabeth Zimmermann recommends. I a...

I've been teaching Elizabeth Zimmermann's classic Baby Surprise Jacket as a class that meets three times. This is such a fun class to teach, as every student ends up with something different. This is a pattern that can be customized in a variety of ways. I've had some students make it with doubled or tripled yarn on large needles so that it becomes a jacket or coat for a young child. One student was knitting for her twin grandsons, so she made two in coordinating but not identical colorways. It always looks good. And it is always fun to watch people's faces as they try to figure out where they are as this thing unfolds on their needles. Most times that I teach it, I knit another Baby Surprise Jacket. It has been fun for me to try different things. This little jacket is made from Koigu KPPPM (the orange and the purples) and Plymouth Happy Feet (the red). The whole jacket weighs 65 grams, with the buttons. Note to self: finding small orange buttons is not easy. ...

If you haven't seen it already, be sure to check out Brian's (HRM Prince Entrelac) 24 March post on the Skacel blog. Brian cast on last year (see the 30 June 2009 post ) and knit an entire week's worth of socks -- seven pairs, fourteen socks -- all at the same time on a long circular needle. You can check the 17 July 2009 post to see how he did it, and what special equipment/contraptions he needed to make it happen. At the end of March, Brian finished the task. His final post on the matter includes very nice pictures of all the socks. Brian was out here last year for STITCHES South but, alas, won't be out here this year. I guess we'll have to congratulate him in person another time. I feel strongly that a stunt knit of this magnitude deserves a trophy, medal, or ribbon. Or maybe someone should send him bronzed socks? I must admit I almost sprang for one of those special 120-inch long needles, but I don't need it in the sock size so much as in a sweater...