I love learning new things despite how many mistakes I make in the process. This week's learning curve is knitting again. I know all about fabrics for quilting… but fabrics for knitting… I know nothing. Luckily in my class on Craftsy.com… Knit Lab… Stephanie Japel is teaching me all about those things. Of course, I didn't get it right away but I am getting there.
I finally finished my first project in my class. The first project was a lacy keyhole scarf. Stephanie's example was a beautiful, delicate light teal lacy version. Mine turned out like this…
It's hard to see the pattern itself because I used a much chunkier yarn that I think I should have. I think you can still see it though… just next time I would used something more delicate. Not to mention my edges are a little uneven, my colors are a little all over the place and due to a mistake in counting one side is twice as large as the other. Luckily this pattern is very forgiving.
Here is a close up of my lace work.
I think it turned out nice… which is a real testament to Stephanie's pattern. Once put together with the end through the keyhole… it looks much better.
For the second project I decided to use another variegated yarn this time to hide the practice stitches. This is a plain scarf and I am supposed to be practicing the seed stitch or the checkerboard pattern. I wanted to use the scarf as sort of a practice piece to do all sorts of stitching and still be able to wear it. Because it is variegated the yarn looks textured when it's knitted… so I am just adding additional texture. It's sort of a surprise when you catch the light. Here is the beginning…
I started with a plain garter stitch again as in the last piece… but then I started the seed stitch. At first I got a little backwards when swapping from knitting to purling… but I soon got the hang of it and knitted a couple of stitches together until I came up with a good number to checkerboard pattern. I did a 5 stitch checkerboard. This is the beginning of the pattern.
I really like how it's shaping up. It was like a little surprise. I can't wait to learn more… til I get to the ultimate goal which is learning to knit in the round so I can make fingerless gloves and a pair of socks. I think I am getting better… but still have a long way to go. Learning new things is totally awesome. It makes me completely happy and breaks up the monotony of writing a new book all day long.
I hope you enjoyed my sharing today. Why don't you share what new thing you learned this month/week/today. I would love to see it.
Happy Quilting… and doing.
~Penni