Part of the Master Hand Knitter program involves knitting swatches, sixteen of them for the first level. I enjoy bringing my focus to such a narrow spot. Every stich is made precisely.
Let's calculate: swatch number one requires casting on twenty stitches, ribbing for two inches, increasing to twenty-five stitches, garter stitching for four and a half inches, then binding off. So, estimating seven (rib) and ten (garter) rows per inch, the total number of stitches is 20x2x7+25x4.5x10+25 which equals a mere 1,430. Huh. That looks like a lot of stitches but it isn't in practice.
The turn at the end of one row and the beginning of the next is fraught with peril. The habit I am breaking is tightening those two stitches, the last of one row and the first of another, into the size of one. To break the habit, as I make the first stitch of the row, I pinch it to the right needle with my right index finger. I hold the stitch down in that way as I make the second stitch. Once the second stitch is safely on the right needle, I pull my working yarn to make it (the second stitch) firm. Breaking a habit takes time and I have gotten to the phase where I almost always remember to make the first and second stitches of the row with great attention. Absent-mindedly I will revert to my bad old ways.
My Prayer Shawl Ministry (PSM) group, part of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Saco and Biddeford (even the acronym, UUCSB, is a mouthful), has lately been knitting dishcloths to sell at the Holiday Fair (Saturday, November 20) and shawls for clothespin angels. The angels will decorate a wreath to be raffled for the benefit of the Dyer Library and Saco Museum. These two projects have given me a vast opportunity to practice my edges.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Challenge
This blog presents a challenge: write about knitting meaningfully and with technical clarity.
Starting the Master Hand Knitting program through The Knitting Guild Association (TKGA) brought my attention to my various skills and talents. The knitting isn't the hard part, the writing and project organization is! So here I am blogging, practicing the writing and organizing.
Maybe after I have written pages and pages I will aspire to more, such as "funny" or "inspiring." I will see!
Starting the Master Hand Knitting program through The Knitting Guild Association (TKGA) brought my attention to my various skills and talents. The knitting isn't the hard part, the writing and project organization is! So here I am blogging, practicing the writing and organizing.
Maybe after I have written pages and pages I will aspire to more, such as "funny" or "inspiring." I will see!
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