Progress in the fiber arts, or lack thereof
So as I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been learning to spin yarn and knit.
The yarn spinning is coming along – I don’t spin as often as I should (’cause hey, I write articles about this stuff and I really need to get better at it) but every time I do sit down and work on it, the skill improves. Which is very gratifying and encouraging.
The knitting on the other hand…not so good. I’ve started two or three different projects that didn’t work out, and I was able to rationalize my failure. One project was with charcoal colored yarn, which is frikkin’ impossible quite difficult to see unless you’re knitting in broad daylight. One project was with a three-ply yarn that had a funky ply – two tight plies and one loose ply, and I kept getting the needle between the plies. Then I tried to start on a sock using multiple double pointed needles. Imagine trying to knit with a porcupine…that’s kind of what it’s like. A live porcupine. An angry live porcupine. With hemorrhoids. And a hangover. Perhaps a sock was a little bit ambitious, no?
So, I back peddled a bit, and decided I’d just do another dish cloth. Boring, yes…but good practice. Lots of knitting, lots of purling, but nothing complicated. It’s what might be referred to as “low hanging fruit”. I needed a success to boost my ego and keep me motivated. I’ve started it twice now, and ripped it all out both times. My ego is bruised. The first time was due to a stupid user trick…I accidentally let a couple of loops come off the needle and it unraveled and I couldn’t figure out how to put it back together. Not a big deal – it could happen to anyone (right?). The second time however was not just your everyday, run of the mill stupidity. This was stupidity on a grand scale! After knitting several rows, I notice that one side of the knitting has more rows than the other side of the knitting. Neat trick eh? All I can figure is that I put it down in the middle of a row, and then picked it back up upside-down. Twice. One end had six rows, the other end had two rows.
Sigh. Maybe the third time will be the charm.
madmad said,
October 12, 2007 @ 8:52 am
Yeah… big fat no on the socks as first project… How ’bout a hat in the round? With chunky yarn? Or one of those neckwarmer things that’s making the rounds in Bloggy-land? (I think it was originally a Brooklyn Tweed pattern…) It’s gotta be something you actually can get excited about… not a dishcloth.
lilleduck said,
October 16, 2007 @ 12:13 pm
Hi Beau
The dishcloth is looking good. I found a picture of you on allenas blog. You should use your new 12,75mm knitting needles and some hairy yarn and make scarves and stoles. The hairy yarn will hide some of the mistakes and it knits up fast.
jerome said,
October 28, 2007 @ 7:59 am
Hmm I’d go with something practical like a small afghan maybe??
Zarah said,
November 13, 2007 @ 6:56 pm
How about a hat for your first project? Check out the “417 Neighbor Hood” that my friend Kate wrote for 417 Magazine recently – there was a little feature on the “new” resurgence of knitting. You should be able to find the pattern in Ravelry. Good luck!
Beau said,
November 13, 2007 @ 9:43 pm
I actually have completed a hat at this point. I spun the yarn for it too! (a two-ply tweed, gray and white), so I’m feeling pleased with myself.