Breaking News

There’s big news in these parts! We have a new knitter!

Knitting 101 Project

A few weeks ago, I put together a few videos to teach the very basics of knitting. We’re looking forward to polishing them up a bit and making them available soon. In those videos, I go through the steps to make a garter stitch (knit all stitches on the right and wrong side) dishcloth.

It’s a little tricky trying to figure out the perfect first project for a brand new knitter. The reality is that, as with most skills, it takes some practice before a new knitter produces stitches that are consistent. Most of us make pretty noticeable errors, especially in our first rows, and it’s not uncommon to have errors for quite a while until muscle memory takes over. We may be proud of the fact that we’ve learned to knit, but we’re not often especially proud of the fabric we’ve actually produced.

Because of this, I hesitate to recommend wearable first projects. Unless the knitter has a taste for the abstract, they’re likely to be disappointed with the appearance of that first project and not be excited about wearing it.

I like dishcloths for that reason. If a dishcloth has loose stitches, holes, knots, and wonky tension, who cares? If it’s all minor, it makes for an interesting and unique dishcloth. If it’s horrendous, you’ve got special scrubbing power, right?

The major downside with dishcloths, though, is the yarn. It’s not easy for beginners to use. Dishcloth cotton is not at all elastic and it splits easily. My Beast to Blanket class will be learning to knit garter stitch squares, too, but with wool, and I’ll connect them all to make a functional blanket. With a single beginner, though, it still seems like the dishcloth is the best choice for that first project.

Here’s my newest student’s first dishcloth in progress. I couldn’t be more proud. You can see the changes in tension from the beginning to the current spot as the width of the dishcloth decreases just a bit as it goes on. After some coaching to loosen stitches, the width expanded just a bit again after this photo was taken.

The Big Reveal

Can you guess the identity of the newest knitter in the area?

Greg is going to have his own stories to tell about this adventure, including taking his knitting on an overseas flight. (Just imagine a new knitter figuring out how to deal with dropped stitches all alone at altitude!) He’s coming along very well, and has a better practical understanding now of a lot of the stuff I’ve been blathering about. It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch him while he develops his skills!

We stopped by Coast to Coast, our local yarn shop, to pick up a spare set of needles for him for his trip and decided to go ahead and get yarn for his first garment project, too. Once he’s feeling confident with garter stitch, he’s planning on a scarf with 1-ridge stripes, alternating between a medium-dark blue from 316 Dye Studio and one of Erin’s Patchwork dyes called Frosty Flakes.

Frosty Flakes happens to be the yarn Coast to Coast has earmarked to donate a portion of each skein’s sale to a chosen community organization. This season’s recipient is ICT Food Rescue. I just love this. Both the origin and concept of the organization and the shop’s participation in it. Frosty Flakes will be available on the Coast to Coast website soon!

While we were there, I picked up some yarn, too. We were right there, after all.

Puzzle Solving

Actually, I did have a specific purpose in mind for the new yarn. Earlier in the week, one of Greg’s colleagues suggested I look into making a pattern for the Sophie Scarf that is popular right now.

Here’s my shorter version prototype that will go around the neck once. I’m currently knitting another that will go around twice.

Creating this pattern was a fun exercise in puzzle solving for me. I needed to work out the correct rate of increase to get the right shape on the ends while I built to the correct width for the center section. It took me 3 attempts to get it just how I wanted it.

I’m very fond of the i-cord edge, worked as you go, rather than applied afterwards. I think the contrast with the garter stitch is a nice way to highlight subtle variations in the yarn dyeing.

Another version will have a strand of mohair held with a strand of merino to give it a slightly hazy look.

Hanging Out The Shingle

Finally, I wanted to share with you all this week that I’ve got my Etsy Shop up and running again after a very long hiatus. After some deliberation, we’ve decided that when it comes to physical products (as opposed to digital ones), it makes the most sense to use a platform like Etsy to facilitate sales. So, for example, I’ve got a few ear warmers listed there now, and I can see listing other samples and projects there in the future.

We’ve also added another page titled “KJ Knits” to the website to keep up with what we’re selling on Etsy. That new page includes a form to inquire about custom work. Knitting on commission is one of the ways I started turning my hobby into a business, so it’s nice to reopen an avenue for that again.

The first Beast to Blanket class session starts Monday morning! The next item on my to do list is winding up mini skeins of undyed yarn for the students to enhance with Kool Aid!

What are you working on today?

Happy knitting!

Kiersten J