Day 2, here we go!
Day Two: 29th March. Skill + 1UP
Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?
Tips: Don’t be abashed at admitting your own skill and progress. If possible, include pictures of projects that you gained new skills from.
Ok, I just have to state now that I read that prompt title in the Popcap games voice, slightly high and sing-songy, "Level UP." Signs that you play too many silly computer games, I suppose...
Anyhoo, embarrassing dorkiness aside... I learned a lot last year, mostly because I was able to make it up to Stitches West last spring and take a week's worth of classes! Some of the things I learned at Stitches I haven't been able to put into practice yet, like steeking, but I still count it as a lesson learned.
So, lessons learned... For starters, like I mentioned, the steeking. I haven't dared a whole project with steeking yet, but this was an accomplishment for me just to take the class. There's something count-intuitive about knitting something (and for steeking, it's usually something detailed too) and then taking scissors to it. I know in the class I saw that my knitting did hold together after being cut, but I'm still not ready to try a whole project. Maybe I'll take another class on it, at a LYS or something, and brave it from there...
I also got to take a class on colorwork, where I learned how to Fair Isle and improve my intarsia. I also played with mitered squares in the class. All sorts of ways to play with colors! I haven't had a chance to use these techniques yet, but there are projects coming up on my queue which will use them. "Patience!," I have to tell myself. I came back from Stitches having to fight the urge to cast on everything all at once!
I also had 2 crochet classes at Stitches, HUGE steps for me. I've always been one of those people who became useless with yarn once 'you took away one of my needles.' This I've been able to actually put into use in a project, too, as the hat I made for a friend has a crocheted edging and ties.
I also tried my first provisional cast on last year. I had grafted before, several times actually, but had never used a provisional cast-on. This little headband was a perfect place to practice it - only 6 stitches!
Not related to Stitches (other than having roomed with a sock-knitting addict!) is that I gave sock knitting another try, this time toe-up. Yup, she finally got me to brave socks ;) I have yet to finish the second sock, as I'm knitting it tighter than the first, so I might frog it and re-do it, so as they match. Still on the fence, though, as frogging often seems to take a great mental effort ("all that work, just gone!"). We shall see...
Also only-sorta related to Stitches were the efforts in dying last year. Sarah bought her dye kit at Stitches, and we were certainly inspired by all the pretty hand-dyed yarns we saw there! The yarns below are the one I Kool-Aid dyed, when we were playing to first try dying. The other 3 are the ones I did with Sarah's dye kit. You can read more of our adventures with color here and here. Not really knitting, but definitely fiber related learning!
Learning to make some of my own knitting accessories was an accomplishment too. I have pretty stitch markers now! And yes, learning to bead was a gateway craft into making jewelry for myself, but that's the risk you take. Again, not knitting learning, but certainly knitting related. A lot of my notes on stitch markers are here, here, here, and here. I've just posted pictures of some of my favorites :)
So, yes, lots of new adventures last year! But that's honestly how I like to craft. I don't like staying "safe" with my knitting. I like comfort projects, nice and mindless when you need a break from things, but I like challenging myself too. I remember that the first few years I was knitting, I would try and choose projects that made me do something new in each - a new stitch pattern, a new garment, a new technique. Whatever it was, I wanted to learn something in each project. That mindset still kinda carries over now. I mean, I could stay with garter stitch scarves for years until I think I'm "ready" for something bigger, but wouldn't that get boring? And you can always do more than you think you can. Sometimes you learn that you're not quite ready for something, but you still learn something from the project, right? And sometimes something that you didn't think you could do, turns into one of those projects that was exactly what you were picturing. Worth the risk, right? I just wish I could be that brave in the rest of my life :)
No comments:
Post a Comment