I must start out by saying thanks to all of the knit & crochet bloggers out there who have paid me a visit so far for Knit & Crochet Blog Week! I was really excited to see the responses to my Day 1 post, and hopefully it promoted a feeling of inclusiveness. Now onto, Day 2's prompt, which is all about my mad knitting skills:
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?
In general, I'd like to think of myself as a rather fearless knitter. I'm willing to try new techniques and see how it goes. Really, my flaw is a lack of time management skills. Last year, I promised myself I'd try stranded knitting. And although I have a much better idea of what I'm doing technique-wise and the projects I'd like to tackle, I still haven't done it AN ENTIRE A YEAR LATER.
However, I have tried out a few new skills this year. First off, my cables have improved leaps and bounds, by paying greater attention to how tightly I hold the yarn and switching needle gauge when necessary. In the last year, I've done a handful of cabled hats using both a cable needle and without, and I think they look pretty amazing if I do say so myself.
Also, I dared to try socks this year for the first time ever. I was certain that I was morally allergic to sock knitting and it never really appealed to me, despite the bizarre amount of sock yarn lurking in my stash. But I gave it a shot, and after several months (yeah, I know), I had a finished pair of socks. And I actually sort-of enjoyed it. I did a standard heel flap for my first pair, and I'm going to try an eye of partridge heel for the second.
Finally, I've been exploring garment construction and am consistently excited about sweaters. I have four (yes, count 'em) sweaters on the needles at the moment, all in different stages of completion. I'm trying one knit in pieces, two top-down raglans, and one modified to be knit in the round. I even knitted a tiny baby sweater the other day that's a bottom-up raglan.
So there's a lot happening at the moment. I'm not completely pushing myself into new techniques, but it something that comes up in a pattern, I'll try it - kitchener stitch, i-cord edging, Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off, picking up and knitting stitches, cable cast-on - count me in. I don't cower in the face of new techniques. And really, why should I? If it doesn't work out, I can always unravel and start again.
15 comments:
For me, a year ago, I was nervous about crochet and kept on knitting. Today, I've started to actually FINISH my WIPs (Knitting) and am starting to really get familiar with crochet.
I love your hats they are super cute XD
Your hats look great.
And there are so many great techniques in sweater patterns, it'd be a shame not to have a go at every single one of them wouldn't it? Like a buffet of knit techniques!
Great attitude! Your cabled hats are so beautiful. My favorite part of knitting, besides the fiber, is that there's always more to learn. It's an endless and exciting process.
I love your hats. They're so pretty.
You're right! Those cabled hats ARE quite wonderful and something to be proud of.
I love that while there are always those fun projects available in our comfort zone, if we want to continue to improve our skills we will always be able to push ourselves a little bit further and learn a little bit more.
Thanks for visiting me today, too!
Your hats are gorgeous you are great with cables. I like cables but haven't knit very many cabled projects I hope to change that this year.
Oh! I love your hats!
I love your hats! They're so pretty!
And I love your attitude! Knitting is always a learning experience, that's why it's so much fun!
Found you through the search on Eskimi's fun week of posting. The hats are gorgeous! I am following you now.
Great hats! Beautiful cabling. Yep, that's what's so worthy about knitting--you'll never learn it all, but it's fun to try!
I adore your hats - and you look fantastic in them! Learning is such a great thing about knitting. I love a top down raglan for simplicity.
Your hats are awesome!
thanks for stopping by my blog! I was a very reluctant sock knitter, but now I'm not at all. Glad we're both on the sock bandwagon now!
the eye of partridge heel is so fun! ohhh, all those other techniques you have yet to experience are going to be a cinch esp. the stretchy bind off and kitchener!
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