Five Weeks Flew Fast!!!

My knitting class is over.

I ended up with three girls who are now on their way to becoming knitters. Well, they have a little bit more to learn, like how to purl, but they are well on their way and I'm quite proud of them!

I wasn't sure of the abilities of 9 and 10-year-old girls, but I have since found out that 25 minutes a week and only 5 weeks is not enough time to teach casting-on, knitting, purling and binding-off. I started with slip-knots and the single loop (e-wrap) cast-on. If I do this again next year, I think I will give each student their needles with a garter stitch swatch already started and the first lesson will be the knit stitch, just to get them going more quickly.

They were really a lot of fun to work with. I had pointed them to videos on KnittingHelp.com and how-to photos from the Knit Picks Knitting Room, but these were not as helpful as I had hoped, although I think they're wonderful resources. One girl was confused by the photos, as she didn't know what the "stuff" was below the needles. I told her that was the knitting!! Another called me on the phone because she had to start over, and forgot how to make a slip knot. It's rather hard to try to walk someone through making a slip knot over the phone! I told her just to tie the yarn on the needle, but not to count the knot as a stitch. It worked...

Friends had suggested I give them a pattern to keep them interested and to give them something to work toward. I came up with a scarf with varying "picture blocks," purl stitches on a stockinette background, with each "picture" getting progressively more difficult as their skills improved. They're still working garter stitch, so I think it'll be awhile before they're ready for this. If anyone is interested in trying this pattern for themselves, I've included a link for downloading at the end of this post.

I plan on continuing to meet them at our local library until I feel they are ready to knit independently. They're not there yet, but we've got a nice little knitting group going.

Sampler Scarf Pattern (on Ravelry)

Fourth Grade Knitters

I'm scheduled to teach a group of 4th graders how to knit, starting next week. These kids are giving up recess to take a class in knitting, karate, scrapbooking, fleece-blanket-making or yoga. I'll have about 20-30 minutes per class and 5 weeks to teach them how to cast-on, knit, purl and bind-off. I had asked for a maximum of six students, but they forgot to mention that in the advertisement. I had a bad dream last night that a huge group showed up, it was utter chaos, and I couldn't get anyone's attention!

I'm excited, though. I'm putting together my materials and knitting up some "samples" this weekend. I can't wait to pass along this wonderful skill to the next generation! I already had one mom tell me her daughter is really excited and is hoping she gets into the class!

A New Year Begins

Happy New Year! I don't make resolutions, but I do hope to keep up with my knitting this year, and with blogging about it!


I had hoped to spend the week before Christmas knitting and relaxing, but it was not to be. I began my cookie baking the day after Thanksgiving, but I still didn't have enough time to be done with everything early enough to be able to just relax. Next year I'm starting the day after Halloween! Cookies freeze really well...


I decided I really need to finish some WIPs that have been sitting around for few years, before I start anything new. (This is NOT a New Year's resolution - it's not!) I really don't like finishing, although in general I do like to sew.


I did, however start two new, quick projects - hats. A friend's young granddaughter underwent brain surgery last week, which required her to have part of her head shaved. A group of us decided to knit her some hats to keep her head warm until her hair grows back. The blue hat is Foliage from Knitty.com's Fall issue. The purple one is the Cecily Beanie from Louisa Harding's "Knitting Little Luxuries: "Beautiful Accessories to Knit." The pattern is available through Interweave Knits' "Knitting Daily."

Though you may not know this little girl, please keep her in your prayers for a quick recovery.

How About You?

A friend was recently lamenting how she was having to frog the lace she was working on. I wrote back the following, explaining all the steps and fall-backs I use to make sure I'm following the chart correctly, in order to cut down on the amount of frogging I have to do:

I bought one of those magnetic boards to mark my rows (Post-It's eventually lost their "stick"), and I also made some Excel spreadsheets to check off when I completed a row (or a chart portion of a row - that was a bit of overkill, but works well for Aran sweaters).

I found I couldn't depend on just the spreadsheet or just the row marker on the chart. I also figured out how many stitches I should have between stitch markers (remember it could change with each row). I made sure to count the number of stitches as soon as I completed a row. Sometimes more than once just to be sure. Every once in awhile, I'd also go back and read the chart to make sure what I had on the needles is what the chart said I should have. Lastly, I'd hold up the knitting, looking at both sides for any mistakes. I frogged stitch by stitch as I found just ripping back made it impossible to recreate all those yarn-overs and decreases!

It sounds like a lot of trouble, but eventually it did cut down on the amount of frogging I had to do. I'd rather count stitches than undo a "Sl1, K2tog, PSSO"!

I found that running a lifeline was too much trouble. (Maybe I wasn't doing THAT right!) Then again, a row had only a hundred or so stitches, not several hundred. I might rethink a lifeline in that case. Maybe with more experience knitting lace, I won't have to go through so much trouble.

What do you do to keep track of your patterns or charts?

It's About Time!

I've been a reader of knitting blogs for some time now, but until now, I hadn't gotten around to starting one of my own. I though I'd perhaps be boring, because I don't always get to knit every day, so progress can be a bit slow.

I have felt quite out of it, though, as every knitter in the known world seems to have a blog these days! Even Ravelry mocks me by telling me it's not yet picking up my blog. I'm excluded from contests where I could have been winning fabulous yarns and having fun!

So, today I've taken the plunge. I'm currently too busy to do any knitting, but I guess I'm not too busy to be wasting time writing about it...

I do want to mention the last item I did knit and finished just last week - a Leda's Dream stole designed by Melanie Gibbons aka Pink Lemon Twist. It was my first lace project, and what a joy to knit! Beautiful pattern, which didn't get boring for a second, and I finally got to experience the magic of lace coming off the blocking pins!

It was knitted for a charity sale in support of the Bubel/Aiken Foundation. A group of on-line friends (bloggers and non-bloggers alike) have been knitting, crocheting and crafting for months, in order to sell items and donate the proceeds to Bubel/Aiken. The stole sold within a few hours of being listed! (Thanks again to Melanie, who graciously allowed me to make her stole to be sold for charity, and to the buyer of the stole.)

As of today, we've raised over $600! Way to go, Sirens!

If you have a minute, please check out the Striped Sock Siren's blog, which will lead you to the charity sale. (I've posted once there, so I'm not a *complete* blogging newbie!)