Simple Knitting Tips: Know Your Chart

Simple Knitting Tips: Know Your Chart

Lately I've been working on charting some new designs.  I could just write them out "k2, p2, k5, p2...." and I probably will, but some designs are just so much easier to knit using a chart rather than written directions.  Some new (and not so new) knitters shy away from charts as being too complicated and hard to follow.  I understand, I really do.  What makes it even more of a challenge is that not all chart symbols are universal.  Sometimes " I " means knit and sometimes " . "  means knit.  What?? Confusion! Chaos!! Rioting in the streets!!!

Naturally, I have an easy way to stop the madness:

Bookmarks.

I have a folder of bookmarks on my browser where I keep bookmarks to sites with lists of different types of knitting symbols.  If the chart I am using doesn't make sense, then one of these knitting sites is bound to help.  

The ABC's

Knitty

Vogue Knitting

Craft Yarn Council

KnitPicks

Granted, most patterns you work with should have a key to the symbols used in their chart.  If you get stuck, or if you're just learning the fine art of chart reading, a little help can go a long way.   Also, don't be afraid to try a pattern just because it has a chart.  Just take it one stitch at a time, use your resources, ask for help and go as slow as you need to.  Oh, and one more thing....don't forget to have fun!

Simple Knitting Tips: Label before stashing

Simple Knitting Tip:
Label your yarn before you put it in your stash and forget why you bought it....

You and I should both be doing this via Ravelry or Wooley. If, however, you haven't yet achieved that high stage of technological advancement necessary for this, you absolutely MUST slap a sticky note on the yarn label.  I am very prone to forget what sock yarn is planned for whose socks, for example, so this method keeps me sane.  Unfortunately, I have only recently (in the past year) begun this technique, so I am probably wearing your socks.   They are awesome.

Some days are different. PS: Take your knitting

Today I will have a different day. My normal routine will be replaced by packing and travel, excitement and nerves. Today we travel to another city, in another state, because tomorrow, my SuperCraftyDancerGirl will be auditioning for a ballet summer intensive.  Don't worry, as always, I will pack my knitting first!

Most of my readers know my daughter, since she has been with me on my knitting (and dyeing!) journey from the beginning. It was, in fact, her request to learn to knit that started it all, 9 years ago.  (One of the reasons I love knitters is that those of you who have met her at various classes, workshops and knitting groups always ask about her in those occasions when she's not with me at a knitting/fiber event. You guys are so sweet!)

Ready for her first recital: Age 6

When we both learned to knit, she caught on more quickly, remembered things better and knit way past anything I could even imagine.  For her, it was no trouble at all to knit a cardigan sweater for her American Girl doll--no pattern, she just figured it out.  It took me years to get to the level that she started out on. In her crafting (knitting, sewing, embroidery, card making, jewelry making, etc) she has excelled both in ability and enjoyment.

Tomorrow, though, she will set aside her knitting needles for a bit to do something that perhaps she loves most--ballet.  This won't be unusual for her: she dances 5 days a week, 3-4 hours at a time during the school year. She has even auditioned before, with plans to audition twice more in the next few weeks.  The difference? This is another BIG step on her journey toward her goal of becoming a professional dancer.  With this step she also moves closer to her life as an adult. Soon (so soon) she will be on her own, a step that I knew was coming when she asserted her first toddler act of independence at age 3.  While part of me would love for her to be always available for a design consultation, a knitting opinion, or even to help out with house work, I know she has to move on.  As a parent, we spend 18 years of our child's life, pouring our heart and soul, energy and money, into this project, this little person. We work so hard to work ourselves out of a job!

At this stage in her life, I have trouble putting into words just how proud I am of my daughter.  Before the audition, before the summer intensive, before even the acceptance into a ballet Company, she has made her dad and I very proud with her hard work, her dedication, her sense of humor, her kindness and her love. She's a good kid (her brother is, too).

In the studio for auditions photo shoot: last month

So when you see me in the coming months and wonder why my knitting shadow isn't around, please know that she is working hard on her dream--she's probably at rehearsal, ballet class, or even away taking dance instruction for long hours for those 5 weeks this summer.** And if I look a little sad, I might be missing her, so, be a pal, would ya? Chocolate helps.

**If you are interested in helping her achieve her dream, she is working to raise the money she needs for the program this summer and is actively looking for generous people to help sponsor this part of her ballet journey.  Every little bit helps and is greatly appreciated!

Simple Knitting Tips: The Knit List

Sometimes I forget that not everyone around me has been knitting like, forever.* There are so many little tricks I have to keep my knitting flowing smoothly that I just take for granted, until I see someone has a question that can be answered by one of my totally ingenious** fixes.  Because helping people love their knitting is one of my life's goals, I have decided to share with you, in random order, on random days, 

some of my Knitting Tips.  

Simple Knitting Tip: The Knit List

This idea is a mashup between something I saw my friend Becky do, and something I just do anyway.  One year when Becky was visiting me, she had a slip of paper on which she had written a List of Things She Was Trying to Get Knitted. I had two thoughts when I saw this:
1) She knits far more complicated things than I do,
2) Why have I never thought of making a list of my knitting projects until this very moment??

I am a list-maker from way back, and yet, combining my love of lists with my works-in-progress had never occurred to me. I do not keep a current running list at all times, but when I have deadlines it does help.

Looking for a way to keep your knitting on task, and maybe be less prone to the "ooh shiny" aspect of a new pattern that you really don't have time to start right now despite how perfect and awesome it is and the fact that you could knit it entirely from stash so it wouldn't cost anything and how long could it take anyway and besides you really really want it?  Try keeping a Knit List.  Jot down what's on the needles, post it in your craft room or keep it in your knitting bag, or tape it to your computer for a reminder whenever you find yourself browsing shiny new patterns on Ravelry. That's ok, don't feel bad--we all do it!

 Next time: Now what did I buy that yarn for???

*OK, I've only been knitting for 9 years, but in dog years, that would be a l-o-n-g time!

**Some of these ingenious tips you will easily find somewhere else--a book, the internet, a magazine, etc.  I don't claim originality, I just claim they work for me :)

Simple Knitting Tips: The Side Marker

 

Sometimes I forget that not everyone around me has been knitting like, forever.* There are so many little tricks I have to keep my knitting flowing smoothly that I just take for granted, until I see someone has a question that can be answered by one of my totally ingenious** fixes.  Because helping people love their knitting is one of my life's goals, I have decided to share with you, in random order, on random days, 

some of my Knitting Tips. 

Simple Knitting Tip: The Side Marker

When I am knitting a project, and I need to know the right side from the wrong side, and I don't want to expend too much energy re-thinking the answer to that question over and over, I attach a marker like the one pictured to the right side. You could attach it to the wrong side if you prefer, and I promise it won't hurt my feelings, but I strongly suggest you pick one side and stick with it! You can also tie a piece of contrasting color yarn, if you don't have a stitch marker handy that opens and closes, or if you're like me and it's just easier to cut a random piece of yarn and tie it on, because there is yarn everywhere around here.  

Obviously this isn't something you'll need to use all that often, but if you're wanting to simplify things (like say you're at knitting group and there's wine involved...), this can be a super quick fix.

Next time: Productivity--the Knit List

*OK, I've only been knitting for 9 years, but in dog years, that would be a l-o-n-g time!

**Some of these ingenious tips you will easily find somewhere else--a book, the internet, a magazine, etc.  I don't claim originality, I just claim they work for me :)

On Winter Knitting, and not following all the rules

We set a record low here today, and from what I can tell, it's cold all over the U.S. right now. So it seemed like a good time to talk about "Winter Knitting."

I am not sure, however, that "Winter Knitting" really exists.

Granted, that bag I made in July was a pretty warm wool and it might have been a better thing to knit in cooler weather, but it was part of a knit-a-long so July really was the right time to knit it.

I propose that knitting is knitting and that the only honest way to categorize knitting projects is by recipient or purpose: charity, holiday, gift, shop sample, class project, pattern for sale, something fun for me, etc.

If one must knit only wool in winter and only cotton in summer, this places unnecessary barriers to knitting enjoyment.  What if, for example, I had said no to knitting the swelteringly hot bag in July, just because it was wool and not winter?  I shudder to think.  I would have missed out on the fun of my first knit-a-long, the fun of connecting with an out-of-town friend, the fun of knitting with my daughter, the fun of my first felting project, and the literally hundreds of times that bag has been admired when I use it. 

If you want to knit with cotton or linen in winter, do it.  If you want to knit with wool in summer, do it.  If you want to knit something from a 10-year old knitting book instead of the very latest thing, do it. And here's the most important part:

You don't have to feel guilty if you aren't knitting what everyone else is knitting.

There's nothing wrong with knitting the "in" thing.  I finished my 4th Honey Cowl over Christmas break, for example (addicting knitting, plain and simple).  What I am staunchly against is the attitude that if you are not knitting the "in" thing at the "in" time, you are less of knitter.  There is nothing sadder than a knitter who quits because she's been told "all you knit is garter stitch scarves!" and really, all she wants to knit is garter stitch scarves, but she's been bullied by other knitters into thinking she can't cut it in the big leagues.  This makes me so mad! 

Whenever possible, knitting should be fun. 

For me, knitting is more fun when I am knitting what feels right at the moment, for any reason.  Today, with our projected high of 36 degrees, I will spend my leisure knitting time working on a cotton dishcloth and a pair of socks.  I could cast on a wool blanket/sweater/shawl/scarf/hat, and knit it because it would qualify as "winter knitting" or because it's what 972 people are knitting on Ravelry.  Instead, today I will be true to myself as a knitter and knit what I am motivated to knit, not what others might think I should knit.  I encourage you to do the same.

Polonius said it best:

"This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."

(Hamlet, Act I, Scene 3)

Honey Cowl. Currently wearing, due to extreme cold!

Happy New Year 2014!

Do you make resolutions? If so, may I recommend making at least one of them knitting-related? Resolve to learn a new technique, finish a certain project, tackle something big, join a Knitting Guild, or start your holiday knitting sooner this year.

As I write this and reflect on 2013, I am amazed at how the year turned out so differently for me and my knitting than I had planned. I started the year as a teacher and ended it as a designer. I started a Guild that took off and became much more than I dreamed it could be, thanks to the talents, vision and hard work of the knitters who joined. I had the privilege of teaching many people new knitting skills, and I was able to learn new skills that I can pass on to others in the coming months. I made some wonderful new friends, gained a couple of incredible minions, and traveled to exciting new knitting conferences. I designed some fun items that hope to be able to show you as they are published.

2013 was a wonderful year full of surprises, inspiration, and all manner of knitting love.

Today I will set some knitting goals for 2014, but I will stay open to possibilities that I haven't yet imagined and I encourage you to do the same!

May your new year be filled to overflowing with good things, great people, and much love!