Teaching and Learning

Many things to catch up on -- it's been almost a year since my last post -- but I feel like I've taken a new step: I'm teaching a friend! She's one of my favourite people, she was a Fine Arts major at college (so she has great artistic sensibility), and she's a quick study. Now I have someone to talk yarn, patterns, colours, designs with. And I think together we can take our craft to the level of an art form. I'm teaching her, but I think I will learn from her too. Looking forward to it : )

Sweater Design Challenge

I have a vision of a sweater in my head -- slim-fitting torso, scoop neck, fitted sleeves which flow femininely at the cuff. Clean lines and tailored fit. I haven't seen a pattern exactly to my specifications, so I'm designing it myself. It would be useful to note I have never done this before (at least not for a fitted adult sweater. I've designed children's sweaters, but that is much easier).


I've looked at many patterns from magazines and books to determine which dimensions seemed logical. I've also taken some measurements of my body. And I've started knitting, using a delicately soft amethyst-coloured alpaca. If this works out, it will be lovely. If not... I can always rip it out and try again. The end result will be worth it.


Here's my sketch with some of the dimensions noted:



The waist shaping is coming along nicely. I'm cautiously optimistic...

Continental Baby Hoodie Done!

It started off achingly slow, but by the end of it I was whipping along, stitches flying off the needle at a dizzying speed, me with a grin of satisfaction on my face. You would have thought I was watching my daughter take her first steps. The frustration of learning a new technique was definitely worth it.

Here it is, my first continental piece. It's a simple button-down hoodie in cotton boucle, and then I added a colourful I-cord edging to give it some visual interest. I'm pretty happy with it. Now I just need to find someone with an infant to give it to, because this thing is little!

Baby Steps -- The Sweater Sampler

I'm taking myself back to knitting infancy and teaching myself Continental style from the basics. I decided a good way to practice a variety of stitches, without losing my mind with boredom and ending up with an odd-looking scarf thingy at the end, is to go step by step through The Sweater Workshop by Jacqueline Fee. This workshop book takes you through a variety of techniques in sweater-making, and has you produce an awkward-looking sampler at the end of it all.

I bought the one thing I never ever buy -- cheap acrylic yarn -- and set to work. Here's my starting -off point:

Thousands of painfully slow stitches later, I'm about halfway through the sampler:

I think I might actually stop at this point -- I'm pretty sick of it. But it got me into the swing of knitting Continental. In contrast to British, I actually prefer purling when I'm knitting Continental. You do a funky little dip with your index finger that makes it feel acrobatic and exotic.

Now I'm going to take my newly-gained confidence and make a sweet little infant-sized hoodie. A small enough project that I can finish it quickly and have the satisfaction of finishing my first Continental garment!

My Own Tiny Yarn Shop

Ah, the dream to have my own yarn shop. Well, I've simulated the experience in miniature by setting up a glass-doored armoire in our family room containing all my stuff -- my stash, my books, my tidbits. It makes me happy every time I look at it.

Of course, it makes me think that my stash could be so much larger. Now that it's not popping out all over the house (some skeins in the coffee table, some balls in the hall closet, always stuff on the floor) and driving my husband over the edge, it seems so much more contained and manageable. And since when I have I been all about contained and manageable?

I think it could use a few new, inspiring additions...

Of course, if I never get the hang of this darned continental style, all that yarn is just going to sit there with nowhere to go -- I am so far refusing to give in and revert back to British just to get something accomplished!

The Eternal Question -- To be a Thrower or a Picker

In the name of speed, I am trying to master Continental style of knitting. I've been knitting British for 23 years (since I was 12) and produce smooth, neat stitches and essentially flawless work.

But I yearn for speed!

The word on the street seems to be that Continental, once you've got the technique down pat, is the faster of the two. But do I want to return to those newbie days of knitting, with uneven tension and sloppy-looking work? Not really... unless it will be worth the learning curve in the long run.

Just watched a short YouTube video of Eunny Jang knitting -- her speed is mindblowing. Check this out:



This girl is amazing. She's now the Editor of Interweave Knits Magazine, with a blog on the Interweave website. But I prefer her on her old personal blog -- I can relate much better to her personality here

This video is a great example of how it's done, in a slowed down version of Eunny's warp speed, for us humans:

Boob Tube Film Festival

Our daughter Indira was born the night before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, so for the first 2 weeks of her life, nighttime feedings were accompanied first by the opening ceremonies, then by swimming and gymnastics (in real time!) But once that event came to an end, and the baby was still waking several times a night to nurse, I needed something to occupy me aside from infomercials.

The baby's room also doubles as a guest room, complete with tiny tv/dvd combo. So for the past 7 months, baby and I have been staging our own Boob Tube Film Festival. We watch about 30 minutes of a film per night. She has snacks; I abstain. Here's a list of what we've seen so far, rated (with 1 boob being the worst, and 5 the best):

Six Feet Under Complete Series (about 60 episodes over 6 months) 5 boobs (drama, romance and humor with a high creepy factor. Final episode was phenomenal)
Sex and the City (the movie) 3.5 boobs (good plot, too much soft core porn)
50 First Dates 5 boobs (makes me laugh and cry every time - see The Wedding Singer below)
The Other Boleyn Girl 3 boobs (sucked compared to the book but the costumes were great)
The Wedding Singer 5 boobs (Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore are a match made in heaven)
The Big Chill 4 boobs (good flick but would have been better watched in the '80's)
Babel 4 boobs (communication's a bitch)
The Painted Veil 3 boobs (not quite sure what the point was)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 3 boobs (Harrison Ford's getting old - literally)
Stand By Me 5 boobs (was great when I was 12, is still great now)
The Emperor's Club 4 boobs (not Kevin Kline's best work)
Good Night and Good Luck 2.5 boobs (George Clooney co-wrote this? Why?)
Bon Cop Bad Cop 5 boobs (a Quebecois masterpiece. Makes you crack up in both official languages -- ha ha ha / heu heu heu)
Project Runway - Season 1 4 boobs (A victory for crazy-go-luckys everywhere)
Rachel Getting Married 2.5 boobs (Anne Hathaway deserved the Best Actess Oscar Nomination, but she's the only thing this endless movie had going for it)
Twilight 3 boobs (a pale comparison to the book, but good visual effects)
Seven Pounds 5 boobs (the gift that keeps on giving)
I've Loved You So Long 5 boobs (a testament to the power of a mother's love)
27 Dresses 3 boobs (she was much more funny alongside Seth Rogan and his juvenile humour in "Knocked Up")
The X-Files - First Season 4.5 boobs (proof you don't have to be thin, tall or well-dressed to be a great leading lady)
Death at a Funeral 4 boobs (the Brits really know how to make a great movie out of a single setting and minimal plot)
Dan in Real Life 4 boobs (sweet and funny and enough awkward moments to make it a true Steve Carrell performance)