I finally mailed my big binder off! I could have mailed it in last week, but I got pretty busy. I think it was a pretty good submission. I answered the questions thoroughly and wrote a good report. The only thing I can think of that I may get docked for are perhaps my 1x1 rib, and maybe my cast-off. Still I know that I've improved in my skills in this level and I've learned a lot about knitting.

Now I'm onto a shawl that I need to finish, work on another lace shawl, and I will learn how to knit socks!

Happy knitting!

There are a few knitting shops in Tucson, AZ. They seem to be spread out pretty well to avoid competing with each other. Due to my location of town, I have always gone to Kiwi Knitting Company, which I am very happy with. They have workshops, great classes, and knowledgable and friendly staff.

I had never gone to Purls before because it was across town and I had heard that it was expensive. Since it is my friend's knit shop (the store she takes classes at, etc.), she invited me to the scarf club today. I went to see what it was like. It cost $5 for the monthly pattern with an in-depth explanation about how to knit it and how you can alter it. The yarn, if bought for the project, is also 15% off. Before I had been inside 2 minutes, two friendly staff greeted me and showed me what I needed. By the way, I had arrived late and the club was pretty full. By the time I got my yarn, everyone was doing introductions. There were varying levels, but the information was great for beginners through intermediates, possible advanced knitters. In that hour, Myra explained the pattern, taught yarn overs, the crocheted cast on, and a bind off with a backwards yarn over, which is stretchy and good for lace. She talked about weaving in the ends, knitting from two ends of a ball, and mixing colors. I picked her brain even more about other lace projects, and, of course, TKGA Level 1 cable swatch that I've been struggling with. Lastly, she explained noops (which sound like a real pain) clearly, which is hard to do, and even told me a trick to make it easier on the wrong side! Although there were many people there, she had no problem thoroughly answering my questions. She is incredibly knowledgable and friendly.

In regards to the cable, she suggested knitting one stitch, leaving it on the left needle, knitting the trouble stitch, then dropping both of them off. I finished that swatch already, but if I run into that problem again, I will definitely give it a go!

I don't think I've ever learned so much about knitting for only $5! It was a real steal. Now I need to figure out how I can fit Purls into my schedule more often. One thing is clear, I will be a regular member of the scarf club!

Happy knitting!

At the beginning of the week, I had so much hope for being done! I had my packet for about a week before I got started, and tomorrow will be one month since I received my packet. So far, it has been fairly easy. I have never looked so closely at my knitting before! I have definitely mastered weaving in the ends and blocking, and my understanding of why certain stitches are certain ways has greatly improved.

That is, until I got to swatch 13, a simple cable. I have knit cables before and I have never had this issue: the knit stitch before the purls on the right of the cable were becoming loose and it looked ugly. Of course, the non-knitter would never notice, but it stood out like a parka in Death Valley in the summer! I frantically searched for articles in the TKGA website for how to fix this. They suggested that I make sure the working yarn is fully in front of my needles before making the purl stitch after a knit stitch. That still didn't work because I had been doing that. A knit doctor told me to keep the stitches closer together, which has worked so far. Another strategy is to purl from the bottom for the purl stitch following, and to knit that stitch through the back loop on the wrong side. The knit doctor said that would work for a swatch, but it would be harder to remember with a more complex pattern. I tried it anyway, but the purl stitches stuck out a little more.

I finally finished my second swatch, after much more pulling and knitting extra carefully. While it looks better than the first, it still doesn't look "finished." I'm hoping the blocking will help...Any suggestions? I am a bit desperate!

My reflections this week have really dampened my spirits. When I enrolled in this program, it said "Masters." I already have a masters, so I thought this was very doable. However, the level 3 is like the PhD of knitting according to the knit doctor. PhD, eh? I was hoping to finish this program when I'm starting my other PhD. While I want to be able to design my own knits and knit anything I want, how can I get there if I can't make a stupid knit stitch behave?!? That one swatch really humbled me and made me reflect on knitting altogether. I have only struggled with the swatch one week. Perhaps the committee will give me some advice. I could also ask someone on ravelry, though I'm not sure about the etiquette in contacting a stranger...

Today I am more optimistic. Given a year, I'm sure I could learn everything in a particular level. I am a dedicated learner, know how to research, and those who know me know that I am not afraid to ask questions, except to strangers. I'm sure I could learn techniques in the set time period.

So while I am not going to finish within a month, by April 20, I hope to send everything out.

Happy knitting!

So far, so good. My first few swatches are done and I have swatches 5 and 6 blocking while I work on the 7th one. I have also answered 7 questions and have already written the report. I feel that I am in very good shape and can hopefully finish the majority of the swatches before Monday. Perhaps I can send everything off in early May...that would be a month ahead of schedule.

I only had one mess up: Swatch 4. I should have read about bar increases before doing them. Of course I knew how to do them, so I thought I could tackle the swatch without referring to anything. Unfortunately, I learned a day late that the bar is to the left of the increase. So if you want mirrored increases you need to do it a little differently on both sides. If you want a 3 stitch selvedge, increase on the third stitch on the right and the fourth stitch on the left. I grabbed my binder, looked at my 4th swatch and found that, yes, my increases were uneven. I cursed, took it out of the binder, and started again.

Important lessons: knitting is more complex than it seems; research all techniques before you do them, just in case.

Happy knitting!

PS I don't think I'm finishing the lace shawl this weekend. I want to try to finish the swatches instead.

I have been super busy this week and hardly had time to sleep! Therefore, as you might imagine, I didn't have time to knit. So I have a few goals today, and none of them are April Fools.

-Block swatches 1-3 for TKGA and answer the first few questions. That's way over due!
-Block my cables and lace shawl
-Take pictures and post them of said shawl
-Start swatch 4 of TKGA

And my goal for the week is to try to finish knitting another lace shawl from a course I'm taking on craftsy.com. I'm already on half way through. Of course, the half I finished had 100 or less stitches. Now I have 230 and my last section will have over 400! Oh well. My goal is to finish one section today, start another one at the very least. Hopefully I can be blocking it Easter weekend. What do you think? Can I do it?

Do I have to work? Yes, I also have stuff to prepare for my classes, but I can always do that tomorrow. I finished all of my chores for today, so I think it will be a knitting day :D

Happy knitting!

(And pictures to come in the near future)

I have finished knitting the first three swatches for the Masters Level 1. Since I did them in three days, my arms are hurting just a bit. They will require blocking, which I know how to do, but I want to research it a little bit more. That is perfect because it goes along with the report needed for the course. Now that they are knitted, I will spend the next few days researching and writing, then I will block them and answer the first group of questions for the program. After that, I will go onto the next set of swatches.

So far, it's not too hard. I think I may need to reknit the swatch with the 1x1 rib. It turned out pretty well, but I think I can do better. Perhaps when I block it all will be well.

Happy knitting!

Yesterday I received my materials in the mail. I opened them at about 7pm and I was super excited. The first packet was the information that is posted on the website, basically verbatim. So I skimmed it, but now realize that I should highlight or take notes on the required aspects to make sure I do everything correctly. I also read through the swatches and the projects. At first glance, I doubted my knitting abilities--just from looking at the first swatch! However, I realized that I have done everything that they are asking for, but now I need to think about which increases/decreases are best to use, etc. After this level, I'm sure that I will change from being a knitter who rather mindlessly follows patterns, to one who reads a pattern between the lines: reflecting on why a pattern is written a certain way and if I agree with the decision of the pattern designer.

My first major decision to make is the brand of yarn that I want to use. Initially, I planned on using knitpicks wool of the andes. It's very affordable and the colors tend to be consistent, or not discontinued frequently. However, after looking at both the TKGA group and people who have completed the program, most use Cascade 220. It is a more expensive yarn, but the majority of knitters used it for the program and had no cons for it. The only con of the knitpicks yarn was that it didn't 'do much for the swatches.' So today I'm going to call my knitting stores and see how much Cascade 220 costs and perhaps drop by. I'm really excited to start knitting and answering the questions. I will keep you updated!

Happy Knitting!