Still here... sort of!

I haven't totally fallen off the planet- just a very busy week with a million things on the to-do list.  I'll be on my way to the cooler country of Northern Arizona this weekend to escape the blistering heat.  Maybe some actual master knitting will get done!

On a great note this week, though, my new website should be ready for business very, very soon!  I also found out that a sweater I knit for Southwest Trading Company will be featured in the winter issue of Knit 'n Style Magazine!!  No, as the knitter, my name won't be on it, but I know I knit it all the same.  Exciting stuff!

Thanks to Catherine for the helpful advice and encouragement!  I'm sure I'm going to need lots of it!!

Just For Fun...

I didn't accomplish a darn thing today as far as the Master's program goes.  In fact, I had kind of a lousy day.  

Sometimes we just need to laugh, though, sooo... I hope you enjoy this!

A Little Progress... At Last!

I found just the yarn I want to use for the swatches in my stash!  It's Jojoland worsted wool.  It has a nice twist, a smooth but not slick texture, and overall has a very nice hand to it.  I have plenty to do some practice swatches and then do the "real" ones.  I'll be using the greatest needles, too.  They are the Hiya Hiya stainless steel interchangeables. 

After a lot of research, I discovered that I'm not the first knitter to have trouble with the first swatch.  That 2 x 2 ribbing is easy to do evenly at smaller gauges, not so easy with the larger gauges.  I kept getting these big, loopy looking knit stitches just to the right of the purls.  Frustrating!  I tried all the tricks that were suggested, and finally hit on the method that works best for me.  It will be a bit fiddly until my hands and my brain adapt, though!

The thing I'm learning is not to be in such a hurry all the time and just focus on the task at hand.  For many years I worked in a very busy, high stress environment.  Multi-tasking and rushing to keep up became sort of second nature.  I see it in my everyday life, too.  Trying to do too many things at once, and inevitably forgetting where I put something (usually my keys) because my head was miles ahead of what I was actually doing.  I'm trying to lose those bad habits, and maybe this knitting challenge I've taken on will help.

Ravelry!

Thank goodness for Ravelry.  For those who don't know, Ravelry is an online group for fiber artists- knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers... you get the picture.  Within Ravelry are many, many sub-groups for almost anything under the sun.  There is a group for the TKGA, and in the discussion section, I found a thread dealing with the Master Knitter process for Level 1. 

It turns out I have misread the requirements as far as needles and gauge (and God only knows what else) and I've been making this whole process much more difficult than it needed to be.  What a relief!  So, at least for now, I don't feel like I've failed the program before I even started!  I've been scoping out different yarns to use for the swatches and have it sort of narrowed down.  I'll play with them all for a bit and see what suits.

We (hubby, granddaughter and I) spent Independence Day weekend in Prescott.  It was lovely to get out of the blistering heat of Phoenix, and even lovelier to get to visit one of my favorite yarn shops ever!  A Good Yarn is a wonderful, friendly shop.  It's a place where you're welcome to bring your knitting, put your feet up and spend the day if you want.  I picked out some great sky blue Cascade 220 for my granddaughter's birthday sweater, found a magazine, and generally forgot the world for a bit. 

Now that we're home, I'll be back at it with the Master's Program, and will also finish setting up my new website.  (More on that when I'm actually up and running with it!) 

2 x 2 Ribbing

I started doing practice swatches yesterday for the 2 x 2 ribbing.  Simple beginner k2, p2 ribbing.  When I started looking at the swatch through the eyes of the "knitting police" the swatches looked... not good.  I need to go back and look at the socks and sweaters I've made with this same ribbing.  Are they all wonky and weird, too?  Why is that second knit stitch bigger than the first?  I know- it's because the purl stitch that follows it is always a little looser, but I never noticed it on my knitting before!  How come some of the stitches just look plain crooked?  I looked at some of my socks and a couple of the sweaters... nope- no wonky stitches. 

My conclusion is that I'm using "crap yarn" to practice with.  It's an acrylic/wool blend, kind of loosely spun, very much on the cheap.  (I use it for teaching.)  Also, said "crap yarn" is worsted weight and calls for 5mm (US 8) needles.  The instructions say to use worsted weight yarn and the needle the manufacturer recommends for that yarn.  I rarely use needles that big.  Usually my limit is a 4.5mm. 

I'm going to try using a smoother, better quality yarn with a slightly tighter spin.  Maybe that will help.  And maybe the recommended needle size will be a bit smaller and that will help, too.  It's gotta help.  It has to be the yarn and the needles, right? 

I'm off to raid my stash for the good stuff. 

Epiphany

I read through the "Welcome and General Information" pages... all 10 of them, and then started reading the Level 1 Instructions.  As I was reading through the instructions for the first swatch to be submitted, I felt as if I was reading a foreign language and had never knit a stitch in my life!  It was talking about the perils of not having even tension, not obtaining perfect gauge, having purl stitches looser than your knit stitches in 2x2 ribbing, misplacing increases in ribbing, improper blocking, how NOT to weave in ends.  Good grief!  Could all these horrific accidents happen in one simple swatch?  Maybe it was the language of the thing that was so intimidating.  There is even a "plan of action" for knitting these swatches, along with choosing the correct yarn and needles, calculating your gauge practically down to the last molecule... It just went on and on.  Then I went to the website and found the recommended bibliography.  It had seemingly pages of books to get us through this process. (Funny how many of those books I actually own!)

That's when I had my first epiphany of the Master Knitter process- this is not a frivolous title.  They are very serious about excellent knitting.  I suddenly felt like a hack, a fake.  Never mind I've knit lace, Aran sweaters with enough cabling to moor a ship, countless socks, afghans, baby clothes... well, let's face it.  I've been knitting for more than 40 years.  I've knit a lot!  But now I know that there is a whole lot of room for improving what I already know and learning a whole lot more that I never knew before.  This is NOT going to be a walk in the park!

I need to step back, and do what I know works for me when faced with a giant task to perform.  Take a deep breath and do it one step at a time.  If I look at the whole thing at once, it's too much.  Okay, now... deep breath... I think I can, I think I can.....

Day One!

This is the story of one knitter's progress through the Master Knitter program from The Knitting Guild Association...

I've been knitting most of my life, but got REAL serious about it over the last several years.  After a lot of hemming and hawing, a lot of encouragement from my wonderful husband (my biggest fan) and from other knitters, I finally ordered the Level I Master Knitter's packet.  It arrived today via email.  I printed all 36 pages of it and those pages are still sitting on my printer, daring me to read them.  (I swear I heard them laughing at me.)   I'm going to go brew a cup of tea and face that dragon.

I'm going to add pictures as I go, to show the progress (or lack thereof) that I make.  I hope you'll cheer me on along the way!