Retreat

Retreat.  I took a couple.  A retreat from blogging for a week and I attended a knitting retreat as well.  The blogging retreat was out of frustration with lack of progress and general trouble I'm having with my current knitting projects.  Not voicing them out loud I hoped would make them go away, but alas they are still here.  So, not a fun retreat; more of the duck and cover kind.  Now, the knitting retreat, well, that on the other hand was absolutely, positively FABULOUS!  It was with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee the Yarn Harlot herself and wow, I learned more in those couple of days than I've learned in the past 7 years of knitting.  Really.  The woman is a positive font of knitting knowledge.  Her classes were Knit Smart, Knitting for Speed and Efficiency and Grok the Sock.  If you ever get the chance to take one I highly recommend it.  They will rock your knitting world.

The first night was the lecture style class entitled Knit Smart.  Stephanie gave us the general history of knitting and clued us in to all sorts of tips and tricks.  By far my favorite is the tip that you only have breasts on the front of your body.  Sounds silly, but she says you should measure your front chest from the middle of your side, across your breasts, to the middle of your other side then double that number.  This is the size you should knit for the "front" of your sweater.  Then do the same measurement across your back and double it.  This is the size you should knit for the "back" of your sweater.  Knit either the front or back sized sleeves - whichever is more accurate for your measurements.  Seriously this tip bowled me over.  So very simple and logical, but yet I've never heard it or read it anywhere before.

The whole next day was dedicated to her class titled Knitting for Speed and Efficiency.  We learned the 3 basic styles of knitting:  picking, throwing, and lever knitting.  You may have read in this post that I knit kinda strange.  Well, I found out I'm really a picker who is making it harder than it should be and my purl stitch is just wicked crazy.  Now, I'm picking without all the extra movements, albeit very slowly, and have learned the Norwegian Purl stitch.  I feel like a new knitter!  The lever knitting was by far the trickiest to learn, but is also considered the fastest knitting style.  It originates in the Shetland Isles.  Basically, you keep one long needle stationary either with a knitting belt or part of your body (like your armpit) and then you work the second needle with your left hand while carrying your yarn in your right hand.  I'm very, very slow currently, but I am quite enamored with it.  So much so that I ordered a belt and 40 cm long dpns from Scotland (you can't find them is the US, or at least I couldn't) to really dive into this technique.  

The last class Grok the Sock took place Sunday morning   It was a class on everything you need to know about the construction of knitting a sock without a pattern.  We made wee little socks (that were supposed to fit a baby although, as you can see mine came out much too small for that at a gauge of 10 stitches/inch!) to solidify the concepts as we knit them.  I have been a toe-up advocate, but after learning more about heel construction I might start knitting cuff-down again.  

Well folks that's it.  This was supposed to be a Year of Projects update, but since I have no noticeable progress on any of my many knitting projects to show you I updated you on my learning instead. I'm even thinking of starting over on a few projects and beginning again using these new techniques learned over the weekend.  Really my brain is still spinning trying to assimilate it all.  If you want to check out the other YOP participants check them out here.  Have a great week everyone!

Distractions, the Good Kind

Hmm...you might have noticed the above photo is of a completely different project than my mother's sweater.  Well, you'd be right.  I got tired of the stockinette, even though I am only 1 sleeve away from the color work, and cast on for a unplanned for shiny new project.  It's the Campside Shawl by Alicia Plummer.  I've looked at it many times before, but thought I didn't have the right yarn for it in my stash.  You see my stash is pretty much made up of yarn already earmarked for certain projects with only a few odd ball skeins, which often makes it hard for me to imagine using the yarn for something else.  The weather here has turned unseasonably cool and I find myself wanting a warm, yet still summery shawl, which got me to thinking that a cotton/wool blended yarn would be the perfect choice and I actually have such a yarn tucked away.  It's Chesapeake by Classic Elite Yarns in the caramel colorway.  Even though it's sold as a worsted weight I would classify it more as a DK, making it a perfect choice for this shawl pattern.  A match was made and a new project cast on!

Campside only requires just under 800 yards to make, and I have about 1400 yards of this yarn so I am attempting to make the shawl bigger to use up more yarn, and because I want a shawl I can really wrap myself up in.  The pattern consists of yarnover holes that get progressively closer together as the shawl gets bigger until it pretty much makes a lacy lattice pattern.  Then it is finished off by a ribbed border.  The shawl is constructed in 5 sections and I am modifying it by increasing in the first section by 1 extra repeat, the fourth by 2 extra repeats and lastly the 5th by making the ribbing longer than specified.  Making modifications is pretty new to me and it is a little tricky to figure out where in the chart to start the next section, but this has been made easier by a fellow Raveler who drew up line by line written instructions that include stitch counts for every line.  So, I have been able to find my stitch count when starting a new section and begin there, repeating as necessary.  I'm really enjoying the pattern and am already through the first and second sections and just started on the third last night.

There is one other reason I want to knit this shawl - I want it to wear to a knitting retreat I'm going to at the end of September.  It's my first knitting retreat and I'm really, really excited about it.  It's only a hour and a half drive away in Downsville, WI and was actually affordable.  Have you ever noticed that many knitting retreats are quite costly due to location, teachers and whatnot?  This one is run by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, who I simply love, and focuses on knitting smart, speed and efficiency and sock construction.   Of course wearing knit wear to a knitting retreat makes perfect sense right?  Well, most of my knits are for cold winter wear and I have very few items for the coolish yet still warm weather of an early Midwestern Fall.  So, I'm bringing a couple of socks, my color affection shawl, my marin shawl and hopefully this Campside shawl for walks in the surrounding woods.

Well, I'll be adding one more item to the list this week instead of crossing one off.  Ah, maybe nect week it'll go the other way.  If you want to visit the other Year of Project contributors check here.  Wishing you all a great week!