Hello! It feels like it’s been ages since I posted here, which is not intentional. The house is still chaotic, work is nuts, everything is all over the place, but… Lets not talk about all that now! One of the great things about a crafty blog is that it’s a nice chance to get away from all that.
So.
I went to knitting school! At the end of last year I decided that it would be good to just learn the things I needed to know from a human being, instead of YouTube. I’ve taught myself a lot from YouTube (and will no doubt continue to) but I just thought, ‘go learn on some samples and THEN worry about making something. Stop not making things because they sound impossible.’ Also, hobbies are supposed to be fun, right? I thought it might be fun.
IT WAS GREAT. Three Saturdays in a row, from 10.30-4.30 with an hour for lunch. A nice small class of five people and one lovely teacher. Claire is the editor of Inside Crochet, and she’s also written a variety of knitting and crochet books. If you’re in London and wanted to learn knitting (or crochet), I don’t think you could have a better teacher. She’s super-patient, the lessons are really well planned and I came away with a stack of reference material and a much better understanding of what I’m doing.
The course was for intermediate knitters. People who know how to knit and purl and are wondering what to do next. The two photos above are from the first week, where we looked at increases and decreases, and then applied that to lace. We made lots of small samples — learning by doing, which is the best way for a practical subject.
These are two samples from week two, where we looked at cables, and knitting in the round. I’ve been wanting to knit cables for ages. It’s nice to know they’re achievable! For knitting in the round we used circular needles and DPNs. I’ve made a baby hat, but can’t get a decent shot of it at the moment (no space in the house due to builders). I bought some Addi circular needles, and finally realised what people mean when they say how much they like a particular type of needle. These are SO nice to use it’s almost like a doing different craft. Amazing.
This is from yesterday when we looked at Fair Isle, Intarsia and also different cast on/off methods. There are a few more samples but I’ve tucked them away in my reference folder. So, all in all, lots of good lessons learnt! I’ve become addicted to Ravelry again, trying to decide what to make next. I cannot wait for the building work to be finished so I can actually get to my needles.
These little chaps are off to new homes soon. The poor bear has been hanging around hoping for a new family for a long time, and the mouse arrived the other week. I hate to say it, neither of them are perfect, but I have found a place that will make them welcome, I think. I spotted this appeal from the Lincolnshire Police. They’re after knitted and crochet bears (I hope they don’t mind the mouse!) to: “…console children involved in a road traffic accident until emergency services can deal with the accident situation. They help to keep children calm in what is sometimes a frightening experience.”
What a lovely thing to do for kids in a horrible situation! So these two will be off soon. They look rather nervous, I must admit but I think this is the reason:
The house is so upside down at the moment that some of the kitchen and all of the hall is in our bedroom. This is the only space available to take a photograph! I think they were concerned they were about to get crushed.
I hope you’re all doing ok and if you’re in the UK you’re staying safe and dry. See you soon, I hope!
Occasional Crafter 
Knitting school sounds so cool! I crochet but want to learn to knit specifically for all the lovely cable stitches I’ve seen. There’s nothing quite like the cable stitch in crocheting.
Hello! Yup, it was such a nice class – just the right size and the right kind of things to be learning. Before I could knit though, I did look into crochet cables, and there are sort-of-cable patterns out there. Are you on Ravelry? Do a search for ‘crochet cable blanket’ and you will find some. It uses front post and back post crochet I think – which I taught myself off YouTube (where else 🙂 ) I never actually made a crochet cable blanket, but it does seem possible.
Thank so much for commenting. I’ve just seen your blog post about running, so will reply to that over there!
I’ve seen the faux cable crochet. It’s a pretty good imitation but just not the same. I did some basic knitting eons ago when I was in high school and would like to pick it up again this year. There are so many crochet projects in my head right now though so that’s a few months off.
Thanks for checking my blog out too. 🙂
Your course sounds great, funny how something that was taught by default as a person to person activity has defaulted to 2D teaching.
Fingers crossed that your building mess turns into something gorgeous and send your teddy and pig off with an extra kiss from me!
Aww, thank you!
You’re right, it is weird how we don’t do these things person-to-person any more. Distributed families and networks I guess. I did used to go to a Ravelry meet up now and again, but they’re all very good knitters and it always feels a bit cheeky to be bugging them for help.
The little critters are adorable! Such a good cause too – I am sure they will make someone very happy! The knitting classes sound like a lot of fun! I think something like that would go a long way in motivating me to pick up my needles more often. I can’t wait to see what else you knit:)
I’m bowled over by choice of what to knit at the moment – although that said, because I can’t get to my needles due to them being packed away for building work, I can knit anything I like as long as it’s on 5mm needles in either white, purple or green!
Don’t expect anything *too* spectacular just yet though 🙂
Wow, you’re knitting samples look amazing. I couldn’t do that. I need knitting school!
Ha! Thank you. I’m not sure you’d have time to knit at the moment – you’ve got so many crochet things on the go 🙂
You are not wrong there! I seem to have at least 5 wips going on right now…. Eeeeek! That’s not like me. Although one will be finished very soon, two I can’t really get going on yet, two I need to get shopping for….. Mostly they are plans!
The little bear and mouse look cute and I am sure they will be as much loved as the one you made for me. The knitting samples look great and so pleased you found the course useful. I can assure you the blanket was well received and being put to use two seconds after it was delivered. Keep up the good work and look forward to seeing what projects you come up with for 2014