Speed

It s really frustrating to realize how quickly time goes by. Mostly because when I log on to compose a new post, and realize that a month has gone by, I can't help but get incredibly annoyed with myself. A part of this is because there has been very little actual knitting in my life over the past few weeks, since I completed the sock I was demo-sock I was working on (photos to follow below).


Not without projects to complete, my knitting has been out aside because of (a) the lack of funds to get new yarn for some specific projects and (b) waiting on some circulars I should be getting soon. When someone in my organization saw my Kindle Kover recently, they complimented me on it and asked if I could make them one. Another person then reminded me that I was to make her a scarf. So right there we have two projects I need to jump on top of. Perhaps next month: I expect that certain things will have settled down greatly by then.


The demo-sock was a truly interesting experience. I finished off the foot and closed the toe during this years Grammy Awards. Note about closing the toe: I do not enjoy the Kitchener Stitch. In all of my knitting-related reading, the Kitchener Stitch is only discussed to if there is an opening disclaimer:


Dear Knitter, 
I am very sorry to talk to you about this closing stitch, I know it has a bad reputation, but really it isn't that bad. Just follow my written instructions with a few images to guide you and you'll be fine. 
Sincerely, 
Knitwear King


I should have known better. After fighting to weave my yarn tail in and out of the loops in what seems an odd pattern, I understand why people protest it so. The Three-Needle Bind Off that I taught myself for the Kindle Kover was by far easier than this method. I'm not certain that I'll be using it again in the future. In fairness of the technique: I did not use the aide of any online videos in learning how to do this sewing. Usually I used a mix of book instructions and online video instructions in order to learn a technique. Not the case for the Kitchener. Perhaps I'm just not there yet.

Here's a close up of the heel. I'm rather pleased with this part of it. 

And here's the entire thing. I have one real mistake that can't be seen, which is that I dropped a stitch when making the leg of the sock. Didn't realize where it was until much later. But that's what practice is for. As well, I had trouble spotting which where the edge stitches of the heel for creating the foot at first, but caught on in the end. Overall, I think it was a successful project.

Tension

It's a rainy and cloudy day in New York City today. I was foolish enough to leave my house with a hood-less jacket and no umbrella, with a large box handicapping me from my usual walking speed. But a fairly decent cup of coffee once I got into the office brighten the mood--that and knowing that my knitting, kindle and iPod all managed to avoid getting wet.

So though I'm nearly at the end of the demo sock, I'm a bit fearful of picking up the needles again to finish it off. I avoided knitting for most of last week, but when I tried to pick up the DPNs yesterday, I still felt the stiffness in my wrist when I got my hand into position to do Continental. It wasn't as strong when I switched over to English, but was definitely still there. Perhaps after a couple more days of rest, I can pick it back up again?

I've been doing some research on the boards at Ravelry, and it seems that such occurrences (elbow, wrist, finger pain, etc.) among fiber artists in general is not rare. Though it seems to manifest itself differently in everyone, and each person has different methods. Whether it's knitting with different size yarn and needles, or taking a break every 20 minutes, there seem to be as many approaches as there are cures for hiccups. I've been thinking of getting myself a wrist brace. Though I still feel that a large part of it has to do with the sheer amount of knitting I did from the 14-18th.

Back to knitting. As requested by one of my previous readers, I've attached below a photo of the demo sock, with its still unfinished foot and toe:

As you can see, I'm using the spare yarn from the Kindle Kover. I think I've gotten a hang of the idea of making a sock. Now there's just the finishing of it.

Double-Edged

This entry will have to be a combination entry of sorts:

Occurring mostly from the evening to Friday, January 15th 2010 to Sunday, January 17th 2010.

1) I have kicked Continental knitting butt! It's humorous to think about the fact that last week I was feeling so defeated by the entire experience. However, I spent the long weekend knitting away and somewhere between all the stitches and episodes of Xena on Netflix, I found my flow and it finally clicked.

If you asked me how it happened, I'm not sure if I could tell you. As I kept on knitting, I seemed to realize after the fact that I wasn't concerned about messing up every stitch. I knew that though the yarn did not feel the way it normally did, it would not magically fall off my finger, and if I did lose it, all I had to do was put it back. There was no reason to hold my pinky and ring finger so close that they were white. As I eased up, my knitting pick up both in ease and speed, and I was rather enjoying the entire experience.

As I continued my now very long practice swatch, I felt confidant enough to try my hand at doing a purl Continental-style, and after reminding myself how it was suppose to look, it was easy! I did a practice square of stockinette and rib, and moved right along.

What amazed me the most about it all, was that my hands were not tired after everything. I knitted for just about all of Sunday, and my hands weren't the least bit tired by the end of it. Something I found that would occur after doing English for a long period of time.

Occurring mostly from Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 to Thursday, January 21st, 2010.

2) Make sure you consider the fine print. That is, try to see not just what is going on right now, but what may happen because of it three steps in the future. After my success with Continental knitting, I have been working on what has been kindly titled a "demo sock". Wanting to make socks in the near future, I figured it would be nice if I understood what basic construction of a sock was. So since about Monday night (when I missed a knitting group meeting) I began work on the demo sock. So that is now nearly five days that I have been doing knitting of some form.

Well, the piper has come. I started to feel it last night, and confirmed it this morning, that my hands are tired. There was a stiffness and an ache in the back of my hands that made me think that perhaps knitting should be placed on for at least a day or two. And such a shame! I'm nearly up to the toe of the sock...