On New Year's Resolutions

I'm not typically one for making New Year's resolutions. I'm easily distracted and generally lack the commitment necessary to make the changes worthwhile. I've been thinking though, that making a change in one area of my life might not be too challenging or overwhelming. While I'd like to say I'll lose weight, read more, go back to school, finish my knitting, etc... realistically I know this just isn't likely to happen. My hope for this year is that if I focus on one goal, that other goals might begin to fall into place. With that mind, I've decided to devote 2012 to knitting.

2012 Knitting Goals (in no particular order)

• Update my blog at least monthly (January ~ check)
• Finish Sudoku
• Finish Jimmy's sweater
• Update Ravelry photos and projects
• Take a spinning class
• Have Max's fur spun into yarn
• Work on TKGA Master Knitter portfolio

New Year, New Beginnings... Sort Of...

I promise I shall not neglect my blog this year!

I've actually been knitting quite a bit the past few months. That's not to say I've finished anything but I have been making an effort to keep knitting. It seems most of my time is eaten up with work and teaching. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent on other people's knitting.

This year I will finish everything on my needles! Let the inventory begin...

Spanish Peacock

I've started Spanish Peacock from A Gathering of Lace. It is one of the charts shown in the back of the book in the gallery section. This is really a pretty easy pattern. I'm using Addi Turbo US 7 Lace needles I moved my marker at the beginning of the rounds listed below to prevent the pattern from spiraling.

Round 23: 1 stitch to the left
Round 24: 1 stitch to the left
Round 28: 2 stitches to the left
Round 30-45: 1 stitch to the left
Round 46: 1 stitch to the right

On most of the rounds, the first stitch knit will be knit again at the end of the round to complete sl2kpsso. After completing sl2kpsso I placed my marker on the right hand needle and then went on to work the first stitch on the left hand needle. For the rounds where the marker only needs to be moved 1 stitch to the left, it is not necessary to move the marker further. On round 28 I knit the first stitch on the left needle and then placed the Marker.

READ YOUR KNITTING!!! I only give this pattern a medium rating because it is not necessarily intuitive to everyone that the marker needs to be moved on certain rounds, otherwise it would be very easy. The stitches are not difficult and in fact the pattern gets boring pretty quickly.

It Came!!!!

Oh yes, my packet arrived in the mail today! Now I just need to pick out some yarn and get started. I think I'll start with Galway and Cascade 220. I do have some beautiful Shepherd's Wool in creamsicle which probably isn't light enough, but is so soft to work with.

The Cult of Knitting

I finally broke down and joined the Cult of Knitting. I'm not sure what it says about me that I really care how a small group of women will evaluate my knitting, but I'm pretty excited.

Drive-by Update

Okay so I've updated my flickr and ravelry pages. That's enough for one night. I'll post a proper updated here soon. If you're really curious and can't wait you can type in pixelknits on ravelry and take a peak.

Teaching

So I'm going to be a knitting instructor. It was a strange interview, if one can call it that. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi, this is pixelknits. I'm the girl who's working on the Sudoku Afghan and Tilting at Windmills and I'm interested in the Knitting Instructor position you posted

A: Have you ever taught before?

Me: Not professionally, just a few friends and children of my friends

A: I'm always getting asked if we have kids classes and with summer starting in a couple of months I'd like to offer one.

Me: I don't mind teaching children. I wish my son would let me teach him, but I have to borrow all my friends' children.

A: You're hired!

Anyway, I'll be teaching Beginning and Intermediate classes as well as Technique and Project classes. I have to come up with a class schedule this week to start at the end of April and carry into early June. I'm really excited and only a little nervous, just because I want to do a good job and keep it interesting.

For the technique class I'm thinking of doing double-knitting and brioche stitch. For the project class, perhaps a Fair Isle pillow, a baby sweater or a Shibori or Lace scarf.

Sudoku Pics

Tilting at Windmills

I have too many projects on the needles.
Tonight it's Tilting at Windmills from Pat Ashforth and Steve Plummer at Woolly Thoughts. This is going to be an afghan for my boss who's due in mid-April.




Can I just tell you how much I hate seaming! If anyone out there loves me, please come seam for me!!!

Damn That Ravelry!

Perhaps if I didn't spend so much time on Ravelry I'd actually get some knitting done.

Projects:
Panel 2 of Sudoku is almost finished. I only have nineteen rows left... What's taking me so long? Oh yeah.. That damn Ravelry.

Three Cornered Shawl in Clover Leaf Pattern is still sleeping. I'm missing some stitches and because I'm stupid and don't believe in lifelines, it takes me about an hour to undo one row of knitting.

I really want to start the Hanami Stole by Melanie Gibbons, but I promised myself I wouldn't buy the yarn until I've finished Panel 3 of Sudoku.

Back to knitting I'd like to see if I can get five rows finished before bed.

Goal: Finish Panel 3 of Sudoku before Monday.

Must Knit

No posting tonight, I've got to make some headway on this damn Sudoku. My Ravelry queue is going to keep me busy enough for the next decade and I want to sketch my next double-knit project. I'm going to knit J a Notre Dame scarf. It's going to have the N/D logo on the ends and say IRISH in the middle and the flip side will have the leprechaun done in three colors. My lys has some beautiful Galway yarn in just the right colors. I think a skein and a half of each color will be sufficient.

Double Knitting Love - Introduction

As promised in the Double Knitting group on Ravelry, here's the beginning of my Double Knitting Pictorial Tutorial.

In the Beginning
When I first embarked on my Sudoku project I thought about using nine different colors or nine different stitch patterns in place of the numbers. But as I started plotting my design I realized I was either going to have come up with a control pattern or color and that I would have to either knit two sides or somehow line the wrong side of my afghan. Neither of these options appealed to me. First I hate seaming and having to knit two whole afghans only to have to seam them together was out of the question. As for lining it, YUCK! I didn't see how that would look appealing and leaving it a one side afghan seemed like a cop out. I thought about double-knitting, which got me to thinking about a two-sided sudoku afghan with one side being the unsolved puzzle and the other side the finished puzzle.

Two Problems

1. When you double knit an image on the right side the image on the wrong side is a mirror image.
2. Even if I correct for the mirror image with the numbers I realized if you flip a Sudoku puzzle over, the layout of the puzzle is a mirror image of the puzzle itself.
   

Unsolved Puzzle


Solved Puzzle - The bold numbers are the ones
that need to be reversed in the pattern.

All the numbers are now where we need them, but the fun has only just begun. Tomorrow I'll show you how to go from these images to this one.


Reversible Number Six

Panel 2

Panel 2 is on the needles.
Five rows down
Twenty left.

106 stitches x 20 rows = 2120 stitches left.

That's depressing...

Sudoku Panel 2

I've charted out Panel 2 and will cast it on tomorrow. Perhaps I'll have it finished by Christmas???

First Panel

016
Originally uploaded by tesalc

1,248 Stitches

Yesterday I cast on 624 stitches not once but twice. My mother and I went to Rosie's Yarn Cellar on Saturday where I bought some lovely Jaggerspun Zephyr in an aubergine color. I have about 2300+ yards to work on a shawl from Victorian Lace Today. I'm in love with the the Three-cornered shawl in clover pattern and am determined to knit it.

The first time I used the loop cast-on as suggested in the book. Well I've never liked that cast-on and this did nothing to change my mind. The second time around, I used a cable cast-on which made it much easier to begin the first row. However while knitting the first row, just before I reached the middle marker I lost about 10-15 stitches and could not get them back on the needle in any way I liked.

Tomorrow will be 1,872 stitches and counting. Perhaps I'll try a crochet cast-on, just for fun.

You have new Picture Mail!

Bramble Leaf Scarf with French Trellis Border

I recently finished knitting the Bramble Leaf Scarf with French Trellis Border from Victorian Lace Today. Interesting stitch work and lots of fun to knit. I had never done a knit on border before and loved it.

No. 10 Crochet Cotton - Ecru
Size 2 Needles.

Notes

I finished Wrapped in Tradition - Disappointed, it's okay, everyone else liked it but not a pattern I would choose to do again.

Victorian Lace Today - Amazing book! I want to knit it cover to cover. The best knitting book, not for beginners.

Sudoku - Staring at me waiting for me to pick it up. Probably next week now that holidays and Secret Pal are over.

Mercerized Crochet Cotton No 10 is my crack and I love it.

Wrapped In Tradition

I'm starting Wrapped in Tradition from Wrap Style, because I like working on 80 billion projects at once! Of course I can't upload a photo right now... erg!

If my brain will let me, I would like to make it a capelet instead of a poncho.


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