Knitting, Knitting, Knitting...

I think I enjoy knitting as much as I do sewing.  Somehow though, I don't always make time for both during the same day.  I found a local knitting group that meets on Wednesday at a little local bookstore.  My husband and I visited the bookstore last Friday.  It is a very cozy little place.  I was fascinated by the very large birdcage inside that held about 10 small birds.  I didn't actually count the birds but they were adorable.  Particularly, the little bird that was sitting on her nest cooing.

Back to knitting...so that I have a project to work on when I go to my first meeting, I started doing a swatch from a Lion Brand Wool Ease in rose heather:

My little swatch is about 1/3 complete to check my gauge.  I will be good to take to the meeting tomorrow.  I'm intending to my this scarf:

This scarf goes along with my Explorations in Cables class and is one of the extra patterns to work on.  It is also a freebie on the Lion Brand website.  It is called the Harbor Scarf.  I don't actually have the correct needle size for this project.  That is why I'm doing the swatch to see how I'm doing.  I'm getting ready to place an order for needles so this is the perfect time to be doing this.

While hopping around on the Lion Brand site, I found this lovely little pattern:

This is the Modern Cable Pullover and I put it on my list of projects (like I need another project).  It falls right into the cabling class practice work even if it isn't part of the actual class.  Now, I just need to figure out yarn.

I will also be taking the next sample for the Explorations in Cables class to the meeting with me tomorrow.  It is after all 2 hours and I don't expect me finishing the swatch and measuring it to take the entire time.  Hopefully, the next swatch will be finished in time for the next knitting update.

Just an FYI, Lion Brand is having a 25% sale on all pink yarn and kits for the month of February.

Happy Stitching!

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Knitting Cables, Fifth Sample...

I've finished the fifth sample for the Explorations in Cables class.  Here is my unblocked version:

This was more practice of the doing a cable without a cable needle and chart reading.  In this sample, I again worked the cable with a cable needle and without a cable needle.  Can you tell difference?  It really isn't hard to tell with this sample that I'm having difficulty reading the chart but it is all about practice.  I did figure what I was doing incorrectly on the chart.  I will revisit this particular pattern again in the future.  

Happy Stitching!

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Knitting Cables, Fourth Sample...

I've finished the fourth sample for the Explorations in Cables class.  Here is my unblocked version:

This was really more practice of the doing a cable without a cable needle.  In my sample, I worked the cable with a cable needle and without a cable needle.  Can you tell difference?  I worked three sets of the pattern and only one is without the cable needle.

I'm still not loving the cable without a cable needle.  However, I can definitely see a use for it and will continue to practice it.  When you're crossing one stitch over another or two stitches over one, it is fairly easy to accomplish.  I'm still dropping stitches but I suspect that is a matter of practice.  Have you ever tried this technique?

I'm still finding chart reading difficult.  Maybe this is a matter of practice, also.  I suppose it is possible that if I had started out with a very simple knit/purl chart that I would have thought chart reading was easy.  This class is going over many types of charts and it could be that I'm not feeling like I getting it because of the lack of consistency.  I do appreciate that we are being shown a variety of ways to that a chart can be written and how to interpret them.

On to the next sample...I've been sewing a lot lately which is slowing down the knitting a little bit.  I enjoy doing both but it can be difficult to fit both in a day or even a week.

Happy Stitching!

Knitting Cables, Third Sample....

I've finished the third sample in the Exploration in Cables class.  Here's my sample:

What I learned:

1.  An alternative cable cast-on
2.  How to do a cable without a cable needle. 

I also continued to practice tightening the first stitch between a knit and purl, tightening up the last stitch on a row, and reading a knitting chart. 

Overall, I liked the cable cast-on.  It was a nice stretchy cast-on and I can see use for it.  However, i didn't really like doing a cable without a cable needle.  It is nice to know how to do a cable without using a cable needle but I found it very tiring to do.  It was far too easy for me to drop stitches.  I might use this technique in the future but I'm not sure.

On to the next lesson.

Happy Stitching!

Knitting Cables, The First Samples ....

The Explorations of Cables has been an interesting class so far.  Here's the first two samples:

Here's what I've learned so far:

1.  Cast on using the long tail cast on method in pattern.
2.  Tighten up the first stitch between a knit and purl.
3.  Tighten up the last stitch on a row.
4.  New techniques in binding off.
5.  How to read a knitting chart.

Don't you think that is a pretty good start?  I can only hope that the rest of the class in this enlightening.

I will admit that the hardest thing is reading a knitting chart especially for creating cables.  Hopefully, I will be able to get the slashes and such, and it will sink in.  Right now, I still have to look at the written description but with practice I should get there. 

Please note, that these samples have not been blocked.  As a point of reference, I'm using Lion Brand Wool-Ease yarn.

Happy Stitching!