Final Measurements

Hey Everyone!

While I was working on the first sock of my regal pair of socks, I had remembered something I had learned while working at the studio. 

This tip is: let the garment/item you are knitting shrink up before taking final measurements. 

I.E. the sock I am working on needs to be 5.25 inches from the heel flap to where I will start the toe. Once it measures 5.25 inches while knitting, I let it sit until the next day, then measure it again (it is typically a bit shorter than it was while I was working on it the day before), and then I knit up the remainder I need, before knitting the toe. I make sure it is the right length once it has shrunk to final size (as it is looser while knitting), before moving on. 

While I was working at the studio, we had to check the pieces against the final dimensions and against the other pieces of the same size to ensure consistency. 

Important Life Skills Learned from Knitting

Hey Everyone! 

Yesterday, I had one of my sock needles snap on me. I needed this needle, to be in one piece so I could continue working on my socks. 

While I would love to have multiple sets of the size needle that I prefer for using with the KnitPicks Palette Yarn, I am not in a place to purchase multiple sets at the moment. So I needed to figure out how to make it work. First I tried packing tape, that didn’t work out to well. My second attempt worked much better. I used Super Glue and some scotch tape, and that did the trick, so for now I am back in sock knitting business. 

Knitting, while it is something I am passionate about, and a favorite pass time of mine, it has also taught me valuable life skills. Through the process of learning to knit, and different projects I have knit up, as well as when things happened I have learned so much. I have learned:

Patience: knitting anything takes time, it doesn’t do itself or happen overnight. 

Perseverance: You have to stick with it to be able to make beautiful projects. Learning new things and now styles and stitches takes time, persistence, and the determination to not give up, because it will get easier the more times you do it. 

An “I can Fix It” mentality: sometimes you will have to frog 🐸 a project, or have a spot you have to go back to and fix something that went wrong. Sometimes it just didn’t turn out right, and to make it look nice you have to go back and reknit it. Or, your needle breaks and you can’t afford to replace it, so you take super glue and scotch tape and make it good as new so you can keep working. 

Those are just a few things that knitting has taught me. 

Knitting teaches important life skills

Hey Everyone!

Today I want to talk a bit about how knitting (or crocheting) teaches important life skills. 

It teaches you how to work with your hands, how to see projects through to completion, how to be a self starter, how to put colors together, how to create patterns and to challenge yourself to try new things and harder projects. 

I learned how to knit when I was 10 years old, and for the next 12 years I knit primarily sweaters for kids in need. After I graduated from university, my love for knitting and trying harder, more challenging projects took off. If I had not stuck with it even when I was super busy in school, I would not be where I am today, constantly trying new projects and constantly pushing myself to try harder things.

I totally get that Knitting (or crocheting) isn’t for everyone, but the lessons that can be learned from picking it up, or doing other things like sewing, carpentry, and much more are pretty much the same. Learning a craft and using your hands to be productive teaches valuable skills that much of the youth these days (my generation included) lacks. 

I am one of those who also believes that if I can make it myself (without wanting to rip out my hair trying), why should I buy something? Especially if it is of a lesser quality that I would make and costs more than it would me to make it. 

Here a few years ago I had purchased a flimsy little machine knit hat at a department store for like $12 or $13. After wearing it once, I was like “this is nuts, I know how to knit, I am going to figure out how to make a hat that will fit my head, and find a good yarn and do it myself.” I had bought fishermen’s wool, which I love by the way, and make a hat and scarf out of once skein, which even at regular price is $11, so I got a hat AND scarf for less than it cost of a hat of subpar quality. 

Try New Things

Hey Everyone!

This week’s Tip is: Don’t be afraid to try new things, and make mistakes while you are learning. When knitting (or crocheting, or learning anything for that matter), don’t be afraid to try a new pattern. Challenges help you learn, build your knowledge base, and your confidence in what your are doing. Yes there are times you will fail, but try it again, whether it is right away, a week later or a bit longer down the road, don’t give up on it. Keep trying until you get it.

For example, I am working on a leaf lace scarf, I am still very new to knitting lace, and the process daunts me. This project I have started, made mistakes, frogged, restarted, frogged, restarted, and done this process several times. I am slowly figuring out where I make mistakes, and fix them and keep going. Mistakes are part of learning new things.