First Projects are NEVER Perfect: It's not their fault (or yours)

First Projects are NEVER Perfect: 

It's not their fault (or yours)

It has taken me 6 years to amass a collection of finished products and last spring I had a chance to sell some at the Hohenfels Community Spouses' Club Spring Craft Fair. The day was a blast and it was a real learning experience to host my first booth for Yellow Ribbon Crafts. 

I couldn't believe how many people were interested in my dishcloths. I tried to have a selection of items that could fit any budget and my dishcloths were one of the lower-priced items so it was nice that so many people could take home a piece of Yellow Ribbon Knits! 

What was baffling to me was how simple and quick a dishcloth is to knit. Why would all these shoppers be enthralled with an item that is usually the first item that new knitters master??

I think it is because many times a facecloth is the first project someone will tackle when learning to knit and it doesn't always go well. I don't know why one student will thrive and another will flounder
but typically there is a facecloth test for many new knitters. If they like the finished results - they continue. If they don't - they stop. Perhaps those that have tried and failed in the past see these simple cloths with appreciation that others don't have.

But to all those out there who knit an ugly facecloth the first time around - KEEP GOING! I spoke to a gal I'm helping the other day who was frustrated by her cloth progress.

And it is true. My first wash cloth was horrid. Twisted stitches, dropped stitches, uneven edges, curling ends, It was a real disaster. But I noticed that the top of it looked much better than the bottom. Instead of stopping, I tried again. I probably even ripped it out so I could use the yarn again because I'm thrifty that way ;) The good news is that the entire second cloth looked a lot like the last half of the first - much better. 

But I really wished I had kept my first cloth. I wish I could show anyone who is struggling that NOBODY knits a perfect first project. Martha Stewart would probably never want anyone to see her less than perfect first attempt but I guarantee that it was a disaster. Guar-an-tee!! 

On a side-note - I'm trying to tell myself that this fits Yoga class all too well. Nope - I can't do all the moves or hold all the positions the full time - YET. But my next class will be a little bit better than my last. So although it may be embarrassing and everybody gets to see my "Martha's first cloth" moments during class. It is OK. Because each class there is someone else new who is in the same position I was and I can appreciate my progress and myself for not giving up. They might not know they are inspiring me but they are. We all inspire each other. 

Learning Curves

Learning Curves

6 years ago I borrowed a friend's crochet hook while she was in Australia and taught myself how to crochet. There were more than a few hiccups along the way. After I figured out how to keep the same number of stitches in each row I tackled my first blanket.

I'm sure I didn't take a picture of it and I'm not even sure what happened to it (I've been known to frog a whole project for MORE YARN). I finished the entire thing and then realized I had crocheted through the back loops of the entire blanket. 

That taught me that it is important to be consistent. Nobody else knew it was a mistake. It is an actual technique after all. I guess I was accidentally ahead of the curve. 

This worked much better on paper.

My next blanket was only a touch 

more successful. I was making each stitch correctly but my sizing was laughable. 

Soon I had mastered REAL projects. full baby blankets with appliqués of jumping sheep that each required 16 ends to weave-in and then sew in place. I love that blanket but that's the only sheep blanket I will EVER make. 

Tail/Back legs/R Front/L Front/Head/Each ear
and body each had 2 ends

I would have loved to have made one more black sheep for my friend Amanda. She wanted one to sew on a pillow or a "jumper" for her little girl and it was a brilliant idea but I could not stomach the thought of even one more 16-ended sheep to sew on. Counting sheep became a bit of a nightmare for me after this project.  

Soon after, I started experimenting with knitting. It was NOT fun. I kept crocheting for another year or so after I taught myself to knit because it was adding stress to my life instead of relieving it. If anyone would ask which I liked better I ALWAYS said crochet. I explained how you could make all kinds of 3 dimensional shapes easily with crochet and tried to convince anyone who asked how superior it was to knitting. I don't think I would make the same argument today. 

Deep down inside, I knew that I preferred the fabric that knitting makes but It was daunting and I didn't want to put in the work to become good at it. Until I did. 

I thought I liked crochet but I became obsessed with knitting. I wanted to knit faster so I spent a whole scarf forcing myself to use the Continental Method and at the end of the scarf, you couldn't pay me to switch back to English. 

I'm trying to remind myself that there is an "other side" of any learning curve as our family made a major electronics purchase yesterday and purchased our first Apple computer. I can't get my son's swimming time-tracking spreadsheet to calculate his "percentage improvement" anymore because apparently C4 contains a date instead of a number. Umm that might take a while to solve. But I will keep reminding myself that deep down inside I know I will love an Apple world. I just have to put in the work to succeed. It still beats weaving in 16 ends x 9 sheep on a baby blanket. 

NEVER AGAIN

Sitch-by-Stitch

I may not have been blogging much lately but I'm still knitting. A lot. I have moved from South Korea to Germany. I traded rice for bread and Soju for Bier. I can't take the train down to Dongdaemun fabric market on a whim but I can take the train to Pfaffenhofen to the Wollmeise Sale twice a year.

Wollmeise Sale 2015

I miss Korea's food and my family has made it a point to check out Korean BBQ restaruants in Nurnberg, Munich, and even Budapest. We have also tried our fair share of German bread and spatzel, and butter bretzen (pretzels), currywurst, oh lord - I'm going to miss the German food when I leave here. It is so good and fattening. I have finally decided that something must be done to counteract the effects of overeating in Germany.

Luckily the local gym has a Lose2Win program with a very nice BMW bike as the prize. I am determined that I'm going to win that bike! There are so many triails to explore in Germany and I don't think my cute beach cruiser bike will handle the trails that are yet to be discovered.


Must have this bike!

I am trying to enjoy the weight-loss journey but it does not come naturally to me. I loathe every exercise class, every meal that does not include German bread, and every evening that does not involve a Radler (yummy beer/lemonade mix). I do think I will enjoy the results. And along the way I'm hoping that I come to love the energy and abilities I will have with my new body.


I imagine a lot of my knitting students feel the same way when they start. They want to be able to finish a fabulous scarf every weekend and have a wardrobe full of impressive pieces that they have made. The problem is - they want to be able to have the skills to make their dream accessories RIGHT NOW. Those that enjoy the process, the challenge of learning new stitches, new techniques, new patterns; those are the students who will become life-long knitters. One day they will pause and realize that they no longer find lace patterns frustrating and stressfull as they once did. They will not loathe ribbing as I loathe running. They will turn to it for relaxation after a hard day.

At this moment I cannot imagine turning to a nice long run for relaxation. I try to tell my students that knitting and crochet is about the journey. It is not about the finished product. If you do not enjoy the process of making the hat/scarf/sweater/blanket then chances are you will not want to make another one no matter how beautiful it is when it is done.

I want to win this bike. But I am also working hard to make sure that I enjoy my process. I want to want to continue after I have reached my goal. Otherwise I will not be able to enjoy my beautiful goal for long.

Yarn in South Korea - No Problem!

I know I have been neglecting this blog. But it is not without good reason. For the good part of February I was preparing to and during March I was moving to South Korea. If you were moving to the other side of the world what would be some of your concerns? What your kids' school would be like? What kind of housing will be available? I was somewhat concerned about those too but if I'm being perfectly honest, and I do try to be, I was really worried about how I would find good yarn.

Well have no fear, within a week I have tracked down two yarn stores that are each within 2 blocks of my apartment and found a local guy selling bags of yarn on the corner by the subway station. I am set.

I haven't made it into the second store. We just found it as we were strolling around looking for a place to eat last night and it was closed when we discovered it. The first is on the way to the subway so I stopped in and took some pictures. The shop owner really doesn't speak English but I had already used Google Translate to translate: "Can I take some pictures? I have a blog."

I'm not sure how that translated but she said yes so I snapped a few of her and her friends. Two were knitting and two were crocheting and she was working on crocheting a purse with a plastic flat yarn.

I stood and watched for a few minutes and then pulled out my iPhone again to translate: "Is that a lesson? May I come back and knit with you when you are not teaching a lesson?" She nodded yes to that so I will return.

I have to wonder what they said after I left. Probably, "What's with the crazy white chick? Don't they have knitting in America?"

I wandered off down the street past the subway to kill some time before I had to go to pick Kayson up from school. I'm glad I did because on the other side of the Jihaeng subway station there was a guy and his wife selling yarn.

A friend of mine had sent me pictures of this same guy but in her pictures the yarn looked cheap and stiff. I was wrong. It was fine and there were nice colors and all kinds of textures. My only concern is that the multi-ply yarns did not seem to have much of a twist to them and may be hard to work with.

His English was minimal but he said $5 for one bag (with 4 balls) and I was trying to tell him I would be back and a passerby realized we were struggling and translated for us.

But that wasn't the last yarn-related event of my day. As we were waiting for the subway home we met one of Kayson's classmates and his family. Take a wild guess what his sister was doing. You have a 50/50 shot!

She was ... Crocheting!! Her mom said she was self taught and when I took a look at her project I could tell nobody had ever told her to chain one between rows. I gave her a bit of help and I could tell she was eager to learn. You have to be if you have self-taught yourself and are already toting around a 8x10" piece of work! I was so pleased to see a young girl picking up the craft.

If I have found three yarn vendors within 500m of my apartment then I am really excited about how many more opportunities are out there.

FeBREWary Inspiration - Mug and teapot cozy

Noble Teapot Wrap
To me crochet is like walking. I just do it. Just because I know how to do it doesn't mean I can teach someone else how. But a few ladies asked me to give them a little class so I picked a mug cozy pattern (Link Here) from the blog; Tutus and Tea Parties, and showed up with some hooks and stash yarn and a lot of anxiety.


At first it was a bit rough. One of the ladies began referring to the first row as the "Satan" row and I thought that was a perfect description. But after spending at least 75% of our time on that first row they soon got the hang of it. I told them that I had to make about three projects before I really knew where I was supposed to insert my hook to make a single crochet and to chain one after turning each row. I didn't keep either the slanted "purse" or the entire blanket made by crocheting into the back loop only.


I soon realized that these ladies were also anxious. They wanted to succeed and make something they could be proud of. We all achieved those same goals. By the end of the day they each had a nice size swatch and if they weren't quite finished, they posted pictures that night of their finished projects.

I was so inspired that I came home and made a matching wrap for my teapot with the leftover cotton. This free pattern was designed to fit a Noble Teapot from DavidsTea.com and can be used with any oversized teapot. It also makes a great first project if you are just getting started.


Nobel Teapot Wrap

Yarn: Sugar 'n Cream Cotton
Hook: 4.5mm
Embellishments: 2 medium buttons, needle and thread

Directions:

Ch 19
Row: 1 turn and ch1, SC across
Row 2-26: repeat Row 1
Row 27: turn, ch1, SC in next 5 SC, ch9, skip next 9 SC, SC in last 5 SC
Row 28-50: Repeat Row 1
Row 51: turn, ch1, SC in next 2 SC, ch 5, SC in next 11 SC, ch 11, SC in last 5 SC, fasten off.

Finishing:
Weave in ends
Position wrap on your teapot and estimate button locations. NOTE: better to make your wrap snug than too loose.
Sew on buttons
Brew a nice big pot of Earl Grey and ENJOY!

5 Things Not to Knit (or Crochet)

Shortly after I started knitting two years ago I made a list of things I would NEVER knit or crochet:

1. Dog sweater
2. Table-leg cozies
3. Anything with a pom-pom
4. Doilies
5. Barbie doll clothes

I have now decided to put this list in print and publish it in an attempt to strengthen my resolve to vow off these knitting clichés. Why would I feel the need to do this? Why, temptation of course. Not just by one item but two. I actually went to Ravelry.com and searched for patterns for two of these items.

Can you guess which two? I'll lay it out like a playmaker game.

-Ken will not see any new clothes
-No toiling over decorative layers
-Cozies are for beer not table legs.
-Poodles or Pomeranians??

Since we are moving overseas we decided (perhaps hastily) to ask my parents who live in Canada to keep our chihuahuas for us. Nellie and Cookie are 7 and 6 pounds respectively. My mom was scared they would freeze like the cement doggie statue we keep in our flowerbed. I actually went to Ravelry.com and typed "dog sweater" in the search bar. Someone needs to come over and slap me! Instead of turning to rock statues, they transformed into super-potty puppies getting their business completed with Indy pit-crew speed. YES! Une Cliché averted. I forget what is French for averted. You get the picture.

Then came these horrendous toques that the NFL designed for their players to wear this season. Who looks good in a beanie with a giant pom-pom on the top?? NO ONE. Oh wait thats a lie. I will drool over Tom Brady no matter what he is wearing. Maybe hubs thought if he wore a toque with a horrendous pom-pom I would drool over him too. I love him and all but, no.

I tried to appease him. I knit him a beanie with a patriots logo in intarsia. He said no. My neighbor, Chris, loves it. I tried a striped version with no logo. Chris' son got that one. Finally I got out my pom-pom maker and actually experimented to see if I could make a pom-pom!

Christmas traveling saved me. By the time we got home he had run into an authentic NFL Patriots beanie complete with god-awful pom-pom attached proudly to the top. It is atrocious and thankfully I will never have to say I made it.

Mom is still working on me about the dog sweater but I'm hoping this will give me the motivation to abstain. And you know if I take my glasses off in the right light I can pretend he is Tom Brady now. Added bonus: I spent hours working on this patriots color logo so I may as well sell it at Ravelry.com. Follow the link to get a copy of the color chart I made for this project with the Patriots Logo.

buy now

Trucker's elbow stinks

Two weeks ago if you told me about the Ulnar nerve I would've thought you were just making up fancy medical jargon to impress me. Now I know that it is the nerve that controls your pinkie and ring finger and it runs through the outside of your elbow. I also know that if you damage or pinch that nerve you will not be able to feel your pinkie or ring finger and they will be a bit weaker. They call it Trucker's elbow because it usually happens to truckers who lean their elbow out the window as they are driving. Maybe your recliner broke and you are more comfortable putting your feet up underneath you during a knitting marathon and leaning on the arm of the chair - yep that will do it too.

So I have damaged my Ulnar nerve. My right ring finger feels different. I can move it and I can feel with it but it is just different. Like I have had a rubber band around the first knuckle for the last two weeks. I asked the doctor about it and she says there is nothing that can be done but rest. i.e. no knitting. YIKES.

So it has been about 5 days now. No needles have touched my hands and no hooks have passed through my fingers. I did wonder if I could just switch to crochet but decided to just rest. And it is a horrible time of year to be yarn-free. I have so many present ideas that I'm itching to start but I can't. If I had been smart I would've been working on presents through the summer too but I got wrapped up in my own projects and then re-doing my projects because I'm still working on my sizing to fit any presents in there. Now I'm paying for it.

On the bright side - I do think that my ring finger is slowly going back to normal. But at this rate it will be Christmas before I get to knitting again. Merry Christmas to me!