Finished - Stranded Knitting Hat!

This project was a great deal of fun and I learned a ton about stranded knitting!

1. It was not as hard as it looked.  Following the pattern is a lot like counted cross stitch.  If you can count to 20 and keep track of which line you're on in the pattern, you are in great shape.
2. Find a way to hold the yarn that works for you.  There are a number of great videos on YouTube showing different ways to hold the different colors.  I settled on Continental, holding the yarn in one hand, a different color around two different fingers to better tension control.  There was a fair amount of trial and error involved.
3. Felting the project at the end solved a world of issues (see item 2, above)... Like puckering and inconsistent stitch lengths.  It also made the fabric more dense and warm.

I think it turned out to be pretty cute.  Much cuter on my niece (but what isn't cute on a twenty somethings), but she wasn't available for the photo shoot.

This project was so much fun that I have completed another project, have one underway, and just purchased yarn for a third!

Learning to Knit

Wasn't it just yesterday I said I was going to finish WIP's before beginning anything new? 

I stretched the truth a bit.

I decided to teach myself to knit.  I was at the store because I needed a 1.5mm hook for the Lace Crochet Scarf project.  And there were all these books, and knitting needles in the next isle and yarn.  Recipe for disaster.

I thought, how hard can it be?  I'll just look it up on You Tube.  And off I went with my new crochet hook.

and some needles...

and yarn.

Then before work one morning, I wandered around the web until I found a couple of videos that made sense to me.  The ones by Cyberseams fit the bill.  The images were clear, the instructor went s l o w.  There was no talking, just music and a little bit of text here and there.  They demonstrate the throwing and continental methods.  I chose continental as you hold the yarn in your left hand similar to crochet. 

Sunday morning I decided to give it a whirl.  I was able to cast on - for the first time EVER.  That has been one of my biggest roadblocks.  Not being able to cast on means your project is not going to anywhere - at all - ever.

And I learned the knit stitch.  I played it over and over.  I started, I backed up, I almost have the music memorized.  They have a video for the continental version of the purl stitch but I am still working to get my head and hands around the first stitch.

My piece looks all wavy, but that's because I should have used longer needles.  Yeah.  That's it.

I showed my friend Lisa this morning.  She knows how to knit but she's a lefty, so I would be even more turned around if she showed me how to do it.  She laughed at me saying I was the only person she knew that used expensive yarn on a practice piece.  She's right.  But it gives me incentive to do a good job.

I chose Eco Duo by Cascade yarns.  It is 70% baby alpaca (my fave) and 30% merino wool.  It is super yummy wonderful soft.   Maybe being soft will compensate for my uneven tension.  That's my rationale at this point anyway.

So why learn to knit?  It seems the manly men in my life just aren't into all the lacy crochet stuff.  Huh, wonder why?  Knitting seems more adaptable  to making to manly men things. 

The things I do for my manly men.